The Stolen Princess And The Blind Prince

Sa, had woken up a while ago. Her head was covered with some sort of rice sack, the rope around her neck pinched her. Her arms and ankles were bound just as tightly. She was lying on her stomach. From the smell, she could tell she was near the rear of a horse.

"Hog-tied…" she mumbled. There was no point in trying to escape. Her boss, the man who had hired her, would find her easier if she was in one place.

Her captor reigned the horse, slowing their pace.

"You're finally awake," he said.

"Yeah. Who're you?"

"Guardsman. But someone would like to speak to you before you're put in your cell."

Her boss, Sa assumed. Had she made that big of a commotion? Surely, she did exactly as she was told. She had snuck into the capitol. Sa felt the horse turn. Moonlight disappeared behind the shadow of an alleyway.

The rhythm of the horse's haunch stopped. Sa bit her lip. As confident as she was in her skills, she still got captured. She has valuable information locked away in her skull, and if her boss wanted her dead, now would be the perfect time…

"I might be in bigger trouble than I thought," she mumbled again.

"You are."

Another voice, a stranger. Sa cursed her nervous habit of mumbling under her breath.

"Sa," the stranger continued, his voice thinly patient, "what did you think you were doing?"

"I was sneaking in…"

The guardsman chuckled. Sa's jaw tightened; she felt her cheeks flush.

"You…I chose you because you would have passed the background test. I needed a female assassin who trained under the Empress' Royal Guard. Discharged or otherwise."

He took a long breath. The man's patience was gone. His voice was even, but he was clearly exasperated.

"All I needed you to do was appear and ask to work within the palace. I had everything set up for you. A name, a backstory... everything! Now… now I don't even know what I'm supposed to f.u.c.k.i.n.g do with you."

The guardsman shifted in his seat. Sa, gulped; aware of her defenseless neck.

"But… I am not a murderer. We are still under contract, but I will not be paying you during your two days in jail. Once you get out, lay low. I'll contact you soon after."

"Yes, I understand."

"I hope you don't need me to define what 'lay low' means?"

"No."

A moment passed, the guardsman and her boss exchanging pleasantries. Soon after, Sa was placed in her cell, where she sat for two days.