A Crown for Assassins

by Morgan Rice

  ***

  Sebastian held his daughter and tried not to think about how the world always seemed to find a way to separate him from Sophia. He made himself appear happy as the ship pushed away from the dock, because he knew the sight of him falling apart would be like a lead weight in Sophia’s heart.

  Will moved to stand beside him. He had the same expression of carefully composed happiness as he waved goodbye.

  “Do you think they can tell?” Sebastian asked him. “How we’re really feeling, I mean?”

  Will’s eyes widened for a moment, then he seemed to compose himself before he shook his head.

  “No, I don’t think so. I mean, your majesty.”

  “Will, we’re brothers-in-law, and I’ve always hated all that anyway. Sebastian is fine.”

  King Sebastian, left in charge of the kingdom that had been his mother’s and was now his wife’s. He’d never wanted to be the king, never expected to be. There was so much to do in Ashton, and beyond, in the ridings, the shires, the North and the mountain lands, and Sophia wasn’t here now to drive it all forward.

  “I’m going to miss her every moment she’s gone,” Sebastian said.

  “Me too,” Will said, obviously meaning Kate. “I guess the best we can do is look after things here, make sure they have something to come back to. It won’t be that long.”

  It wouldn’t. Even so, Sebastian suspected that every moment that Sophia was away would feel like an eternity.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Oli was working on tax records in the library when the serving woman limped into the room. She was a few years older than him, with a slender frame and mid-brown hair, so ordinary looking that she might have been anyone. Oli certainly didn’t know her, although he was always better with remembering things he’d read than people’s faces. He glanced up as she came in, wondering if she was there to remind him to eat. He’d been forgetting that a lot recently, with the amount of work Endi had for him.

  Instead, she shut the door and locked it, which was enough to make Oli frown.

  “I’m pretty sure that one of your brothers would have had a sword out by now,” she said, in an Ashton accent. She smiled as Oli reached for the knife he used to sharpen his quills. “You have some steel in you then. That’s good. You’ll need it.”

  “Who are you?” Oli demanded. “Answer me, or I’ll call the guards.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” she said. She paused for a moment. “Although frankly, the things I have to say might get you killed anyway. As for who I am, call me Rose.”

  “You’re not a servant,” Oli said, standing. It felt slightly ludicrous when Rose moved to sit on another of the library’s chairs, so he sat back down.

  “Forgive me if I sit,” she said. “Getting here wasn’t easy. I was half mad with my own poisons most of the way, stowed away in the hold of one of your brother’s ships because it was that or drown. I’m an assassin, incidentally,” she said, as if it was nothing.

  Oli froze, not knowing what to say to that. It wasn’t something people said.

  “Are you here to kill me?” he asked.

  She cocked her head to one side. “What, by having a nice conversation with you first? I thought you were meant to be the clever one, Oli Skyddar. It’s why I came to you. Well, that, and you’re the only one here.”

  “If you want something, you should talk to Endi,” Oli said. “He was always in charge of spies and things, and now he’s the Duke.”

  “I can’t talk to him,” Rose said, settling in her chair. “I have information, a story to tell, but there’s a price for it.”

  “What price?” Oli asked.

  “I want forgiveness for all my past crimes,” she said. “The world… let’s just say that it hasn’t turned out the way I expected and maybe… well, maybe I’ve realized that I was on the wrong side for a lot of things.”

  “The side of killing people?” Oli countered. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t have you hanged for it.”

  “There’s a whole handful,” Rose said with a shrug. “For a start, you’re Oli Skyddar, who loves the law and the way things are done. You wouldn’t just have someone hanged with no trial, and I’ve given you no evidence to use at one. Then there’s the part where you wouldn’t learn what I know without torturing me, and I don’t think you have the stomach for that one. Then there’s the way things are going here, and I know you don’t like that.” A knife appeared in her hand. “Oh, and there’s the part where I could cut your throat before you got halfway through shouting. There’s that, too.” She stretched out. “Besides, soldiers kill people far more than I ever have. Probably at least four of your siblings have killed more people than me with their own hands, and if you count all the ones Endi has ordered killed…”

  Oli got the point. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with it, because there seemed to be something very different about skulking about in the dark compared to fighting an enemy openly, but he got it. It seemed that he had a decision to make.

  “All right,” he said at last. “If you give me your information, you get to go free, with no penalty for past crimes.”

  “I’ll need that in writing,” Rose said. “You of all people should know the value of the written word.”

  Oli nodded, took out his quill, and started to write. There were precedents for this, of course, in the songs and the sagas: men forgiven all manner of misdeeds because of some act of heroism or redemption, or soldiers who switched sides and became loyal.

  “There,” he said at last, pushing the paper across the table. “The men of Ishjemme will know it’s real. Now, tell me what you know.”

  “It’s time for my first admission,” Rose said. She looked Oli squarely in the eye. “I’m the one who killed your father.”

  Oli was out of his seat in an instant, his knife in his hand as hatred roared through him. He hadn’t thought that he could feel so much emotion toward anyone.

  “Your written word, Oli Skyddar!” Rose said, and that was enough, just, to bring him shaking to a halt.

  “You came here to taunt me with it?” he demanded. “Or did you think you could come here to say sorry?”

  “Neither,” Rose replied. “I’m only telling you so that you understand that I know things. Although I am sorry, I guess. Strange, I never thought I’d feel that.”

  “You’d better talk quickly,” Oli said.

  Rose nodded. “I was given the job of killing your father by Milady d’Angelica. I was supposed to be the one who killed King Rupert too, although the way things worked out, I wasn’t the one to do that one. Well, working for her, I learned things. I like to know about the people who send me out, so that I know if I have to run afterwards. Do you know that she and your brother Endi exchanged messages for years?”

  Oli felt something tighten in his throat. “Are you saying…”

  “That Endi had a part in your father’s death? Probably,” Rose said. “He knew about it, at least. He certainly gave her information on Ishjemme, betrayed it. He even tried to have your cousin Sophia killed.”

  “Another job for you?” Oli said, bitterly.

  “It was meant to be,” Rose said. “But it’s a long way to Ishjemme, and Endi sent some thug of his own first. Bjornen?”

  Oli recognized that name and nodded. Anger was rising in him again, but a different kind of anger, and not directed at Rose.

  “Rika was hurt in that!” he said. “Endi… he helped to kill the man.”

  “Occupational hazard,” Rose said. “Leave no trace behind, especially if it’s going to fail. So there you have it. Your brother is a traitor. He’s wrapped up in the death of your father, in the betrayal of Ishjemme to its enemies, in stealing the duke’s throne…”

  It was too much. A part of Oli wanted to believe that it couldn’t be true. That Endi would never do all of this. Yet another part found it all too easy to believe. He’d seen what his brother had done since taking power, the people he’d had killed because they di
sagreed. Was it so hard to believe that he might have done the rest too?

  The only question was what Oli was going to do about it. He’d called his brother Jan home, but there was no sign of him yet. Oli didn’t even know if he was alive, although he had to hope. Even if Jan did come, what could he do alone? No, Oli had to decide what to do here. He had to be the one to act, even if it wasn’t what he was best at.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Oli said.

  Rose shrugged. “They say that information is power. Certainly, it’s persuasion. Right now, I guess that makes you the most persuasive man in Ishjemme.”

  Oli nodded, because the assassin had a point. The information he had now could persuade men, if he could find the men to persuade. In spite of Endi’s efforts, maybe because of them, there were plenty of people who weren’t happy with him as a ruler. Only the sense that he had the right kept him in place. If Oli could spread this news, then he could raise men. He could stop his brother.

  Of course, that would place his sister in danger.

  “Well, that’s me done,” Rose said, snatching up her guarantee of safety. “I’ve said what I have to say. Time to see if you keep your word, Oli Skyddar.”

  She moved toward the door, limping as she did with what had to be some injury sustained in killing his father. The thought of that made Oli’s anger rise again, but also made him think. This woman had been able to sneak into the middle of a battle fleet, had gotten here, to the heart of Ishjemme’s castle, without being spotted. What else might she be able to do.

  “Wait,” Oli said.

  Rose paused, a knife in her hand again.

  “About to have me executed anyway? I thought better of you.”

  “What if… what if I had a job for you?” Oli asked.

  “You have someone you want killed?” Rose replied. “Are you about to tell me that you want your brother dead?” She shook her head. “You might not have noticed, but I’m not exactly at my best right now.”

  “I don’t want anyone dead,” Oli said. “But I do have someone I need you to keep alive.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Rika had grown to hate her rooms in the last few weeks with a passion she hadn’t known she possessed. She hated being stuck in these four walls, hated Endi for keeping her there like this, hated everything that was happening in Ishjemme while she was cooped up there.

  She was even starting to hate her harp, and Rika hadn’t ever believed that could be possible. She’d never loved anything as much as playing it when she was a child, but now, it just seemed like another symbol of how trapped she was. What good was it, playing a beautiful instrument like this, if the world around her wasn’t beautiful?

  “Maybe I should just apologize to Endi so he lets me out,” Rika said, for what had to be the hundredth time. For the hundredth time, she rejected the idea out of hand. There were some things that people had to stand up for. He was killing people.

  Would he kill her?

  That was a treacherous thought. Endi was her brother. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d said as much, and Rika wanted to believe him. She still loved him, even though she hated everything that he was doing. She wanted to believe that if she could talk to him long enough, maybe she could persuade him that what he was doing was wrong.

  “Of course, for that, I’d need to get to talk to him more,” Rika said. “I’d need to be out of here.”

  With nothing better to do, she set to playing her harp. Once, the music had been bright and beautiful, but now Rika found herself inflecting the strings with sadder strains, pouring what she felt into the music. Somewhere in it all, Rika thought she heard the sounds of an argument from beyond the door, but she played louder to cover it. The two guards who stood out there were always as unyielding as stone; Endi’s men, with no kindness or give to them.

  “You play very beautifully,” a woman’s voice said. “Kind of sad and pretty all at once. I like that.”

  Rika looked around to see a woman dressed as a servant, carrying a basket.

  “Who are you?” Rika asked. “You mustn’t be here, because it will make Endi angry.”

  “You don’t need to worry about Endi.”

  “I’m not,” Rika said, “but I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.”

  “Sweet, thinking about me rather than yourself.” She stepped up to Rika, running a finger along the line of the scar that ran faint and white along her face, then sighed. “Amateurs. Always doing things so clumsily. Oh, I’m Rose, by the way. Oli sent me to get you out of here.”

  “Oli sent you?” Rika said, frowning. That didn’t make a lot of sense. Oli was very clever, but he wasn’t always the best when it came to actually doing things.

  “Let’s just say that I owe him. I owe both of you.”

  That just deepened Rika’s frown. “And I’m supposed to just go with you? How do I know this isn’t some trick? That you’re not trying to make it look like I’m running so that Endi’s people can hurt me?”

  Rose smiled sadly at that. “And there I’d heard that you were so innocent of the harsh sides of the world. I guess everyone learns sooner or later. The truth is that you don’t know, although if Endi wanted you hurt he could just walk in and do it without any tricks. So you’re going to have to decide for yourself. Do you want to trust me? Do you want to get out of here?”

  Rika didn’t have to think about it for long before she nodded. “Let’s go.”

  “Good answer,” Rose said.

  She led the way out of the room. Two guards lay slumped there, and Rika wasn’t sure if they were breathing or not.

  “You did that?” she asked.

  “It’s a talent.”

  Rika followed Rose as she led the way over to a balcony. The other woman reached into her basket, pulling out a long length of rope and fastening it in place.

  “Do you need me to lower you down?” Rose asked.

  Rika shook her head. “When I was little, Frig used to make me climb trees with her. She thought it would make me be like her and Ulf.”

  Rika took hold of the rope, clambering down it as quickly as she could. The truth was that it had been a long time since she’d climbed any trees, but the thought of what might happen if anyone caught them now gave her the strength to do it. She set her feet down on solid ground…

  …just in time for one of Endi’s soldiers to round the corner of the castle.

  “What’s this?” he said with a laugh. “Lady Rika, making a run for it? Oh, your brother’s going to love this. First your brother takes off and they say he’s gathering men. Then they say half the dukedom is ready to rise up. Now this? Come on, we’re going to take you to—”

  There was the twang of a bowstring and a crossbow bolt appeared, half buried in the soldier’s head. Rika resisted the urge to cry out in shock or in horror, instead looking up to where Rose was dropping lightly from the rope, a small crossbow still in her hand.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Rika said. “We could have—”

  “Could have done what? Talked nicely to him?”

  “I was thinking hit him with a rock and knocked him out,” Rika said. Why did people always assume that because she tried to be kind she was stupid?

  “Maybe,” Rose said, “but that’s not what I’m good at. I kill people.”

  “Well, don’t kill any more unless I say so,” Rika insisted.

  For a moment, it looked as though Rose might argue, but then she nodded. “All right, why not? I guess if I’m going to try being a better person, I have to start somewhere. Come on, if Oli has done his part, there are some people waiting for you.”

  She led the way out toward one of the many stands of trees that dotted the city. Sure enough, as Rika approached, she could see people waiting there for them, perhaps a dozen, all ordinary folk of the city, but all armed.

  “What is this?” Rika asked as she approached them.

  Almost as one, they fell to one knee.

  “Lady Rika, we are happy you are safe,�
� one older man said. “I am Wol the carpenter. People around Ishjemme are ready to rise up at your command.”

  “At my command?” Rika asked. She looked at Rose, who shrugged.

  “People have heard how you would not accept Endi’s false rule,” Wol said. “You risked imprisonment and death rather than side with him. Your brother Oli has come around to our side, but it is you we want to lead us.”

  Rika wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She didn’t think she was a leader, but the truth… the truth was that Endi needed to be stopped.

  “All right,” she said. “For now.”

  “We will take you to safety,” the carpenter said. “Then we will rise up together and take back Ishjemme.”

  Rika looked again at Rose. The other woman shrugged.

  “It looks as though you’ve found yourself an army.”

  Rika shook her head. “But I never wanted an army.”

  “Maybe that makes you the best person to have one, then,” Rose said. “Now, I should be going.”

  “Going?” Rika said. She stepped forward and hugged Rose. “Just like that? You saved me and now you’re going to go?”

  “Trust me,” Rose said, “once you find out about who I am and the things I’ve done, you won’t like me very much. I’d rather leave while you still think I’m your friend.”

  “You are,” Rika said. “Please stay? Whatever it is, whatever you’ve done, you saved me. Besides,” she said, looking around at the ordinary folk of her rebellion and thinking about the soldiers Endi employed, “I think we’re going to need you.”

  Rose stepped back. For a moment, Rika thought she was going to turn and walk away. Then she gave a single, terse nod.

  “All right,” she said. “Just promise me that you won’t have me killed when you hear the rest of it. I have your brother’s word on that.”