My clothes sat on my skin with itching and discomfort, and I was annoyed by my own rashing body. I wasn't aware that mead was made from yeast and grain, but somehow even in liquid, I can't stand the shit. My head was pounding, my eyes and lips drier every minute. My head bobbed as the horse cart's tidy wheels dipped into mud and knocked a dry bump next to it. I'd made it to France in only a month, wondering just how far I needed to travel before home was too far back. I knew what helped stop the Plague, but not what it was, or how to kill it. If I turned back now, The Manager would take back the scythe and remove my head. I'd rather take another drink.

I woke up somehow groggier, hours later, to the mooing of cows. A herd of them stared at the carriage as its wheels sunk into the mud and stuck. The jockey yelled for me to help push. I could barely see past my own eyes, which refused to open, nor the grey clouds obscuring all 'round. I tried to remember what I was even doing here as I climbed off the carriage and blindly found my way into a steep patch of thick, boggy mud. My boots squelched up to my heels with each slow step. I finally convinced my eyes to see, and put my hands on a wheel to pull the carriage forward. The jockey looked nervous – perhaps of bandits. I was already annoyed when an arrow bounced off my scythe's blade, and I realized at once its lustre made me a target. The cows mooed like horns to their herd, and paddled their hooves on the grass to run. With blood's rush and hurry, we yanked the carriage hard as we could, and the horse freaked so much it pulled the whole thing out the rest of the way. I tried to jump back onto the carriage, but the jockey climbed up first and turned the whole thing around, back whence he came. I was left behind, with the cold and wet seeping in and the threat of arrows still fresh. I climbed out of the mud and onto a patch of grass, only to find myself completely surrounded by swords. They lowered my way from the outstretched arms of tall men in dull metal helmets, with chain-mail and banners.

I was taken to a stone tower not too far away, three houses wide and two tall, but only in the middle. Red flags with gold lions flowed heavy in the damp, slow wind, lit visible by torches in the windows. It was a small fortress, but for whom, I couldn't guess. I yawned as I was pushed into the grand hall by two soldiers who each held an arm as if I'd been caught pissing in the grain. Which I did do, before I left home. The fort was warmer inside, but not by much. On the throne sat a small boy, with two women behind him. He wore a crown, but they wore serious faces. His glazed eyes lit up to look me over.
He asked, "Is he a prisoner? From the other side?" His accent was French, as expected, but levvy. Mixed home?
The taller woman was white-haired but young yet, strong of chest, back, brow and cheek. Had she not been in a fine blue dress of white detail, I'd have mistaken her for a warrior. She spoke first. "He was found outside, dressed very unlike a peasant, and with a blade too fine for a reaper." Her shoulders straightened with purpose. In her accent, there was German, spoken soft but loud.
A soldier removed my skull helm, and when the boy saw my face, he was both interested and angry.
He yelped, "A bully! An older boy!"
The other woman, red of lock and amicable of face, and curves in bodice like a pirate, spoke next. Her thick red lips moved softly as she said, "He could be an assassin, sent to kill you, my duke." Her accent was neutrally British, the kind almost no actual British person has. Like someone playing a part in theatre.
The boy was alarmed. "No! I don't want to be killed! Save me, Mistress!"
The luscious woman looked not hurt, but slighted. Like The Mistress had won a round. I was uncomfortable to realize The Pirate looked near-identical to my mother, as well as I could recall her. Maybe my memory for faces had improved recently?
"Don't worry," The Mistress cooed, "We won't let anything happen to our duke."
I noticed the way she'd said "duke" was not the same way he said "Mistress"; there was no capital 'd', no emphasis, no sense of importance about him. He was merely a pawn, of little real consequence.
The Pirate saw a light, and snatched it from the moment. "OR! We could send him to kill your rival, posed as no more than himself – without the ostentatious mask, of course."
I protested, "That mask is my father's head into helm. It's a family heirloom... now."
The Pirate grinned, and behind her grin was fire on a wick that's burned for a very long time. "Perfect. We'll hold onto it, until you complete your task. You'll pretend to offer your services, and when his back is turned, you'll take his neck in your scythe and draw."
"Mind me asking," I groaned, "what a Pirate is doing as sir duke's advisor?"
"PIRATE?!" She guffawed. "Ohhh, ho-ho, no. I'm no pirate, I'm his Lover-to-be. When he's older."
Somehow, that made my stomach sink, and I saw the duke as if he'd crawled on my leg at dinner – I wanted to squash him. "He's a child."
The boy sensed awkward air, and claimed it. "She will be my bride when I'm king, and bair my children. She is as lovely as... uh, an apple. A bushel of apples!"
She snickered with charm, and leered at me as she leaned over to kiss and stroke his face from behind. I wondered if my mother had been equally capable of such a plot – but this wasn't her, just her mirror soul.
The Mistress rolled her eyes. "Come, assassin. I'll escort you to lend your presence noble."
She started walking, and I followed, back down the carpeted hall. The mudprints of my boots had left no more stains than what burnt brown had already soaked its way through, blotched across its yellow-trimmed, red fabric. Seemed an utter waste to even have it there, but I supposed it warmed the floor.
The Mistress was impatient with me, staring at the ground. "Assassin, please. Do hurry."
"I'm the Reaper, actually," I replied, "and why would the other duke see either of us?"
The Mistress side-saw me with wry. "I'm this war's mediator, its channel for peace. All words not by mail are by my tongue, and mine alone."
"How are you then to stay blade once suspect?"
She looked forward as we left the big doors and pulled our hoods up. "By being behind whoever's holding it."

We walked for what felt too short a time, to the other fortress. It was identical, with only a blue shift to the cloth of the lions' flags. In torchlight and overcast, they could have been the same color. We entered the grand hall, past soldiers lined up in similar helm and mail, and to the throne where sat the duke's twin, as far as I was concerned. His handler was a tall but skinny man of pale face and brown hair, with the same glass discs The Lady had, perched on his nose. He was wearing some kind of dress-robe with buttons and a vest, under a long leather jacket with matching boots. He didn't wait for us to speak.
"What plot is this?" he posed, in scholar's English – the type you only had if you practiced.
I spoke first. "I am The Reaper, sir. I've come to-"
"A moor of ruddy accent, in traveler's garb. Let me guess, a thief by trade. Do you intend to levvy us of our hoard? Because we don't intend to let you." The thin bristles on his square chin called of my father's, and I wondered if he'd fright to see my helm for HIS twin.
I was about to respond, but the Mistress huffed and shouted, "Scholar, you insult me!! Would I travel with thieves and have you knowingly host one?"
"Not knowingly, no," The Scholar cracked.
Nobody had yet addressed the twin duke, that was bad form. I knelt and put my hand on my chest. "Duke of Blue Lion's hold, I am an assassin sent by your twin to murder you. Instead, I offer you my services. Forgive my dour presence, let not my bloodied hands stain your walls."
The Mistress raised her eyebrows, unsure.
The Scholar looked me over. "Clever, but a little too complicated. If I was you, I'd have stuck with-"
The blue duke raised his hand, and at once The Scholar closed his mouth, looking mildly disgraced.
The duke spoke, "Forgive my teacher, he lessons well and then forgets himself. I accept your services, and I would like you to kill my brother in his sleep so I may one day be king." His accent was French to be sure, but of learned English in its upper layer. His natural voice seemed higher than The Scholar had apparently asked of him. "First, you'll speak to my Lancer and Strongman. They're in the yard, I think they'll meet you well."
I asked, "Why am I to meet them?"
The duke paused, and The Scholar whispered in his ear. As he did so, the duke blushed and his mouth gaped. He must have reacted to the warmth on his face in a way that was new to him. The Scholar caught it, and glared, appearing to scold the boy for his nature. I squinted, and guessed that like the red duke, this one would have to wait. Still red at face, he said, "Before you betray our trust, you'll learn who we are to trust in."
I nodded, and expected The Mistress to lead me to the yard, but she was taking her place next to The Scholar, only difference being that The Lover had stood o'r there where she now stands here. An exact reflection.