Yunos thing

Anyone can call themselves an assassin.

Just grab a sharp metal object and a target you wish dead, and the willingness to commit the deed.

Anyone could do this, and in reality it’s quite a simple feat.

But a master assassin is something to be truly in awe of.

Feats that would put competitors to shame, cunningness that could make even the wiliest of tricksters look like child plays, and skills that could inspire fear in whole nations.

One such skill is the art of infiltration, a skill currently being used by the famed and feared, Yunos.

The search for her quarry had taken her to an unlikely source and came as a surprise even to her; an estate out in the country.
Normally it wouldn’t have drawn any significant attention but the owner of this estate was of interesting note. A baron, who for some reason or another had decided to invest in the business of information brokering.

Profitable. But dangerous .

And now her task was to wean any information she could out of him before he suddenly met an untimely end.

It had been two days since the assassin had infiltrated the estate. She gained entry as a working maid after dyeing her hair covering her tattoos to conceal her identity.

She had been lucky, apparently the estate had been looking for servants as well, and the head maid barely even tested her aptitude before hiring her.

It was curious, but she soon learned that she wasn’t hired merely for services but rather appearance as well.

The traditional maid uniform that was provided to her, complete with headband and cuffs, was entirely too revealing.

The skirt’s length barely even covered her backside and the amount of cleavage exposed alone was far too gratuitous. Coupled with the open navel design, it barely left anything to the imagination.  She would have uttered her disapproval but to her realization, this was the standard uniform for all of the servants

And apparently all of the servants were female.

‘So it’s one of those kinds of nobles,’ the assassin first thought to herself as she was assigned her duties, light menial tasks such as dusting and mopping.

She didn’t make an effort to become acquainted with the other servants but she did notice how their behavior was somewhat subdued. They wore the same outfit as her, and appeared similar in age, if not younger. And most always either kept their eyes on their work or at their feet.

No doubt the result of their demurred state was the work of Uvulon Huac, her target.

For two days Yunos monitored the baron by observing his hobbies, routine, and disposition.

And the only word she was able to describe him was despicable.

The baron was surprisingly young for his age, and with his above average looks, light blonde hair, and seemingly pleasant personality
one might have mistaken him for an amicable gentleman.

But behind this thin façade he was a depraved man who blatantly abused his power.

He rose early in the morning to bathe, usually with the assistance of a few unlucky maids and then enjoyed a lavishly elaborate breakfast whereupon he would only nibble a few morsels before moving on.

He would disappear for hours at a time, perhaps out hunting or attend to personal affairs in his private office and then return late in the evening where another lavish meal was prepared, and he would then where he would then insult and berate the maids again for some minor contrivance and retire to his room.

Then of course there were the ‘meetings’ that the Baron would have in his private bedroom with any maid that caught his fancy for the day. And each time the poor girl came out some hours later or the next morning with her uniform and hair disheveled and a little less hope in her eyes.

To Yunos’s own amazement, the girl would simply fix her clothes and hair and resume her duties as if nothing had happened.

‘This place is more of a madhouse if not a prison.’ Yunos  though to herself as she was assigned her latest duty, polishing the floor on the western hallway.

It was another menial task but the assassin was at least joined by a cadre of other servants, all of whom were performing the same mindless jobs such as dusting the various decorations that lined the hall or washing already cleaned windows.

It was apparent enough Huac didn’t even need this many servants. He simply viewed the women as  decorations themselves. Once she had gotten the information she needed from him, she would make sure that he met a truly vile end.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” said a lofty voice full of boisterousness from behind her.

The assassin could only hide a smile; it was all going according to plan.

She knew that he would approach her sooner or later.

She noticed on multiple occasions of his curiousness of her, his constant leering of her body whenever he walked past her in the corridors.

And now he had finally taken the bait. The assassin prepared herself now, cautiously standing up but being careful to avoid direct eye contact.

Slumped shoulders, an awkward stance, and a nervous expression completed her ruse of the frightened maid.

“I-I was just polishing the floor like I was told to, Master Huac.” She said with an unsteady, but practiced quiver in her voice.

“I can see that quite clearly, but why in all seriousness, are you… crouching? It’s unladylike.  Women do not crouch, they bend over.”

He explained in a haughty manner, as if he had to slow down his manner of speech so that she could comprehend what he was saying.

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but only for a brief second.

“My apologies Master Huac, it’s just more comfortable to clean this way,” she replied in an innocent tone. The sound of audible gasps from the other maids caught her attention which was accompanied with an astonished expression from the country baron.

She wasn’t expecting that.

“You think I care about your comfort?” his voice laced with irritation.

“While you work at my estate, you follow my rules, my orders. If I tell you to cook, you cook. If I tell you to clean, you clean. If I tell you to bend over- well, you should get the picture, because if you don’t, I’ll have you thrown out to the dogs.”

His words were lace with malice, which didn’t even faze her in the slightest.

But it was still important to keep to her ruse, so she put on a pained expression, as if she was fighting back tears and fear, nodding her head furiously.

“A suitable punishment is needed since you clearly don’t understand the hierarchy of proper etiquette within my household.” He informed her as a matter of fact.

“You’ve just lost the privilege of underwear.”

The sheer audacity of the command stunned Yunos.

She could only respond with a bewildered look of shock as she starred at the open hand that Baron Huac extended towards her.
“That uniform was assigned to you, and I can take it away as well if you don’t begin to learn your place. Or would you rather take your chances with my dogs?” he said in a sarcastic hopeful manner, as if he was half expecting her to choose the dogs.

The assassin could barely suppress her killing instinct. She could kill him now; she had more than enough blades hidden on her person to do it. The only problem was that there would be witness. Silencing a witness was one thing, but couldn’t slaughter an entire mansion’s worth.

It had to be done.

With a defiant look of rage in her eyes, she hooked the black lacy undergarment with her fingers from beneath the already short maid uniform and with a quick shimmy, pulled them down. She stepped out of them, reached down to pick them up, and placed in the Baron’s open hand. It was of good quality, snug, and no doubt personally chosen by the Baron himself.

He half smiled half sneered as he held the still warm garment in his hand.

‘At least he didn’t sniff them.’ Yunos said to herself suppressing a shudder.

That probably would have been the breaking point.

“Now you may resume your work. And this time…bend over,” He commanded.

The rage was too much for Yunos to give an appropriate response, so she simply turned around and bent over to take out her aggression on the floor boards, which in her opinion were already polished enough.

“Lower…and on all fours.” The baron taunted above her, while now twirling the piece of undergarment around his finger.

The assassin had to bite her tongue to stop herself from gutting him where he stood. But she had to play along for now. She reluctantly acquiesced to his demands and arched her back, forcing her rear higher into the air and her hair to drag on the floor as she polished.

She could visibly see her knuckles whiten from the sheer force she was using to grip the brush.

“Much better, and if you ever want this back, I will see you in my private office after dinner at sundown…and that is also an order in case you are too slow to figure that out,” He said in a mocking tone as he begin to stride pompously down the hallway, all the while still twirling the fabric around his finger.

The other servants quickly focused back on their own tasks, redoubling their efforts in order to spare themselves from the same humiliation; if only for a little while. The assassin didn’t even look up as she scrubbed the floor even harder.

She had her opening now, and while extracting the necessary information from her.

It would be a long and arduous process.

But she looked forward to it.