Peter & Max - Bill Willingham [84]
He waited where he was, barely daring to breathe. At the same time he imagined that he could almost hear the other man’s breathing on the opposite side of the wall. Peter had no idea what to do. None of his training or past experience had prepared him for such a situation as this. Was it possible there was a second thieves brotherhood operating in Hamelin, which until now was completely unknown to us? No, that’s not possible. So then, what could the answer be? Lacking a better idea, Peter finally decided the best solution to the mystery might simply be to ask his questions aloud.
“I suppose we can both stand here all night,” he said, in a low murmur, “waiting for the other one to do something. If your sleeping mist is as effective as the one I carry, we don’t need to worry about anyone waking up for hours at least.”
For the longest time there was no answer, but then he heard, “It’s good enough. No one will wake, even if we screamed at the top of our voices.” The other intruder had answered Peter in a similar whisper, but there was something odd about his voice, as if it were muffled through a thick cloth. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we purchased our potions from the same vendor.”
“Possibly so,” Peter said. “Old man Konstantin couldn’t live as richly as he does, strictly on the trade that we give him.”
“That’s his name,” the other voice said. “So what are we going to do? Though the magical sleep may last, the morning’s sun won’t tarry an extra minute. I need to finish my business and be on my way, while it’s still dark out.”
“And what business would that be? I dearly hope you’re not also here to rob our slumbering Bishop. My Brotherhood doesn’t allow competition within the city, and I’d be expected to do something permanent about it. But I’d really like to avoid sticking a knife into anyone tonight. My heart’s never been into such things.”
“Well, you can turn around and go home in peace,” the other man said. “I’ve no intention of robbing tonight. My contract is to kill the Bishop.”
“In truth?”
“Yes.”
“You’re an actual killer for pay? Before now I’d never have believed we had a nest of assassins in Hamelin. I’d think we’d have run across one of you long ago, if that were the case.”
“My society isn’t based in Hamelin, or any other town. We find it more suitable to live in a place far removed from outsiders.”
“Sensible enough,” Peter said. “Of course, being thieves, my people are pretty much required to live where the people are. How do clients find you then?”
“You’ll have to ask one of my superiors.”
“But someone definitely hired you to come here and kill poor Bishop Hugo?”
“Yes, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to be about it. He needs to go tonight, before he can make his speeches tomorrow.”
“Ah, well, see? You and I have the same mission, except that my people have worked out a much less bloody way to accomplish it. I’m simply going to steal his ring and then he can make any sort of speech he wants, but it won’t matter. There won’t be any authority behind it. Doesn’t that seem a more elegant solution? No blood spilled. No fancy bed sheets ruined. So why don’t you be on your way and leave the job to me?”
“I can’t do that. I have to either kill the Bishop tonight, or kill myself. There’s no other alternative, once I’ve accepted a mission. We’ve a strict code about such things.”
“Well, then we have a problem,” Peter said, “because I can’t let you kill the Bishop tonight, or anyone else in his household. If the word got out that I needed to butcher my target, just to get a ring off his finger, my reputation would be ruined