The Guild of Assassins

by Anna Kashina

  Kara’s lips twitched. “From what I saw yesterday afternoon, I believe he’ll probably feel relieved when it’s over.”

  Abib chuckled. “You don’t know him well enough, Aghat. Trust me. Besides, regardless of his feelings, in these troubled times we can’t afford to lose our two best fighters. Not over something stupid that shouldn’t have ever happened.” He threw a short glance over his shoulder. “You can stop playing dead with me, Aghat Mai. Magister Egey Bashi had a chance to tell me how his earlier treatment has made you more or less immune to Black Death. Your wound can’t be that serious either. Not if Aghat Kara followed his instructions.”

  Mai sat up in one easy move.

  Abib turned and measured him with an amused glance. “Much better.”

  “Glad to see you, Master Abib.” Mai’s voice seemed normal, fully recovered. Kara hoped it was really true.

  “Likewise, Aghat Mai,” the weapons keeper said. “You gave us all a nasty fright yesterday afternoon.”

  Mai leaned forward into the circle of light. Kara’s skin prickled as she saw his shoulder, still bare where she had cut off his blood-soaked shirt. His skin was smooth, with no trace of a wound. The Keepers’ cure was potent indeed.

  Abib looked at the healed shoulder too, his eyes pausing on it for an extra moment before returning to his task. He lowered Kara’s crossbow he had just finished tuning and handed it back to her, followed by a boot knife and a full set of bolts.

  “I will inspect your weapons now, Aghat Mai. Your staff, please.”

  Mai hesitated only for a brief instant before passing him the staff, thinner and longer than Kara’s, of the same polished black. She watched him with interest. Mai’s weapon was very advanced, with a spring mechanism that could release two retractable blades hidden in its ends. It was nasty, as she recalled from her own experience. Even if you knew the blades were there, during the fight the eye could only follow the visible part of the weapon. To have a blade spring out when this staff was descending on you at high speed made it so much harder to avoid the additional foot’s length of razor-sharp steel that could appear and disappear on his command. She shivered, suppressing the memory. Last time it had happened, the blade had hit her, sending her into a coma and making everyone believe she was dead. She hoped she would never have to face this staff in battle again.

  Abib’s fingers pressed the hidden triggers to release and retract the blades several times. He closed his eyes as he listened to the sound. Then he reached into his pack and took out a set of small brushes and picks, tuning and polishing the hidden mechanism.

  “I also brought each of you a set of fresh clothes, and told the lads guarding you to give you plenty of wash water in the morning. It could do wonders for the outcome of the challenge if you both look your best when you appear in the arena.”

  Kara nodded. It made sense. They were putting on a show, and every detail mattered, even if in the end it wasn’t likely to make much difference.

  “Do you think we have a chance, Master Abib?” she asked, before she could think better of it. This was a question from her childhood, when she was a little girl, driven too hard by her ruthless trainers, running to him for every bit of advice. She was grown up now and should never have to ask anyone for reassurance.

  The weapons keeper frowned. “Nobody in the Fortress feels good about what has happened. Many are already mourning Aghat Mai. Rumor of your shadow throw has spread like fire, and everyone is in awe. No one is looking forward to fighting this unequal battle against you.”

  Kara’s lips twitched. “I’m sure they’ll still do their best.”

  Abib shook his head. “I have lived long enough to know that battles are often won or lost before they even begin. If Aghat Mai appears on the arena by your side in his best shape…” He spread his hands and fell silent.

  Kara could see his point. Many ranked warriors viewed Mai as a hero, their admiration for him bordering on downright worship. To hear that he had been treacherously shot by a poisoned arrow after issuing an Ultimate Challenge to the Guild was bound to stir some response. And if he were to miraculously recover–

  “Who are they sending against us?” Kara asked.

  Abib shook his head. “I am not privy to all information. I know that Aghat Oden Lan spent time in his study with the Shadow Master before sending some men to his private training grounds. I can only tell you we have four active Diamonds in the Fortress right now.”

  Kara’s eyes widened. “Four?”

  “Not counting Aghat Raishan. We still hope his recovery will eventually add to the numbers, but not tomorrow, for sure.”

  Kara let out a sigh. Raishan. Another victim of the mess she had started.

  “Which four?” Mai asked.

  “Jamil, Lance, Rand, and Shebirah.”

  Mai nodded. “If the Guildmaster believes I won’t be fighting, he will send Lance to spearhead the attack.”

  “Why?” Kara asked.

  Mai’s eyes slid over her calmly. “The only vulnerability in your fighting style one can exploit at short notice is the fact that you are more likely to back down under continuous, head-on brutal force. Lance is very good at this tactic.”

  Kara shivered. Mai had been trained as her shadow, a Diamond who knew her weaknesses and was more likely than others to get through her defense in single combat. This was the mechanism their Guild kept in place to ensure obedience, although before her and Mai it had not been explored in practice for many centuries.

  “I know Shebirah well, too,” Mai said. “I fought against her in her ranking tournament, three years ago.”

  Kara tried to recall. Shebirah was a tall, muscular woman, whose looks and fighting style resembled a man’s. She did not know her at all. It was good Mai had experience with her, which may be explored for a fighting advantage. If only Kara herself had been old enough to have fought in others’ ranking tournaments – but at nineteen, having ranked only last year, she was of course too young. And now, she had nearly no experience fighting other Diamonds. Four. She shivered. Even with Mai’s help, what chances did they have against such numbers, with all the other Guild’s gem ranks as backup?

  “Why are there so many Diamonds in the Fortress?” she asked. “Usually we have one or two at most, with others on active assignments.”

  The weapons keeper’s face twisted into a crooked smile. “Aghat Oden Lan has been recalling everyone from assignments to send them after you two. He did not believe Aghat Mai would answer his invitation.”

  Mai grinned. “No kidding.”

  “What did he write to you?” Abib asked.

  Mai glanced at Kara.

  “I think,” she said, “there’s no harm in telling me now, Aghat Mai. Things are unlikely to get any worse.”

  Mai leaned back. “He said he would torture me beyond recognition and hang me up from his tower to rot alive. It was... inventive, to say the least. Some of the inquisition terms were actually unfamiliar to me. I had no idea our Guildmaster was capable of such style.”

  Kara looked at him in shock. No wonder Mai had been prepared to do everything in his power not to let her see the letter.

  Abib shook his head. “You made him feel very personally about it, Aghat Mai. You probably know why.” He glanced at Kara. Mai answered him with an impassive look.

  Kara wasn’t sure what they meant, but just this once she thought it better not to ask. Inquisition terms... She shivered. They had to fight to the death tomorrow, to make sure Oden Lan had no chance to carry out his threats.

  “And now,” Abib said, “the way the two of you looked so good side by side yesterday afternoon did not make him feel any better. He is determined to throw everything he has against you. And he won’t listen to reason.”

  Mai met Kara’s eyes.

  “Then I guess,” he said, “we have nothing to lose.”

  18

  ON THE VERGE OF DEATH

  When Abib left, they polished their gear and laid out their clean outfits for later. T
here were still a few hours left before dawn, but Kara didn’t feel like sleeping. Neither did Mai, it seemed, as he went through the preparations with the speed and efficiency that made every piece of his gear look as if it were clicking and sliding into place entirely on its own. It was good to see him back to his normal self.

  “You are no longer poisoned,” she said.

  “It seems that the worst is over.” He raised his eyes to her. “I hope I didn’t do anything... improper.”

  She felt a blush creep into her cheeks.

  Mai frowned. “That bad, eh?”

  She held his gaze. “That good.”

  A quick smile slid over his face as he returned to his task.

  “Do you remember any of it?” she asked.

  His upward glance lit up with mischief. “Do you want me to?”

  “I suppose not.”

  “Then I don’t. Not a thing.” He grinned. “I hope, though, it was better than going berserk and violent.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. In a way, it was exactly like going berserk. The way he ripped her clothes when he stripped her. The way he claimed her, possessive like a conqueror savoring his prize. The way he drove into her, as if his life depended on releasing every bit of his strength inside her. It would have been frightening, if it hadn’t answered her own need so well.

  “Just don’t get poisoned with Black Death again, all right?” she said.

  “Not if I can help it.” He turned away, repacking his throwing knives.

  She sat against the wall and watched him, remembering everything that had happened. Her skin shivered with pleasure just by thinking about it. She could think of no better way to spend the last night of her life, on the eve of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And now, it was such a relief to know that he was alive and well and that they could fight side by side one last time.

  He noticed her look and stopped, raising his eyes to her. “What is it?”

  She took a breath. “You also talked.”

  Alarm stirred in his gaze. “I did?”

  “Do you remember?”

  He lowered his hands from his task and sat back, facing her.

  “Do you want me to?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes.”

  He hesitated.

  “I remember everything that went through my head before I... went berserk. I hope I didn’t say too much of it out loud.”

  “You said quite a bit.”

  “Did I?”

  She watched him. “Did you mean any of it?”

  His gaze drifted for a moment, his eyes becoming dreamy.

  “I... I remember losing it at some point, when I was in pain and you held me so close. I spoke about your touch, the way it makes me feel... And yes, I did mean it. This is exactly how I feel when you touch me. Even the pain couldn’t take it away.”

  She held her breath.

  “That’s when you started talking.”

  “Started?” His eyes widened in alarm.

  “Yes.”

  He peered into her face. She saw him shiver as her gaze told him everything that had happened. She shivered too, remembering. In his delirium, he had said so much...

  “I said everything I was thinking, didn’t I?” he asked quietly.

  “I believe so.”

  His gaze wavered. “Please forgive me. I never meant to say these things to you. The last thing I wanted was to let you know how I feel about you.”

  “Why?” she whispered.

  “I have no right to burden you.”

  “Burden me?”

  His gaze burned her.

  “I’m probably saying this because I am still poisoned,” he said. “But if I’m not mistaken, you’re in love with another man.”

  She swallowed. Kyth. She had been in love with him. But she wasn’t sure anymore. The last few days, since Middledale, had distanced her from him so much. And now, she was going to die, and none of this even mattered. But if, by some miracle, she were to survive and face Kyth again–

  “Are you?” he asked quietly.

  She hesitated.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  He lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry for prying. The times we were together – they’ve made my life worth living. I can’t possibly ask for more.”

  “Yes, you can.” The words came out so quietly that she barely heard them herself.

  The intensity of his gaze made her skin prickle.

  “If I asked you for more,” he said, “I’d be forcing you into a choice.”

  “It’s a choice I will have to make anyway, won’t I?”

  “Only if you want to.”

  She reached over and touched his cheek, running her fingertips down his skin. He shivered, a barely perceptible ripple of muscle visible on his bare, left arm. His eyes were dreamy as he looked at her.

  She leaned forward and kissed him.

  For a while, they lost track of time, their embrace so different this time from the violent passion before. He tasted so good, his pine scent clouding her mind, his tenderness as he held her making her heart quiver. When you touch me, you make me dizzy, like I’m dreaming and never want to wake up, he had said to her during his delirium. And now she realized that this was how she felt too. He made her dizzy when he held her like this, enfolded in a dream that was too good to last.

  After a while she finally found strength to draw away from him and sat up straight, looking at him in the wavering lantern light.

  “Let’s live through this first,” she said. “If we do, there will be time for choices later on.”

  “Fair enough.” He turned, the defenses in his eyes clicking into place, hiding his feelings inside.

  They finished repacking their gear, laying it out so that it would be easy to don.

  “I suppose we still have time for some rest,” he said, glancing at the dark sky outside.

  She nodded and spread her cloak next to him, settling down. He reached past her to retrieve his staff. As he did, his hand brushed her forearm, inadvertently disturbing her wound, hidden under the sleeve.

  Dear Shal Addim, how could she possibly have forgotten all about it?

  She stiffened as his hand retreated, only for a brief moment, but he sensed it.

  “You’re injured,” he said in disbelief. “All this time…” He grasped her hand and pulled up her sleeve to look at the long streak of red grazing her forearm.

  “It’s just a scratch.”

  He frowned.

  It looked worse than she imagined. She couldn’t believe that in the heat of things she could forget the pain. It stung now that he brought it out into the open, the damaged flesh on the inside of the deep cut packed with dust and dirt.

  He shook his head. “I’m sure I made it worse by what I did to you... Why didn’t you say something?”

  She shrugged. She doubted if she had said anything he would have understood her in his delirium. But more than that, back then she hadn’t wanted to risk that he would stop. “Sorry. I guess I forgot.”

  “How did it happen?”

  “A crossbow bolt. It slid parallel to the skin. I didn’t realize it had left such a cut.”

  He frowned, inspecting it more closely. “We need to treat it.”

  Wordlessly she rolled up her sleeve. She felt ashamed. Pleasure or not, she shouldn’t have forgotten to treat a wound before going into battle. She hoped the Keepers’ elixir was potent enough to take care of it in the time they had left.

  He placed her arm over his bent knee as he crouched in front of her, thoroughly cleaning the cut with strips of bandage and water from his flask. It throbbed, but she braced herself, knowing that the worst was still to come.

  He spread some disinfecting liquid over her cut and the skin around it. It stung as it evaporated, leaving behind a clean medicinal smell. Then, he reached for the Keepers’ vial, carefully unscrewing the lid.

  “This is going to hurt like hell,” he said. “It feels as if someone is packing hot coals into the
wound. Except that this pain doesn’t go away until the healing is complete. Fortunately, it will only be minutes for a cut like this. You must keep your arm relaxed and absolutely still to make the healing effective. Are you ready?”

  She nodded.

  He leaned forward and used the small brush in his hand to spread the sticky liquid on the inside of the wound.

  When the liquid connected with the flesh, it felt like a stab of a hot poker, except she had to force her muscles to stay relaxed as she took the pain, again and again, with every touch of the brush. The pain was searing. It took all she had to keep still, so that the healing elixir could work its course. Mai appeared to ignore it, slow and careful as he pulled the edges of the wound closed, making sure that no scar remained in its place.

  Through clouds of pain she remembered how she had used this elixir on his shoulder just a short time ago. His pain must have been much worse with the penetrating wound he had. The poison must have made it even more unbearable. Now that she knew what it was like, she couldn’t believe he had been able to handle it as well as he had.

  When he finally put the brush back into the vial and screwed on the lid, she felt drained, grateful that his bent knee still supported her arm. He put the vial away and sat, looking at her with concern.

  “I’m fine.” She flexed her arm, surprised at how it felt completely undamaged, with only the memory of pain and no visible scar whatsoever.

  “We have about two hours left before the break of dawn,” Mai said. “I suggest we get some sleep. We can discuss battle plans in the morning on the way to the arena. I expect whatever they are planning will all go awry when they see me, anyway.”

  She nodded. She felt so drained that she found it hard to move. Too many things had happened to them in the past few hours, and they were beginning to take their toll. Sleep sounded like a very good idea right now.

  Mai reached forward and pulled her into his embrace. Gently, he eased her down onto his spread cloak and stretched next to her. She relaxed against him, slowly giving in to the calmness he emanated. She knew he was stilling his mind, a technique they had both learned, and he was just so good at it.