by Brian Keller
Cooper and Kolrem remained partners for the next forty minutes. Sometime Kolrem would access his Talent and his speed would become unmanageable for Cooper, but he succeeded in blocking more often than he was hit. After forty minutes of practice there was another disruption. A forceful female voice cut across the room, “Mister Skran!” The boys stopped and looked in the direction of the voice. Miss Camilla stood in the doorway. Mister Skran called out, “Stop!’, then, “Stretch and cool down”. He crossed the room toward Miss Camilla, “To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Camilla?” By the time he’d finished speaking he was close enough to her to allow for normal conversational volume. Cooper could still hear her say, “I need to take Cooper out of class. He should be back in class tomorrow, just like normal.” Mister Skran brought up his hand as if to push back his hood, but he stopped himself, “What?! Camilla, can you tell me just what in the hell is going on here?!” Miss Camilla shook her head, “I can’t right now, Skran. But if all goes well, I can tell you everything tomorrow.” Mister Skran looked like he was prepared to protest and Miss Camilla continued to speak before he had the chance. “Skran, please don’t fight with me about this. I’ve never done anything but help you, and I’ve never asked for anything. And, point of fact, I’m not asking now. Cooper’s coming with me.” She looked pointedly at him. Skran mumbled, “On whose orders? The Council’s?” Camilla gave him a single nod. Mister Skran turned away from her, “Cooper! It seems you’re popular today. You’re leaving with Camilla. Tomorrow I expect as much of an explanation as you’re allowed… from both of you.” He turned to stare at Miss Camilla. She gave him another nod, “Of course. Depending on what happens, I’ll tell you as much as I can.”
As Cooper drew nearer, Skran snarled in frustration and whirled to face one of the Strawmen along the adjacent wall. He hurled a dagger as he completed his turn. The dagger flew straight and buried itself in the Strawman’s neck, where it met the dummy’s chest. Miss Camilla ‘hmph’ed and added, “Just think Skran, if you were as Adept in my class, and I in yours, we’d both be Assassins, wouldn’t we?”, then she turned and departed, with Cooper following close behind.
Miss Camilla led him back to her classroom. When they arrived, Felis was already there. The Assassin was picking up various vials and glass tubes, studying them and placing them back precisely where he’d found them. Miss Camilla cleared her throat and Felis gave her a curt bow and replaced the latest bottle he’d been examining. He then turned his attention to Cooper, “Alright. Tell me everything you know about this… Egil, is it?” Cooper nodded; they then proceeded to fill the next forty minutes with explanations, descriptions, questions and answers. Felis wondered out loud, “House kids that have a strong Talent get recruited into the Guild. If this one has such a strong Earth Talent, I wonder why he hasn’t been?” Cooper didn’t have an answer for that and the questions and answers continued. They stopped only because the dinner bell rang. Cooper asked Felis, “The only times I’ve seen you in the dining hall is when you come in to find me. You do eat, right?” Felis nodded, “Yes, but I go into the kitchen. The ladies usually put a plate together for me. It’s often too much of a disruption if I go into the hall to eat.” Cooper agreed, “I’ve noticed. I always know when you’ve come into the dining hall because everyone suddenly goes silent.” he paused, but when Felis had nothing to add, Cooper continued, “I’ve had a stressful day. I need to eat. You know, if you sat in the dining hall to eat, eventually the rest of the students would get used to it. They wouldn’t react the way they do….?” Felis shook his head, “I’d rather feel isolated than to have to deal with the endless, inane questions. No, Assassins don’t eat in the dining hall for a reason.” Cooper started walking to the door, “I’ll come back as soon as I’ve eaten. I may even think of something I’ve forgotten to mention, but I doubt it.” In fact, he dreaded returning to the dining hall. He hoped it wouldn’t be a repeat of his experience during lunch time. Perhaps it would’ve been easier to follow Felis into the kitchen and ask the ladies there to prepare a plate for him as well, but he enjoyed spending time with his friends.
Cooper pulled up his hood as he entered the dining hall. He quickly loaded food onto his plate and moved straight to a bench to sit with his classmates. He greeted them quietly and briefly and began to eat. A few students came up to ask him what was going on and he politely provided his standard answer. He finished his meal quickly and got up to leave as soon as he felt satisfied. He knew he shouldn’t fill his belly tonight.
When he returned to Miss Camilla’s Lab, Felis was walking around with a mask over the lower half of his face. It made him look a little like Master Brais but there was no question it was Felis. He’d never met anyone else with hazel eyes. It seemed like Felis’ eye color changed with both lighting as well as mood. Cooper gave Felis a curious look, “Um. A mask, sir?” Felis nodded. “I was trying damp silk, but that’s too difficult to breathe. I think cotton might be the best choice.” Cooper waited, hoping further explanation would follow. None did. Cooper asked, “What’s the mask for? Surely there’s no need to conceal - ….. oooh, I got it. Powder will stick to wet cloth. How many layers are you wearing?” Now it was Felis’ turn to ask, “Layers? What do you mean?” Cooper shrugged, “Assuming you get some powder on your mask, you’ll need to peel it away so the wet cloth doesn’t let it leech through. If you have only one layer, after peeling it away, you’re unprotected. Sure, everything should happen quickly tonight, but if there’s a bunch of powder in the air…” As Cooper trailed off, Felis snapped his fingers, “Good point. We’ll need to make sure we can breathe through more than one layer of wet cloth.” Two layers was a little rough, but as long as they didn’t need to run, it would be alright.
Felis asked Cooper, “Do you meditate?” Cooper shook his head, “I doubt it. I don’t even know what that is.” Felis smiled, “Basically, it’s just staying in a comfortable position and calming your mind until it goes blank.” Cooper looked confused, “But you’re still awake? No, I don’t do that.” Felis shrugged, “Well then, try and take a nap for a few hours. I’ll be over there in the corner. Try not to disturb me until dark. Then we’ll go out hunting.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Yoren Aporigh, the Spymaster for the Prince, took a deep breath as he silently pressed the Council Chamber doors closed behind him. It would be unwise to give any indication of being angry. He couldn’t recall any recent occasion when he’d been so thoroughly admonished. What made it worse was that he likely deserved it. If the Prince had been any more agitated, the man would have been frothing at the mouth. “What good is a Spymaster that doesn’t know anything of use!?!” had been the central point of His Royal Highness’s outburst. Eleven children and one older man dead from poisoning would’ve been bad enough. It was made far worse by the fact that six guards had perished and two more were in the infirmary expected to die before anyone considered the possibility of poison. Yoren still wasn’t sure how those needless casualties could be attributed to him, he’d gone down to the house and warnings were even painted on the door! No one in the neighborhood had seen or heard anything, which came as no surprise; no one ever knew anything, especially not in Batter’s Field. What had him most curious was that someone bothered to paint warnings all over the door. Taking the time to do that, risking being seen whether directly involved or not… that was unusual. Poisoning pointed toward the Guild but the painted warnings pointed more to the University or the Trade Quarter, considering the likelihood of where you’d find someone who had paint and knew how to spell. Even with all these other considerations, he couldn’t help thinking, “If I’d been the first to know then much of this could’ve been avoided. Then I wouldn’t need to try to calm the Prince while fending off a near-rabid Lord General who was calling for Martial Law!” If the Guild was to blame for this, he might need to reconsider his arrangements with Jarell.
Chapter 13
It took a while but Cooper managed to drift off a little. For the first hour he re
sided in that space between asleep and awake. Then the next thing he knew he was being nudged by the toe of a boot. As he was regaining his senses he felt a bit disoriented, then he heard Felis’ voice, “Wake up. It’s time to go.” That brought him to full consciousness in a heartbeat. He hopped up, wiped his eyes, extended himself toward the ceiling for a second and then moved to follow the Assassin.
Once outside, Felis turned to Cooper, “All right. Lead on.” Cooper kept to the rooftops as much as he could, then dropped to the ground once they’d reached the edge of The Dregs. Cooper turned to Felis, “I should’ve asked this before. How important is it for us to remain concealed? The only times I get out anymore is when I’m training.” Felis considered this and replied, “We should remain concealed at all times, and certainly before we strike. We will need the element of surprise so we can retrieve some of the poison.” Cooper led them through the maze of buildings, stopping once they were in sight of the building where he’d first observed Egil. Cooper pointed to the building, “He lives there.” Felis replied, “Then, we wait.” They tucked themselves into a shadow and watched. Cooper guessed that nearly an hour passed and a small group of boys came out of the building. One of them was Egil. Cooper prodded Felis with his elbow, “That’s him. The stocky one. Are we going after all of them? Or just him?” Felis chuckled, “Don’t be so eager. We’re only here for the poison. Egil will likely die, because it’s easier to recover things from a corpse; but contrary to rumor, I don’t try to maximize body count at every opportunity. In fact, I rarely kill at all. You witnessed my most recent kill.” Cooper had to think about that for a second, “Skaiven?! He was your most recent?” Felis gave a slight grunt, “Assassins are employed for more than just killing. You do know that, right?”
For the next two hours they kept the boys in sight, but remained as far distant as possible. As the night progressed Felis began to reduce the distance between them and Egil. Another hour passed and Egil dismissed the boys, as he had previously done, then began walking north. Once he’d walked a couple of blocks, Cooper began to close the distance. Felis gently held him back, “Not yet. He will be watchful as he moves. This would be the poorest time to try to approach him.” They followed him across the Whitefoam River and into the Waterfront District. This time, Egil didn’t turn towards Batter’s Field. He kept walking north, along the docks. There was almost always activity on the docks but at this time of night it was mostly tavern-goers and guards. As they moved along the buildings, the off-key notes of drunken sailors and dock workers singing their shanties hung lazily in the air before the sounds drifted out over the water. It reminded Cooper of an earlier time.
Once Egil turned left, moving away from the docks, Felis began closing the gap. Cooper occasionally caught the sounds of Felis’ breathing, inhaling deeply and slowly, and then exhaling very slowly. In through his nose and out through his mouth. During a pause in their movement Felis leaned down and spoke, “Stay about ten to fifteen feet behind me. When I strike, you stay back.” He then resumed his movement. Another seventy meters or so and Egil stopped. The boy stayed in the shadows while he studied a building further in front of him. There was no sound. No movement. Except for Felis, who was nothing but a shadow within a shadow. In another moment, Cooper couldn’t tell where Felis had gone. He thought, “How am I supposed to stay behind him, when I can’t tell where he is?” Of course, that meant that he’d simply stay right where he was.
Egil reached into his bag and drew out a large flask. He held it at almost arm’s length while he examined it. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw he began walking toward the building he’d been watching. Felis was still nowhere in sight. As Egil approached an open window he drew back the arm that was holding the bottle of poison. Cooper still couldn’t see Felis. Where was he?! Egil needed to be stopped! Cooper moved quickly but quietly from his hiding place. It was at that moment Felis appeared. He was just… there, behind Egil. Cooper couldn’t tell if he’d somehow been invisible and now suddenly visible, or if he was that impossibly fast, and that silent. Felis seemed to stand with his feet firmly planted but the rest of him looked hazy. It was then that Cooper realized that Felis was that fast. At some vaguely conscious level Cooper was able to discern the movements. Felis started with a blade in each hand. He planted his right hand blade firmly under Egil’s throwing arm, into the side of his chest, and let the dagger remain in place. He turned at the waist while the blade in his left hand flashed up and made a deep cut across the inside of Egil’s elbow and then another at his wrist. Felis’ now-empty right hand cradled the bottle before it could drop from Egil’s disabled grasp. Egil turned to face Felis, his left hand reaching across to find the dagger handle sticking out from his side. He looked at Felis, seeing him for the first time, with a mix of anger and fear. Felis’ left hand lashed out, slashing Egil’s throat below the voice box. Felis quickly stepped to the side to avoid any spray of blood and maneuvered around behind Egil’s body before it could fall. He caught Egil under the arms and guided his body gently to the ground. Retrieving his dagger and wiping them both off on Egil’s clothing before he stood again. Felis looked around, studying their immediate surroundings. Cooper heard him call out softly, “Search him quickly. We need to collect all the poison he’s carrying, then dispose of the body.” Egil was still in the process of dying and Felis stepped on Egil’s left arm to hold it in place. Cooper wasn’t sure if Egil had any life remaining as he leaned over him to search through his clothes for more poison. But Egil’s eyes met his and Cooper could almost swear a look of recognition passed before Egil’s eyes glazed over.
As Cooper searched the body, Felis spoke quietly, “Bodies all work the same, Talented or not. If tendons get cut, the arm or leg stops working. Pay attention in Anatomy class, once you get there.”
Felis had one bottle, the one that Egil had been preparing to throw, and Cooper had three smaller flasks. Between them, they dragged the lifeless body towards the river. Minutes later they watched as Egil’s corpse dropped below the surface of the water, to be taken out to sea. They didn’t speak a word between them until they were almost within sight of the Guild. Cooper broke the silence, “Miss Camilla should be pleased. She’ll now have plenty to work with.” Felis nodded, “Very true. But my concerns are already elsewhere. Who developed this poison? And why?”
Camilla’s classroom was unlocked, and she was inside working with the tiny samples they’d collected earlier. As soon as she saw them she stood up abruptly, almost causing her stool to tip over as she did. She had an expression of eager anticipation, “Well?” Felis nodded as he moved to her table and placed the bottle within easy reach. Miss Camilla’s eyebrows raised, “So much? That’s certainly more than I need!” Felis half grunted, half chuckled in response. As he turned away he added, “Show her, Cooper.” he took a few steps then added, “You’re welcome, Camilla. Good night.” Miss Camilla was alternating between looking at Cooper and watching Felis leave. She settled on Cooper, “Show me what?” Cooper stepped forward, took out the flasks of poison that he’d been carrying and lined them up on her table. Miss Camilla’s surprise came through in her voice, “This is enough to poison two neighborhoods!” Cooper shrugged, “It’s what he had on him.” Miss Camilla was already securing the vials in a wooden box after setting one up in a rack that would hold it upright. She didn’t look up as she said, “Thank you, Cooper, for all you’ve done. Don’t take this the wrong way, but right now you’ll be a distraction to me. Go on to bed. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
~~~~~~~~~
Jarell was still Master of Coin, but it was only a matter of time before his plans, or at least critical portions of his plans, came to light. Before that happened, he would need to have certain events already in motion. Those events would create the effects he needed whether he was present or not. As long as the events didn’t appear connected at first, they’d soon gain life of their own and he could watch the scenes play out from a location of relative safety. Then he could devote h
is attention to that other matter.
Well, first things first. There were a few people that still required addition manipulation and some who only needed a nudge. His immediate concerns lay with how to handle recent difficulties in the Waterfront. His ‘troops’ had been careless and the incompetence displayed in Batter’s Field now risked exposing other, more critical aspects of his dealings. Once he’d resolved that problem to his satisfaction, he could then manage the rest of it without any unnecessary distractions.
~~~~~~~
Chapter 14
The following morning Cooper was awakened by his ‘roommates’. They wanted information. Cooper waved them off and when they appeared they might do him harm if he didn’t tell them something, he simply told them that he and Felis were successful and he didn’t know how much he was allowed to reveal yet.
Cooper was dreading the dining hall. He was able to get his food and find a place to sit before he was surrounded. He was in his second repetition of what he told his roommates when a wave of quiet washed across the dining hall. Cooper already knew that when he looked over he’d see Felis, and there he was. Felis crossed into the center of the room and stopped. The kids parted and made way for him as if they feared to be within his reach, which actually might be a good decision. He didn’t look friendly. Felis turned slightly as he surveyed the room, then he spoke in a measured, clear voice. “Last night, Mister Cooper and I went out into the city, tracked down a murderer, and killed him. Right now, that is all any of you need to know. Give the kid some space.” As soon as he finished speaking, Felis turned and left the room. It didn’t stop everyone from staring at Cooper, but it did give him a chance to finish his meal. Cooper felt certain that by now, any hopes of remaining anonymous were impossible.