[Mekatra]

Joane ran a hand through her hair to smooth it down and cool her frustrated nerves. "At the end of the day we are all the king's dogs, only here to do his bidding... but, you'll notice that those of us that are good at it, we are treated very well. Yes, you'll be at his beck and call, but since your job is secret, something you need to work on keeping..." She narrowed her eyes at him. "He'll have to explain your presence in another way. The assigned story, as you heard and immediately refuted, is that you are the bastard son of the Queen's cousin. The cousin she chose is deceased. You have a living half-brother, but he's away at the moment. He'll probably hate you when he arrives. Don't worry, he's not in her majesty's favor anyway. He's a letch and a fool." She clucked her tongue and leaned against the wall. "Have you finished eating? We have a lot to do? Anyway, you're to be trained up to be presented at court by me, because my story is not so dissimilar, though mine is a true one."

The knight stretched and pulled up one of the floorboards to pull out a few sheathed daggers and other strange tools that were most certainly not used by chivalrous knights. "It is my job to make you fit in a court, but also to teach your the tricks of your trade."

[Crystalkitsune85]

Trevor tried to process all of this information as she spoke. So, he was going to be presented as a noble person to the court, as the bastard of the Queen's cousin. So he'll have to remember names and faces as well as learn to conduct himself among royalty, as well as learn the trade of an assassin. His head was reeling but all he did was sit back down.

"Yeah I'm done," he said pushing the rest of the food away. Suddenly what he did eat set in his stomach like a brick. He took a sip of water and then stood back up. "So does this mean I also need to be schooled as well? I mean I do know math and I know how to read and write a little," he said. "But I'm guessing that's not enough for someone of my future status eh?"

[Mekatra]

Joane checked the blades on the daggers and slid them back into their sheathes. "You will have to be better than those around you... smarter, more charming... because of your background." She sighed softly and held one of the daggers out to him hilt first. "Treat this with care. You'll be supplied with others once you complete your training, but these were smithed in the forge deep beneath the altar of the shadow god."

She tapped a little mask tattoo on her wrist. "Are you religious?"

[Crystalkitsune85]

He watched as she went through a few sheathed daggers and he took the one he was handed. The scabbard had two small straps on the back and he rolled up his sleeve and concealed it under his long sleeve, blade inward so he could pull it out if needed.

"Do I get a fancy outfit too m'lady?" he asked. "Coal black and with a mask to help with concealment in the shadows?" He gave her a cheeky smile as he tilted his head. "I guess the threads come after I graduate assassin school?"

[Mekatra]

"You didn't answer my question," she pointed out with a little sigh. "Yes, you will get clothing and perhaps armor." She clucked her tongue at him and then turned abruptly and started toward the door. "Alright, I'm going to climb a ladder to get to the roof. You're not allowed to use one. You're a cat, so I assume you're good at climbing. If you beat me up there, you won't have extra work... if I beat you you'll have to run two laps all the way around the castle." She snapped her fingers and headed down the side of the building.

[Crystalkitsune85]

He avoided her question on purpose. He wasn't religious and he probably would never be. He rolled his eyes and slipped out of the window. He looked around to assess the situation of how to get up to the roof. He saw some rain gutters but those were flimsy at best. He jumped up to the top of the shutter that was hooked to the window. He then grabbed onto the edge of the window on the top and started doing a slow climb upward.

He usually had *some* tools to help him. Like a grappling hook or some pitch for his hands to help with grip. He gritted his teeth as he slipped a few times but scrambled up to the edge of the roof and then crawled over to the top. He plopped down and licked a few scratches.

[Mekatra]

"At least you didn't fall to your death." Joane mused aloud as she joined him on the edge of the roof. "I know what you're probably thinking, wouldn't the king's assassin have all the best tools? You're right, you will, but if you train without them at first, you'll be able to function if they are lost to you. It helped me out several times." She pointed to the tower on the western side of the castle. "Next target. Be careful, I didn't warn the guards what we were doing. Try not to get caught. They might shoot you with a crossbow before I can explain who you are." She winked and hopped up, heading toward where she would meet him at the top of the tower.

At least his instincts were good. She wasn't sure if he was equally good at climbing during the day when he didn't have his feline form, but she also wasn't sure that he would be doing much work during the day so it might not matter.

[Crystalkitsune85]

He huffed and he got down to his belly and skittered along the surface of the roof, making his way over to the tower that jutted from one corner of the castle. He found a patch of roofing that was missing with some exposed tar that was still sticky. He placed his hands into it, to get some traction on his next climb.

He put some on his bare feet as well, since he wasn't wearing any shoes or stockings either. He pressed his back against the tower wall, and looked up. There were some looser stones on the side away from the window. He used the bricks that stuck out some as hand and footholds to make his way up the side of the tower.

He breathed quietly and hefted his way up to the roof as quickly and soundlessly as he could. When he finally got to the top, he was a bit winded but wasn't so out of breath he was hindered.

[Mekatra]

The knight was already up there waiting on him when he arrived. She looked up from picking under her fingernails with the point of a dagger. "About time you joined me." She teased and looked over the edge of the tower. "And no guards, that's good. You're not a total lost cause." She sounded fairly pleased.

She patted the side of the roof where she was sitting. "This is the highest vantage point in the whole city. I want you to climb up here every night and draw a map of the castle, then start mapping the city. Find out its secrets, know every road and rooftop like you're a rat on the street." She looked up at the sky. "You'll do that in the day before you go to sleep."

[Crystalkitsune85]

Trevor rubbed at his palms slightly to roll the tar off. "It'd of been faster if I had my tools," he said. "I know all of the slum areas already," he said hooking a thumb towards the lesser kept areas he lived in. The buildings were short and poorly made. The streets, though made of cobble, were cracked, dirty and caked with horse shit and dirt. "It's the richer part of town that I was memorizing when you caught me. Working my way up sort of speak," he said.

"But sure. I have a really good memory for town layouts. One has to, in order to know which way to go. The only reason you caught me is that I was trying a part of the city that I wasn't entirely familiar with." he shrugged. "So it shouldn't take too long to memorize the rest of it."

[Mekatra]

Joane clucked her tongue at him. "I said make maps, not memorize. It's helpful to have it all in your head, but if you have maps, and keep them updated, then you don't have to rely entirely on your mind." She shook her head slightly and looked over at the slums. "I know well the slums. I grew up there myself. That's where I learned what I am teaching you now."

She slid off the side of the tower and caught a couple handholds on the way down to slow her descent. Once she was on the ground she whistled up at him. "We'll go work on some fighting techniques."

[Crystalkitsune85]

He followed suit, still being quiet so he wouldn't alarm the guards. He figured all times were training time and if he faltered at any time, he'd be reprimanded for it. So he followed her down to the ground and then followed her. "Just supply me with parchment and a pencil then. I'll draw up a map," he said "Or maybe better yet, leather...Parchment makes noises if stuffed in a shirt." he said as an afterthought.

He followed Joane wherever she was leading him. He scratched one of his ears as they walked. "So you're from the slums too? Were you abandoned like I was?" he asked. "I was considered a freak so I guess there's a reason to why I was. But what about you?"

[Mekatra]

"Now you're starting to think... so since you need some leather and something to write with, perhaps that should be your next little training exercises. There are some hides for writing in the king's study. If you get caught by the guards you'll spend the rest of the night in lock up until the king wakes to pardon you in the morning." She had brought him to the courtyard of the castle. "You'll have to do twice the work tomorrow to make up for the rest of the missed night."

She considered brushing off his questions, not really wanting to speak about herself. "My mother was a maid in my father's house. When she became pregnant my father's wife cast her out and she eventually ended up in a brothel. I was raised there. The woman that ran our brothel was a devotee of the masked god, so when she saw I had a talent for slipping around unseen she convinced my mother to take me to the shadowed temple. I was trained... and then worked in the slums and lower quarter until my father came looking for his lost progeny. All of my siblings had died in childbirth so he spurned his wife and thought to seek out my mother and I... Thus I became nobility."

[Crystalkitsune85]

When he heard he had to sneak into the king's study he twitched internally again. "Are all my tasks going to be fetching quests to get whatever I need? You saw my skills. I've still not proved myself? I've been sneaking through windows for years and getting away with it. I think I should be learning that combat stuff you mentioned." he said planting his hands on his hips. "The map leathers I'm sure will be best asked for then stolen...So please can you teach me something that I don't know? Better use of both of our time really."

[Mekatra]

At his show of defiance Joane raised a brow and then nodded. "You know what, yes... I will show you some combat things since you want to know them so badly, and then you'll sneak in and get what you are supposed to. By then, the valet may be rousing to light the fireplace in his majesty's study so it could provide a more appropriate challenge for the master thief that you so clearly are." Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she headed down a narrow path between two buildings and ended up in an enclosed training yard. She removed her shoes and pointed to a circle painted on the ground. "We'll start with hand to hand, since it is among the most important skills. Once again, start without tools, then you won't be lost if you lose them. I'll walk you through breaking basic holds and throwing an opponent so you'll have time to get away."

Unfortunately for him, having trained as a knight as well as her shadow training, he was in for a rough couple hours. She wouldn't show him any mercy just because he was a novice and would be just as rough with her throws as she would be in a real match, though she was careful not to break any bones. He would, however, have a few nasty new bruises.

This became his new routine. She would start the evening with some warm ups like climbing the tower and racing across the rooftops of the noble quarter, then a few hours of hand to hand combat, followed by a few hours of tutoring. Nearly two weeks later she nudged him an hour or so before sundown. "Her majesty has invited us to dinner."

[Crystalkitsune85]

He had grown muscles in that two weeks of intense training. He was thin before and wasn't like buff now, but had gotten muscle and had gained weight from regular feedings. He was a quick learner so he was able to keep up pretty well with Joane, though he never worked so hard in his life.

"Dinner? I don't really have anything proper to wear to a dinner with the King." he said with a frown. "Unless you've been holding out on me." he said his dark tail swishing idly behind him as he spoke.