The Queen's Blade III - Invisible Assassin

by T C Southwell

  Blade cocked his head. "So you want him out of the way, understandably. And what easier way than to charge him with treason, thereby clearing the way for your ascension? I hope your judges are taking note of this, for plotting against the King is treason too, is it not?"

  The judges remained stony-faced, but Armin reddened with anger. "Do not try to twist my motives. I seek the murderer of my brothers, whoever he is."

  "Well, then." Blade looked thoughtful. "It was a man named Pernal, a fine Jashimari lord who wished your brothers dead and paid me handsomely for it."

  "You lie! Do not toy with me!"

  Blade shrugged. "Whatever I tell you will be discounted as a lie unless it is what you want to hear, whether it is the truth or not. So, if I tell you that it was Kerrion, I am free to go, right?"

  Armin turned to the judges, but they shook their heads. The eldest said, "If he lies to save himself, it will not stand up in court."

  Blade remarked, "Of course I will lie to save myself. I do not want to be tortured."

  Armin growled, "Then torture will make you tell the truth." He started to turn away.

  Blade's eyes narrowed. "This was not part of our bargain, Armin."

  The Prince swung back. "What bargain? What are you talking about?"

  "The one we made in Kerrion's camp just after he took me prisoner. Do you think I will let you torture me without telling your judges the truth? That is folly, just like not paying me the second half of my fee was a mistake. I have earned it. All three that you asked for are dead. All that was left for me to do was to blame it on Kerrion, and your plot would have been complete.

  "That is how you explained it to me, remember? With him executed for treason, you take the throne with your brothers dead and no one to plot against you in turn. But now you demand my compliance without paying me what you owe. Why should I tell your lies when I have not been paid the agreed upon amount? I never trusted you, and now you try to double-cross me to save yourself some money. Did you think I would keep silent?" He looked at the judges. "Take me to Jadaya, and I will testify in court to Prince Armin's treachery in return for amnesty."

  "You lie!" Armin roared, yanking his sword from its scabbard.

  Blade's hand sought a dagger hilt again, but one of the judges held up his hands, shouting, "Hold! Wait, Prince Armin!"

  The Prince turned to glare at them, the naked sword dangling in his fist. "You cannot believe him. He is lying to try to save his life. I never made any such bargain with him. I have never met him before!"

  "Come now, do you really think you can lie your way out of this one?" Blade drawled. "Even if you kill me now, and all these witnesses, someone will find out about it. Pay me what you owe, grant me a full pardon, and I shall swear it was Kerrion just like we agreed."

  "We agreed to nothing! I have never seen you before today, other than at Kerrion's trial, and then I did not speak to you. You cannot blackmail me with lies. I will torture the truth out of you."

  Blade smiled. "I am sure you will, but it is not the truth you want. You think I will trust you to release me when I speak Kerrion's name?" He shook his head. "You thought to double-cross me and execute me once you had what you wanted, thereby silencing me forever and saving yourself a great deal of money."

  The eldest judge stepped forward. "Is this true, Prince Armin?"

  "It is a damned lie! Why would I entrust such a damning plot to a Jashimari assassin? I would not trust him with my life."

  "Who else could do it for you?" Blade enquired, noting the judges' uncertain looks. "No Cotti would kill his princes, so you had no choice but to come to me. You found me open to persuasion, being, as I was, Kerrion's prisoner and bound for his gallows. Part of the deal was your arranging for my escape from Jadaya, a plot that worked well. Your minions did their part admirably, I have to say."

  "You must not believe him!" Armin yelled at the judges. "He lies to save himself!"

  "It sounds plausible, Prince Armin," the eldest judge stated. "What have you to refute it?"

  "My word as a Cotti prince! I swear upon my honour, and my life, that he is lying. I have never plotted against the King."

  "Very convincing," Blade sneered. "But why do you not try to explain to them why Kerrion would assassinate his brothers? They were no threat to him once he took the throne. Why would he have them killed?"

  "Because they were plotting to kill the Jashimari whore he has taken to his bed!"

  Blade snorted. "A Cotti, kill his brothers to protect a woman?"

  "She has twisted his mind! He no longer thinks straight. His emotions rule him."

  "The woman who ordered his father's death, who captured and humiliated him, held him prisoner? You would have us believe that she is anything but a prize to him, a prisoner to be raped and humiliated in turn out of revenge? Would you have us believe that your king is such a weakling as to love the woman who triumphed over him?"

  "Yes! It is true! He treats her as if she was still a queen. Now that she is his wife, he even makes others bow to her. He swears he will take no other wives or concubines."

  "Ah." Blade's eyes narrowed as he pondered his blunder. Prince Armin, it seemed, was better informed than he had expected, and things in Jadaya had changed since he had left. "Does he now?"

  Armin waved his sword at the assassin. "And if your accusations are true, then tell me this. Why did you not name Kerrion when I offered you a pardon? If that was our bargain, why did you refuse to take what I offered?"

  "Because I grew suspicious when you came here with soldiers and judges. That was not part of our bargain. I was to have come to you when the time was right and offered you the information in return for a pardon, after I had received the rest of my payment. But I am still waiting for it, so I knew you were going to double-cross me when I had told these judges what you wanted.

  "I am no fool. I quickly realised that I stood a better chance of staying alive if I told them the truth. Kerrion is a more honourable man than you. He would pardon me in return for the knowledge of your treason."

  "I am sure he would! Your lies would rid him of the last of his brothers old enough to stand against him."

  "As yours would rid you of the only man who stands between you and the Cotti throne."

  Armin rubbed his brow, apparently trying to clear his mind, which Blade seemed to have successfully confused. "If what you say is true, why would I double-cross you? Why would I come here and risk you telling the judges what you have? I would not be so stupid. I would have paid you the money I owed and gained your testimony against Kerrion."

  "You thought I would accuse Kerrion in return for a pardon if you threatened me with soldiers and torture. A far cheaper option for you, considering the vast sum you promised me for my services."

  Armin shook his head. "You are a cunning man, assassin. Your story has a ring of truth to it that has confused even the judges, yet it is all lies."

  "You were the cunning one. You thought I would not reveal your name, bound as I am by the assassin's code, which forbids me to name my client. You also know that I harbour a great hatred for the Cotti, and what greater triumph than to be the instrument of another Cotti king's death? When you came to me with your offer, you knew that would tempt me to accept it, and it did. You should have honoured our agreement."

  "We had no agreement!" Armin swung to face the judges. "He is lying! I swear it by all that I hold sacred."

  The eldest judge shook his head. "There is only one way to find out the truth, My Prince. We must torture him."

  Blade said, "Do that, and I will speak your name with my dying breath, Armin. You will go to the gallows. Leave this place now. Execute these witnesses and you will save yourself. Your soldiers are loyal to you, only the judges will tell Kerrion what has passed here."

  Armin hesitated, his face a study of confusion and indecision. The judges glanced at one another, finding guilt in the Prince's uncertainty. Armin smiled. "I have it! You have condemned yourself with your own words. You accus
e me for that very reason. Your code does not allow you to name your true client, who is Kerrion."

  The assassin sighed, a faint smile twisting his mouth. "My code of honour binds me deeply, it is true, but not when my client double-crosses me. Why should I protect you when you are the one who seeks to execute me for the killing you paid for? Accusing Kerrion would be easy. I would gain a swift execution and spare myself the torture, but I refuse to be so misused. I will not let you get away with this."

  The judges glanced between the two, trying to assess which one was telling the truth. Armin pondered the problem again, seeking some way out of the situation into which he had blundered. The more he racked his brain without success, the angrier he became, his fury showing itself in the paling of his lips and the flaring of his nostrils.

  He turned to the judges. "I see no other recourse here. If you believe him, then he must be tortured until he tells the truth."

  "But if he cries Kerrion's name to escape the pain, how will we know that he is not lying then, since he knows he will gain a swift end for accusing the King?"

  The elder judge shook his head. "The issue is now so confused that we need other witnesses to these deeds. The King was camped outside Jondar for only a few time-glasses, My Prince. Where were you when this assassin says you were making this arrangement with him?"

  "In my tent."

  "The whole time?"

  "Yes."

  The judge nodded. "Alone?"

  "No." Armin's expression brightened. "I was speaking to a Jashimari advisor who came to meet me. A man named Mendal."

  "Mendal!" Blade gave a bark of laughter. "No greater liar lives! He is a true snake, siding with whoever serves his cause or pays his way. He will testify to anything you wish, naturally. Undoubtedly he knows your plans, and will provide you with an alibi. One look at his shifty eyes will tell the judges that he is not a man to be trusted."

  "Is he here?" the judge asked Armin.

  "No, he is too old to ride with an army."

  The judge sighed. "Have you another witness who is here?"

  Armin shook his head.

  "Take me to Jadaya," Blade recommended, "and I will call upon my witness."

  "And who would that be?" the judge enquired.

  "Your king. Kerrion walked up as Armin was leaving the wagon where I was imprisoned, and he stopped to ask what Armin was doing there. I recall the Prince saying that he had come to gloat over me."

  "That is a lie!" Armin burst out. "I did not even know that the assassin was Kerrion's prisoner at the time. I only found out later, through letters from friends in Jadaya, that my brothers had been murdered by a Jashimari assassin. It was the Jashimari advisor, Mendal, who told me that it could only be the work of one man, an assassin named Blade, this assassin. And he told me where to find him, here on his estate."

  "My, hasn't Mendal been busy?" Blade sneered. "You expect the judges to believe the testimony of a man who betrays his own people?"

  The judge shook his head, trying to rid himself of the glazed look that had come over him with so many accusations and counter accusations flying about. He looked at Jayon.

  "Who is this man?"

  "I am Commander Jayon. I am his -"

  "Bodyguard," Blade finished for him.

  "And what have you to say on this matter?"

  Jayon shrugged. "I witnessed nothing, nor did My Lord Conash tell me anything about his employer. He would not break his code of silence without good reason. All I can say is that he is a man of honour who would not lie."

  "Unless he was paid to," the judge drawled, losing interest in the fresh-faced youngster, discounting him as naive. He glanced at the Prince. "We have an impasse, My Prince. Each of you accuses the other of lying, and we have no witnesses to corroborate either of your stories. You came here to arrest this man and make him admit to working for the King. Instead he has accused you of hiring him to kill your brothers and falsely accuse the King, acts of high treason."

  "You would believe a Jashimari assassin over your own prince?"

  "We must try to be objective, Highness. His story is sound, and he calls upon the King himself as a witness."

  "Of course he does, Kerrion is his employer!"

  "So you say. I believe that torture is the only way to ascertain the truth. Yet he knows that crying Kerrion's name will end his suffering, so it cannot be trusted. But if he dies with your name upon his lips, Highness, you will be arrested for high treason."

  Armin paled, shooting Blade a furious look. "Then let us torture him. I do not believe he can maintain his lie until the end. He is a beardless gelding, a half man who dresses up as a woman to kill his victims. I am not his employer, so who else could it be but Kerrion? He has more reason to want his brothers dead, and laying the blame at my door is probably his idea too. If I am convicted of treason, he removes the last threat to his foul liaison with the Jashimari slut."

  The judge shrugged. "True, but if the assassin maintains his accusation under extreme duress, it must be believed, otherwise there is no point in torturing him."

  Armin turned to Jayon with a nasty smile. "Perhaps we should torture his bodyguard first. The sight of what awaits him may make him tell the truth."

  Jayon drew a shocked breath, glancing at Blade, who gazed at the Prince, his expression deadpan. "Go ahead, it merely delays my suffering. Perhaps until the Jashimari troops that Regent Chiana has dispatched arrive. She is, after all, my wife, and a dutiful one too. I can assure you, however, that the sight of another's suffering has no effect on me. I have seen and done enough of it to know that."

  "Even of a man you know, a friend?" Armin asked.

  "Assassins have no friends."

  The judge frowned. "You say the Regent knows of our presence here?"

  "Yes, she has dispatched troops to our aid. We expect them at any time," Blade lied. "And if they find you torturing her husband, I daresay that she will take a dim view of it. Do not forget, I am no longer merely an assassin, a trade from which I have now retired, by the way. I am also the Lord Protector of Jashimari, a sacred Knight of the Veil, and husband of the Regent, the highest office in the land apart from the infant Queen herself. Your king will not thank you for stirring up trouble in his daughter's kingdom."

  Armin snorted. "Kerrion himself issued the order for your execution."

  "My employer, you would have us believe," Blade scoffed. "Yes, he did, in Cotti. In case it has escaped your notice, we are in Jashimari. Tell me, did he order you to hunt me down?"

  "No. Having assured your escape from Jadaya, I am sure he does not wish you caught, lest the truth be wrung from you."

  The judge waved his hands. "This argument serves no purpose. My Prince, if you mean to arrest and torture this man, then we should do it before we drive each other insane with this endless haggling."

  "You are right." Armin sheathed his sword and walked back to the doorway, the judges and advisors retreating before him. Within the portal, he turned to his soldiers.

  "I want the assassin alive. The other one you can kill."

  Blade glanced at Jayon, whose colour had drained at these words. The young commander gripped his sword in a white-knuckled hand. "I will see you in the Everlasting, Blade."

  "Take as many of the bastards with you as you can."

  "I will."

  The dozen Cotti soldiers split into two groups as they approached Jayon and Blade. Eight of them moved towards the assassin, empty-handed, the other four closed with Jayon, their swords drawn. As they fanned out around the lone swordsman, Blade jerked two daggers from his belt and flung them at Jayon's attackers, each weapon finding its target with unnerving accuracy. The men fell, each impaled through the throat by a hand-span of cold steel. Jayon glanced at the assassin in surprise, a smile tugging at his lips as he faced the two who remained.

  The Cotti hesitated, then another two drew their swords and moved towards Jayon. The commander, seeing his foes about to double in number, growled and charged the nearest
, swinging his weapon. Blade, startled by Jayon's foolhardiness, flicked two more daggers at the commander's opponents, reducing the odds by two once more. Jayon engaged the other pair, and the assassin bent to jerk the daggers from his boots as the six unarmed soldiers charged him.

  The first to reach him died of a slashed throat, spraying blood over the assassin. The next tried to tackle him around the legs, but Blade leapt aside and lashed out with a blade-tipped boot that opened the man's face from nose to ear. His screams added music to the tapping of Blade's steel-shod feet as he leapt and spun. Two Cotti charged together with shouts of rage. One died as Blade's dagger found his throat, the other fell with a slashed chest.

  The last two split up, one circling behind the assassin while the other remained in front. Blade grinned savagely and lunged at the man before him, feinting with a dagger, then impaled him on a bladed boot as he dived aside. He spun to meet the charge of the man behind him, slashed the soldier's throat and leapt aside. The man blundered past and collapsed. The assassin bent to finish off the wounded man, silencing his screams, then entered the fray with Jayon. The commander killed one man, and Blade stabbed the other from behind.

  The pair stood panting amid the sprawled forms of twelve dead Cotti, and Blade retrieved his daggers as Armin turned to shout for more men. Jayon picked up a sword and flung it to the assassin, who caught it on reflex, then shook his head and dropped it with a clatter.

  "I don't know how to use a sword."

  "You should have learnt."

  "Too late now." Blade faced the door as soldiers boiled through it.

  Armin took no chances now, and a veritable tide of men flooded into the room. Scores headed for Jayon and an equal number attacked Blade. They charged in a mass, yelling a blood-chilling battle cry meant to freeze their foes with fear. Blade retreated as he flung the four daggers from his belt, then drew the two from his boots and flicked them at the advancing Cotti. Six men fell, and he released the last daggers from the wrist sheaths and let them slide into his hands, turning to run. Jayon vanished behind a wall of soldiers, the clash of steel ringing from the melee. The Cotti raced after Blade, spreading out as bolder men outstripped their less courageous comrades.