Ghost Ascension, Episode 6

“Follow me,” you say, heading towards the carpet shop’s door. “We need to get her away from the Kindred before they kill her.”

Lucan nods, and follows you inside.

Anshani carpets hang from the walls, ranging from the simple to the fantastically intricate. A dozen shoppers examine the carpets, the four Kindred assassins among them. Four men examining carpets in the morning stands out like a sore thumb.

The woman in the red coat, however, stands out even more

She can’t be more than twenty, maybe even eighteen, and is stunningly beautiful. The black-banded red coat hangs to her knees, and beneath it she wears a white shirt, black trousers, and knee-high boots with spiked heels. She walks from carpet to carpet with a swaying stride that manages to draw the eye of every man in the room, even those not actively planning to kill her.

“Who the devil is she?” you mutter.

You’ve seen her before, you’re sure of it – but the memory will not come.

Lucan shrugs. “A singer, probably. Odds are she made fun of the First Magus’s receding hairline and he sent the Kindred after her – he’s done that before. How do you want to play this?”

“Go do something distracting,” you say. “I’ll get her out. Meet us behind the Black Cuirass.”

Lucan nods and strides further into the shop, bellowing and demanding service in a voice that soon has the manager and a half-dozen nervous apprentices anxious to please an irate nobleman. You hurry over to the woman in the red coat. She has brown eyes, and dark red hair, and smiles as you approach.

“Those men,” you say in a low voice, “they’re Kindred assassins. They’re here to kill you.”

And the woman, to your great surprise, smiles even wider.

“How delightfully grand!” she says.

You blink in astonishment.

“I’ve never been hunted by Kindred assassins in Malarae before,” she says. “It shall be a marvelous experience, I am sure. You’ve heard of me, yes? I am Sophia of Artifel, an artist. But while lesser artists may work with paint and chisel and song, I work with the palette of human emotion, with the very experience of life, with love and hate and joy and despair and blood and…”

“Yes, yes, shut up,” you say. “Those Kindred want you dead, and I don’t. Come with me, now.”

“Of course!” says Sophia. “I’m certain it shall be a grand adventure.”

You steer Sophia towards the door. The Kindred see you, of course, but Lucan is making such a commotion that the assassins can’t get past the knot of terrified apprentices.

Then you’re outside, and in the street, and you see another three Kindred assassins standing between you and the Black Cuirass Inn. This group is dressed like common porters, but you can spot a Kindred assassin a mile away.

Damn it.

You doubt they’ll recognize you, dressed as you are. But when the see Sophia, they’ll come after you both.

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