“Did you really have to kill everyone?” Hainne asked, exasperated. She sat down with a heavy thump next to her twin, who was currently fiddling with the end of her dagger. Their spot wasn’t as secluded as Hainne would like, but hidden here behind the chimneys of the buildings they would both be able to catch their breath.
“Sneaking is boring,” Jessi replied. Hainne frowned at her younger sister (and she was younger, by only 10 minutes even).
“We’re assassins,” Jessi said, “we assassinate. Assassins kill people, Y’know.”
“We kill who we’re contracted to kill,” Hainne said, “not just anyone. And certainly not the guards of the watch. They’re going to be pissed with us for months.”
“Spoilsport,” Jessi said, flicking her knife back into her cloak sleeve. Their outfits were matching, it was one of their advantages that they would charge double for. Guards would get confused when their assailant could climb walls faster than anyone else thought possible, when in fact it would just be the other sister catching their attention.
“Just keeping us safe,” Hainne said, elbowing her sister as the familiar sight of the red cloaked guards came around the corner, musket at the ready.
“Time to go,” Hainne said, “meet you at the tunnels. I’ll distract them.”
Jessi pouted.
“But you know how much I love the rooftop chases,” she said.
“You’re injured,” Hainne said, “don’t think I didn’t know. Now go.”
Jessi rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. She scrambled up from her hiding spot, sprinting across the rooves with an easy grace. They had grown up on these rooftops, it was their second home.
Hainne counted to ten, and then dashed in the opposite direction of her sister, making sure to catch the attention of the guards.
“Hey you!” one shouted, “get down from there!”
“Got to try and catch me first!” Hanna said, as she cleanly lept the gap between the buildings, grabbing onto the lip of the roof and hauling herself to the tiles. The guards shouted in annoyance, one shot a warning shot over her shoulder.
She turned towards the guard that shot her, gave him the finger, before sprinting across the rooftops.
First posted in 2017. || Image Credit: Photo by Alice Hampson on Unsplash
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