“I think we’re on a wild-goose chase,” Oskar said. “Should we stay the night and ride back in the morning?”
Allen blew out a sigh. “I suppose we’d better. He’s not going to be very happy that she lied to him.”
“No, poor girl.”
They went back in, negotiated an only moderately obscene price for two rooms, and went upstairs to rest. As soon as the door closed behind him, Allen dug out Lord Shenk’s magical toy, composed his thoughts, and snapped it. “The locals have no memory of Jade. She lied.”
A little spark ran up his spine and then the tube disintegrated. Whether it worked or not, he couldn’t say.
Allen eyed the lumpy, straw-filled mattress and grimaced. Maybe a quick nap, then he’d tend to the horses. His mission here was complete and, cold or not, he was eager to get home.
Some people thought Allen was paranoid. But he didn’t mind. When you dealt with violent, dangerous people for a living, precautions weren’t only prudent, they were a necessity. So when the stool he’d tucked under the door to reinforce the meager latch came crashing to the floor, he was up and out of bed in an instant.
A good thing too. A crossbow bolt buried itself in the mattress where he’d been lying a moment before.
He freed his sword in time to meet a swing from the dark blur that came charging into the room.
Shouts from outside argued that Oskar was having problems of his own.
Great, no reinforcements would be forthcoming. At least not anytime soon.
Allen shoved his attacker away. His eyes had adjusted enough to the light that he could make out the figure’s dark clothes and straight-bladed shortsword. A mask covered the lower part of his face leaving only dark eyes and thin eyebrows visible. Just inside the door, an empty crossbow lay on the floor.
He had the advantage of reach and his opponent had the advantage of being dressed and fully awake. So it should be an even fight.
The killer looked back over his shoulder and Allen lunged.
A quick spin carried his target out of the way. Allen nearly lost his hand to his opponent’s counter.
He squared up again, determined not to make another mistake.
The only way out for the assassin was through Allen or over the railing where a long drop to the common room floor waited.
Time was on Allen’s side.
Hopefully Oskar would win his fight and come help. If they captured the man in black, Lord Shenk would no doubt be very happy to make his acquaintance.
The assassin seemed to understand his situation as he eyed Allen then the railing.
“Go ahead and jump,” Allen said. “You’ll be much easier to deal with nursing a broken leg.”
The man in black gave a soft growl and attacked.
Allen parried a slash, countered with a thrust that forced the attacker to backpedal. Behind him the battle had gone silent.
A moment later Oskar said, “Allen? Are you okay?”
“For the moment. Any chance you can give me a hand here?”
The sound of boots on wood was followed by Oskar stopping beside him. Lord Shenk’s agent had a shallow cut on his left arm that oozed blood, but otherwise he appeared unharmed.
“Do you always sleep with your boots on?” Allen asked.
“I do when I’m on a mission. You never know what might happen.”
Allen could hardly argue with that. “You go high, I’ll go low. Let’s try and take him in one piece.”
“You won’t take me alive.” Allen had just time enough to realize the assassin was a woman before she leapt over the rail.
He looked down. She landed on her sword, driving it all the way through her body and out her back.
Allen and Oskar shared a look. That certainly hadn’t been the response Allen expected.
“A fanatic of some sort,” Oskar said. “We may have stumbled into something bigger than I first thought. Can you send another message to Lord Shenk? He’ll want to know about this.”
“No. He only gave me one of those magic things. Let’s get ready and search the bodies. I don’t know about you, but more sleep seems unlikely to me.”
“Agreed. The sooner we’re back in Rolan City, the better.”
Ten minutes later found Allen and Oskar in the latter’s room standing beside a black-clad body with a deep, foot-long slash in its chest. This one was clearly a man. Allen pulled his mask off and tossed it aside. Maybe a boy would be more accurate. He looked about sixteen, if that.
A quick pat-down revealed no pockets in his black garb. They found nothing but his weapons. Downstairs, the woman—she looked a year or two older than her companion—had a similar lack of possessions. They didn’t even have a coin between them.
A door slammed and they both spun, swords drawn. The innkeeper glared at them. “What’s all the noise? Can’t a body get some sleep without you out-of-towners tearing the place up?”
“We were attacked,” Oskar said. “Perhaps you’ll recognize the people involved. Come take a look.”
Oskar’s tone brooked no refusal so the old man shuffled over to stare down at the dead woman. “Never seen her before.”
The boy upstairs drew the same response. They’d hit a dead end, literally.
Chapter 13
Wolfric and Jade sat side by side in his lounge, sipping wine and enjoying the roaring fire. The warm glow made her look even more beautiful in her black dress. She still wore the same simple, silver jewelry as that first night. He’d even offered to buy her something else as a gift and she declined, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea.
And by anyone he assumed she meant Otto. Jade seemed much more at ease without him around. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. Even knowing him as well as Wolfric did, he couldn’t deny his friend had moments of… intensity, that some found disconcerting. For a young woman like Jade, meeting him for the first time, he fully understood how she might have been overwhelmed.
Still, all things considered, the luncheon had gone well. Nothing happened that led him to believe there was a problem. And her own behavior had been beyond reproach. Which made what he planned to do tonight even easier.
“I love you,” Wolfric said. “You know that, right?”
“I do, but a girl likes to hear it said.” She smiled, her lips glistening with wine. “I love you too. You are easily the finest man I’ve ever met.”
He slipped off the sofa and onto one knee. “Then marry me. We’ll rule the empire side by side.”
Her eyes widened and her hands shook. For a moment he feared she might say no. Then she slipped her trembling hand into his. “Yes.”
Wolfric reached into his pocket, pulled out a gold ring, and slipped it over her finger. It had two rubies flanking a large diamond. He’d wondered on occasion if he’d ever find someone to give it to. The moment he saw Jade, he knew he finally had.
“Oh, Wolfric, it’s beautiful.” She threw herself into his arms.
After a moment of enjoying the feeling of her wrapped around him he said, “It was my mother’s. Father gave it to her when he proposed. He always hoped I’d find someone I loved as much as he did Mother to give it to. I wish he was here to meet you.”
“I’m sure we would have gotten along, especially if he was anything like you.”
Wolfric smiled but didn’t point out just how different he and his father had been. There was no need to dredge up bad memories, not tonight. Not now.
He scooped her up into his arms. “I think it’s time to celebrate.”
“Mmm.” She groaned and kissed his neck. “I like that idea.”
Chapter 14
Half an hour before midnight, his battle gear—which consisted of his mithril sword and a fine dagger—strapped to his belt, Otto went to Annamaria’s room. Axel and the scouts were on patrol and would remain so until he returned. If he hadn’t returned by morning, they could assume he wasn’t coming back and neither was Abby.
Otto shook off the negative thought. No kidnapper, no matter h
ow skilled, had the power to defeat him. He would find whoever perpetuated this insult and deal with him accordingly.
He turned down the hall to Annamaria’s room and found Corina in place in front of her door. She straightened at his approach. “I’m keeping close watch, I swear.”
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Relax. If I didn’t trust you to do this job, I would have asked someone else. I doubt there will be any trouble, but better safe than sorry.”
Inside, Annamaria was huddled with Mimi. The latter had a swollen face and black eye from where she hit the floor. She started to stand when Otto entered but he gave a little shake of his head. He needed no empty gestures, especially from someone that had been through what she had.
“It’s time.”
“It’s still early,” Annamaria said.
“I need time to make the trip. Searching secondhand takes longer than if I could use my own connection. I’ve been patient, but there’s no more room for delay. If you want Abby back, now’s the time.”
Annamaria stood, grim and determined. She held out her hand.
Otto drew his dagger and looked at her. Once he would have happily driven it into her chest, now he simply didn’t care. No doubt his continued use of powerful magic had dulled his emotions further, just as Valtan had warned him it would. Tonight, that would be a good thing, helping him remain in full control.
A quick flick of the blade nicked her palm and a little trickle of blood oozed out. He smeared it on both sides of the blade and nodded. Mimi quickly bound the wound with a clean cloth.
“Bring her back to me,” Annamaria said.
Otto refused to make a promise he wasn’t certain he could keep. Instead he turned without a word and left the room. He passed Corina and made his way toward the stairs. The lights all burned in the dining room and sure enough he found Edwyn up and busy devouring a whole pie.
“You’re off then?” Edwyn said after swallowing.
“Yes. If I’m not back by dawn, send a message to the emperor. The war wizards will be able to find my body.”
“You’ll be back and with little Abby. I have no doubts.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence.” He left Edwyn to his snack and strode through the front door.
The chill wind slapped him and he put a little extra power into his shield, cutting it off. That done, he became one with the ether and focused on the connection between Annamaria’s blood and Abby. The link was of course strong and an instant later he emerged in a clearing facing a modest cabin. He sank into the snow up to his shins and grimaced.
An orange glow emerged from the windows and smoke filled the air. He closed his eyes and sent his vision flying into the cabin.
There were only two rooms: a kitchen and living area, and each had an entrance. Abby lay on the dining table, bundled up in the blanket his mother had made for her, seeming none the worse for her adventure.
So far so good.
Now for the kidnapper. The man in question emerged from the kitchen, a tin cup of water in his hand. It was Baron St. Croy’s servant, Ahmed. He was dressed in all black and a sword hung at his waist.
Otto wished he was more surprised, but from the beginning he’d feared something was up with them. He flicked his ring and sent a thread in to bind the man. It nearly touched him before vanishing.
Otto frowned. The only thing he’d ever encountered that created such an effect was mirrorshine, the alchemical compound Markane had provided Uther during his brief rebellion. Any doubt Otto harbored about this being a trap for him vanished like his thread.
Lucky for him, since he first learned of the substance, he’d come up with a few tricks on the not-small possibility that he ran into someone using it again. He drew his dagger and worked his way around to the back entrance, conjuring an ethereal path in front of him so every step didn’t crunch in the snow.
The cabin door had only a crude, iron lock which yielded to Otto’s magic in about two seconds. An ethereal tentacle caught the wine jug balanced just inside before it could shatter. He slipped through and closed the door behind him.
Light from the living area gave him a good view of the kitchen. No one had been here in a long time. Probably why the assassin chose it.
Now for his surprise.
He forged a powerful connection to his dagger, just like he used to when studying with his former master. The weapon flew up and hung in the air.
Leaving it where it was, Otto walked into the living area.
The assassin turned to face him. Ahmed looked very much the same, yet his eyes now held a hard gleam, all signs of the servant long gone. He held Abby in the crook of his left arm and a dagger in his right.
“You’re punctual, very good. Since you’re not a fool, I assume you know your magic won’t affect me.” He moved the dagger closer to Abby. “I applied the mirrorshine to my weapon as well. Any attempt to protect your daughter with magic or stop the blade will fail.”
Otto moved deeper into the living room, shifting so Ahmed had to adjust his own position to face him. “So what happens now? You know the limits of mirrorshine as well as I do. I can kill you with indirect magic as easily as direct.”
“But not without killing the child as well.”
“True.” Otto moved a little more until Ahmed stood directly in front of the kitchen door. “So I ask again. What now?”
“Now, you’re going to stay very still and I’m going to approach with your daughter in front of me. Do anything I don’t like and she dies.”
“You understand what I’ll do to you if anything happens to her.” While keeping Ahmed distracted with talk, Otto brought the dagger through the doorway and positioned it directly above the man’s head.
“I lose my life and you lose your daughter.” Ahmed took a step closer to Otto. “Which of us ends up hurt worse? Not the dead man certainly.”
Otto adjusted the dagger again and smiled. “But there’s one thing you didn’t know. Something very important. Abby isn’t my daughter.”
Ahmed froze, stunned for an instant.
That’s when Otto struck.
The dagger streaked down with all the force of his magic behind it, crashing into the assassin’s skull, and piercing to the hilt.
Otto caught Abby in an ethereal cushion a foot from the floor as the assassin collapsed. She giggled when he picked her up.
“Enjoyed that, did you?” He sniffed and winced. Ahmed hadn’t changed her during her captivity and Otto certainly wasn’t about to. “Let’s bring you back to your mother.”
He’d barely taken a step toward the door when a spark of ether hit his brain along with Allen’s message. It seemed no one in Blue Cove knew Jade. Had the assassin used her and her uncle as a way into the city or was something more dangerous at work?
He intended to find that out first thing in the morning. Right now, he had a long walk back to the city in front of him.
Chapter 15
Wolfric lay in the dark, a huge smile plastered on his face. He felt cocooned in warmth and contentment. The moon’s meager light coming through the window outlined Jade’s perfect face. Her eyes were closed and her breathing even. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful, so perfect. His future wife would make a fine empress and an even better companion to spend the rest of his life with. He made a mental note to have Otto dismiss the harem. Now that he had Jade, he wouldn’t need them anymore.
He sighed and closed his eyes. Even if he couldn’t sleep, he needed to rest. Tomorrow they needed to plan the announcement of their engagement. Word would have to go out to all the governors and nobles as well as the leading merchants. A summer wedding would be nice. Otto could serve as his best man. Certainly no one had ever had a better friend.
He needed to plan a private dinner with Otto and Annamaria. As he considered the possibilities, Jade shifted beside him.
Wolfric opened his eyes.
Moonlight glinted off the dagger in her hand. At first his mind refused to comprehend what he saw.
>
Time slowed as he took in every detail. The slender, needle-sharp, double-edged blade, cold and hard, contrasted with Jade’s warm, soft, bronze skin. He even had time to wonder where she hid the weapon. Certainly he would have noticed it when they were getting undressed. Then again, he had been distracted.
Time sped up as she drove the blade down at his chest.
Wolfric caught her wrist.
For someone so small, she had strength.
He put everything he had into controlling her without hurting her. “Guards!”
Jade hissed and slashed at him with the nails of her free hand, drawing blood from his cheek.
The pain surprised him and he lost his grip. Outside, the guards were pounding on the door. Wolfric never locked it, but Jade must have.
He tried to scramble away.
Jade leapt, driving him to the floor and straddling him. Under other circumstances the rough play might have been fun. Today she wasn’t playing. Yet he still couldn’t bring himself to fight back.
She had both hands on the dagger and was using all her weight to drive it into his chest.
Inch by inch the tip drew closer.
Wolfric stared at her. “Why?”
Behind them the door crashed open and the guards poured in.
“It’s not personal, my love,” Jade said as she drove the dagger into his flesh. “I’m just doing my job.”
There was a dull thud and Jade’s weight vanished. Wolfric was only barely aware of that through the burning pain.
“Your Majesty,” Borden said. The captain of the palace guard knelt beside him.
Somehow Wolfric gasped out, “Closet. Circle. Otto.”
Borden leapt away, leaving Wolfric alone with his pain. Oddly, Jade’s betrayal hurt worse than the dagger. He’d loved her and thought she loved him. How had he been so blind?
As the darkness closed in on him there was a flash and he heard Otto’s voice saying something.
Then he heard nothing at all.
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