The emperor was sitting in his bed when the assassin came in through the window.
“Welcome, old friend.”
“Wait,” the assassin wheezed.
The emperor waited for him to catch his breath.
“I’m too old for this,” the assassin said at last.
The emperor smiled. “It’s been over sixty years since the first time you came to kill me.”
“Mm. And a dozen times more. Yet you are still alive. You always were persuasive.”
“I hope I still am. I would ask you to do it now.”
“What?”
“I am dying, with only a few months left. And the pain grows every day.” The emperor made a grimace. “You’ll finally get paid.”
“I won’t kill you for money,” the assassin said. “Not anymore.”
“Would you kill me for the sake of friendship?”
Nobody saw the assassin leave, after.
Posted as a two- and three-part story to Mastodon and BlueSky respectively, and as a single post on Tumblr and Facebook, on December 20th 2025.
I have written many stories about the emperor and the assassin coming to kill him, and may well write more in the future, but this is one possible end to their tale.