The Assassin

by Trudie Collins

  They crossed the border into Janton without any difficulty and headed directly toward Linket, the capital. Helen was overjoyed to see them, despite the fact that they arrived in the middle of the night. She and Alate insisted on getting up and greeting them.

  As soon as Tor had explained the Grimmel situation, servants were roused to prepare rooms for them in the guest suite. River would not leave Grimmel’s side, so as soon as Nosmas had made sure that the dwarf and the water sprite were comfortable, he organised for a guard to be placed outside their room. He had no doubt that the palace was secure, but was not prepared to take any chances.

  Everyone else was led to the kitchen where some of the cooking staff had just started the day’s work. Coffee was prepared and bread leftover from the previous day was sliced and spread with butter and jam.

  While they ate and drank, the visitors told the Queen and her consort about the assassin and the reason they were all travelling together once more. The kitchen staff did not seem uncomfortable at having to work around their rulers, indicating that Helen and Alate spent more time there than most rulers would.

  Helen agreed to have an artist sent for at first light and promised to have the sketch sent to all cities and towns as soon as copies could be produced. Dawn was still a few hours away, but the royal couple opted not to return to their rooms, choosing instead to take the opportunity to catch up with their old friends.

  Tor asked after Fuzzle and Helen sadly informed him that age was catching up with her chief advisor. Though still fit and healthy until a few weeks ago, a chest infection had taken hold of her which she could not shake. Ellen offered to take a look and was led away by a servant. Patrick went with her, not wishing to let her out of his sight.

  Before the first rays of sun could invade the palace through the numerous windows, Hawk bid everyone a good day and departed. Taking this as a cue, everyone else announced that they needed to get some sleep and left the kitchen in search of the rooms which had been prepared for them.

  Nizari watched his intended victims enter the palace and swore to himself. Getting into the royal residence was going to be a lot harder than penetrating an inn. He climbed one of the buildings close by and settled down on the roof, positioning himself so he could see the palace’s main entrance. The hours slipped by with no other visitors arriving and he was about to give up when he noticed a carriage pull up in front of the gates. An elderly gentleman was helped out by the driver, followed by a number of servants. Others servants had been riding behind the carriage and dismounted, milling around until their Lord was ready to request entry to the palace.

  Nizari smiled to himself. Maybe gaining entry was not going to be as hard as he had first thought.

  Chapter 20

  “My back is hurting.” Quartilla complained. “Would you mind rubbing it for me?”

  Nosmas smiled. This was the closest he would be able to get to her until they were married so he willingly jumped at the opportunity to have his hands on her. “I will go and get some oil,” he said as she began to undress. He left the room, almost bumping into a servant, who mumbled an apology. Nosmas said it was his fault so there was nothing to apologise for, then went in search of Ellen. He did not see the way the servant watched his retreating back.

  Knowing that Quartilla was now alone, Nizari was about to enter the room when he heard movement behind him and quickly pulled back his hand and began to walk away. Ria walked past him, but did not recognise him, assuming he was just another servant. The ease with which he could move around unnoticed amazed even himself sometimes. When she too was out of sight he walked back towards Quartilla’s room, but was again disturbed by someone entering the corridor. Didn’t these people ever stay still?

  Nosmas returned, bottle in hand. If he was concerned about seeing the same servant hanging around his room, he didn’t show it. Quartilla was lying naked on the bed, face down. He knew he was not going to be touching her inappropriately, but he still paused before approaching her.

  She squealed when he poured some of the oil onto her back, complaining it was cold. Instead of apologising, Nosmas said, “Tough,” and started to rub it into her soft smooth skin. His hands were big and strong, yet surprisingly gentle and Quartilla began to moan softly. As he worked, the wizard found himself suddenly grateful for the spell he had cast on them both.

  When he had finished, he removed his hands. “We should think about getting some sleep,” he said.

  “After you have done my front,” Quartilla replied, rolling over to expose her bare chest.

  Nosmas frowned at her. “You know I cannot do that,” he told her sternly.

  “Cannot or will not?” she snapped at him angrily.

  “Both. You are too young yet. Why can you not wait until you are old enough?”

  “A lot of girls my age are already married, some even have children. Why do I have to wait?”

  “Because it is better for you,” he told her gently.

  “Bullshit,” she shouted. He stared at her in shock. He had never heard her use language like that before. She grabbed her robe, which she had dropped at the bottom of the bed, and roughly put it on before striding towards the door.

  “Where are you going?” he asked wearily. He was tired and was not in the mood for dealing with an emotional adolescent.

  “Anywhere as long as it is away from you,” she yelled, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her. She walked straight into Nizari, who had his hand over her mouth before she could scream.

  Unable to believe his luck, he whispered into her ear as he pulled her slowly away from the door. “Stay quiet and I will kill you quickly and painlessly. Make a noise and I will make sure you die slowly in agony.” Unable to stop herself, she began to whimper.

  Knowing he should find her before she did anything stupid, Nosmas stood up and followed her out of the room, glancing down the corridor just in time to see her being pulled around a corner. He did not call out, not wanting to alert the assassin to his presence. Instead, he followed after them as swiftly as he could without making any noise.

  When he had rounded the corner so he could hide his presence no longer, he called out. “And where do you think you are taking my fiancée?”

  Nizari had one hand over Quartilla’s mouth still and his other arm was around her neck. All it would take was one sharp movement for him to break it. She was visibly shaking, with tears streaming down her face. The look of relief that came into her eyes when she saw him almost broke Nosmas’s heart. He could easily cast a spell to free her, but he was not sure if it would take effect before the man who held her captive had time to end her life. He held his hands out in front of him anyway, making it look like he was about to do magic, just in case it made the assassin scared enough to release her. He did not hold out much hope, but there was no harm in trying.

  “Move and I will kill her,” Nizari called out to him, confident that he could do what he claimed. “Put your arms by your sides and do not even think about moving your lips.”

  His attention was so focused on the wizard that he did not hear someone creep up behind him. Brin was just about to enter his room further down the corridor when he heard the commotion and decided to investigate. As he had been around another bend, Nizari had been unable to see him and now that he had his back to him, the assassin was oblivious to his presence. Nosmas saw his friend, but did not react; even the slightest indication that he had seen him would give away the elf’s presence.

  Brin had a bottle of wine in his hand, which he had just collected from the wine cellar. It had been a while since he and Sam had been alone and he wanted to make the most of it. He glanced at the label, winced when he saw that is was good quality, shrugged, then hit Nizari over the head with it. The bottle broke, spilling the wine. Red ran down the side of assassin’s head and at first glance Brin was not sure if it was blood or wine, not that he cared. The man crumbled to the ground and Quartilla ran into Nosmas’s open arms.

  “Shhhh
,” he said soothingly as he stroked her hair with his hand. “Everything is alright now. You are perfectly safe.”

  “Please, do not let go of me,” she begged.

  “What do you want me to do with him?” Brin asked, nudging the unconscious body with his foot.

  “Grab some weapons, then keep an eye on him while I go and get Tor. I think I am going to enjoy questioning him.” Brin disappeared, returning moments later with his bow and arrows. Nosmas took Quartilla to Ellen before going to Tor’s room, instructing her to make a potion that would send the young girl to sleep. She was still shaking and sleep was the best thing for her at the moment. Ellen did not ask what had happened, but sent Patrick with Nosmas when he left the room.

  Nosmas explained as they walked. When they arrived at the room Tor was staying in, Patrick knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a reply. “Want to have some fun?” he asked the startled Prince, who frowned at him suspiciously. “Nosmas and Brin just caught our assassin and we are about to take him to the dungeons for questioning.” Tor leaped off the bed and was soon following them out of the door.

  “We should really speak to Helen before we start interrogating prisoners in her palace,” he pointed out. “How did he manage to get inside anyway?”

  “That is one of the things we will be asking him,” Patrick said, smiling viciously.

  The interrogation did not take very long. Tor simply informed Nizari that he would be handed over to the assassin’s guild and the man begged to be allowed to kill himself instead, saying he would tell them everything they wanted to know. It had not been an idle threat. The assassin’s guild had a workhouse in the city and they were not tolerant of anyone outside of their guild committing murder. An ex-member caught doing so would be slowly tortured to death. With Helen’s permission, Tor granted the man’s request and he began to talk.

  Getting in had been easy. He had simply dressed as a servant and then followed a visiting Lord. Everyone had assumed he was working for the Lord so nobody stopped or questioned him. Helen was shocked when she heard how easily her home had been breached and ordered the captain of her guard to review procedure.

  “Who hired you?” Patrick asked once Helen gave permission for the interrogation to continue.

  “He never told me his name,” the man replied. He had been expecting to receive physical violence or at least a threat when he said this, but those questioning him realised he was speaking the truth, so did not react.

  “Describe him,” Tor instructed, though he had little hope that the man would not be disguised. The answer however, made him smile.

  “Albian,” Nosmas said venomously. “We should have guessed.”

  “So how did you know who to kill?” Tor continued.

  “He gave me lists, one for each Prince. I have been crossing the names off with each successful kill.” He moved his head as if to point to his chest. “They are in my tunic.”

  Patrick removed them, whistling as he read each one. “You have killed a lot of people,” he observed. He did not recognise any of the names on most of the lists and made sure he avoided looking at the one for Tor.

  “But why?” Nosmas asked. “What possible good will killing us all do him?”

  Surprisingly, Nizari had an answer. “Revenge. He blames you and everyone else who took part in the quest for his change of circumstance. He claims that if his plans had worked he would have married the Queen and be named King.”

  “But that would never have happened; the people would not have allowed it, nor would the rulers of other countries. The man must be mad,” Tor stated.

  “Maybe he is,” Patrick said. Then he turned to address the prisoner. “Do you have anything else you wish to tell us?”

  Nizari shook his head, then looked at Patrick suspiciously. “After all I did to you, why are you being so nice?”

  Patrick shrugged his shoulders. “I could put you through what you made me endure, but what would be the point? You would not tell me anything you have not already told me and doing it just for fun would make me as bad as you. My morals are much higher than yours and I like to think that I would never sink to your level.”

  Without another word, he turned his back on the prisoner and left the dungeon. Ellen was still awake when he returned to their room, sitting up in the bed and reading a book. Quartilla was sound asleep beside her.

  “You will not wake her,” Ellen said as Patrick crept into the room as quietly as he could. “What is going on?”

  Patrick sat down on the bed beside her and took her in his arms. “We have caught the assassin,” he informed her, then proceeded to give her full details of what had occurred.

  A short while later there was a knock on the door and Nosmas entered. “How is she?” he asked, looking at Quartilla’s slumbering form.

  “Sleeping peacefully,” Ellen assured him. “But I do not know how traumatised she will be when she wakes up.”

  “Thank you for taking care of her,” he replied as he knelt beside her and gently stroked her cheek. “The assassin is dead,” he said, glancing up at Patrick. “Once he had told us everything we needed to know, Tor untied him and handed him a sword. He made no attempt to escape. He even thanked us before stabbing himself in the heart.”

  “He thanked you?” Ellen asked in shock. “Why?”

  “We showed him more mercy than he would have shown us,” Patrick explained.

  Nosmas nodded his agreement. “May I take her back to our room?” he asked Ellen, pointing towards Quartilla.

  “Of course,” she replied. “She will not wake for a few hours. Just make sure you are by her side when she does.”

  “I will,” Nosmas promised and gently eased the young girl into his arms. Ellen jumped off the bed to open the door for him, closing it behind him once he and his burden were in the corridor.

  Luckily he had neglected to close the door to his own room properly and was able to push it open with his shoulder. He laid her down on the bed without removing her robe and pulled the covers over her. After taking off most of his own clothing, he slipped under the covers, placed one arm around her protectively and closed his eyes. Sleep was not long in coming and the sun had yet to set when he opened them again. Quartilla was still asleep, but she began to stir as he moved.

  She stretched and when she rolled over to look at him, tears were in her eyes. “I am so sorry,” she said.

  “No apology necessary,” he assured her. “Just remember that I can only protect you when you are with me. I almost lost you and it scared me half to death.” It was not a reprimand, but she took it as one.

  “I just wanted you to touch me,” she sobbed. “You do not know what it is like being filled with longings that will not be fulfilled.”

  “Do you want to bet on that?” he asked her. The look he directed towards her pushed all doubt from her mind. “Promise me you will not walk out like that again.”

  “I promise. Though I am not going to stop trying to get around the spell you put on us.”

  “I would not want it any other way,” he said and kissed her.

  When he got up later that day, Nosmas sought out Sam. He found her with Ria and Ellen and he asked them all if they could do him a favour. He reminded them about the spell he had put on himself and Quartilla, along with the reasons why, and went on to tell them about Quartilla’s attempts to seduce him.

  “Please can you speak to her?” he requested. “Maybe she will listen to you. I tell her she is better off waiting until she is older, but I am sure she is not listening to a word I say. She is driving me crazy. This is as hard on me as it is on her.”

  “We will see what we can do,” Ellen promised.

  Despite being in a hurry to get to Thauma, Tor gave the ladies permission to bathe before they departed and they took River and Quartilla along with them. As they soaked in the warm water, the subject of Quartilla making advances towards Nosmas came up. Between them, Sam, Ria and Ellen did their best to persuade her to stop tormenting hi
m, at least until they had finished travelling.

  “Your first time with a man should be special,” Ellen told her. “Not just a quick roll in the bed because you cannot control your hormones.”

  “No,” Sam corrected. “Every time should be special.”

  “Was your first time?” Quartilla asked.

  Sam blushed. “Actually, no. I got drunk at a party when I was eighteen and could not remember much about it the next morning. Now I could not even tell you the guy’s name. It is one of the few things about my youth that I deeply regret.”

  “So do as she says, not as she does,” Ria said, unable to keep the smile from her face.

  “How about the rest of you?” Quartilla asked. She was interested and hoped they did not think she was prying.

  “Some of you already know about me,” Dal said. “As I told my brother when he accused Seth of taking my virginity, I had already had sex with his friend. It was fun, but nothing like being with a man you love.”

  “Grimmel was my first and only lover,” River said quietly. “I am glad I saved myself for him.”

  All eyes turned to Ellen and Ria. “The only man I have ever been with, until Patrick, was a wizard,” Ellen said. “We were together for a number of years and even talked about marriage, but he left me when he discovered I was better at magic than he was. It hurt his pride for some reason.”

  That only left Ria. They all stared at her expectantly.

  “You will not believe me,” she said. “But I will tell you anyway.” She paused before continuing. “I have never been with a man.”

  “What?” Sam exclaimed in disbelief.

  “I told you you would not believe me,” Ria said smugly. “I am telling the truth though.”

  “But you grew up on the streets,” Ellen protested.

  Ria shrugged. “I learned to fight when I was very young,” she explained. “I will not tell you I was never attacked, I was, but it never went that far. I always managed to get away, or was rescued, while I still had my dignity intact. Those on the streets take care of each other. But there was not always others around. Why do you think I became so good with a knife?”