Sacred Knight of the Veil (23 page)

"We cannot stay there. If the healer betrays me, her father is bound to find out I am staying there when he makes enquiries."

"Are we going to Cotti?"

He shook his head. "Not just yet. That is exactly what Crella's father will expect me to do, when he finds I have left the inn. We will go to ground for a few days, until the immediate danger is past."

They traversed the gloomy, almost deserted streets to an inn on the far side of the city. He left the horses at a nearby livery and rented a room much like the last one. The fat, balding proprietor acquired a greedy glint in his eye when Blade placed a bag of gold on the table to get his attention, then detailed the means by which the innkeeper could earn it. The man licked his lips as he stared at the heavy bag.

Blade demanded to be left undisturbed, their meals sent to the room and water for washing, all of which the man agreed to without hesitation. The assassin climbed the stairs to a cramped room with mottled walls, a sagging ceiling and single bed, flopping down on it. Kerra glanced around, opening her mouth to ask why he had not rented a room with two beds, then thought better of it. She studied him, noting his pallor and the way he rubbed his ribs. Mixing the healer's powder with a cup of water, she took it over to him.

Blade sat up, eyeing her. "When did you decide to become helpful?"

She shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "You are hurt."

"As I have been for the past several days." He sipped the potion and pulled a face. "God, this tastes like cow dung. So, why the sudden concern for my health? The girl I met at the palace would never have stooped to mixing medicine for a mere minion, injured or not."

"No, I suppose not. I have changed." She fiddled with the front of her jacket.

Blade smiled. "You are trying to avoid that punishment I promised you, are you not?"

She raised her chin. "You would not dare. Already you have struck me, which would have earned you a flogging at the palace."

Blade leant back against the headboard and took a gulp of the medicine. "One thing I have learnt from my association with queens, kings, regents and the like, is that they do not punish those who are valuable to them. People they can use, like me.

"Your mother berated me often for my churlishness, rudeness and disobedience, but continued to shower me with rewards for as long as I served her. I warned you that I might have to be rough with you. If you speak to me as if I am your servant, people are going to wonder if you are really my apprentice. So, I had to make it quite clear that you are."

"I am not afraid of your punishment."

"Really? That is rich, from someone who has never been punished." He studied her. "Well, if that is not it, then why are you trying to butter me up?"

"I am not -"

"You are. What is really bothering you?"

She looked down at the edge of her jacket, which was twisted in her hands. "Could you kill a woman?"

"Yes, if I was not retired and someone paid me to. Why, does that bother you?"

"A woman cannot defend herself."

He cocked his head. "So? I have yet to meet a man who could defend himself against me either."

"A man should never kill a woman. They should protect them."

"But men occasionally do kill women, out here in the real world. They also protect them, sometimes."

Kerra raised her eyes. "What would you do, if you were paid to kill me? Or blackmailed, like my father?"

Blade took another gulp of potion, and grimaced, pondering. "Well now, that is a good question, is it not?"

The blood drained from her cheeks, leaving her face chalk white, and her eyes widened. Blade struggled to control his expression, but when her eyes glistened with tears, he burst out laughing. Kerra sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes filled with an unreasonable fear that reminded him of her extreme youth and naiveté.

"You would kill me!" she rasped, horrified.

Blade put the potion down before he spilt it, clasping his ribs as his mirth goaded the dull ache to a savage burning. Kerra leapt up and headed for the door, clearly intent on escaping the potential threat to her life that she now perceived him to be. Blade caught her before she reached it, grabbed her around the waist and turned her to face him. He transferred his hold to her wrists as she tried to punch him, and hopped back when she attempted to kick his shins. He grinned, delighted by her reaction to his teasing.

"Let me go, you monster! I will be safer on my own than with you!"

"Really? A slip of a girl like you?" He chuckled. "You would not last five minutes."

"Well I am certainly not safe with you! If you could murder a helpless woman without any qualm, you would not hesitate to murder me if it suited you."

He chortled and hopped aside when she tried to kick him again. "But then I would not get my reward."

"What if Endor kills Chiana? Then I will be useless to you."

"Well, I could ransom you to your father for the same price. Ow!" He swore as she kicked his shin.

"Monster! My father cannot order his own brothers assassinated."

"You would be surprised. Whoa!" Blade ducked as she jerked a hand free and took a swipe at his head, enjoying the little tussle even if it made his ribs hurt. Chuckling, he grabbed her wrist again before she could do any damage, then cursed when she stamped on his foot.

"Ouch! That hurt. Okay, that is enough, Kerra. Settle down before you cripple me."

The Queen glared at him, and Blade fought to hide the amusement that still bubbled within him. He failed, and reflected that he had not been so well entertained for many years.

"Why this sudden concern about whether or not I am capable of killing a woman?"

"I have never before encountered a man who would."

"Ah." He pulled her over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, gazing up at her with a smile. "So you thought that if you were nice to me, you might be able to ingratiate yourself sufficiently so that if I was ever paid to kill you, I would not be able to do it, right?"

His smile broadened at her nod. "What a child you are. You can never become my friend. I do not have any. But let us consider this logically. No one can pay me to kill you, because I am not an assassin anymore, and there is nothing else that could persuade me. Your assumption is an insult to me, as the healer's was."

"Why?"

His amusement faded, and he sighed. "Being an assassin does not make me a compulsive killer. I do not enjoy it. The healer..." He pulled a face. "I could not decide what to do with her, but I was not considering killing her. When she begged for her life, I was offended. Do you think Chiana would have entrusted you to me if I was a common murderer?"

"I doubt that she knows you as well as she thinks she does."

"Really. And you know me better, after such a short acquaintance."

"Does she know that you could kill a woman?" she demanded.

"Yes."

"Has she ever seen you kill someone?"

He lowered his eyes. "Yes."

"Did my mother?"

Blade frowned, trying to remember, then nodded. "Yes. I killed a Contara assassin and his employer in her bedchamber one night."

"You saved her life?"

"No. I saved yours. No one ever tried to kill her, she was the Queen." Blade released her wrists, sensing that her wish to flee his presence had evaporated.

She sat on the bed beside him, gazing at him. "Then you saved my life twice."

"Yes."

"I did not know."

"I am surprised Chiana forgot to tell you that little story."

"But the healer... She was frightened, yet I saw no pity in your eyes. How could you bring yourself to kill someone like that?"

He rubbed his face. "I was not going to."

"But you could have."

"If I had been paid to, when I was an assassin, yes." He glanced at her, then turned away from the accusation in her eyes and picked up the cup of medicine. "An assassin cannot allow himself to feel pity, or he would not be very good at his trade. I only kill when I have to, now. I could have killed those thugs, but I did not, did I?"

"Is there anyone you could not bring yourself to kill?"

He hesitated, then sighed. "My wife. I swore an oath to her that I would not, even if someone paid me. That was before I retired, of course. Do not worry, you are quite safe." He took another gulp of medicine. "This is one of the silliest conversations I have ever had."

"You think me foolish to fear a man who kills as easily and as thoughtlessly as you do?"

"If I did it for fun, you might have cause for concern." He slugged back the last of the potion and put the cup down, then lay back and closed his eyes. "Of course, if you really annoy me..." Opening his eyes a slit, he found her gazing at him doubtfully, and chuckled. "Idiot."

Chiana raised her head and gazed at her tormentor with a mixture of trepidation and loathing, her face burning from the many slaps she had received. She sat in a chair in her morning room, where she had been confined for several days now. Endor paced the room, his nostrils flared with rage, his brows knotted above blazing eyes. The Cotti advisors who had arrived with his retinue stood with those who resided in the palace, and all of them stared at her impassively. Many things had changed since Blade had left with the Queen, and none of them for the better.

The palace seemed to be overrun with Cotti soldiers, and she had been forced to send most of her men to their barracks at Endor's orders. News of her ill treatment had spread into the city, and crowds of unhappy citizens gathered outside the palace gates to shout insults at the Cotti soldiers who lurked within. Chiana's men were forced to keep the irate people at bay, which led to further verbal confrontations and even a few scuffles. Most of the common folk could not understand the situation that had forced their queen into exile, and left the Regent at the mercy of a Cotti prince.

In the days that had passed since Kerra left, Endor had grown more and more furious with his troops' inability to find the Queen, and Chiana's refusal to tell him where she was. He was still convinced that she knew where Blade had taken Kerra, and only her high office had prevented him from doing more than slapping and shouting at her, so far. She suspected that he would soon start taking more drastic measures, however, since the populace were growing unruly anyway.

Endor marched up to her and bent to grip the arms of her chair, thrusting his face close to hers. She flinched and cowered, expecting another blow, and he smirked.

"Tell me where he is, Regent, or my torturer will know the pleasure of practicing his art on you."

"He could be anywhere. I have told you a thousand times. I do not know where he has gone."

"And I know you are lying!" Endor pushed himself away and straightened. "You know him better than anyone, and you concocted this plan with him. Where would he go?"

She shook her head. "I do not know."

He slapped her, and she tasted blood. "Then think!"

Chiana glared up at him. "I wish he was here, so he could cut your throat."

"And have you ordered my assassination, you traitorous whore?"

"As soon as Kerrion's wife is safe."

"Kerrion's wife will never be safe!" he bellowed. "As soon as I have your snivelling queen, she will be dead!" He swung to face the advisors. "This is high treason! She admits to ordering my assassination."

The advisors looked embarrassed, and the most senior stepped forward to explain, "She is Jashimari, Prince Endor, she cannot be accused of treason. If you are killed, she could be accused of murder, that is all. Even if we did charge her with treason, we cannot execute her. It would lead to war with Jashimari."

Endor swung back to Chiana. "When I catch your husband, he will suffer a slow and painful death, I promise you. But if you do not tell me where he has gone, you will suffer until you do."

"I cannot tell you what I do not know, Endor. My husband is not such a fool that he would tell me where he plans to hide the Queen, then leave me here to tell you. If he took Kerra-Manu, he did it at her request. I had nothing to do with it. I obeyed Kerrion's request, and told her she would have to allow you to visit her, but she was filled with disgust at the idea."

Endor's hand cracked across her face again, and she gasped. Tears trickled down her burning cheeks, and she raised a hand to brush them away.

"I tire of your continued defiance and insolence, woman. I am certain my torturers will succeed where I have failed."

Endor gestured to his guards, and they came over to drag Chiana from the chair, leading her to the door. She dug in her heels, slowing them down long enough to shout over her shoulder.

"When my husband learns what has been done to me, nothing will save you, Endor. He will cut out your heart and feed it to you while it still beats! Surely you have more sense than to torture the wife of the deadliest assassin who ever lived?"

Endor's full lips curled in a sneer. "Do not be so sure of his reaction, stupid slut. From what I hear, he cares nothing for you, since you are of no use to him. And if he does try to kill me, he will be the one who dies."

Chiana growled as the soldiers dragged her away before she could vent the abuse she longed heap upon him.

In the dungeons, a makeshift torture chamber had been set up, and a huge, hirsute Cotti presided over his instruments. A tub of water stood in the middle of the room, a seesaw plank rigged over it. The soldiers hauled Chiana to it and tied her hands behind her back, then forced her to lie face down on the plank. They bound her to it, her head poised above the water. She twisted to glare at the torturer.

"If Endor fails, you will pay for this outrage."

The Cotti shrugged. "I'm just following orders. You should tell him what he wants to know, then you won't have to do this."

"Your prince is a fool if he thinks that I know the whereabouts of my husband."

"He'll make quite sure you don't before he gives up."

Chiana stared at the water with deep dread, praying for a miracle to save her before he plunged her into it. Her suffering would bring Inka to her, and if they captured the dove Endor would have the perfect tool with which to torture her. The thought of losing her familiar terrified her, and she cursed the circumstances that had led to this horrible situation. She steeled herself, taking a deep breath as the torturer lifted the plank, plunging her head underwater.