<br/>As night fell fog crept through the town of Talahentry the new moon rose, the lunar globe’s soft light diffused by the heavy mist as men and women hurriedly went about their business on this auspicious of nights.<br/><br/>The guard stood huddled outside the gates, his militia tunic an uncomfortable fit over his massive bulk, the muscles of his youth having long ago gone to fat; his chin receding beneath his bushy beard.<em>Damn the woman</em>he muttered under his breath, as he shifted nervously in the cold night air<em>Bad enough to be outside in this thrice cursed weather, but to be the </em>only<em>one out here</em>!  Neither his armor, nor the sword slung at his waist could diminish that horrible feeling of nakedness as he glanced up and down the cobbled street.<br/><br/>He wasn’t uncovered, he knew, but the pair of bowmen watching him from the upstairs windows were nice and warm, and<em>inside</em>.  Ten years in the militia, his own successful fishing business on the lake to the east, and he was<em>bait</em>.  He spent the next several minutes cursing himself, the Lady Gweneth, and the hundred gold pieces that had him out here freezing his tail bone off.<br/><br/>For that reason, perhaps he could have been excused for not noticing the slim shape creeping up behind him, its shadowy form moving swiftly in the soft moonlight.  At least, not until it tapped him on the shoulder.<br/><br/>He spun, sputtering curses and trying to yank his sheathed sword out before muttering another curse and taking a deep shuddering breath.<br/><br/>“Thrice curse it lass!  You nearly got yourself killed!” he hissed at the serving maid, his dinner held in her outstretched hands.  For all her faults, the Lady kept her Guard well fed.<br/><br/>“Sorry” the timid young girl cast her eyes down as she whispered, trembling slightly to find herself outside on such a night.<br/><br/>The guard, Wyrth, took a moment to ogle the attractive girl from beneath the shadow of his heavy helm.  The modest black and white dress that Lady Gweneth clothed all of her female servants in hugged the young woman’s attractive  form, emphasizing the smooth rolling curves of her backside as well as the pleasing swell of her breasts.  The modest square front was cut just below her shoulders, but revealed the smooth paleness of the top of her breasts as well as the graceful arc of her neck beneath the top's simple black choker.  Her face still was still soft, slight traces of baby fat still gracing her cheeks, dimples also dotting her smooth skin.  Dark green eyes glanced around the street nervously from beneath her simply styled black hair as she pushed the tray into Wyrth’s hands.<br/><br/>“Thanks” he grinned as he devoured the steamed vegetables and slices of cheese.  Pigeon food, but it’ll keep his energy up through his half of the long night.<br/><br/>“I live to serve” the girl replied automatically, ducking her head submissively as she curtsied.<br/><br/><em>Oh, I bet you do</em>- he thought to himself as he enjoyed both the feast before his eyes and in his hands a moment longer.  A large group of soldiers moving into a home of mostly female servants had as predictable and inevitable results as picking a fight in a northern bar.  Chaos and more than a few sore bodies in the morning.  He'd resigned himself to the fact that none of the lusty wenches would settle for one of his girth, even if he'd been handsome, though this slip of a girl had always been kind to him.<br/><br/>“Thank you Tabitha.” The guard grinned as he continued to eat.<br/><br/>Tabitha, for her part, continued to shuffle nervously, fingers unconsciously crossing herself as the shadows seemed to leap out at her.  She hated the night, especially during the 13 days.  The only daughter of simple trades people Tabitha never had to worry about<em>her </em>blood being splattered on someone’s wall but that did nothing to lessen the sullen menace she felt permeating the air.  And it didn’t help that Wyrth and the other guards spent much of their time undressing her with their eyes when they chanced upon her<em>inside </em>the house either.<br/><br/>Wyrth at least was something of a gentleman about it, never going past looking, but several of his<em>friends </em>had been less polite.  When she had turned down their lecherous advances, a trio had caught her in a deserted hallway, dragging her struggling body over to a nearby sofa.  If not for the chance appearance of the Lady from an adjoining room she would have been undoubtedly raped.  The Lady had always looked out for Tabitha since taking her into her home when her parents had died, and the bottomless contempt with which the Lady Gweneth flayed them with before having them cast from her home had done much to relieve Tabitha’s burning shame.  The shame that had disappeared as the Lady had hugged the trembling girl, assuring her it was not her fault, that such beasts would be ‘dealt’ with.  Their ‘accidental’ deaths in a bar brawl several days later had both relieved and terrified her.<br/><br/>But Wyrth’s uncommon gentleness did very little to assuage the nervousness she felt as his eyes traveled over her nubile form. Flustered, she tried to distract herself by looking up and down the deserted street.  Which is why Tabitha saw her before Wyrth did.<br/><br/>The woman moved with a smooth, and to Tabitha’s eyes, almost feline grace as her boots clicked lightly on the cobbled street.  But something else was wrong, things were moving too slowly, Tabitha lips moving as she tried to speak a warning to Wyrth, to keep him from panicking as he had with her.  Her eyes widened as no sound came out.  Her lips moved, she felt the small tremors of speech in her throat, but not a note of her normally dulcet voice emerged.  A simple country girl who recognized something completely beyond her ken, a silent scream rose in Tabitha’s throat as terror threatened to engulf her.<br/><br/>Weither it was her slowly widening eyes or some inkling of his own, Wyrth spun to face the woman even as her relaxed stride carried her past him.  A small corner of Tabitha’s mind noted that she didn’t seem at all slowed by whatever malaise had seized them; to the contrary, her pace seemed even faster in its murky grip.<br/><br/>The woman, a soft smile playing on her red lips, brought the dagger in her right hand up in a smooth, flashing arc that buried itself in Wyrth’s throat.  His slow moving paws clawed at the protruding blade, his own sword clattering silently to the ground as his life blood gushed from the wound.  With a casual flick of her wrist, the slim assassin threw the portly militia man against the wall with inhuman strength, the poor man’s neck snapping with a sick crunch that was more felt than heard in the unnatural stillness.<br/><br/>Time resumed its regular forward march as Wyrth’s broken body slumped down the stone wall. With another impossibly fast motion the pale woman grabbed Tabitha’s slim throat, pressing her against the wall with firm but gentle fingers.  Sound also returned as those silky if steely fingers cut off Tabitha’s air, her soft choking gasps suddenly loud in the silence.<br/><br/>“Silence, my pet” Valerie spoke in a soft sultry whisper “You’re going to live this night.” She lightly inhaled the intoxicating scent of the slim girl’s fear as the stench of the guard’s death enveloped both of them.  The wall stood between them and the windows the archers looked out, and Tabitha was certain any sound she made would be her last.<br/><br/>Valerie’s eyes traveled down Tabitha’s nubile form, the combination of lust and something else in those obsidian black eyes chilling the young serving maid’s soul  “You shall be my messenger,” Valerie murmured as she lightly trailed kisses down Tabitha’s neck, enjoying the taste of her trembling flesh as her fingers snaked under Tabitha’s voluminous dress.<br/><br/>Her fingers teased, arousing the slim girl and her breath became short for a very different reason quickly “But first, my sweet, let us play.” She whispered.<br/><br/>((Sorry that post is so long :).  I leave it up to you two as to what time his happens.  If either of you are awake, if you're in the midst of your own dinner, or if both of you are sound asleep in your beds.  If awake, I can happily write out the rest of Valerie's 'tryst' with Tabitha but if not, then both Wyrth's corpse and the half conscious (and half dressed) Tabitha are found with the rays of first light:) ))<br/>