Some would call Lyle and his organization the dogs of the empire, listening to their beck and call. That, however, was not true, the organization simply had an agreement with the empire, and the higher-ups of the organization would be given free rein in the empire as long as they followed a couple of rules.
Do not kill the important nobles of the empire without first contacting the royal family and ministers and showing proof of misconduct of those nobles.
If any noble was accused of being a spy, the organization had to help the empire and find proof that would either clear the accused or show that the accused truly was a spy.
Never work against the empire, taking jobs in other kingdoms and empires was fine, but do not take any jobs that would upon their completion weaken the empire.
That has how it has been for decades, and that is how the organization and its connection with the empire would continue. Nobody from the organization meddled in politics, and neither did they meddle in the squabble the noble houses had against one another, that was something that other, less reputable organizations did.
The organization wanted to exist for a long time, and thus they had made this agreement with the empire. Most of the time, the ones that Lyle and his peers were tasked to kill or spy on were criminals, mercenary groups, minor nobles that held no power in the empire, and those similar to them.
Assassination requests from the empire were also something that they would take, assassinating nobles of neighboring kingdoms was something that the organization gladly did as the payment for such missions was high.
As for Lyle, he did 2 of such missions and was successful, both times, however, he almost lost his life.
The mission he was taking this time might even be more dangerous, he was in the castle of the young duke, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and mages, not to mention a couple of knights and the knight captain who was quite powerful.
The biggest threat, however, was the archmage. It was of utmost importance that Lyle assassinates the duke before the archmage arrives, otherwise his mission would probably fail.
As Lyle moved through the corridors, he used his daggers with great precision, sometimes he would throw them at his enemies and kill them instantly with a well-placed throw. Other times he would simply run past the surprised guards whose throats had been cut open.
Once Lyle even came across three guards. All three had their backs turned to him and he was able to come quite close before they realized that somebody was there.
He used his two daggers and quickly stabbed the two guards on the left and right before jumping above the third one who was right in front of him.
The guard was in the middle of turning around when a pair of hands grabbed his head. Lyle spun as he was coming down on the ground before twisting the guard's neck and breaking it instantly. With the help of gravity, he was able to not only twist the neck but throw the whole body to the side.
The three guards all died with their eyes wide open, not knowing what happened until the very end.
Lyle kept going, the three guards had made sounds during their deaths and their three bodies collapsing would perhaps draw some attention. He quickly moved through the hallways and continued his onslaught.
None of the enemy guards, no matter how alert they thought they were, were able to notice him before their untimely death.
Even though Lyle was young, his natural talent and strength were what allowed him to become one of the top assassins in the organization. When it came to elite soldiers, perhaps only the royal guards, whose strength was at the top of the empire, would be able to notice him before he attacked them.
These guys, no matter how shiny their armor was and expensive their equipment was, were simply not battle-hardened soldiers. All of those had left the city a while ago after fuming with rage and disappointment at the young duke.
They had all followed his father through his battles and were ready to go to hell and back for revenge, but the young duke cared not about it.
He made sure to suppress the soldiers, but dared not try anything else, amongst them were multiple men whose power was not to be underestimated, not even the archmage could defeat them.
Lyle continued moving, he gathered that soon some of the guards would find it weird that some patrols had disappeared, while a patrol he missed might have already stumbled upon the corpses.
He reached the end of the hallway, and a great wooden door that was inlaid with gold stood in front of him. The width of the door was 2 meters ( 78 inches) and it was about 3 meters ( 118 inches) high.
Lyle stopped in front of the door and just as he was about to knock, he stopped as he was able to hear cries of pain and the laughter of a man coming from inside.
Lyle didn't know why, but he felt anger. It wasn't the kind that would force him to act purely out of emotions and cloud his judgment, it was a subtle feeling of anger that he felt towards the young man who was in the room in front of him.
Lyle had to work for everything he had, ever since he knew about himself, he was struggling and fighting in order to simply live.
His childhood was spent in orphanages and the streets. Nobody that came to the orphanage to adopt ever chose him, he had no idea why at least not at the time.
The changes he went through at night were present since he was 7. He was scared of it but never told anyone as he feared what they might do to him if they found out that he was different.
He spent his time pickpocketing on the streets, he became very good at it and by the age of 12, he could steal a man's purse in less than a second, even if that person was looking at him and knew what he was going to do.
It was at that age when he was caught. Upon trying to steal from a man, the man grabbed him with a speed that his eyes couldn't follow. That day became a turning point for him, the man saw his potential and asked him if he wanted to join the organization.
He promised a warm bed, food, and a sense of finally belonging somewhere. Lyle of course said no, even though he was a kid, he wasn't a fool that could simply be tricked so easily.
It was only after the man showed him his skills and persuaded him to at least check the place out that he joined them.
The man was strong, even to the current Lyle, he was a figure he could only look up to. Somebody like that had no reason to lie to a kid, that was what he thought back then, and he was right.
Joining the organization was the best thing he ever did and his life changed from that moment.
The training sessions and theory tests were difficult and by the very end, only Lyle and 4 more people managed to pass. In the beginning, there had been over 100 of them.
He spent years reaching this level and finally could somewhat live in comfort. But the person at the other end of the door was the opposite.
He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had parents that cared for him and he could get anything he wished for simply by saying it.
No hardships, no struggles, the young duke had none of them.
And yet he plotted against his parents and was the cause of their death. He took over his father's territory, and for what, for a title, for the satisfaction of now having nobody that was above him in his territory?
Not only that, but he was a bastard, one that Lyle truly disliked. He wouldn't say he hated him, he wouldn't say he hated anyone. It was too powerful of emotion, one that a good assassin had no need for, the same went for love.
Being with a woman was one thing, it was a physical need that had to be fulfilled from time to time. But falling in love, loving a person more than you love yourself?
That was something fools did, and assassins couldn't be fools.
Hearing the screams of the young woman behind the door woke Lyle out of his stupor. It was rare for him to stop and start thinking so deeply during a mission. He would need to clear his thoughts until the end of the mission and meditate for some time after finishing it.
He had to know why he suddenly felt such emotions and control them, he didn't want them to interfere with any of his missions in the future.
He didn't bother knocking, he simply grabbed the door handle before opening the door and entering the room.