Assassin's Curse (21 page)

“We will never stop look…”

Jeda twisted her head, snapping her neck and killing her instantly.

“You won’t be looking for anyone anymore.”

Jeda dragged Ruby’s body back to the small fire with the teapot boiling away atop it.
 
He took the pot and smashed it on the floor and positioned Ruby’s body face-up on top of the broken crockery.
 
He rolled her over and wedged a piece of the broken crockery into the wound on her back to hide the knife wound before he smashed her head on the floor, causing a small rupture in her skull.
 
It looked like she had slipped on the spilled liquid and broke her neck in the subsequent fall.
 
It should do for any cursory investigation of her death.
 
He then took the small brazier and tipped it on its side, spilling the hot coals onto the tabletop.
 
There were plenty of cloths on the table and they quickly began to burn.
 
The flames grew and began to burn the table before jumping to one of the supports holding the roof.
 

Jeda watched the fire travel up the dry wood until it reached the roof.
 
It was spreading quickly and that was all he needed to cover the murder.
 
He left the same way he had come in, pulling the shutters closed behind him.
 
There was no trace he had ever been there.
 
In a town this small, someone would notice the smoke and give an alarm of fire.
 
They would have to burst into the healer’s house to discover what the problem was and, with the doors locked from the
inside,
the scene would look like an unfortunate accident.
   

Jeda raced down the alleyway and jumped into the wagon. He clucked the mule into motion.
 
He had driven to the outskirts of town before he heard a bell tolling an alarm.
 
He continued along the road, never once looking back.
 
He was tired, but he had to keep moving.
 
Ruby had notified someone of his arrival at the village and the faster he got away, the better.
 
He could sleep when they found somewhere safe.
 
A little farther along the road, Jeda spied a turn-off leading north.
 
They had been running south and east since they had left Constantine, and Jeda realized an opportunity when he saw one.
     

“Well girls, what say we take a trip to one of the northeastern cities?”
 
Jeda was talking aimlessly to the two babies, trying to stay awake.
 
He was exhausted, but there was no time to rest.
 
“This path leads north and has got to end up somewhere.
 
I’ll bet we find a good-sized city somewhere out there.”
 

It was not much of a bet, but there were many cities along the eastern border of the kingdom, both in the north and south.
 
Jeda had originally thought to hide in one of the southern cities, but the ones in the northeast would do just as well.
 
He had never been in the eastern areas of the kingdom, but he had seen enough maps to be familiar with the major roads, landmarks, and settlements.
 
Kala and Kara looked up at the sound of his voice as if they understood he was talking to them.
 
It was eerie the way they watched him, and it sent a chill up his back.

“Now you two need to stop that, it’s downright creepy.
 
See, if no one knows where we are heading, then no one can easily follow us, right?
 
I know it’s not where old Gelda expected us to go, but that’s the point.
 
The
guild, and now the coven, have
ways of getting information that might surprise even her and they’re the ones we have to be worried about.
 
Yep, best we strike out on our own.”

The girls laughed and giggled as if they were in on some secret joke, and Jeda just shook his head.

“Well, I’m glad you two agree.”
 
He shifted in his seat trying to find a comfortable position.
 
It was going to be a long day of travelling before he would be able to find a safe place to spend the night.
 
At least they had fresh food and wouldn’t need to stop at any other villages along the way.

The babies smiled at him as the motion of the wagon lulled them back to sleep.

Elizabeth crushed the message in her hand and looked to the young woman who had delivered it.
 
“When did this arrive?” she asked curtly.

“Just this morning, ma’am,” the frightened girl replied.

“Who else knows of this?”

“No one, ma’am.
 
I brought it straight away to you.”

“See to it that it remains that way.”
 

The deadly threat in her voice would make sure that the arrival of this message would be kept secret.
 
With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the girl, who scurried out of her office.
 
Elizabeth stood in front of her wall map showing the details of the cities and villages of the kingdom.
 
Mount View was marked with a subtle bit of charcoal, the same as the other locations where the twins were spotted.
 
Tracking the assassin’s movement was paramount to Elizabeth in controlling this situation, but the latest message put a wrinkle in that plan.

Mt View healer found dead.
 
No sign of travelers.

When she received the first message concerning the twins’ arrival at Mount View, Elizabeth had dispatched a bird immediately telling Ruby to simply observe the assassin and make no contact of any sort.
 
Any contact or questioning would only serve to spook him and then he would disappear with the twins again; exactly what had happened.

Damn,
Elizabeth thought, studying the map and following the route marked on it.
 

It would seem our assassin is heading for the southern reaches of the kingdom, probably one of the major cities along the border, no doubt.
 
What better place to hide the girls but in the masses he’ll find down there.
 
I must alert our followers in the south to be on the lookout.
 
Hopefully, they’ll listen and simply watch what he does and not get
themselves
killed.
  

Elizabeth sat down at her desk and began to write the messages that would keep her one step ahead of everyone else in the hunt for the twins.

***

The sun shone down on the lone wagon as it travelled steadily along the remote and dusty stretch of road.
 
The sky was filled with light, wispy clouds against a backdrop of blue that stretched on forever.
 
The grasses alongside the road were a vibrant green, matching and blending seamlessly in with the trees in the near distance.
 
The road stretched for miles ahead, curving up and around the rolling hills, following the lay of the land.
 
A warm breeze finished the scene, lulling Jeda to relax and enjoy the glorious, summer day as he drove the wagon along.
 

As the morning waned on toward noon, he straightened up and stretched out his back.
 
He had been in the driver’s seat since early morning, but he would have to stop soon.
 
Exhaustion was dulling his senses and that’s the last thing he wanted.
 
He glanced over at the improvised carriage seat he had made to snugly hold the twins.
 
He preferred that they rode up front with him; it made it easier for him to watch them.
 
For now they were sleeping soundly, but hungry bellies would wake them up soon enough.

The experience at the last village was weighing heavily on his mind.
 
If nothing else, it showed him the extent of the network that the black coven operated.
 
If they had members in tiny, remote villages, then they probably had legions of followers in the bigger cities, all looking for a pair of twin girls.
 
Looking over at the babies, he decided that would be the first thing to change.
 
The simplest things were usually the most effective, so changing the way they looked would be done first.
 
He also realized that his own description could give them away as well.
 

So they are looking for a young man with two baby girls with golden hair.
 
Well, we’ll fix that right now.
 
He reached over and pulled his bag up next to him and began to look for the implements he would need.
 
He took out a pair of scissors and two lumps of mummer’s coal
;
one the color of silver and the other black.
 
He began by running the silver through his hair, aging his appearance dramatically.
 
It was a simple but effective trick that he had learned long ago at the guild.
 
A couple of strokes across his hair and he instantly aged 10 years.
 
Once he had slightly grayed his own hair, he looked to the twins.
 
Kara was awake and that made his decision easier.

“Now, don’t be getting all prissy with me,” he told the infant girl, picking her up out of the papoose.
 
“I have to do this.
 
It’s for our safety.”
 
He felt foolish telling Kara why he was about to cut her golden locks and color what remained, but somehow it seemed right.
 
In any case, it did seem to make the process easier.
 
The child never wailed while he cut and colored her hair.
 
When he was done, she had short, dark hair and looked totally different from her sister.
 
He knew it wouldn’t last, but it would do until he could find the necessary ingredients to make the color last longer.
 
He would have to make this a nightly ritual or the blonde roots would give away the disguise.
 
It was a bit unnerving when he finished and found Kala watching him intently while he finished working on her sister.

“How do you two do that?” he said, shaking off the nerves he felt crawling up his back.
 
“Like I told Kara, this is for all our safety.”
 
Jeda lifted Kara for her sister to see.
 
“Well, what do you think?” he jokingly asked Kala.
 
“Meet your new brother, Kar.”
         

It was one of those eerie moments that Jeda would experience time and again while he raised the girls.
 
Kala, with her curly, golden locks, looked at Kara, with her short, black hair, and they seemed to communicate with each other on a level all their own.
 
After a moment, they both looked at him as if they approved of what he had done.
 
“Well, it’s a start in any case,”
Jeda
told them.
 

He bundled them up again in their papoose and gave each some milk.
 
“There you go.
 
That should keep you awhile longer before we would have to stop for the day.”
 
The remaining hours of the afternoon went by without incident.
 
The travelling wagon lulled the girls back to sleep and Jeda thought he was finally getting things under control.
 
The plan was to stop and get everything set before his two little darlings woke up again.
 
He actually thought he would beat their cries for food until he looked over and saw Kara looking at him beneath furrowed brows.

“Now what are you looking at, huh?” he asked the infant, reaching over and tickling her belly.
 
“I’m pulling over right now to get your food ready, so none of your screaming.”
 
He was rewarded with one of the Kara’s rare smiles, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the tickling or the mention of food.
 
Just never know what these babies are thinking about,
Jeda thought, stroking Kara under her chin,
half the time this one looks like she wants to kick my ass.

Just as Jeda spotted a likely site for stopping, he noticed others had thought it was a good spot as well.
 
Upon pulling into the clearing, the first thing that was evident about the group was the riotous collection of paint bedecking their wagons.
 
He counted nine wagons all set about in a half circle around a central fire pit.
 
It was not particularly cold this time of year, so the pit must have been set up for communal cooking, something Jeda hoped to take advantage of.
 
Stopping at the edge of the camp, he saw its occupants held the same abandon for their clothing as they did their wagons.

Gypsies,
he thought.
 
This should prove interesting
.

A small band was playing and several men and women were dancing, both in pairs and alone.
 
The men, women, and children all wore a multitude of colors on their pants, wide-sleeved shirts and long, flowing skirts.
 
The women held their hair back with scarves of silk that matched their low-cut blouses.
 
It was like looking at an undulating sea of colors, both beautiful and disturbing at the same time.
 
While the women danced provocatively, the men performed high-risk acrobatics that seemed to defy gravity itself.
 
It wasn’t hard to surmise they were a travelling band of performers after watching the group.
 
These were probably one of many troupes that plied the trade routes with their entertainment and services.