“What is this? Why are you here with her?”
How did I answer that question? Did I tell her everything that had happened, all the way to the crystal, or did I keep some of that information back? With Talia, she might know things that would help, but there was also the possibility that she would use what I told her. And I couldn’t blame her either way.
“I went back to Elaeavn,” I started. Talia deserved the truth, or at least, as much of the truth as I could share with her. There would be things that I couldn’t share, and that might be fine too.
“Is that where you met?”
“Not there. She came to Eban. Orly put a price on her head.”
“How much?”
“Twenty gold.”
Talia whistled softly and turned down the hall to one of the doors there. She pulled a key from her pocket and propped it open, holding it for me. “Twenty gold is more than most, isn’t it? What did she have?”
“Something of value,” I said, pausing at the door. “Something that brought me to Asador in search of another from Elaeavn.”
Her eyes twitched. It was subtle, but with my Sight I recognized it.
Talia smiled softly. “Of course it did. There would have been no other reason for such a price on her otherwise. Have we gotten to this point, Galen, where you won’t even tell me what it was?”
“I don’t know where we’ve gotten. You left me in Eban—”
“You know that I had to.”
“—and never returned. Carth came through a few times, and she always managed to visit.” Wherever she sourced the darts that she brought me, I didn’t know, but they were made with much more skill than I could ever replicate. My darts were finely made, but nothing like the exquisite darts Carth supplied. They flew nearly twice as far, and even at that distance, I managed to remain accurate.
“She would have told you about me had you only asked.”
“I asked,” I said softly. That was the reason that I knew to find Talia in Asador. Without Carth, I never would have known where to find her. In some ways, I hated that I did. Talia might be able to help, but what did I bring back for her? What memories did I pull to the surface for her by coming to her new home and disrupting what she’d made?
Talia reached for me again but then pulled her hand back, her eyes darting down the hall toward the door where Cael waited. “How often, Galen?”
“Every time.”
She swallowed. “And you only come now.”
“You know I couldn’t have come any sooner.”
“Do I? Carth wouldn’t have forbidden it outside of Eban. In Asador, you and I could have—”
“We could have what? What sort of life could we have managed? Me an assassin and you a spy? If we would have done anything else, would either of us have been happy?”
Talia forced a smile. That much hadn’t changed. With her, when she faked a smile like this, it never reached her eyes, at least not to me. Talia could fake it with so many others, but she’d never managed to convince me.
“No, I suppose we would not,” she said.
The door opened, and light spilled out.
With my Sight, I caught the soft glimmer of light reflected off of steel. I started to duck back, but Talia had something sharp pressed against my spine. “I’m sorry, Galen,” she said. “But with Carth gone, I’ve had to make a different way.”
She pushed me into the room, where I was surrounded by men holding swords.
6
One of the advantages of my Sight was that it didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the change in the light. The hall outside the room was dark, with only a single lantern lighting its entirety. Inside this room, not only were there three lanterns, but a brightly burning hearth glowed, casting dancing flames that lit everything.
Another door led out of this room and appeared to lead back into the street. Through the dirty glass, the shadow of a horse moved past. I pulled my attention back into the room, peering around me. Five men, three with swords, and two with crossbows. None had green eyes.
Two of the swordsmen had that lean build and deadly stance of Neelish sellswords. I’d faced them a few times and so far had come out on the better side, but that had been one on one, never against two at the same time, and never while trying to avoid a crossbow bolt.
Then there was Talia. She remained behind me, the sharp end of a sword or a long knife poking into my back but not pressing any harder. She held back. Maybe our history together would buy me enough time to get through this.
I started toward my pouch, but Talia shoved the knife harder into my back.
“Careful there, Galen,” she whispered into my ear. Her voice was breathy and smelled vaguely of mint, a scent that I never had associated with Talia before.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked her.
She ignored my question and nodded to the man in the center. He had the longest sword and held it to the side, tip down, as if unconcerned that he faced an assassin. And considering the fact that I was surrounded as I was, with Talia standing behind me, he really had no reason to fear me anyway.
“He came alone,” Talia said.
“Are you certain about that, Deborah? Our thenar claims three came with Lareth.”
“Only him. Why do you want him?” she asked.
The man looked past me, to Talia. “That’s none of your concern, is it? You were to bring any from Elaeavn to us, which you did. For that, your shop remains open for the next month. Be thankful that we’ve offered that much of a reward.”
“Oh, I am, Maldan.”
The man lifted his sword, pointing it at me. “Bind him. Can’t have this one getting away. No telling what he might try.”
“He’s from Elaeavn, Moldan. Not much that he’s going to try.”
“You’d be surprised at how much those from Elaeavn are willing to try,” the man said. “Bind him.”
Talia leaned close to me as she pulled my arms behind my back, yanking with a little more force than would be necessary. I tensed, having been tied up before—another lesson that Isander thought I should learn—and waited. Fighting right now would do me no good, especially as they seemed to want me alive. Then there was the fact that Talia had claimed I was the only one who had come.
I could think of a few reasons for that. The first—and the one I honestly hoped was the real reason—was that Talia needed my particular set of skills.
How hadn’t Cael known something about what was going to happen? With her abilities, she would have little difficulty Reading Talia, and might even have Compelled her. Only, if that were the case, why hadn’t she warned me?
Which brought me back to the first possibility. Damn, I hoped that were true.
Rope wrapped around my wrists, cinching tight. I could move them, but only a little. My cloak hung around my pouch, and I hoped that it remained that way, at least long enough to figure out what these men wanted and to find a way to get free.
“He’s bound, Moldan. Now, I’d prefer that you leave my shop.”
“Ah, Deborah,” he said, taking a step toward her, “you weren’t saying that last night, now were you?”
When he stepped close enough, Talia moved the knife that she had pressed into my back and held it toward Moldan. “Try that shit again with me, Moldan, and see if your favorite parts stay where you like them.”
One of the other men chuckled. “Careful there, Mol. You might find this job a bit more than you like.”
“Or less,” one of the men holding a crossbow said.
Moldan glared at Talia and then turned away. “She liked it well enough, boys.”
“You keep telling yourself that, Moldan. But if you try it again, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He stared at her a moment. “Fine. We’re leaving. But you will still hold up your end of the bargain, Deborah. Any from Elaeavn and you send word.”
“I did this time, didn’t I?”
“Ah, keep telling yourself that you were the one who sent
for me,” Moldan said, “when it was Bera who came for me.”
One of the other men grabbed my wrists and marched me from the room and back into the street. I cast a glance back at Talia, wondering what I might be missing. Had Lorst known about this? But I didn’t think that was likely. He might have known that something happened in Asador, but how could he have known about my connection to Talia, or that I would come looking for her? That meant there was another reason.
As we walked through the streets, I started to move my wrists against the bindings. It wasn’t the first time that I’d been tied like this. That had been another of Isander’s tests. Can you get free when tied with rope? What about chains? What about buried under three feet of dirt with nothing more than your hands to dig yourself out? Each of those were scenarios that Isander had played out. Unlike some of the others that he’d subjected me to, testing me with various poisons so that I could see if I could stay alive, I’d never had the opportunity to test whether I could get free when bound in rope. I figured if it came to that, I would be pretty close to dead anyway.
We marched through Asador, away from the docks, moving at a brisk pace. I didn’t fight them, making my way along with them without saying anything. Watching Moldan as I went, I realized that he might lead them, but these weren’t men accustomed to working together. I’d seen plenty of crews in my time in Eban. Orly had two or three that worked together so well that they barely had to say something to each other. These men simply were on a job together, probably brought in for a price. Which meant that if needed, I could divide them. A group like this would have no loyalty, not like a team that spent any real time together.
We crested a hill, and they turned north. The buildings were all brick or well-painted wood here. I saw no evidence of shops like we had when we first came into Asador. This was a reputable part of the city, and likely residential. After a while, we passed a few sprawling estates, tall stone fences rising around them, that would have rivaled anything in Eban. Men stood watch, though most made a point of trying not to appear as if they did. I’d seen enough soldiers and hired hands in my time to recognize the telltale signs: a trail of tobanash, or the ground more worn in places, or even the pause as they peered at us as we passed.
Unlike I normally would, I met the eyes of each man, waiting for them to turn away. Those who didn’t told me more than those who did, and I counted nearly two dozen who were nonplussed by my presence. Either they were accustomed to men and women of Elaeavn coming through these streets, or—more likely—they were a part of whatever I’d been brought into.
We stopped at a decorative iron gate, and Moldan rapped on it with his sword. Another man glanced through the gate, noting the five men surrounding me. “Only two escorts.”
“That wasn’t the deal. We bring them, and—”
“Two.”
Moldan motioned to one of the men with a crossbow. “Rond. Come with me. The rest of you wait here.”
That left the two Neelish sellswords outside the gate, as well as another man with a crossbow. If I escaped, then I might have to fight my way through here. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to face a pair of sellswords as well as risk the crossbow.
I’d just have to find another way out.
The gate swung open, and Moldan pushed me in front of him. I resisted a moment, but only a moment, as he shoved me. I timed it so that I bumped into him, slipping my hand into his cloak and reaching for a knife. All good soldiers carried a belt knife, and Moldan was no different. I slipped this along the sleeve of my cloak.
“Try that again, and I’ll cut you,” Moldan said. “Now move.”
Rond grabbed my arm and pulled, letting Moldan lead us, three other men flanking us, keeping their eyes fixed on us. With Moldan in front, I started to work the knife out of my sleeve and began cutting at the ropes. Not all the way through. I didn’t need to start fighting until I knew what I might face, but enough so that I had only to yank on them and they’d tear apart.
They led me down a wide walk that led to the estate. Shrubbery on either side had been well-groomed, growing in neat rows. Small fruit trees grew on the other side. Moldan’s boots thundered off the stones, and I made an effort to make mine sound louder. If they didn’t know I had training, I wouldn’t reveal my hand too soon.
We stopped at the door. Two of the three guards stood on either side of us, and the first stood at the door. A lot of faith these men had in themselves. Depending on how well-trained Moldan had been, he and Rond might be able to take out three guards together. With access to my darts, I had little doubt that I could take down three if needed, maybe all five. That gave me some hope for escape.
The door opened, and I caught sight of another pair of guards. Beyond them, what at first appeared to be two servants moving up the stairs had a certain lazy speed to their movements that told me they were more than simply servants.
I started considering ways that I could get myself free, not liking the odds the more men I encountered. This level of security was even more than Orly had ever employed, and he had been notoriously paranoid about someone reaching him.
What had I gotten into?
Curiosity as much as anything restrained me from acting too quickly.
I hoped that Cael was unharmed, but seeing that Talia hadn’t divulged her presence, and the fact that she wasn’t with me, made it more likely that she was fine. Now if I could only get free and return to her, then I could confront Talia about why she had betrayed me, and maybe find out what she knew about Josun Elvraeth. Once I finished this job and helped Lorst get the crystal back, Cael and I could… What? Where would we go? Back to Elaeavn? Was that to be my home?
I didn’t get a chance to keep thinking about it as the man holding my arm pulled me into the estate. I held my wrists together, not wanting to break the rope yet, and kept the knife concealed along my sleeve. With each step, I tried to calculate the best way to get free, thinking through the scenarios that would let me make it out of this alive.
A woman swept down the stairs. With her dark hair and pale skin, she was lovely in the way that night could be lovely. She looked over at me, and the flash of green in her eyes told me all that I needed.
This was the Forgotten Lorst had mentioned.
The woman paused at the bottom of the stair and surveyed me for a long moment. A slow smile spread across her mouth, and she looked from Moldan to Rond, and then back to me. “You captured him?” she asked.
“Did what you asked. Any of Elaeavn who come to Asador, you said you wanted us to bring to you.”
“And this one? You managed to catch him yourself?”
Moldan glanced at Rond, grinning. “You seem to think that your kind are hard to catch, my lady. This one came quietly enough with a knife in his back.”
She stared at me, and though I kept the barriers up in my mind, I had the sense that she managed to crawl past them anyway. Damn, but I was getting tired of powerful Readers from Elaeavn crawling through my mind.
“I think you misread the situation, Moldan. Let me see if I can provide any clarity. Does the name Galen mean anything to you?”
Any hope of making it through here without a confrontation went out the door. Either she had Read me or she recognized me.
“Galen?” Rond was the one who answered, his hand squeezing on my arm. His tone told me that he recognized my name.
The woman smiled. “Yes. Galen. The assassin. And you brought him to my home.”
7
I decided that it was time to move.
Snapping the ropes holding my wrists, I flicked Moldan’s knife at him, catching him in the chest. I didn’t even feel a hint of remorse. This was a man who had attacked Talia—regardless of her betraying me—and had the gall to brag about it.
Rond tried holding onto my arm, but I jerked free and spun, dropping my elbow onto his upper arm, hearing a satisfactory crack as his arm split under the pressure.
I grabbed a handful of darts and flicked them at the other men. Eac
h was tipped with coxberry only. Until I knew what I was dealing with, I didn’t want to risk killing those who might have answers.
The servants on the stairs pulled crossbows. I hit them with darts as well.
They crumpled quickly.
Boots scraped across wood, and I spun once more, flicking two more darts. These struck, and the man approaching went down.
That left only the woman.
She stood at the bottom of the stair, hand resting on the baluster, almost casually taking in everything around her. When I stopped, she smiled, her deep green eyes twinkling. “It seems you’re everything I was made to believe.”
“What’s this about?” I asked.
I clutched another five darts. I only had about a dozen remaining, and most would need to be refilled. From the widening of her smile, I suspected that the woman knew that. But did she know that I could refill them faster than blinking? The way her smile suddenly faded told me that she did now.
“You brought me here. Why?” I demanded. I flashed the darts in my hand. “So far, these have all been tipped in sedatives. If I don’t get an answer, the next won’t be.” I stalked closer to her, waving the dart as I did. “Terad. Muscles stop working and you suffocate. Not a pleasant way to die.”
Not that any way is actually pleasant, but terad was mostly painless, not like some of the other poisons I used. Srirach left a burning sensation, an awful way to go. Then there was bithr, a rare and caustic oil that caused necrosis of the skin, leading to a slow and brutal death. It was one I never used but had experimented on in my training. Under Isander, I had experimented with almost everything.
“Do you really think I wanted you brought here?” she asked coolly. She took a step, and I noted the way light shimmered around her.
Sliding.
She might be more difficult to take out if it came to that, but I’d managed to figure out the secret of Sliding well enough to stop Lorst.
“If not me, then who are you looking for?”
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