The Assassin

by Trudie Collins

  Despite his extreme nervousness, the young street urchin told his ruler all that he had seen. As soon as Ria’s name was mentioned, the King took action, demanding that Lord and Lady Aster both be arrested and brought before him. While waiting for his command to be carried out, he instructed one of his servants to take the boy away and bathe and dress him in clean clothes. He was not offended by the boy’s appearance, but he did not wish Lady Aster to dismiss his evidence based solely on how he looked.

  The young lad was back in the throne room by the time Lord and Lady Aster arrived, dressed in some of the King’s own clothes. He looked a completely different person. The Lord and his wife had not been told why they had been brought before the King and when asked to describe what had happened the previous night, Lord Aster spoke the complete truth. He told the King about escorting Ria to meet Hawk and being threatened by Bad Willie, who he managed to describe so accurately the King had no doubt that his men would be able to find him.

  “Something was put over my mouth,” the Lord continued, “and the next thing I knew I was waking up in my own bed. My wife told me I had been robbed and that a stranger had found me unconscious and returned me home.”

  Patrick confirmed his story, starting with the scene he had seen when first entering the alley and ending with how he had carried Lord Aster back to his house. When he had finished speaking, Lady Aster spoke up.

  “My husband is the victim here. Why have we been arrested?”

  “You are right,” the King confirmed. “Your husband has done nothing wrong and is free to go.” Lady Aster smiled, not realising what the young King had actually said. The smile dropped from her face when he continued. “You, however, are guilty of taking part in the attack on an innocent young woman. I have a witness who not only places you at the scene of the crime, but also saw the knife in your hand.”

  “Lies,” Lady Aster cried out. “You should be investigating the woman who was allegedly attacked. Who is she? You will probably find that she has a personal grudge against me and has bought the witness’s testimony.”

  It was Patrick who answered. He kept his voice even and under control, somehow managing to supress his desire to strangle the woman. “Her name is Ria,” he said. “She has no money or title. She is a visitor and does not even know you. She is simply a nice young lady who offered an ear when your husband needed someone to talk to.”

  Lady Aster scoffed. “A commoner. Is that all? Why are we even bothering to look into her attack?”

  She did not realise how big a mistake she had made until she saw the King’s face. “Ria is a personal friend of mine,” he said quietly. “She may not have a title, but she is more of a Lady than you will ever be.” Jamie glared at her as he spoke the next words in a loud clear voice. “I am offering you a choice; explain your actions or I will have the royal torturer get the truth out of you.”

  Since taking over the throne, King Jamie had dismissed the royal torturer, sickened by the methods the man used to get his victims to speak, but Lady Aster did not know that and began to tremble. Her husband, still unable to believe she was involved in the attack, tried to move to her side to offer her comfort, but the guards held him back.

  “It is not my fault,” she began to wail. “I was told my husband was going to have her provide him with an heir and I could not let that happen.”

  “You stupid woman,” Lord Aster said sadly. “Yes, I want an heir, but I am looking into adoption. Ria was kind enough to give me a woman’s point of view. I am not having an affair with her. I never met her before tonight.”

  “Really?” she asked, desperately wanting to believe what she was being told, but not quite able to do so. “So I had her attacked for no reason?”

  “None whatsoever,” he confirmed.

  “Then you do not want to leave me?” she asked, oblivious to anyone else in the room.

  Lord Aster, too, had temporarily forgotten where they were. “If you had asked me that yesterday, I would have said no. Now, my answer is different. How can I go on living with a woman who organised an attack on an innocent young lady just because she heard a rumour?” Lord Aster’s voice broke as he spoke. He loved his wife very much and it hurt him deeply to have to reject her.

  “Do you wish a divorce?” the King asked, making them both jump.

  “Yes,” the man replied. “I do.”

  Lady Aster started to scream. “No. You cannot do this to me.” Nobody in the room took any notice of her.

  “If you go with my chamberlain now, he can organise the paperwork,” the King said and the Lord left the room. “You will be banished from Kavern,” the King told the woman who would no longer be known as Lady Aster. “If you give me the name of the people who started the rumour about your husband and led you to believe that Ria was involved, I will provide you with enough money to start your own business. If not, you leave with only the clothes you are wearing.”

  Realising she had no choice, Lady Aster told King Jamie everything before she was dragged, weeping, from the room. Lady Grey was sent for and, while they waited for her to arrive, the King quizzed the young street urchin about his life. He explained that he had lived with his mother, until she had died, and now survived by stealing and begging.

  The boy was only a few years older than Jamie and the young monarch was disgusted that someone so young was living alone on the streets. “You have done me a great service today,” he said. “If it was not for you, my friend may have died. I have need of a valet. Are you willing to live here and be trained up in that role?”

  The young boy was so stunned by the offer he lost the ability to speak. The King ordered one of his servants to take him away and feed him, then show him to one of the rooms in his personal suite.

  “That was very kind your Majesty,” Patrick said as he watched the boy leave the room.

  “He saved Ria. It was the least I could do. I owe that young lady a lot.”

  It did not take Lady Grey long to arrive at the palace and she curtsied to the King as soon as she was shown into the throne room. “You sent for me your Majesty,” she said. The guards sent to collect her had been told to issue an invite, with orders that she be arrested if she did not agree to attend the King at once.

  “Yes,” he said. “I hear you have been spreading rumours about Lady Aster’s husband. Why?”

  “Boredom,” she replied truthfully. “I thought Lady Aster making a scene would make the evening more enjoyable. There was no harm in it after all.”

  “No harm?” Patrick said, barely able to conceal his rage. He looked like he wanted to hit the woman so Nosmas took hold of his arm tightly.

  “Stay calm,” he hissed at him.

  “You could have destroyed your friend’s marriage,” the King continued, ignoring Patrick’s interruption. Lady Grey shrugged her shoulders as if it was of no consequence.

  “I see you have too much time on your hands,” Jamie said. “Maybe working for a living will help relieve your boredom.” Lady Grey looked at him, not understanding what he was saying. “I hereby take away your title and confiscate all of your assets.”

  “Why?’ she screeched at him. “What have I done wrong?”

  “Your malicious gossip has not only wrecked a marriage, but nearly resulted in the death of an innocent young woman. Lady Aster may have arranged and taken part in the attack, but you instigated it, even if it was unwittingly, so you forfeit your money and property. Now get out of my sight.”

  Jamie turned his attention back to Patrick and Nosmas. “I will make an official announcement tomorrow morning, emphasising the reasons for Lady Grey’s punishment, or should that be plain Mistress Grey now? That should put a stop to the nasty habit some of the upper class women have developed of trying to ruin other people’s lives for fun, at least for a while.” Then his face turned serious. “Have I done enough? Has justice been served?”

  “You have done more than enough,” Patrick assured the young ruler. “Someone twice your age could not have done
better.”

  Chapter 26

  When Nosmas and Patrick returned to the inn, there was nobody around. Tor was still dozing in Ria’s room and everyone else had gone out. Utel informed the two men that, as there was nothing any of them could do, the others had all gone out shopping. Their hearts had not really been in it, however, and they returned empty handed. Tor refused to leave Ria’s room until Hawk awoke to take over the vigil, so a tray was sent up to him while everyone else ate together downstairs.

  Darkness descended and when Hawk awoke he ignored his need for blood and flew straight to Ria’s window, which had been left open for him.

  “There has been no change,” Tor told him as soon as he entered the room. “Sorry if I appear rude,” he continued, “but I have been here all day and there is something I need to do quite urgently.” He ran from the room, across the corridor and into his own room, in search of a bedpan. He had been needing to empty his bladder for the last hour and, despite being alone in the room with an unconscious body, he could not bring himself to use the one under Ria’s bed.

  Once he had relieved himself, he headed down the stairs in search of his friends. He found them all sitting together around one big table, discussing the best way to get to Cirren. Patrick informed him that a message had been sent, much to his relief, and then proceeded to tell everyone present what had happened at the palace.

  “Jamie wanted to come and visit Ria, but I persuaded him to wait until later this evening,” he said once he had finished narrating the events of the afternoon.

  “She will be alright, won’t she?” Sam asked Ellen. “Hawk was covered in blood when he carried her back here.”

  “Ria will make a complete recovery,” Ellen assured her. Only Patrick noticed the look Ellen exchanged with Tor, but he remained silent. He would ask Ellen about it when they were alone.

  “When will she be ready to travel?” Nosmas asked. “Can we depart tonight? The longer we stay here the further ahead of us Albian will get.”

  Ellen did not look happy about the suggestion of leaving that night, but she said she would consider it once she had spoken to the patient.

  “I will see if she is awake yet,” Sam volunteered. “I can also let Hawk know that justice has been done while I am there.” Brin went with her and they were about to knock on the door to Ria’s room when they noticed that Tor had left it slightly ajar and they could hear Hawk inside, talking to her.

  Through the gap they could make out Hawk as he held one of her hands in his, using his other one to stroke her face. “I love you,” they heard him say. “I swear that if you pull through this I will never let anyone hurt you ever again.”

  Sam and Brin looked at each other in shock. They knew that the vampire cared a great deal about Ria, as he did all of them, but neither of them realised how deep his feelings really went. Sam was unsure what to do and signalled that they should leave him alone, but Brin ignored her and pushed the door open.

  Hawk jumped back in surprise as Sam followed Brin into the room, letting Ria’s hand fall from his. “How long have you been there?” he asked.

  “Long enough,” Brin told him. “Do not worry. Your secret is safe with us.”

  “You should have waited till she was awake before declaring your feelings,” Sam told him, but Hawk shook his head.

  “How can I? I am a vampire. I can never become involved with a human, it just would not work. No. I can never tell her how I feel. I will just have to spend the rest of my life admiring her from afar.” None of them noticed Ria’s eyes open momentarily, then close again. She had heard every word Hawk had said.

  Between them, Sam and Brin told Hawk what King Jamie had done and assured the worried vampire that Ria was going to be perfectly alright. He still refused to leave her side and Ria chose that moment to stop pretending to be asleep and opened her eyes.

  “I will get Ellen,” Brin said and rushed out of the door.

  “What happened to me?” Ria asked. “I remember leaving the ball, but nothing more.” Hawk told her all he knew and she was busy trying to persuade him that he was in no way to blame when Ellen arrived and promptly threw everyone out of the room so she could examine Ria in peace. Ria had a strange expression on her face as she watched Hawk leave, but Ellen put this down to having just heard about what had happened to her and did not question her about it.

  Ellen made Ria remove her top and she carefully inspected each of the wounds caused by the knives. They could still be seen, but were healing well and would completely disappear by the morning. The deeper wound was of more concern, but this too showed no signs of infection and it held together nicely when Ellen removed the stitches.

  For a moment she considered telling Ria the truth, that her injuries were a lot more serious than any of the others knew, but decided that Tor was right; now was not the time.

  “Am I allowed out of bed?” Ria asked once Ellen had helped her to dress once more.

  “On the condition that you do not walk,” she told her. “Wait here and I will get a big strong man to carry you down.”

  Not wanting to cause any arguments between the two men who had assigned themselves as Ria’s protectors, Ellen whispered into Patrick’s ear and he disappeared from the room, returning a short while later with Ria in his arms. A lot of fuss was made over her, much to her disgust, and Ellen allowed her to eat nothing but a watery broth, washed down with water. Hawk poured her a glass of wine and held it under the table, handing it to her whenever Ellen’s back was turned. Everyone else could see what was going on and deliberately kept distracting Ellen. Patrick could see that she was beginning to get suspicious, so made an excuse to get her up to their room, allowing Ria to finish her drink in peace.

  Those still seated at the table had just begun to discuss their departure when they heard a commotion at the main door to the inn. A number of guards walked in, surveyed the room, then stationed themselves by each door, preventing both entry and exit. Before Tor could ask what was going on, his unspoken question was answered as King Jamie walked in.

  All of the patrons of the inn jumped to their feet and bowed low, but the King ignored them as he made his way directly to the table where Ria was. Utel walked over, neglecting to curtsy. “Hello Jamie,” she said, forgetting to mention his title. She said it quietly so only those close by could hear and the King grinned at her. “Would you like your usual?”

  “Hello Utel. Yes please,” the King replied. Tor was a little concerned that a boy so young had a ‘usual’ in an inn until Utel returned with a glass of fresh milk.

  Jamie took the seat that Patrick had vacated and spent the next half hour chatting with Ria, making sure that she really was alright and assuring her that her assailants had been dealt with. Bad Willie and his friend had been arrested and would be in jail for a very long time.

  “Thank goodness Ellen was upstairs,” Sam said once the King had departed. “We may have had a hard time explaining to him how she is alive again.”

  “Especially as he killed his father for what he did to her,” Ria added.

  “Enough talk,” Tor said, wishing to change the subject. Only a handful of people knew that it was the current King who had murdered the previous one so he did not like it being discussed openly. “Ria, are you going to be alright to travel?”

  “As long as I promise to ride in the wagon, Ellen has given her permission.”

  “You can sleep in my coffin whenever you wish,” Hawk said hastily.

  “Thanks,” Ria replied, “but I am planning on sleeping during the day just like everyone else.” Brin thought that was exactly what Hawk meant, but resisted the urge to say so.

  Before they all left to retrieve their belongings from their rooms, the map was consulted once more. Albian had not moved. He was either in no hurry to reach Cirren or was staying in one place for another reason. They had no way of finding out what that reason was, so it was not discussed.

  Ria was temporarily left alone, with only Utel and her husband for c
ompany, while everyone else went upstairs to pack. Patrick and Ellen were still in their room so, through the closed door, Tor told them to get ready before heading to his own room.

  “What is really wrong with Ria?” Patrick asked casually as he watched Ellen carefully fold his clothes before placing them neatly in his bag.

  “What makes you think something is wrong?” she asked evasively.

  “I saw the look you gave Tor. He knows more than you are telling. Want me to ask him?”

  Ellen shook her head. She should have known better than to try to keep something from Patrick. After she had told him the truth, he wished she hadn’t and promised to never breathe a word to anyone else; he never wanted to even think about what she had told him, let alone talk about it.

  Once the wagon was loaded and goodbyes had been said to Utel, her husband and her brother, who had gone to the inn to see them off, Nosmas carried Ria to the wagon. She was placed on the seat beside Hawk, who insisted on driving for the first few hours.

  They headed south into Kinfen before crossing the border into Emvale. Each evening, before resuming their journey, they checked the map and were pleased to discover they were catching up with Albian. He had left the city in which he had been staying and was now going east. At some point he would have to head north and they would need to decide whether to follow him or try to reach Auxland ahead of him.

  “I still want to know why Albian was in Kavern in the first place,” Patrick said one morning as they sat around the camp fire waiting for their food to cook. “And why he stayed in one place for so long once he had left.”

  “He must have wanted something he could not get anywhere else,” Dal suggested.

  “Or someone,” her husband added.

  “And why go after Cirren?” Tor asked. “Of all of us, he and Brodin are the best protected. I cannot see how he plans on killing him then getting out of the country alive.”