Mika's secret

Mika felt badly about how she had manipulated the trusting young initiate of the Church, but it was for Winlay's own good. If things went right today, the High Priest of Xelta would never again violate the trust of eager young initiates like Winlay. Mika had not lied yesterday about the way that fat pig Beldan had licked his chops when he saw the lovely full-breasted brunette. Furthermore, Winlay must have seen it too, even if she refused to acknowledge it, because getting her to agree to switch times with her had been far easier than Mika thought. Especially after Sister Winlay's encounter with Prudence and her conversation with Sister Margaret, Mika's innocent sounding reminder about Beldan having two full hours to interview the nervous girl was all it took.

Perhaps she had even overdone it. Mika had not expected to spend last night in Winlay's arms, but the girl was badly shaken and needed comfort. She had not for an instant planned on seducing the curvy brunette and the wild passion that the two had shared had surprised Mika as much as it had Winlay. It was just as well that Mika would never see Winlay again, Mika reflected a little sadly. After last night's intimacy Mika would have a hard time trying to explain how she had lied to the trusting young woman about who she was and the real reason that she was here in Telnon.

Mika didn't have much time after breakfast to get ready, and she needed to get back to her room to retrieve a few special items before her appointment with the High Priest. To her relief Sister Winlay volunteered to help do the breakfast dishes so Mika would have the privacy she needed. Winlay was a sweetheart, but she would not understand, and Mika did not want her to be responsible in any way for what she was going to do.

Back in her room, Mika emptied the contents of the hidden sack onto her bed. She quickly changed into the two-sided reversible robes that had been made especially for this mission. The robes were the gray of the initiates on the outside, but the inside lining was the white of a fully ordained sister, she tied the distinctive scarlet cords of a Church Herald around her waist hidden under her robes. In all likelihood, she'd have to leave the Holy Palace quickly. What better way to bypass the many checkpoints and guards of the palace than to pretend to be one of the elite messengers sworn to service of Xelta? It was a very different Mika from the mischievous friend that Winlay knew who strapped the steel killing-knife to her left thigh with practiced familiarity.

The burlap bag had been exactly where the mission planners had promised she'd find it. Retrieving the sack had been easy enough yesterday although she had been spotted by someone as she had climbed the convent walls. The last item in the sack, as promised, was a lacquered scroll sealed with red wax. Mika had been warned about the scroll case and handled it with extra care as she fastened it to her hemp cords. She had protested when the Elder had told her about the trapped item, she wanted Beldan to die in terror like so many of his victims, but bowed to the will of the grandmaster. Mika had learned many things in her years of training with the Chevalier, not the least of which was humility and obedience.

Mika's regular gray robes were tossed in a laundry basket on her way out of the dormitories and the burlap sack dropped into a trash bin by the door. With all traces of her illicit activities erased Mika left the Convent for her interview with the High Priest in a confident mood. He might be looking forward to the seduction and defilement of yet another of the Church's finest young initiates, but not as much as she was looking forward to slicing his fat belly open from his sternum to his dick.

Unlike Winlay, Mika was no an innocent initiate of the Church of Xelta full of goodness and faith in her fellow human beings. Mika was an assassin trained by the best known killers on Pandora; and her assignment today was to end the miserable life of that pompous pig the High Priest of Xelta.