The Assassin

by Trudie Collins

  “Which ones?” Lady Aster replied.

  “The ones that say that you are barren and that your husband has found himself a mistress who can provide him with an heir.”

  Lady Aster stared at her friend, barely able to contain her fury. “You did say that he wanted to come to the ball alone tonight, did you not,” Lady Grey continued, ignoring the look on Lady Aster’s face. “Now you know the reason why.”

  Lady Aster glared at Ria’s retreating back. “That bitch will never provide my husband with a child,” she hissed before storming out of the room.

  Once she had gone, Lady Grey joined a group of ladies who had been watching the scene. “That was fun,” she announced. “I told her there were rumours that her husband was having an affair and hinted it was with the woman he is currently talking to.” She smiled slyly. “These balls are always so boring. Hopefully Lady Aster will make such a scene it will give us something to talk about for weeks.”

  Lady Aster, however, did not make a scene. Instead of confronting her husband, she left the party and sought out an old friend. She made her way to the cheaper part of the city and went down a back alley. She knocked on a wooden door and was confronted by a tall, thick set man with a long black beard. “Willy,” she said before he could speak. “I have a favour to ask.”

  It was approaching midnight by the time Patrick managed to bring up the subject of Albian. Lady Tara had pretended to be tired, so Patrick had escorted her to a sofa where he sat beside her, whispering compliments into her ear. When she suggested they leave the ball and go back to her house, he seized the opportunity this presented and declined.

  “I hear you have a visitor staying with you,” he said. “I wish to be alone with you without the risk of being disturbed.”

  “Do not worry about him,” she assured him. “He has left.”

  “Really? Where has he gone?” Patrick asked the question so casually that Lady Tara did not suspect that he was really interested in the answer.

  “Auxland,” she gasped as he leaned forward and began to kiss her throat. “He said he had an appointment to see Prince Cirren.”

  “Why was he here?” Patrick continued. “What did he want from you?”

  “He is an old friend of my dead husband,” Lady Tara explained. “But I have no idea why he came to stay with me.”

  This was all he needed to hear, so he ran his left hand through his hair. Ellen, who was still dancing with Hawk nearby, saw the gesture and broke away from him. She stormed over to Patrick, grabbed him roughly by the hair and dragged him off the sofa.

  “How dare you?” she screamed at him. “You told me you were working tonight so you could not come with me to visit my mother. I thought I caught sight of you earlier, but decided my eyes must have been deceiving me.”

  “So why are you here instead of with the old battle axe?” Patrick retorted.

  “What right do you have to question me? It was not me who had their hands all over another woman. We are going home to discuss your behaviour, at length.”

  “You cannot order me around like this,” Patrick yelled at her. He was enjoying himself and wanted to make the most of it.

  “I can when I control the purse strings,” she snapped back at him. “You will leave this little trollop alone right now or I will cut you off where it will hurt you the most.” Patrick glanced down at his crotch. “Not there, you idiot. I mean your bank account.”

  She turned and walked away, knowing that he would meekly follow her.

  As soon as they were in a carriage heading back to the inn, Patrick took Ellen in his arms. “You were magnificent,” he told her.

  “Did you get what we need?” she asked.

  “Yes. Albian is going after Cirren.”

  “Then we had better get back to Tor as soon as possible.”

  Chapter 25

  Hawk watched Patrick and Ellen act out their little scene with indifference. “Time to go,” he said as he felt Ria rest her head on his shoulder.

  “I want to stay a little longer,” she told him. “The man I am speaking to needs some company and I will feel guilty if I leave him alone right now.”

  “Alright,” Hawk said, though he was far from happy. “I will return in an hour to escort you back.”

  “I will meet you out the front,” Ria promised.

  Hawk left the house and took to the skies, eager to return to the inn and discover what Patrick had found out. Having taken the more direct route, he arrived before Ellen and Patrick and found Tor in his room.

  “Patrick and Ellen are on their way back,” he announced.

  “Where is Ria?” the Prince asked.

  “Still at the ball. I am going back later to collect her.” Tor opened his mouth to speak, but Hawk knew what he was going to say. “I am not happy about it either, but you know what she is like.”

  Tor grudgingly agreed that he did. “Get the others,” he instructed. “I have already spoken to Utel’s father-in-law and he has given us permission to use the taproom.”

  By the time Ellen and Patrick arrived, everyone was waiting for them.

  “How did it go?” Nosmas asked.

  “Ellen is quite the little actress,” Patrick replied. “Remind me never to get her upset.”

  “That is not what I meant,” the wizard said irritably.

  Patrick winked at Ellen, then his mood turned more sober. “We have to get a message to your brother,” he informed Tor. “Albian has left Kavern and said he had an appointment with Cirren.”

  Tor had had the foresight to bring all of his maps with him and took one out. It was not very detailed, but covered a large area so was probably the best one to use. He took the tracer locket out of his pocket and placed it in the middle of the map. Almost instantly an area, close to the Kinfen mountains, began to glow red.

  “It looks like he headed south,” Grimmel observed. “Do we follow him or go a more direct route?”

  Tor pondered the question for a moment. “I suggest we follow him, at least for a while, just to make sure he is indeed heading towards Auxland. I will send a fast messenger to Cirren and Tibia in the morning.”

  “So what do we do now?” Brin asked. Dawn was still a few hours away and nobody felt tired.

  “That is up to you,” Tor replied. “Just make sure you are well rested by sunset as we have a long journey ahead of us.”

  River and Grimmel headed back to their room, as did Sam and Brin. “I will go and check on Ria,” Hawk said and left via the main door, which Tor locked behind him. He flew directly to the house where the ball was still in progress, landing a few streets away so he would not draw attention to himself as he approached the building. There was no sign of Ria at the entrance, so he stationed himself close by and waited for her to come out.

  Ria was still inside, talking to Lord Aster. “I really should leave,” she told him. “My friend agreed to return for me and I do not wish to keep him waiting.”

  “Of course,” the Lord replied. He was a true gentleman and insisted that he escort her to her rendezvous point, not wishing her to walk the streets alone in the dark. The corridor to the main entrance was crowded, so he took her out the back way. It led into a deserted alley, which they could follow to the main road. They were only half way down it when Bad Willie stepped out of the shadows, brandishing a club.

  “Hand over your valuables,” he demanded.

  Ria reached under her skirt for her knife, but before her hand could close around it another man stepped out of a doorway behind her and placed a chemical soaked cloth over her nose and mouth. Her world turned black as her body went limp and sagged to the ground. Lord Aster did not see what had happened to Ria so was taken completely by surprise when the same cloth was placed in front of his own face. Only once both victims were unconscious did Lady Aster step into the alley.

  “Take his purse,” she instructed as she rolled Ria’s unresponsive body over onto its back. Spotting the knife attached to Ria’s thigh, she took hold of it and u
sed it to slice her dress open. The man who had attacked Ria grinned as impure thoughts ran through his mind. “Do not even think about it,” Lady Aster snapped at him. “Take out your knife and cut her. I want the wounds to be long and deep, but not life threatening, and make sure you do not touch her face. She is to remain beautiful to look at while fully clothed. Only once a man gets her undressed will her ugly scars be revealed.”

  Bad Willie and his partner did not question the order and both took their knives from their belts. As they set about cutting Ria, Lady Aster took Ria’s knife and sunk it deep into her flesh, just above the pelvic bone.

  “I will make sure you never bear him a child,” she hissed at Ria’s unconscious form as she made the incision wider.

  “What are you doing?” Bad Willie yelled at her when he saw the amount of blood that was flowing. “I thought you said you did not want her dead.”

  “I know what I am doing,” she spat back at him. “Before getting married I trained under a witch for a while.” Taking it for granted that she was telling the truth, Bad Willie returned to his task, trying his best to ignore what Lady Aster was doing with the knife.

  The three attackers did not know they were being watched. A young street urchin had spotted Ria leaving the house and, recognising her, decided to watch over her. The last time he had seen her his mother had still been alive and Ria had saved him from some of the lads who worked for one of the men who were now attacking her.

  He had seen her arrive early that morning so he knew where she was staying. He also knew that if he did not find help soon it would be too late. With no concern for his own safety, he turned and ran, not caring if he made any noise. He rounded a corner and ran straight into Hawk.

  “Are you alright?” the vampire asked as he helped the boy to his feet. The young lad was about to run away when his eyes fell onto the man he had just barrelled into and he realised he had seen him before.

  “You are a friend of Ria,” he said. It was not a question, but Hawk nodded his head anyway. “She is in trouble. You have to help her.”

  Hawk did not need telling twice. “Where?” he asked and the boy grabbed his hand and dragged him after him. As soon as they rounded the corner, Hawk could see what was happening and was consumed with rage.

  “No,” he shouted out and flew at the people who were hurting Ria. He grabbed one by the throat and threw him into a wall, breaking his neck. He turned around to attack another one, but the other man and the woman were already running away. He contemplated chasing them, but then his eyes fell on Ria and concern for her pushed all other thoughts from his mind.

  “Do you know where we are staying?” he asked the street urchin as he ran up. The boy nodded his head. “Then run there as fast as you can and get Ellen. Tell her Ria is hurt, badly.”

  “Will she be alright?” he asked, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

  “I do not know,” Hawk replied without looking up.

  Then the boy was running faster than he had ever run in his life. He arrived at the inn much sooner that he thought possible and banged loudly on the door, not caring if he woke up everyone who was inside.

  Tor threw the door open and was surprised to see a young boy standing on the other side. “I need Ellen, now,” he panted. “Ria has been hurt.”

  “Grab my bag,” Ellen shouted at Patrick, who ran from the room. Moments later he returned, bag in hand, and they both rushed out of the inn, closely followed by Tor.

  “Keep everyone else here,” the Prince called to Nosmas over his shoulder.

  The young lad led them back to the alley where Hawk was cradling Ria’s body, holding the deep incision closed with his hands. They were covered in blood.

  “Needle, now,” Ellen called out and Patrick passed one to her as soon as he had it threaded. “I need you to lay her down,” she gently told Hawk, “but do not move your hands.”

  With Tor’s help, he did as instructed, moving his body out of the way so that Ria fell back into Tor’s waiting arms. The Prince laid her down on the ground and Ellen began her work. She sang a healing charm as she sewed and the blood flow soon eased.

  “Get her back to the inn,” she instructed once the wound had been completely closed. “Have Nosmas start to heal the other cuts. I will help as soon as I get there.”

  Hawk obeyed, taking her gently in his arms then flying upwards. As soon as he was out of sight, Ellen turned her attention to the boy. “Do you know who he is?” she asked, pointing to Lord Aster. The boy confirmed that he did and Ellen instructed him to lead Patrick to his house. Patrick was reluctant to leave her side, but eventually he agreed to carry the unconscious man to his home then deliver the boy to the inn. He was a vital witness and Ellen had a lot of questions that needed answering.

  “Will she be alright?” Tor asked as soon as they were alone.

  Ellen paused before answering. “Her wounds are not life threatening. She lost a lot of blood, but we got to her in time.”

  “There is something you are not telling me,” Tor said. He had known Ellen for a long time and knew when she was not being completely honest.

  “Blood is not the only thing that Ria has lost,” she told him. “Whoever did this had time to remove her uterus before Hawk arrived.”

  Tor’s legs gave way and he fell onto the ground as he realised the implications of what Ellen was telling him. “Mother have mercy,” he said. “You mean she can never have children?”

  Ellen nodded. “The question is, do I tell her?”

  Tor stared at her, his face as hard as stone. “No,” he replied. “I will tell her when the time is right. For now, say nothing of this to anyone. Understand?”

  Ellen understood perfectly and slowly nodded her head.

  By the time Tor and Ellen returned to the inn, Nosmas had healed most of Ria’s injuries. “There will be no scarring,” he confirmed. “Even the deeper wound in her abdomen will completely heal soon.”

  Ellen helped him with the last few cuts, then had Hawk take her up to her room. “You should go,” she said gently once Hawk had placed her in the bed and covered her with a blanket. “The sun will be rising shortly.”

  “No,” he said. “I am not leaving her.” He had taken hold of her hand and was squeezing it tightly.

  Ellen was too tired to argue, so she went to find Tor. Patrick had arrived back at the inn and he was interrogating the boy. The young urchin had recognised Lady Aster when she had rushed to her husband’s side, faking concern for his well-being, but had had the intelligence to remain silent until Patrick was leading him back to the inn. He told Patrick everything he had seen once he was safely behind closed doors. The poor lad was so worn out from all of the excitement that the Prince decided that a few hours sleep were in order and he would get full details later in the morning. The boy was taken to the spare bed in Tor’s room with assurances that he would be well protected while he slept.

  Ellen told Tor about Hawk’s refusal to leave Ria’s side so he went to speak with the vampire. He found him gently stroking Ria’s cheek, his face unreadable.

  “You should get to your coffin before the sun rises,” he said as he walked into the room.

  “It is my fault she got hurt,” Hawk replied. “I will not leave her. I can stay here as long as the windows remain closed.”

  Tor moved closer and put a comforting hand on the vampire’s shoulder. “It is nobody’s fault,” he said.

  “If I had not left her alone this would never have happened,” Hawk insisted.

  “It was Ria’s decision to not return with you, not yours. Ellen says she will not wake until tonight. Go and get some sleep. We will take good care of her until then.” Tor could see that Hawk was filled with indecision so he continued. “I will stay by her side all day. You have my word.” He glanced out of the window. “Now get out of here while you still can.”

  Taking the last sentence as an order, Hawk reluctantly obeyed.

  Nobody got much sleep and it was only a few hours later t
hat Ellen entered the room to check on the patient. Tor was sitting in a chair next to the bed and was still holding Ria’s hand. His head had drooped forward and was leaning on the edge of the bed. He was fast asleep.

  He jerked awake as Ellen entered the room. “You should go to bed,” she told him, but he shook his head.

  “I promised Hawk I would stay with her until he could come back. He is taking this pretty hard.”

  “In that case, I will have some breakfast sent up to you. If you will not sleep, you can at least eat. Patrick is going to the guardhouse as soon as Nosmas gets up. That young boy who came to get us witnessed everything and is prepared to tell the authorities all he saw. Apparently Ria helped him out the last time we were here and he wants to return the favour.” Tor nodded, not really taking in anything that Ellen had just said.

  Nosmas rose a short while later and the two men took the boy to the nearest guardhouse. The captain in charge, however, was not very helpful. He informed them that they were making a serious accusation and would need more than the word of a thief before he would begin an investigation.

  “We will see what the King has to say about that,” Patrick said and stormed out of the office, closely followed by Nosmas and a despondent looking boy. Before returning to the inn, they visited a messenger station and paid above the odds to guarantee that their message would be delivered to Cirren in the shortest possible time.

  Once they were back at the inn, the two men told Tor what had happened. His advice was to find the Bard. He was now chief advisor to the King so would be able to get them an audience with the young ruler.

  “It would go better if you came with us,” Nosmas pointed out, but the Prince refused, stating that he trusted his friends’ abilities. Utel was able to tell them where her brother was and he was more than happy to take their petition to the King. Upon hearing who it was that wished to speak with him, King Jamie gave his permission for them to be brought to the palace.

  Jamie had grown a lot since Patrick had last seen him. Though still in single digits as far as age was concerned, he was taking his responsibilities seriously and was systematically repealing all of the unfair and prejudicial laws his father had implemented.