Invisible Assassin (29 page)

Blade looked away, remaining silent for several moments while he wrestled with himself. "No, you're right, it's too much to ask. I must meet my fate. I suppose it cannot be avoided. I can't ask you to do what I have not the courage to do myself."

Jayon gripped his arm. "If we run, we might still elude them."

Blade jerked free. "Not me. The only way out now is through the kitchens, and I'm certain they'll be waiting there. Even if we got past them, how far do you think we would get on foot, surrounded by mounted soldiers? You go, they will let you." The assassin turned to face the door as the clatter of running feet drew closer. "Go, save yourself. You can do nothing for me now."

The young commander bowed his head, staring at the floor. When he looked up, his expression was grim, as if he had finally accepted Blade's decision. "If you won't flee, then neither will I. It will be an honour to die at your side, Lord Conash."

Blade looked away. "Bloody idiot."

A Cotti soldier appeared in the doorway and stepped into the room. Jayon drew his sword with a hiss of steel. Blade stood with his hands at his sides while more soldiers entered on the heels of the first. They stayed near the wall, well out of reach of the two Jashimari. When more than a dozen men had entered the room, a tall, gold-armoured man, resplendent in a tunic of pale blue and silver, strode in. He stopped just within the portal and eyed the assassin, removing his plumed helmet.

Blade had seen enough of Kerrion's brothers to know that he faced another of them, an older one, only a little younger than the King. This one bore a pronounced likeness to Shandor in his size and blunt, brutish features. Pale hair framed his coarse visage, and a short beard of a darker hue hid his chin. Dark brown eyes raked Blade from under blond brows. His animal kin, Blade recognised at a glance, was the same as his father's, the great brown bear. Like it, he would be stubborn, pugnacious and somewhat short-sighted.

"Prince Armin," Blade guessed.

"You are well informed, assassin." Armin stepped closer, eyeing the daggers in Blade's belt. "And well-armed, I see. Perhaps we can dispense with the ugliness and settle this in a gentlemanly manner."

"How so?"

Armin glanced back at several robed, skull-capped men who had entered behind him. "These men are judges and advisors. All I want from you is the name of the man who hired you to kill my brothers. Speak it before us, and you may go free."

"Really." Blade smiled. "You think me such a fool. Even if I was to tell you who hired me, you cannot let me live. My execution for your brothers' deaths is sanctioned by the King himself, is it not?"

"It is, but we could overlook that. Perhaps we could offer you a pardon in return for your co-operation, just as you received when you spoke at Kerrion's trial." He glanced at the judges, who nodded. "There, you see? Speak his name and you will both go free."

"I wish I could, but this discussion is pointless. I was ordered to speak at Kerrion's trial by the Queen, who was then my employer. I have no such instructions now."

Armin stepped nearer. "I know it was Kerrion who ordered my brothers' deaths, you have only to confirm it."

"Was it?" Blade's smile broadened. "A pleasant thought, I must say. Certainly, I could tell you that it was Kerrion, but I could be lying. How would you know if I was telling the truth? Perhaps Queen Minna-Satu ordered their deaths before her own."

"The woman called Minna-Satu is still alive, as you well know."

Jayon gasped, glancing at Blade, who shrugged. "So perhaps it was one of your other brothers. They are all quite murderous, even the youngsters."

"It was Kerrion. Tell the truth, assassin."

"Once armed with this information, you will overthrow him and take the throne. A cunning plot, much like Lerton's. I cannot tell you who did order your brothers' deaths, but I can tell you it was not Kerrion."

"You lie!" Armin stepped closer again, and Blade's hand sought the hilt of a dagger. The Prince noted the movement and retreated. "No one but Kerrion has reason to kill my brothers."

"They are his brothers too. Why would he wish them dead?"

"They were a threat to him."

Blade shook his head. "He is the King."

"He has taken a Jashimari whore to be his wife. His sons will be half breeds; the Cotti will not stand for it."

"His daughter will rule Jashimari."

"Which we could have conquered, if not for the scheming of your foul Queen. She saved her people from slavery, but Kerrion insults his ancestors with his foolish liaison."

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 accuse 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."