by Mark Robson
‘Come with me,’ he called to her. ‘If you want to live, come with me now.’ He held out his hand towards her. ‘Quickly!’ he added, urgency making his tone harsh.
The young woman tentatively emerged from her hiding place and took his outstretched hand. A glance back revealed Cougar’s companion emerging from under the table. His face was twisted with anger. Reynik began running towards the door. The librarian needed no further encouragement. She ran alongside him with light-footed steps. Together they burst out through the door of the library and into the midday sunshine.
The small square outside was bustling with people going about their daily business. After a long morning spent in the quiet of the library, Reynik suffered a momentary shock as he emerged into such a hive of activity. He paused for a split second as he took in the noise and motion around the busy junction, then he raced down the steps between the grand circular columns. At street level he turned to his right and ran along the pavement, turning immediately right again along the first street he reached. The librarian ran with him, silent and unquestioning; most likely still in shock, Reynik realised.
‘Listen,’ he said, keeping his voice low and urgent. ‘I’m sorry you got involved in this, but if I’d left you in the library those men would most likely have killed you. I’m afraid you won’t be able to return there for some time.’
‘Why not? Who were those men? What did they want?’
Reynik steered them left along a back alley and stopped for a moment, pulling her close in to the wall out of sight. He peered around the corner, looking back down the street. There was no immediate sign of pursuit, but he knew the two assassins would not give up easily. He turned towards her only to find her face uncomfortably close. Her proximity and the fact that she was still clutching his hand tightly suddenly filtered through his thoughts of the assassins and the dangers they posed.
She was not quite as tall as he was. Her head tilted back just a fraction as she regarded him with her intelligent, brown eyes. For a moment he considered how much he should say. The more she knew, the more reason the Guild would have to seek her out. There was a faint scent about her; sweet, like rose petals mixed with a hint of lavender. It wafted and curled around him with invisible fingers that tickled his nose and ignited his blood.
‘Shand blast all women!’ he thought. ‘Why did the creator make them so damned intoxicating?’ With alarm, he noted what looked like hero worship in her expression. There was something about her vulnerability that made him feel most uncomfortable.
‘Assassins,’ he said, trying desperately to snap out of his daze. ‘Cold-blooded killers who don’t hesitate to dispose of any who cross them. I don’t know how they found me at the library, but you saw too much. They would not leave any alive who could identify them.’
The woman blushed and looked down at her feet. ‘I think I’m to blame for them finding you at the library,’ she said sheepishly.
Reynik put a finger under her chin and gently lifted it until she was forced to meet his gaze. To his surprise there were the beginnings of tears welling in her eyes.
‘What did you do?’ he asked.
‘It was the tags in the books you were looking at. There were strange instructions relating to them. Any librarian noting people reading books tagged with that colour are instructed to send word to the bakery on the Western Avenue. The message was simply to say “library” to the senior baker. It did seem strange. I had not noted this instruction before, but then I’d never noted any books with that colour tag before. I cannot imagine there are many.’
‘I think if you were to look carefully through the entire library, you would find the only books with that colour tag were the ones I was looking at,’ Reynik replied thoughtfully. He removed his finger from under her chin. ‘Which means I was on the right track, even if I didn’t find what I was looking for. It wasn’t your fault. You were only following your instructions. Don’t worry about it.’
‘That’s easy for you to say. What am I supposed to do now? You say I can’t go back to the library. Should I go home? If they wanted to find me it would not be hard for them to find out where I live. I have made no secret of my address. Will they seek me out there?’
‘To be honest, I don’t know,’ Reynik admitted. ‘It would be safer for you to avoid going home for a while. I would take you with me, but that would place you in more danger. I’ll see you to safety, but then you’ll have to take your chances alone. My advice is to get out of Shandrim. Go away somewhere – anywhere. If you stay quiet and out of sight the Guild will forget you in time.’
Reynik snuck another look around the corner and pulled back immediately. Cougar’s associate was coming along the road towards their turning. The man was still some distance away but it was clear they had dallied too long. Reynik raised a finger to his lips and noted the fear return to her eyes. Silently he gestured his intentions and they set off along the back alley at a fast, but noiseless, walk. To run now would draw attention. He needed a weapon if he was to face the man on equal terms. If given the choice, however, he would rather not face the man at all.
They rounded a corner, taking them out of sight of the main road. Reynik thought about pausing again to see if the man entered the alley. He decided better of it, electing instead to continue to the end and onto another major street.
When they emerged from the alley, a street market lined both sides of the road. The cries of competing stallholders imparted a sense of energy to the atmosphere. The air was thick with a rich mixture of smells. The scent of exotic foreign spices mixed with aromas of fresh vegetables and cooking meat. One only had to take a few paces to experience the fragrance of freshly-cured leather competing with those of burning incense oils and the smell of freshly-baked bread.
The librarian gripped Reynik’s hand even more tightly as he led her into the thick of the thrumming market. Together they threaded through the milling shoppers and between the stalls until the crowds began to thin out. They were almost at the end of the market area when he spotted the stall.
‘Over here,’ he said softly, drawing her across the road. The stall sold weapons, both new and old. On the table were knives, daggers, crossbows, hatchets and short swords. Shields of all shapes and sizes were hanging from the awning frame, both on the horizontal bar across the front of the stall and on all four of the uprights. In stands behind the table were long swords, bows, pikes and pole arms of several varieties, double-handed battleaxes and a bundle of staves. It was the last item that had caught Reynik’s eye.
‘Can I have a look at one of your staves?’ he asked.
The stallholder drew one at random from the bundle and passed it across the table. When placed upright on the ground it proved to be slightly longer than Reynik was tall. He ran his hands along the surface of the wood. It was smooth and polished to a deep, glossy shine. The weight was good too – heavy enough to be solid, but not so heavy that it would be awkward to manoeuvre.
‘How much?’ Reynik inquired indifferently.
‘Five senna.’
‘Five!’ he exclaimed, his voice outraged. ‘You have to be joking! It’s a piece of wood, for Shand’s sake! You can cut a branch from a tree and make one of these in five minutes. I’ll give you two.’
‘How many trees do you see around here?’ The stallholder replied with a shrug. ‘A lot of work went into polishing that stave. Four senna.’
‘Three and I’ll take it, but not a sennut more.’
Reynik held out the stave for the stallholder to take back. The man looked him in the eye to see if he could squeeze a final offer. Reynik looked back, his expression unwavering. The stallholder sighed.
‘Three senna then,’ he said in a dejected voice.
Reynik counted out the silver coins from his purse and handed them to the stallholder, who pocketed them swiftly.
With a stave in his hand, Reynik felt a lot more comfortable. It was tempting to tell the librarian that she would be safe now and send her on her way. The
problem was that he knew it would be a lie. Despite it having been her actions that had led the Guild to him, he felt an annoying, irrational sense of responsibility towards her.
Angry with himself for being so weak, he grabbed her hand again, leading her away from the stall and along the street until they left the market behind altogether. He looked back a few times, but there was no sign of the assassins. Although he did not relax completely, it was with growing confidence that he moved through the streets towards the inn where he had spent the previous night. His horse and bags were still there. He was keen to retrieve them. The big question mark in his mind was over what he should do next.
The further he got from the library, the more it sunk in that he was alone and vulnerable here in Shandrim. He glanced down at the librarian’s hand in his and wondered who was gaining more comfort from the physical contact? She should be safe now. He could send her on her way. There was a multiple street junction ahead. He would do it there, he decided.
His mind reeled with a confused jumble of events, facts and possibilities that were likely to leave him with a severe headache. The Guild had captured Femke. Cougar had said nothing about her being killed, which gave him hope that they would keep her alive for the time being.
He knew that Femke would not give up hope. He had seen that side of her while they were in Mantor. But what could he do to help her? It made no sense for him to try to penetrate the Guild headquarters on his own. The Wolf Spider quarters would no doubt be under heavy guard, particularly now that they had Femke. He had returned for her once. They would be sure to take precautions against him trying again.
If he could get some of those crystals that Femke had used in Mantor to incapacitate the Royal Guards, maybe it would give him the edge he needed to storm in and take her. No, it was a fool’s chance, he decided. He needed more than parlour tricks. To rescue Femke from the Guild, he would need some serious backup.
When Cougar stepped out of the side street not ten paces in front of them, it was hard to say who was more surprised. Judging by the expression on Cougar’s face, Reynik realised that the assassin had found them by chance. Both men were quick to react. Reynik let go of the young woman’s hand and charged at Cougar, whose sword seemed almost to leap from its scabbard.
‘Run!’ Reynik shouted, not looking back to see if the young woman had complied. His focus was fixed on his enemy, who was ready for him as he closed the distance between them.
The first clash was fast and furious. Reynik landed a jabbing blow with his stave to Cougar’s shoulder. The assassin opened a cut on Reynik’s right forearm. The assassin backed off, but Reynik moved in concert to deny him the chance to recover his poise. He pressed forwards, raining blows on the assassin in an avalanche. Any lesser swordsman would have been overwhelmed by the fury and speed of that attack, but Cougar did not lose his poise. He backed away calmly, deflecting blow after blow with his blade. Reynik managed to get a few strikes past the assassin’s guard, but none that were telling.
Reynik was mid-swing when something hard smashed into the back of his left shoulder. Pain burned like molten fire as his left hand lost its grip on the stave and fell, useless to his side. He followed the swing through by gripping more tightly with his right hand. Cougar deflected it easily. Reynik ducked and twisted to try to fix a position on his new adversary whilst leaping momentarily clear of Cougar’s reach. Something dark and round whistled past him. There was a hollow sounding thunk and a groan. Reynik twisted again in time to see Cougar, eyes rolled back, collapsing as if someone had just melted every bone in his body.
Pain and confusion warred within Reynik. He whirled, his senses scrabbling to find a logical explanation for what was happening. It took a moment for the cobblestone in the librarian’s hand to register in his mind. Her face held a look of iron determination that he would not have expected in one with such a delicate appearance.
‘You can put the stone down now,’ he said gently. ‘I don’t think you’ll be needing it.’
‘Is he . . . is he . . .’ The young woman could not finish her sentence.
‘Dead?’ Reynik guessed. ‘I’m not sure. Let’s take a look, shall we?’
The assassin had dropped his sword as he fell. Reynik kicked the weapon out of the killer’s reach and gestured for the librarian to pick it up. He did not want to risk Cougar coming around with a weapon close to hand. Life was gradually returning to his left arm, though it was incredibly painful to move. He flexed his fingers a few times and, putting his staff down for a moment, he rubbed his shoulder gently. It did not feel as if anything was broken, but he doubted he would get full strength back in his arm for at least a couple of hours.
‘Sorry about your shoulder,’ the young woman apologised. ‘I thought I had a clear shot at him, but you moved just as I threw. To be honest the first throw was a bit of a sighter. I haven’t had to throw for some time.’
‘You’re forgiven,’ Reynik replied. ‘To look at you, I’d never have guessed you would have the strength to throw something with that much force. I’m just glad that you hit your target with the second shot. He would have finished me within a few seconds otherwise.’
‘My brothers and I used to compete as youngsters at who could throw stones the furthest. Being the eldest, I had a slight advantage for a while, but it became harder to win as my brothers got older and stronger. In the end I realised I could no longer hope to beat them, so I changed the rules. That’s the benefit of being the eldest. Instead of competing for distance, we made targets to knock down. I practised a lot and became very accurate. It seems I haven’t totally lost my skill.’
Reynik picked up his stave again. Keeping his distance, he prodded the motionless body of Cougar in several places. The assassin did not flinch. It looked very much as though he was dead, or at least deeply unconscious. If he was bluffing, he was doing a very good job of it, Reynik decided.
The street was still empty, but someone could come along at any moment. Reynik did not want to be caught standing over an unconscious man with a weapon in his hand.
With a heave, Reynik rolled Cougar over. A quick scan over the man’s body revealed what he was looking for. The decorative, clip-on, silver belt buckle in the shape of a cougar’s head told him instantly that the assassin was still alive. If he had been dead, the icon would have returned automatically to the Guild. For an instant, Reynik hesitated. He had spared Cougar’s life at their last encounter. The assassin had tried to kill him again. It was clear that the man would not give up, but was that justification enough to kill him in cold blood?
Reynik gritted his teeth. If their positions had been reversed, Cougar would not have hesitated, but that did not make it any more right. He was out of time. Taking a deep breath, he unclipped the silver buckle from Cougar’s belt.
‘What are you doing?’ the librarian asked anxiously. ‘Are you going to rob him?’
‘Not exactly,’ Reynik replied. He got to his feet, fingering the icon as his conscience played havoc with his emotions. ‘You had better go. You should be safe enough now. Just keep heading along that alley there. If you do have to visit your home to gather possessions, then do it quickly. Get out of the city as fast as you can. Go. You need to get away from here before we’re seen.’
‘But what about you?’
‘I’ll be fine now,’ Reynik assured her. ‘Thanks again for your help. I won’t forget it.’
She nodded, a haunted look of rejection in her eyes. ‘I won’t forget you either. Good luck.’
‘You too.’ He watched for a moment as she set off up the street. A part of him wanted to keep her close and look after her. In his heart, however, he knew he had done the right thing. She would not have survived long in the cutthroat world of espionage and political intrigue.
He turned and threw the silver buckle as hard as he could back along the street. Cougar’s body convulsed once and then lay still again. Reynik did not look down at the body. Nor did he watch to see the sparkle of energy as the s
ilver icon vanished before striking the cobblestones. Instead he walked purposefully away from the scene, deliberately taking a different road from that of the young woman. He had sent a message to the Guild that they could not ignore. The Guildmaster would not know how Cougar had died, though he would guess who had caused his demise.
To kill in self-defence was honourable. What he had just done made him feel as bad as he had after he had assassinated Lord Lacedian in order to infiltrate the Guild. For good or bad, it was done. He knew he had to move on. Femke’s life could depend on what he did next. A horrible thought struck him. What if the Guildmaster took her life in direct response to the death of Cougar? That was a consequence he had not considered.
‘Oh, Shand!’ he muttered softly. ‘What have I done?’
As the world swam slowly back into a hazy sense of reality, Femke became aware that all was not well. At first she felt overwhelmed by confusion and pain. Her head was pounding and her hands and feet throbbed with a counterpoint rhythm that was most disconcerting.
She tried to move, only to find her limbs would not respond. Where was she? Her blurred vision slowly cleared until, with effort, she found she could focus for a few seconds. The concentration required to control her sight made the pain in her head sharper, but she was determined to place her surroundings.
The room she was in had no windows. What light there was danced and flickered. It made maintaining her concentration all the more difficult. She closed her eyes to shut out the disturbing blurry images. Her mind turned to the question of how she had got here. Slowly, piece by piece, her memory returned. She remembered visiting Toomas. What information had she sought? Or had she been selling? She did remember climbing out of an inn window, though. Why had she done that?
