the lock

Your lockpicking talents have already helped you out once today. You pull out your trusty tools and attempt to pick the lock.

The lock proves to be a much older and more stubborn construction than the previous, but after about ten minutes of tiring work you manage to crack it. Just as the the door clicks open, you hear a large clatter on the floor just behind you.

You turn around and see a shattered tea pot oozing sticky brown liquid, standing above the mess is a woman almost as tall and broad as you. The shock in her eyes quickly turns to rage. “Intruder!” She bellows. “Assassin!”

Her hand wraps around your neck and pins you to the wall as a girl’s scream comes from the room next door. You try to explain yourself but your words die in your strangled throat.

You feel a warm, wet sensation flowing down your trousers and dripping onto your shoes. When you look down, the tall woman’s knife is pushed deep between your ribs, leaving an open gash from your chest to your pelvis.

The life drains quickly out of your body . Your last thoughts are a silent prayer for the people of your Kingdom.