The assassin paused.

No, it wasn't a good idea to walk towards Melos, dagger in hand and many witnesses around him. No, he must be clever.

He sank back down onto his seat and tried to think of a way to kill Melos without anybody seeing him directly kill Melos. The assassin eyed the girl and an idea came into his mind.

He placed his hand into one of his pouches along his belt and felt for a bottle. He unplugged the stopper and, with much enthusiasm, tripped the girl in her way to the table.

The girl let out a shriek and the assassin caught her in his arms. The mug she was holding flew up into the air.

She let out a cry as he caught her in his arms. He then stuck out a hand to catch the mug in midair. Quick as a wink, he took out the bottle and dipped in a red liquid into the mug. Thankfully, everyone else was too drunk to notice.

"Truly sorry, my dear," he said in a farce of politeness as he quickly placed the tiny bottle back into his pouch.

The girl huffed and righted herself. She grabbed the mug from his hand, surprised to see it still fun of beer.

"Don't touch me, filthy Cassum!" She turned and walked haughtily away.

The assassin sat there in shock. What nerve that girl had! What attraction he had first felt for her was quashed by her vitriolic comment.

Feeling quite pissed, the assassin stood up and walked towards the door of the bar. He didn't feel like buying a cold beer anymore, nor did he feel like watching the girl with his eyes anymore.

As he walked out, he heard glass shattering and someone screaming from inside. The assassin smiled to himself as he walked into the shadows once more.

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

For many years, the Cassums were the true leaders of the kindgom of Aliquid, with the monarchy only as a nominal ruler.

The king died the night before from being blighted by sickness, and now his son was next in line to the throne, whatever throne there was to sit on now anyways.

In a statement to his advisors, King Ultio praised his late father on keeping the peace between his people and the Cassums. There were no revolts at that time and killing was kept to a minimum, but Ultio also criticized his father for not taking action. The Cassums ruled the land that was rightfully theirs and he planned to take it back.

With the support of his advisors and his most trusted friends, Ultio decreed that after his coronation, Cassums could now be persecuted for "what they have done to our beautiful Aliquid". Ultio remarked in a ribald way on how the Cassums were like rats in the great storeroom that needed to be "cleansed".

The hunters were now the hunted.