Swords of Justice
Chapter 20: (Discovery of the Truth)
The assassin climbed down from the tree and hurried toward the village, sword drawn, heading for Princess Hasnaa who stood at the doorway of a house about to enter, holding a letter she was reading. He caught her from behind and struck her with his sword — she fell. The assassin laughed at last; he had managed to carry out the mission after so much trouble. But things were not as simple as they seemed. He stepped closer to the body only to discover it was merely a scarecrow dressed in her royal gown. Before he could comprehend the trick, a spear shot out from behind the door and grazed him; he flipped backward, wounded slightly. The door opened and a woman stepped out, sneering:
"This was entertaining."
In fact, Princess Hasnaa had left with Hamza's group wearing the garb of a villager, accompanying them toward the Swordsmiths' Village to gain support for the coup.
The assassin was astonished and asked, "How did this happen?"
Jalal stepped out from behind and, sword in hand, said, "What Hamza expected happened."
"Last night Hamza gathered us to explain the plan: 'The assassin's primary objective is the Princess — even if I leave the village and the Princess stays, he will prioritize the mission over revenge. So we will make him believe the Princess remains here. The strongest fighters among us will leave so he thinks the operation will be easier and won't hesitate. To make it seem more plausible, Jalal must stay here — because Jalal would never abandon the Princess he is supposed to protect — and leave her behind.'"
"Jalal: Do you mean I should let the Princess leave with you while I stay? Impossible — I must protect her. I will go with you."
"Hamza: You can't do that. He won't believe it; he'll suspect the ruse."
"Hasnaa: Don't worry, Jalal. They will protect me — they are the strongest men. Don't be afraid."
"Salman: Don't worry, I will be with her."
After much insistence from the Princess, Jalal reluctantly agreed for the plan's sake. But Qasim intervened: "Don't underestimate assassins. He's watching us now. He'll know we faked the Princess."
"Hamza: Don't worry. You told us you killed his twin, didn't you? He's broken now and putting all his focus on men — seeking revenge — so he's not watching the Princess. We must fake her now."
"Jalal: That's what happened, Master Assassin."
"The Assassin: You exploited my weakness, you scoundrels."
The other men surrounded him until he had no escape. Jalal put the tip of his sword to the assassin's shoulder and said, "Alright. You will tell me everything. Who sent you? Why are you doing this? How long have you been doing it? How many people have you killed?"
"The Assassin: I'd rather cut out my tongue than tell you."
"Jalal: In any case, I know you won't tell me everything with a golden plate, so I'll force you the hard way."
Jalal lunged at the assassin with his sword, but the latter flipped away and then sprang toward him. Jalal parried the blow and pushed him back, then ran in to strike. The assassin blocked and kicked him in the belly.
Jalal stepped back, watching him, and said, "I see you've been carrying out tasks like this for a long time. Tahir used to hire the best assassins to achieve his goals."
The assassin laughed. "Yes. We deserve a lot — we're the best."
"Jalal: You're fighting the commander of a thousand men, waging battles against the Kingdom of Malkana. Don't think some lowlife like you, fighting from the shadows, can defeat me."
The assassin's face darkened. "We'll see who the lowlife is now!"
He hurled sharp projectiles at Jalal, who deflected them with his sword, but the assassin gave him no time to rest and followed with a close-range sword attack. Jalal — a professional fighter — escaped the stroke but the assassin clipped his hand and a little blood spilled.
The assassin laughed. "Nice. If you were someone else, you'd be dead now. Anyway, I'll tell you everything — you're going to die anyway… It's true: Minister Tahir ordered us to assassinate the Princess, and this was the first mission of its kind."
"Jalal: What do you mean?"
"The Assassin: It's the first time he tasked us with killing someone from the royal family."
"Jalal: Then whom did you kill?"
"The Assassin: I know I'll expose many secrets, but it doesn't matter — I'll kill you and everyone here afterward… It all began five years ago, when one of the palace ministers offered us money to assassinate certain soldiers, commanders, and some ministers. We never asked questions — money was all that mattered."
"Jalal: You said ministers, but the only minister who was killed was the Minister of Servants."
"The Assassin: In truth there were two."
"Jalal: Two?"
The assassin smiled. "Yes. If I recall, his name was Yunus." He laughed wickedly. "He's the only one whose name I remember because I killed him myself without my brothers' help — that was an achievement for me."
Jalal shouted, "You're a liar. He died of the plague and suffered greatly."
The assassin laughed. "No, you fool. Minister Tahir told me Yunus was the king's closest confidant and thus an obstacle. He told me to kill him in an extraordinary way so it would seem natural. So one night I entered his chamber while he slept and injected him with a syringe containing the deadly plague — he died from it." He laughed hysterically. "Can you believe it? Usually we kill people quickly without them knowing, but this man suffered for weeks from a disease that tore him apart from within. He was alone, no one near him, locked in his miserable room. Can you believe they left his body there for weeks for fear of contagion? Finally, after his corpse had begun to decompose and the worms had eaten him, they decided to take him out and burn him with all his belongings."
Jalal fell silent after hearing what had happened to the man he once considered a father — such an end: loneliness, humiliation, pain… No one could imagine it. It was as if an apple had been thrown into filth, left alone to rot, eaten by worms, then burned with the rest of the refuse.
The assassin advanced and said, "That will be my second achievement: to kill all of you myself and then kill the Princess who escaped."
Jalal rose without a word. He said nothing, but his look terrified everyone present, like a great volcano about to erupt.
To be continued...