by P. T. Hylton
It was no use. He’d have to be the first to speak. “Brother Ferox,” he began. “We come here today to seek approval for a placement exam for my apprentice.”
The clerk’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly. That had gotten his attention. The exams were probably some of the most exciting events of this poor sap’s year. Zane couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kid. Thought he was going to go to work killing for profit and he ended up working a desk. The price of ambition. That would never happen to Zane. Or Lily, if Zane could help it. Though after this, maybe a desk job was the best she would be able to hope for.
The clerk nodded respectfully toward Lily in a way that told Zane the clerk had recently passed his own exam.
“Can I get your name and the name of your apprentice, please?”
Zane gave the information and the man’s eyes widened further. He’d heard of Zane, of course. Ferox Halloway was one of only four assassins in the society, a position that dictated the utmost respect. Zane just hoped the young man wouldn’t ask questions about the pirate Longstrain. It wouldn’t be the first time someone in this hall had tried to get that story out of him.
The man walked briskly across the lobby and disappeared around a corner, his heels clicking on the marble floor. Some ferox.
Lily wore a frozen smile. “I’m not ready,” she said, her voice a hissed whisper.
He met her eyes. “You will be.”
“When? You said yourself—”
“Day after tomorrow. That’s when it will be scheduled. And that’s when we’ll do the job.”
Her smile suddenly looked more artificial. “There’s no way. They said in the academy most apprentices spend months of intense study before they take the exam. We haven’t even begun to discuss escape techniques.”
“You’ll be ready,” Zane said, his voice calm, his gaze steady. “You have more potential than any apprentice I’ve ever had. You could be the greatest ferox of your generation.”
She paused. He knew he’d shocked her, but he was impressed how the surprise didn’t register on her face. He’d never told her how he felt about her potential.
After a moment, she said, “Thank you. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’ll need more than potential to pass the exam. What if I fail?”
To Zane’s surprise, the question angered him. What if she failed? She knew the answer. If she failed, she’d never be a ferox. An apprentice only had one chance to pass the exam. A failure would relegate her to a life of untrained labor. She would likely have to move back to the farm she’d grown up on. Or perhaps get a serving job in one of the lesser noble families. Her ferox training could be put to use gathering gossip and rumors for some paranoid lord or lady. At best, she might hope to get a job as a shopkeep, though without family connections, that was unlikely.
And it wasn’t like Zane would be around to help her. Whether she passed or failed the exam, the results would be the same for Zane. But he wouldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on what could be changed, what could be saved. The king had given them a deadline of three days; there was no time for self-pity.
“We have no choice,” he said to Lily, his voice sharper than he’d intended.
“Ferox Halloway.” The clerk was back, and using the respectful title now. As expected, there was a concerned look on his face.
Zane waited for him to continue.
The clerk cleared his throat. “Ferox Halloway, our records indicate Lily Rhodes has been your apprentice for just over two years. Is that correct?”
“It is.”
The clerk blinked hard before continuing. “As you may know, the recommended term of apprenticeship is six years prior to taking the exam.”
“I do.”
“Err, wonderful.” A few beads of sweat were standing on the young man’s forehead now. “You may or may not be aware of this, but requests for an exam for any apprentice who has served less than a four-year term must be approved by the head of the society.”
Zane allowed a wide smile to grow on his face. Of course he’d been aware. That was what had made this plan so workable. “Excellent. Is Ferox Danum available to discuss the matter?”
The remaining pigment in the man’s face drained away. “It’s not that simple. Perhaps you’d like to make an appointment. He may have an opening sometime in the next few weeks.”
Zane leaned forward, resting the tips of his outstretched fingers lightly on the clerk’s desk. The man had read about him. In general, Zane hated his notoriety among the others in his society. The legend that had grown around what happened with Longstrain. But now, in his moment of need, he was not above using it to his advantage.
“Brother Ferox, I have requested to speak with my senior officer. Are you denying my request? If so, I’d like to get your reason for doing so. In writing.”
The clerk paused, the discomfort and indecision plain on his face. Disturb his most senior boss and risk being reprimanded, or deny a legend and risk worse?
Finally, the clerk said, “If you’ll excuse me a moment.” The clicking of his heels was louder this time as he disappeared into the depths of the hall.
Lily spoke through gritted teeth. “What now?”
Zane glanced around. A few clusters of ferox chatted happily throughout the lobby, but that didn’t fool Zane. They’d all noticed the disturbance Zane had caused by now. They were all watching, listening, even as they continued their casual conversations.
“Now,” Zane said, “the request will work its way through the ranks. They will come get me eventually, but it may be a while. When they do, you wait here. Be on your best behavior. No snooping around. Remember your place.”
Lily looked up at the beautifully painted ceiling high above. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
It was only ten minutes before another man—this one a shorter, fatter ferox at least fifteen years the clerk’s senior—returned and offered to escort Zane to Charles Danum’s offices.
The ferox led Zane to a staircase in the far corner of the hall. As they went up and up the winding staircase, Zane scanned the environment with his eyes, searching for exploitable weaknesses. He found few. This would not be easy.
As Zane ascended the steps, the job became more real, and he began to consider the most important question of all. Would he do this job? Could he? To save Lily’s life, to protect the nation from war, could he kill the head of his own society? The society he’d sworn allegiance when he’d passed his own placement exam twelve years ago?
Zane did not know the answer. But he needed to figure it out, and soon.
There was only one room at the top of the stairs, and the door was guarded by two ferox: a tall muscular man, and a slim, sinewy woman. They nodded at Zane and his guide, stepping aside as they approached. Clearly they’d been notified Zane was coming.
Zane’s guide knocked once and waited.
“Enter,” came a deep voice from within the room.
The guide opened the door and motioned Zane inside.
Charles Danum rose from his desk as Zane entered. A wide smile split his gaunt face. He came around the front of the desk and enthusiastically shook Zane’s hand. “Zane Halloway! I never thought I’d see the day when you graced these halls. I thought you ran at anything that had even the whiff of politics.”
Zane was surprised to feel a genuine smile grow on his own face. He’d forgotten how much he’d liked this man back in the academy. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for a good cause. My apprentice Lily Rhodes is a remarkable—”
Danum held up a hand, stopping him. “Yes, yes. If you say she’s ready, that’s good enough for me. A bit unorthodox, but your judgment means a lot. Besides, it’s your reputation on the line, not mine. We can schedule it as soon as you’d like.”
Zane blinked hard. That was…far easier than he’d expected. “Thank you. I think you’ll be impressed with her performance. She’ll be making great waves in the society, and soon.”
“Fine.” Danum waved Zane into a
chair in front of the large desk and then took a seat himself. “I’m happy to do you a favor.” A sly smile crept across his face. “But I have a favor to ask in return. And it’s not a small one.”
Zane felt his blood go cold. Politics. “Tell me.”
“Your timing is remarkable. We have a very large problem, and the future of the society itself is at stake.” He paused for a moment. “I can see by the look on your face you think I’m being dramatic. But trust me, I’m not. I believe you have a bit of a history with Jacob Von Ridden.”
Zane nodded distantly. What was happening here?
“You may or may not know he is the King’s Shadow. By all accounts, he’s a good one. The king trusts him above almost all others. But this problem…Zane, I’ve thought and thought about this and there is only one solution I can come to. I need you to kill Jacob Von Ridden.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Allow your body to go perfectly slack,” Jacob Von Ridden told Lily.
She had tensed her muscles in anticipation of the ropes, one of the few tricks Zane had taught her about escaping bonds. She had assumed they’d get to those lessons later. Now she would be taking her placement exam in two days’ time; there was no later. She needed to know everything she could be tested on.
Pass or fail, ferox candidates were forbidden from speaking about the test after they had taken it, and it was a vow they took seriously. What was known were the skills that would be covered. Deductive reasoning, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and escape from bonds. And, since Lily had apprenticed under an assassin, Zane had hinted hers would contain something more.
She was unconcerned about hand-to-hand, stealth, and deductive reasoning. But escape from bonds worried her. That was the reason she was in this large open room in the basement of the castle today. The reason Von Ridden was getting ready to tie her up. Apparently Von Ridden had been some sort of stage magician once upon a time and feats of escape had been one of his specialties.
The room must have once been some sort of dungeon. It was all too easy to imagine prisoners being tortured here during less civilized times. Traitors to the crown. Or perceived traitors. Lily knew enough of history to understand a disproportionate amount of those held and made to suffer down here would have shared Lily’s brown skin. And this very room was where many of them had met their nightmarish fates.
Lily thought Von Ridden did not look out of place in this room. She didn’t know the particulars of the duties performed by the King’s Shadow, but torture may very well of been one of them.
Zane sat on a bench sharpening his sword, a wary eye on Von Ridden. He was far enough away that Lily didn’t think he could hear their conversation. But he was watching.
Zane had been sullen ever since they’d returned from the Great Hall. At first, she thought maybe it was the guilt at having to betray his society. But this was something else. Something he wasn’t telling Lily.
“What is it with you two?” Lily asked.
Von Ridden chuckled.
“What?” Lily glared up at him.
“It’s an interesting question,” the Shadow said. “How long have you known Zane?”
Lily scratched at her arm. The sight of the coarse ropes in Von Ridden’s hands made her itch all over. “Two years. A little more, maybe.”
“And you only met me yesterday. Yet I’m the one you’re asking.”
Lily scowled, suddenly aware her actions had perhaps embarrassed her mentor in front of his enemy. “Is that a roundabout way of saying you’re not going to tell me?”
He chuckled and patted her shoulder. “Remember what I said. Try to relax.”
Von Ridden slowly uncoiled the rope as he ran it through his hands.
“I’ve been told relaxing is the opposite of what I should do,” she said. “If I tense all my muscles, I’ll have room to maneuver when I do relax.”
He shrugged. “In an ideal situation, sure. That’s not how it will happen at the test. Would you like me to tell you?”
Lily stared up at Von Ridden with wide eyes. “You know?” She was surprised when her voice came out a harsh whisper.
Von Ridden nodded. “I can tell you. Prepare you for what’s to come.”
She thought about that for a moment. “No. It’s not allowed. No one is allowed to talk about the test.”
Von Ridden smiled like a cat who’d just cornered a mouse. “Ah, but that’s not true, is it? Ferox are not allowed to talk about it. And I am not a ferox.”
Lily shook her head. “It’s still breaking the rules. Someone told you at some point. It must have been a ferox.”
“Perhaps so. Perhaps a rule was broken. But it wasn’t I who broke it. And—to my knowledge—there is no rule stating you can’t listen to someone else discuss the test. Besides, you’re not being given the chance to prepare. You weren’t planning to take the test. You need every advantage you can get. So, I ask again, do you want me to tell you?”
She looked over at Zane. He was still watching them as he slowly sharpened his blade. He was too far away to hear any of this. Wasn’t he?
Lily met Von Ridden’s eyes and gave the slightest of nods.
“Good,” he said. “When you enter the testing room, you’ll be asked to drink a cup of water. The water will, of course, be drugged. When you awaken, you will be bound and the clock will already be running. You’ll have two hours to complete the exam, starting the moment the proctor feels you are beginning to revive. Depending on your constitution, it might take you anywhere from five to twenty minutes to be fully alert after they start the clock.” He pulled the rope taunt in his hands. “Since you will be unconscious when they tie you, you won’t have the chance to tense your muscles. So, in the interest of realism, I suggest you go as limp as if you had been drugged. And I will tie you.”
Lily did as he asked, and a few moments later the rough hemp bit into the flesh of her wrists. He’d tied her hands behind her back.
“This is how they’ll bind you,” Von Ridden said. “Unfortunately, my source was unable to determine the type of knot used, which would have helped us greatly. As it is, I’ll take you through a series of the most common.”
So, for the next three hours, they did just that. Von Ridden started with a figure eight style knot. He showed her how by twisting her wrist and tightening one-half of the loop she could create a bit of slack in the other. Then he moved on to the more difficult knots.
At one point, he said, “Hmm, how do you feel about breaking your thumbs? Do you feel that would impair your performance in the other phases of the exam?”
She just stared at him, not sure if he was joking.
Zane had disappeared at some point. Now he was back, and Faraday had joined him. The two were deep in conversation. The King’s Sword was shirtless and covered in sweat. Perhaps he’d just returned from practicing his forms? She had to admit, he cut a fine figure. In fact, his presence made it difficult to concentrate. That is, until she saw Von Ridden grinning at her, clearly aware of what held her attention. Her face grew hot with embarrassment and she returned to the task of freeing herself from Von Ridden’s latest painfully tight knot.
When she’d finally managed to escape from the rope, she rubbed her wrists. They were raw and sore. What she wouldn’t give for some balm. But she wouldn’t give Von Ridden the satisfaction of asking for it. Not now, anyway.
Von Ridden scratched at his chin. “Well, those are all the major families of knots. And I’m proud to say you defeated all of them.” He bent and picked up the rope off the ground. “Now that you have the confidence of victory, let’s work on your speed. We’ll start at the beginning and go through them all again.”
The breath caught in Lily’s throat. After a moment, she said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I assure you, I’m not.” He pulled a small, silver object out of his pocket and tossed it to her. “Here. This should help things along.”
It was a small, hooked blade.
“We’ll conceal it in the
small of your back,” he said. “No guarantees they won’t discover it while you’re drugged, of course. That’s why we had to practice without any aids. If you wake and find the blade gone, I don’t want you to panic. But if they fail to discover it…this type of blade is used by stage magicians to escape all manner of entanglements. I’ll show you how to use it discreetly. It should speed things along rather nicely.”
This time, it only took an hour to free herself from all the knots. She could have done it more quickly, but Von Ridden made her work slowly and meticulously. He showed her how to hold the blade so it couldn’t be seen by observers, even if they were standing right next to her.
At one point she asked, “Is this cheating? Should we even consider doing this?”
Von Ridden squinted at her. “We’re going to kill the head of their society. Do you really care about their silly rules?”
“Yes.” She said it quickly, without thinking, and she knew it was the truth. It took her a moment longer before she could articulate why. “If I take the test and pass it by cheating, I’ll be a ferox. But I’ll never really know if I was good enough. I’ll spend my whole life wondering if I deserve the title.”
Von Ridden sat down next to her on the bench. “Ferox. They are nothing more than someone who operates in shadows, yes? Someone who excels at getting the job done using any means necessary. It’s what sets their society apart. In their opinion, a job completed is by definition a job well done. Do you disagree?”
She had to admit she did not.
He continued, “In some ways, circumnavigating the rules might be the most ferox way of all to pass the exam. Let nothing stop you in your duty. That’s the creed of your society, if stated a bit more crudely than it is on the official seal.”
Her eyes drifted back to Faraday, his bare chest dripping sweat, his sword across his knees.
And once again, Von Ridden caught her stare.
He leaned forward and spoke in a soft voice. “You know, your mentor and I once had a very interesting debate. This was back when he was an apprentice abditus and I was newly minted from my own placement exam. For a while there, we became…well, perhaps friends is too strong a word. But we respected each other. You might say we each saw a kindred spirit, an intellect worthy of engaging in spirited discussion. Anyway, one day at the pub the topic of the King’s Sword and Shadow came up. I don’t remember how. But your master Halloway had a very interesting theory.”
