Nameless, faceless, voiceless... heartless?

1 Assassin

NOTE wattpad keep changing the chapters' order, please check the number on the title. Thank you 🥺💜

If only he had been born just two kilometers east of there, he would have probably become an Assassin. But he hadn't, and he'd only ever seen the exterior walls of Ayutthaya, the heart of the feared brotherhood.

Kongpob had often seen the Assassins who lived in the walled town. It wasn't uncommon for them to pass through their village -it was the nearest village to Ayutthaya-, but they did it like ghosts. Actually that was the secret of living in peace with them: treating them like ghosts.

The Assassins had no face or voice under those hoods. They didn't interact with people in any way. The only exception was those who had been chosen to carry out activities necessary for the supply of the fortress. Because, apparently, ghosts, human or half-human they were, had material needs like everyone.

He'd learned how to identify their rank by the silver plates embossed on their vambrace. He knew how to ignore them without disrespecting them. His parents taught him to fear them without being overwhelmed with terror... and his sisters taught him how to tease them without suffering any punishment.

Luckily, the Assassins were quite tolerant of children.

For the children of the village, always on the hunt for adventure, get as close as possible to one of them was the ultimate test of courage. Kongpob was very skilled, and among his many successes were being able to annoy one of the so-called Reapers and escape his wrath.

The Reaper had appeared as the bodyguard of one of those responsible for the fortress' supplies; he stood in his immaculate robes half a meter from his companion, motionless, silent as a statue, recognizable by the five silver plates on display on his left vambrace.

Only under exceptional circumstances did the Reapers leave the fortress. Seeing one wandering around the village for a trivial reason such as a negotiation had caused quite a stir.

That night, his mother scolded him harshly, but Kongpob was now a hero to the children of the village. It wasn't every day that an assassin -a Reaper, no less- allowed someone -him- to touch his tunic and almost tape the hilt of his sword!

Then he came the time to decide what to do with his life. He was an artist, a scholar; there was no future for him in that remote village. So, he decided to move to Bangkok, the dynamic capital. His dream was to open his own bookshop, but to do so he had to study... and he had to save money.

He worked hard to achieve his goal. He moved to the Capital and enlisted in the city guard. Never once did he refuse a task, never transgressed an order. He distinguished himself for his dedication, did his best to learn from his superiors and finally, after many hardships and sacrifices, here he was: a guard of Bangkok. All dressed up and ready to open her arms to him, to entrust herself to his hands, now that he was invested with the honour of her defence.

But Bangkok turned out to be an unfriendly and ferocious lover, with nails as sharp as claws.

At first Kongpob had been terrified, then he'd hated her. Finally, he learned to extricate himself among the narrow alleys, suffocated by the abusive balconies and by the stalls of the merchants, where too many people competed for a living space that would not have been enough even for a rat. He'd learned to tolerate the smells of decadent humanity around the slums and those of overpriced perfumes in the broad, dazzling marble streets of the wealthy neighbourhoods. He had, in short, learned to accept her in its entirety, with her strengths and weaknesses, without this being an effort.

And then there were the Assassins. It was rumoured that they had a permanent base in the city, even if no one knew exactly where it was. They were far more feared and less respected than in his hometown, but essentially the stories he heard were similar to those he had known since childhood. This gave Kongpob great advantages over others: unlike many others he had grown up next to them and knew how to move around them.