Sacrifice: The Queen's Blade (30 page)

"Why is my life so important to you?"

"I cannot tell you that yet. When we reach Jadaya I will explain everything, I promise."

The King rose and yanked open the carriage door, vanishing into the darkness. Minna almost went after him, then caught herself and sank back onto the cot, staring after him in puzzlement.

Chapter Fourteen

Blade woke each day for a short period on their journey through the desert, finding Olan on hand to give him food and water. The time he spent awake gradually increased, but when they arrived in Jadaya he was asleep. He woke on a bed with linen hangings, in a room built from pale yellow stone. A table and two chairs stood between him and the door, and a narrow window allowed in a shaft of hot sunlight. He sat up, eyeing it with a mixture of hope and suspicion.

Finding his wrists unshackled, he experienced a surge of elation. It seemed that his helpless state had lulled the Cotti into laxness. He rose and headed for the window, then stopped as he became aware of a stricture around one ankle, and that a jingle of chains accompanied his movement. Glancing down, he found that his ankle was shackled to the bed. With a growl of frustration, he sat down and examined the shackle's lock, wishing he still had the lock picks he kept in his belt. He was clad in a loose grey linen shirt and trousers, and he wondered what had happened to his old clothes.

The door opened and Olan entered, carrying a tray. He smiled when he spied the assassin's dour expression and placed the tray on the table before walking closer. "So, you're stupid enough to think we would leave you in your own clothes, with all the little tools you had hidden in them, eh?" He chuckled. "All the tools of your trade are gone, assassin, even the little dagger that was hidden in your boot."

Blade glared at him. "Insult me at your peril. One day you may stray within my reach, Cotti scum."

"I'm not afraid of you, murderer. You have no weapons."

"I don't need a weapon to kill a little runt like you."

Olan drew himself up. "You'll change your tune when the King orders you flogged."

"But I am not going to do that," Kerrion said from the doorway.

Olan swung around and bowed. "Pardon, Sire, I meant no disrespect."

"No, only to frighten our guest, which will not work, I assure you. You will treat him with respect in future. He is a lord in his land, and you are just a servant. You will treat him as you would a Cotti lord, Olan, is that understood?"

"But he's Jashimari, Sire."

"That is right." Kerrion walked closer. "A land my daughter will one day rule, and whose people are no longer our enemies. It may be difficult for you, but I chose you for this duty because I trust you. Do not worry, his threats are empty. He only kills when he is paid to, is that not so, Blade?"

The assassin inclined his head. "Or in self-defence. But breaking a few bones is allowed."

"Then break them if he insults you again." Kerrion sat at the table.

"If I am to be treated with such respect by your servants, why is it that I am chained like a dog?"

"Give me your word that you will not try to escape, and I will free you."

The assassin's hands clenched, and he glowered at the Cotti King. "Tell me why you have brought me here."

Kerrion looked at Olan. "Leave us." The servant scurried out, and the King gestured to the bowl of stew and goblet of wine on the tray. "Eat. Soon you will fall asleep again."

His stomach's growling drove the assassin to take the chair opposite Kerrion and pick up the spoon.

The King observed, "I am surprised by your calm acceptance of the situation. I had expected more outrage from you."

Blade spooned the meaty stew. "You do not know me."

"No, I do not. You obviously have a great deal of self-control, which is an excellent quality." Blade ignored him, and Kerrion continued, "I am sure you know why I have brought you here, since it is not to punish you. I shall be forced to imprison you, however, if you do not co-operate."

The assassin paused, his spoon raised. "You want to hire me."

"I would not have put it like that, but yes, I suppose I do."

"I do not work for Cotti."

"Our kingdoms are no longer at war. There is no need for continued animosity between us." Kerrion leant forward. "Surely you would enjoy being paid to kill more Cotti?"

"Not by you. I will not be a tool for you to use. The end of the war does not change the way I feel about Cotti any more than your servant likes to serve a Jashimari."

"I thought you were a little more intelligent than Olan."

"What does intelligence have to do with it?" Blade sipped the wine, finding it sour. "If I hate Cotti enough to want to kill them, I surely hate you too much to work for you."

"You hate everyone, so what difference does it make that I am Cotti?"

"There are degrees of hatred, and you are at the very top of my list."

"Why? I understand why you hated my father, but I have done nothing to you. In fact, I have abolished the slavery of Jashimari children in my camps, and I have had several officers flogged for the offense."

"That is supposed to make me like you?" Blade snorted. "You are the son of the man who was responsible for the death of my entire family, and my mutilation."

"You have had your revenge for that, and I do not hold it against you. We should be even, you and I. My father's soldiers murdered your family, and you have slain him and my brother."

Blade banged down his goblet. "I will not argue the matter with you. The answer is no."

"Then I will have to send you to prison."

"Do it. Once they see my mark I shall be dead within the time-glass."

The King sat back, frowning. "And this does not bother you?"

"I will probably be asleep at the time."

"What if I told you that you would be sent to kill those who would murder your Queen?"

"Makes no difference."

Kerrion watched him eat, frowning. "What if your Queen gave the orders?"

"She is just your puppet now."

The King snorted. "Minna would never be a puppet. All I would do is tell her who was plotting against her. The decision to kill them would be hers, so how is that serving me?"

"Keeping her alive is serving you, since she is now your prisoner. It was her fate to die, and you have meddled in it, mine too."

Kerrion jumped up and went over to the window, leaning on the ledge to stare out. "I went to see Shamsara. I asked him if it was her fate to die, and he said no. He gave me the antidote that saved you both, and he said that much good would come of her being in Jadaya."

"Is that why you saved her? Why did you go to see him?"

"I went to ask for an antidote. You told me that she would take the Cup. You would not understand why I saved her; you are incapable of such feelings."

Blade pushed aside his empty bowl. "You are saying that you feel something for her? You love her?" He laughed with genuine amusement.

Kerrion listened with a tinge of resentment, glad that Blade could not see the reluctant smile that tugged at his lips, for the assassin's laughter was infectious.

Blade chuckled. "The Cotti King in love with the Jashimari Queen. What glorious tricks God plays on us mortals." His mirth faded. "It would be even more amusing if I believed it."

Kerrion swung to face him. "Laugh all you want. It is true, whether you believe it or not. You are not capable of such emotions, and for that I pity you."

Blade's smile vanished. "And I despise you for stooping so low, pretending to be a slave to your feelings, and especially for thinking that you could sway me with such blatant lies. What is more, you are professing to be in love with a woman who loves someone else."

Kerrion strode over to the assassin and yanked him to his feet by his collar. "Who?"

"Why should I tell you?"

The King shook him, his brows knotted above blazing eyes. "Tell me, or I will have you flayed and fed to the crows!"

Blade smiled. "I do not know his name, some young lord she knows."

"You are lying!"

"Am I?"

"I shall ask her."

The assassin shook his head. "She will deny it. Her existence depends upon you now, and she is afraid of death. She hardly had the courage to take the Cup. She begged me to help her."

"And you did."

"No, I refused to pour poison down her throat, but I offered to put a dagger in her heart. She should have taken my offer, then we would not be in this situation."

Kerrion shoved the assassin back into his chair. "You are a lying bastard. She has never mentioned any lord."

"Of course not, that would give her away."

"She is not as calculating as you. She would have asked, in an off-hand manner to disguise her true feelings, but she would have asked if he was still alive. When you love someone, knowing they are in danger but not knowing if they are alive is the cruellest torture."

Blade shrugged. "Perhaps she made sure he is safe."

"He does not exist! You cannot bluff me. I know you to be a liar, so why should I believe a word you say?"

The assassin picked up his wine cup and tilted his chair back in a relaxed manner as he sipped from it. "If you do not believe a word I say, why ask for my word of honour that I will not escape?"

Kerrion banged his fists on the table, making the empty bowl jump. "You do have honour! I know you do. One thing I have learnt about you is that you have pride, too much of it in fact. It is about the only thing you do have, is it not? Without it you would be just a common criminal, murdering whomever you pleased. But you have a code, and you stick to it because without it you are nothing." He leant closer. "Do you want to be chained?"

"Not particularly, but nor will I swear not to escape." He sipped the wine, fixing Kerrion with a chilling stare. "You may as well send me to die in your stinking prison. I will not help you."

"I will see to it that you do not die. You do not know what misery is yet. If you help your Queen, not only will you be freed and treated well, but, in addition, rewarded handsomely. A bigger estate in Jashimari, more riches, more titles, whatever you want, but most of all, when the danger is past, your freedom."

Blade chuckled. "How desperate you are. Try begging, why don't you? Maybe the sight of you on your knees will move me."

Kerrion paled with rage, his fists becoming white-knuckled as he fought the urge to grab the assassin's neck and throttle the life from him. He controlled himself with an effort, swinging away to pace. "You will regret this. If you are no use to me I may as well turn you over to the courts. With my testimony, you would be convicted of killing Lerton and executed by extreme torture. You know how we torture Jashimari criminals, do you not? Is that not what you feared so much that you tried to take your own life with the Queen? Now are you going to earn it by refusing me? I hold your fate in my hands. I can do with you as I see fit."

"Whether I help you or not."

Kerrion swung to stare at him. "So that is it. You think I will dispose of you this way even if you do help me. What will it take to convince you that I mean what I say? I am not a liar, like you, and I have more honour than you do."

"You are a Cotti."

"And you are a Jashimari, yet I would accept your word of honour. Cotti regard Jashimari as cultureless savages. A crude matriarchy governed by superstition and barbaric rituals. It is all a matter of opinion, and which side you are on. If I give my word, it is as binding to me as yours is to you."

Blade's eyes drooped, and he put down the goblet, his movements becoming sluggish. He tried to speak, but his eyes closed and he slumped sideways onto the floor before Kerrion could reach him. The King stared down at him, cursing, then strode to the door and ordered the guards to place the assassin on the bed before he marched off towards the rooms where Minna was housed.

The Queen looked up at Kerrion's entry, and he glanced around at the changes she had made to the rooms. Silk hangings softened the walls and doorways and cushions were piled on the floor. Minna reclined on a mound of these, and she waved away the maids who attended her. Girls with darker hair than most, he noted.

As soon as they were alone, Kerrion lowered himself onto a pile of cushions nearby with a frustrated sigh. "Do you like your rooms?"

"They are adequate, and I am improving them. You have spoken to Lord Conash?"

He nodded. "The fool will not agree to help me. He does not trust me. He thinks I plan to double-cross him, and he claims that he will not work for a Cotti."

"But you expected this, surely? You could not have thought that it would be easy to persuade him."

"No, not easy, but it seems to be impossible. His arguments make sense. They are all logical and understandable. I would probably do the same thing in his situation."

Minna smiled. "Naturally. You are both proud, intelligent men. Perhaps if you think of a way in which you may be persuaded, it may work on him too."

"You might have more success than I. Will you speak to him?"

"I would like to, but not necessarily to persuade him to help you. I doubt that I would have any more success than you in that matter."

He scowled. "Then I will have to give him a taste of what he can expect if he does not co-operate. Perhaps the reality of it will be more persuasive than the threat."

"You should just let him go. Shista will find me soon, and she will protect me from harm."

"She can be killed -"

"As can Blade. No one is infallible."

His scowl deepened, and he looked away.

Blade woke to find Olan bending over him, and lashed out with a fist before the servant could leap out of reach, hitting the Cotti in the face. Olan fell backwards with a grunt, and the assassin was after him in a flash. He gripped the lapels of Olan's jacket and hauled him into sitting position. Olan pawed at the blood that oozed from his nose, gasping with shock.

"Where's the key, Cotti scum?" Blade growled.

Olan shook his head. "I don't have it. The King has it."