The Reluctant Assassin Boxset

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  "Ladies and gentlemen," said Prince Aethalstar in a booming voice that echoed in the vaulted room. "Thank you for coming this evening, but I’m afraid I have some bad news for you all."

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Diamond Court, May 2016

  One monologue too many

  As soon as Prince Aethalstar pulled the scepter from under his arm and started waving it about, tracers of golden faez hung in the air. He mumbled a spell that even from a distance made Zayn’s teeth ache. He dove into the crowd, elbowing his way past the other well-dressed attendees as they watched, their faces wrinkling with confusion.

  No one moved a muscle as the prince worked his spell. It hadn’t yet taken effect, but the formal setting kept anyone from reacting.

  Zayn craned his neck in every direction, trying to spy his teammates as he approached the dais, but he couldn’t see them. Of course, Portia was shorter than most, so he wouldn’t see her. He just had to hope she was nearing the prince because Zayn knew he couldn’t take him alone.

  He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the vial of ambrosia. The liquid went down his throat like warm honey, filling him with confidence. His skin tingled as the effects of the ambrosia spread from his spine to his fingertips.

  Captia and Precept, smoky gray expressions steadfast, stood guard on either side of the prince, while Prince Orráine stood towards the back of the dais, watching with a tight-lipped stare.

  When the spell finished, a shimmering wave passed through the crowd. Curiosity drained from their faces, replaced with the blank stare of a drugged-out addict. With their awareness stolen, Zayn slipped into the Veil, but their immobility made his motion more obvious. Despite being hidden, Zayn slowed to a tortoise pace, being careful not to jostle anyone.

  "Not one person tried to stop me," said Prince Aethalstar as he turned to his brother. "Proving my point that these humans were meant to be ruled."

  Looking to his left, Zayn spied a couple of maetrie in formal attire that were glancing around, confused. While they hadn’t been mesmerized by the prince, they hadn’t been let in on the plan either.

  "Now, my brethren of the Diamond Court, you might be wondering what’s happening. I’ve decided that the city of Invictus, without its head patron, is ripe for conquest. Especially because that preening mage, before he got himself killed by his own students, liked to think that this place was more important than the Eternal City."

  As the prince was talking, Zayn caught a glimpse of Portia, who was also in the Veil, stepping through the crowd. There were only a few people in the way, but the final row stood shoulder to shoulder. He didn’t see an opening nearby, so he gently tugged on the gentleman in front of him, trying to create an opening. He had the man turned a few degrees before he saw Precept’s attention snap his way.

  Precept stared intently at the place where Zayn was standing, and by the expression on his face, it looked like he was slowly piecing together what had been happening.

  Right as Zayn prepared to run, Captia cried out, "Prince Aethalstar!"

  In the back of the room, near the bar service area, a billowing fog rolled forward. The cloud moved with a hungry purpose, pseudopods of white mist extending.

  "A smoke-eater is loose," said Precept.

  The two lieutenants surged forward to intercept the dangerous beast, but the prince seemed unmoved by its approach.

  Zayn knew the cloud to be an illusion from his cousin, since he was supposed to provide a distraction, so Zayn used it to slip past the first row. He caught a nod from Portia, and they accelerated together.

  When Zayn neared Prince Aethalstar, he lowered his shoulder and poured every ounce of faez he could into speed. Zayn hit the prince a moment after Portia, and though the prince hadn’t seen it coming, fell magics protected him from the worst of it and the rebound gave as much as it got.

  As Zayn went flying he felt the effects of the ambrosia kicking in, protecting him from the worst of it. But his hold on the Veil released, so he tumbled into view. Portia appeared going the other way, while the prince fell backwards, the scepter spinning into the air like a baton.

  Normally, such a blast might have knocked Zayn out, but the ambrosia had preserved his health, allowing him to kip up to his feet and sprint towards the falling scepter before Captia or Precept could react. Zayn couldn’t quite tell what either prince was doing—he was too busy trying to reach the scepter. He reached it right before it hit the marble dais, the weighty weapon straining even his faez-hardened muscles.

  He sprinted away with the intent of moving the magical focus as far away from Prince Aethalstar as possible, giving Prince Orráine a chance at killing his brother. He made it as far as the other side of the dais when he heard dry laughter.

  Chapter Forty

  Diamond Court Embassy, May 2016

  A test of friendship

  Laughing was not a good sign. Zayn slowed to a stop. Laughter meant he’d been fooled. He glanced to the right, expecting the stunned crowd to suddenly point at him, joining the prince in their laughter, as if the whole thing had been an elaborate joke.

  "Come now, Priyanka," said Prince Aethalstar. "Surely you can do better than this. My brother has made better illusions than that scepter."

  As Zayn turned to face the prince, the "scepter" in his hand turned to a crisp white bone, and what he saw on the dais wasn’t any better. Portia was being held by Captia, a wicked knife to her throat, while Ullar stood behind Prince Orráine, a wire around his neck and his hands bound. Ullar looked slightly ill from before, but in a good mood.

  "I know you’ve been sniffing around my door all year, hoping to figure out what I was planning. Reveal thyself," said Prince Aethalstar.

  Zayn looked down at himself, wondering how the prince could think that it was her, but Priyanka was a master of disguise. He decided it was better not to play into his assumptions as it would probably only get him killed.

  "I’m not Priyanka. She’s not here," said Zayn.

  The prince made a motion and a wave of magical energy passed through Zayn. The prince’s lips tightened with disappointment at the result of his spell.

  "Sadly, I believe you. I can’t imagine her being caught like this. I expected better. But no matter. Whoever you are, you’re going to die tonight."

  "Prince Aethalstar," said Captia, nodding towards the back of the room. "The smoke-eater."

  Zayn was surprised to see the illusion still present. He thought Keelan would have dismissed it as soon Zayn had been captured, but the prince snapped his fingers and the smoky cloud rapidly reversed its expansion until it disappeared into a strange box with vents on the top.

  "That’s a real smoke-eater," said Zayn.

  "How perceptive of you," said the prince dryly.

  The reason for it being in the room became clear to Zayn, and why they’d built the embassy using bone magic rather than human construction.

  "You used its psychotropic properties to pacify everyone. They’ve been standing around in it, slowly breathing it in and making themselves susceptible." Zayn paused, shaking his head. "That's what the witchwood boxes are for. You're keeping them inside, letting their natural gas vent into the room. And the building. A smoke-eater can’t exist outside of the Eternal City, so you brought the Eternal City here. No one would have defenses for it since it’s a creature, not a spell. And since maetrie have a natural resistance to the creatures, it didn’t affect you."

  Prince Aethalstar lifted his chin. "Impressive for a whelpling. It appears I should have vented one into the theater, but I didn’t expect that’s where my problems would appear."

  He waved his hand as simply as if he were calling for a waiter, and a giant invisible hand grabbed Zayn’s legs and pulled him towards the prince. At first, the surprise of it left him immobile. Then Zayn concentrated on his imbuement and battled the invisible hand, but the prince’s magic was too strong for Zayn.

  The prince stood a head taller than Zayn. The force of his personality thre
atened to overwhelm the protective trinket on Zayn’s wrist.

  "Kneel."

  A wave of compulsion crashed against Zayn. He wavered on his feet before shaking it off.

  The prince creased his eyes.

  "You’re resisting."

  Even though it felt like staring at the sun, Zayn held his ground. "Always."

  A motion from the prince brought Petri stumbling into the room, the golden chain around her neck. Her eyes held shadows. She looked like she was holding in a nuclear blast.

  "What’s his name?" asked the prince.

  "Zayn Carter," said Petri through gritted teeth.

  "I suppose I should thank you, Zayn Carter," said Prince Aethalstar. "When I resolved to take the city of sorcery, I knew it would be difficult once I left the safety of the embassy, no matter how large a golem army I could construct. I knew my natural compulsion wouldn’t be enough, and the smoke-eaters wouldn’t work outside of the embassy, but now you’ve given me a powerful tool. They will bow before me, make me a god. Petri, make Zayn Carter kneel for me."

  Her mouth twisted with pain. The word came out broken and charred as if it’d been through the furnace of her anguish.

  "Kneel."

  As soon as the words left her lips, his knees bent, retracting his legs towards the floor. He didn’t even feel a force like when the prince had grabbed him with an invisible hand. It just happened as if his legs were being operated by remote.

  "Much better," said the prince, pulling a golden knife from his belt. He held it to Petri. "Kill him."

  Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She took one step forward before stopping.

  "No," she said, staring back at the prince.

  The corners of the prince’s lips curled towards the floor. "I have more work to do it seems."

  He snapped his fingers and Petri screamed. The wail coming from her lips was like standing in the way of a category five hurricane. He felt like he was being shredded with broken glass. It might have only been a few seconds, but it felt like it lasted for minutes or hours.

  When it was over, Zayn collapsed onto his hands and knees. He wiped the spit off his chin and the tears from his eyes. He heard the sounds of vomiting from Portia. The psychic assault from Petri had been brutal.

  Zayn looked up at the rows of catatonic people. Their mouths were twisted with the memory of pain, even though their eyes were blank. Using Petri and his own natural powers, Prince Aethalstar could add them to his army. As Zayn looked across the crowd, he caught a glimpse of Instructor Konig standing in the front row. His eyes were unglazed.

  "Stand up, Zayn Carter," said the prince. "It’s time for you to die."

  Chapter Forty-One

  Diamond Court Embassy, May 2016

  Execution before a blind audience

  Zayn closed his eyes, feigning exhaustion. The prince was going to kill him and there was nothing he could do. Not even escaping into the Veil would help him now as the prince could command Petri to bring him back.

  Slowly, he climbed to his feet, catching glances from his teammates. Portia was nearest. She had tears in her eyes. The other three struggled, but the prince had them with his giant invisible fist.

  The prince lifted the dagger as if he were making a sacrifice. Zayn couldn’t help but watch its rise, hoping that his death would be quick. Out of the corner of his eye, he sensed movement, probably Captia coming closer to catch his body. He couldn’t believe this was the end. He’d thought he’d get a chance to finish school. If he were going to die, it’d be in Varna at the Lady’s hand, not at the hand of some warmongering maetrie from the Diamond Court.

  This is it, he thought. I hope I meant something.

  When the dagger was at its apex, Prince Aethalstar thrust it downward towards Zayn’s chest. He closed his eyes, expecting the cold blade to pierce his chest, releasing his last breath. But someone slammed into him, knocking him across the dais.

  Shocked, Zayn looked up to see Instructor Konig locked in a power struggle with the prince. The instructor had summoned a force shield and was using it to block the prince’s blows, but he was no match for the maetrie and was being slammed into the floor.

  Before Zayn could climb to his feet, the prince wrapped his fists around his golden dagger and brought it down with such force that it exploded the shield, went through Instructor Konig’s body, and ended up imbedded in the floor.

  "No!" Zayn cried out.

  He sucked in a breath. Held it. Instructor Konig lay sprawled awkwardly on his back, the corduroy jacket open wide. His eyes stared back at Zayn in a look of mute surprise. The golden hilt stuck from his chest, pierced right through his heart.

  Zayn’s face went numb. A booming heartbeat thundered in his ears. He held his breath tightly, forcing it down. He couldn’t believe Instructor Konig was dead. He liked him. He’d reminded him of his father in his earnestness for teaching. Konig had wanted to be a hero, but had he wanted to die?

  No.

  Zayn's face burned with rage, but he couldn’t open his throat to let out that breath, as if as long as he held it Instructor Konig might come back. As if he might not be dead.

  Then the prince looked up at Zayn, which turned his rage into a bonfire.

  Zayn sucked in a huge breath and screamed, "Bastard!"

  With the invisible fist no longer holding him, he flung himself at the prince, who looked momentarily stunned by the attack. But the prince reacted quickly, bringing up his fell magics, and a golden sphere formed between his hands, the same one he’d used to batter Instructor Konig into the dais.

  But Zayn was not aiming at the prince. He went right past, headed straight towards Petri, ripping the chain from her neck as he went by.

  This surprised Prince Aethalstar, but not Petri. As soon as she was released from her enslavement, she launched herself at Prince Aethalstar, and the impact from the two sent a shockwave that knocked everyone in the Grand Ballroom to the floor.

  Zayn had little time to recover before Precept was on him like a cat on an injured mouse. Only his faez-imbued reflexes kept the maetrie from slicing his head off with a five-foot sword. Rather than engage Precept, Zayn leapt away, hoping to stall long enough that Petri might take down the prince.

  His teammates had also wisely used the distraction to free themselves. But there was no way they could get past the forbidding, unless Prince Aethalstar had been dealt with.

  On the dais, the prince and Petri were at the center of a war between a wall of inky darkness and a golden haze. Flashes of lightning spit from the edges of their battle, leaving the smell of burnt ozone in the air. The marble floor had cracked around their feet and bone dust fell from the vaulted ceiling.

  A kernel of hope formed in Zayn’s chest. If Petri could find her strength, then maybe they would win.

  He blasted Precept’s hands with a force bolt, trying to knock the sword from his hands, but he shrugged it off, forcing Zayn to dance under a head-hunting swipe. Zayn shifted his faez into his sensing imbuement to study Precept’s lithe limbs for where the blade would fly next, then when he knew where it would go, he shifted faez into his muscles, contorting out of the way.

  When he glanced back to Petri, his hopes fell. The prince had broken the stalemate and was pressing Petri onto the marble, just like he had with Instructor Konig, threatening to crush her beneath her own shield of darkness.

  Zayn tried to dodge past Precept, but the maetrie sensed his intention to help Petri, and blocked him with a swipe of his sword.

  "I’ll kill you soon enough," snarled Precept.

  Zayn felt their brief turnabout slipping away. While his teammates were keeping ahead of the numerous maetrie trying to capture them, they couldn’t avoid it forever.

  Then the lighting in the room shifted greenish. Zayn worried that the smoke-eater gas had finally gotten to him, but he saw Precept noticing the change as well. Every hair on Zayn’s body rose to attention. He felt like he’d been dipped into a vat of static electricity.


  When he saw a ghostly Katie step out of the bone wall, Zayn almost forgot to duck. Precept’s blade nicked his shoulder. Warm blood ran down his arm. Zayn peered at the cut through the split fabric, realizing that whatever protections he’d had from the ambrosia were gone.

  A second blow never came because the lithe Precept froze as he stared in horror at the walls. From all around the room, other figures, some humanoid and some not, came rushing into the Grand Ballroom in an eerie ghostly green wave.

  Individually, the ghosts of the Veil could not affect the real world easily, but in numbers they could be formidable. The denizens of the Veil rushed at Prince Aethalstar, forcing him to scramble away from Petri as he swatted at the incorporeal beings as if he were being attacked by insects.

  At first, the prince was angered by what had happened, but he recovered quickly, knocking away the ghosts with fell magics. Then he pulled his scepter out, the real one, and Zayn knew what he was going to do next. He was going to summon the bone golem army, and it wouldn’t matter how many creatures from the Veil they had on their side.

  Prince Aethalstar raised his scepter. For a second time, every hair on Zayn's body rose to attention. The back of his teeth hurt as a keen vibration emanated from the scepter. The spell to unleash the bone golem army rose to a crescendo, almost to completion.

  Then Prince Aethalstar froze. The golden scepter inexplicably clattered to the floor. He jawed at the empty air, lips moving but no words coming out.

  Zayn couldn’t figure out what had happened, until Prince Orráine stepped from behind his brother. His hands were empty, but he was staring at Prince Aethalstar’s back as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done.

  With the older prince immobilized by poison, Petri approached him at a languid pace, gathering darkness around her. Her face was etched with anger. Tendrils of liquid shadow embraced the prince, wrapping him tightly until only the top of his head could be seen.