He quit the fireplace and moved away, avoiding another smelly hug. "Good, that's settled then. I'll see you tomorrow. It's been a long journey, and I'm tired."
Lilu nodded, watching him with a mixture of gratitude and hurt as he banged down his ale tankard and strode from the room without the backward glance.
Blade stayed at the estate for three tendays, during which time Lilu rallied a small army of servants to wash, mop, brush and polish. They tore down the old curtains and musty banners and swept out the ancient rushes. The stuffed trophies fed the kitchen fires, and Lilu supervised the creation of delicious dishes in the massive ovens. After a few days of riding over his estate, inspecting its mines and surveying the woods, Blade grew bored and helped with the work, enjoying the activity. By the end of the first tenday, the soldiers had also joined in, and between them they stripped the castle of mildewed hangings and dirty rushes. Lilu found a trader who sold bright cloths and expensive tapestries, persuading Blade to part with a sizeable fortune to refurnish the keep.
By the end of the three tendays, Blade judged the place to be quite habitable, and was a little sorry to leave it and return to the intrigues of the Queen's palace. Before he did, he found and appointed a solid, honest-seeming retainer to replace Vurk. The man almost wept with gratitude for his elevation and swore to serve Blade faithfully for the rest of his life. The assassin set Lilu to watch over the new retainer and ordered him in turn to watch over Lilu, content that they would find each other out if either became dishonest, unless they got together and compared notes. Lilu wept on the day he left, much to his disgust and embarrassment, and he scowled at those soldiers amongst the company who dared to smile at her obvious affection for their taciturn lord.
Chapter Sixteen
Blade arrived at Minna-Satu's palace just ahead of the first winter storm, which swept through the city on his heels, depositing knee-deep snow and making travelling almost impossible. Wet and tired, he strode to his room to strip off his mud stained clothes. He had barely shucked his soggy cloak and damp gloves when the door was thrust open. Chiana paused on the threshold, then stepped forward. Blade eyed her.
"Do not tell me the Queen already knows I have returned."
Chiana bowed her head. "My Lord. The Queen knew even before you entered the city."
He sighed. "Of course."
"She wishes to see you at once."
Blade studied the chief advisor, struck by her subdued attitude and air of pent-up anguish. "What is it?"
"That is for the Queen to tell you."
He stripped off his damp tunic, throwing it on the rack. "Something momentous has happened."
"Yes."
Blade frowned. "More plots?"
"No, far worse than that."
The assassin shrugged on a dry tunic. "Very well, take me to her."
Queen Minna-Satu turned from the windows of her morning room as Blade entered, and stepped towards him with a welcoming smile. Chiana stopped just inside the portal and performed her prostration, rising to stand with her hands folded, awaiting instructions. Blade approached the Queen, whose eyes shimmered with something more than mere gladness as he stopped before her and bowed.
"My Queen."
"Lord Conash, welcome back."
"Thank you."
She gestured to the cushions. "Sit. We will have wine."
Chiana left to order it, and Blade sank onto a pile of embroidered cushions as Minna settled on another. She wrung a knot of white linen he assumed had once been a handkerchief, but which now resembled a rag. Her anguish struck him as odd, for he had never imagined Minna-Satu capable of weeping. He waited while she composed herself, glancing around for Shista. The sand cat slumbered in a patch of sunlight, as relaxed as ever, apparently oblivious to the undercurrents.
Minna took a deep breath. "I require your advice. King Jan-Durval has been slain by his son-in-law, Prince Verone, lately a widower. Our kingdoms were bonded by blood, for the son of Queen Jilla-Peru, my grandmother, wed King Jan-Durval's sister Earist.
"Now the bond has been broken. The King and his sons are all dead, slain by the imposter Prince. King Jan-Durval was our greatest ally, and defended our western border from the desert army. No sooner had I heard of his death, I was informed that Prince Verone no longer stands by our treaty." Minna bowed her head. "His army has invaded Jashimari lands to the west."
Blade stared at the red wine in his cup, likening it to the blood that was soon to be spilt in this new war.
Minna took a sip of her wine. "We are beset on two sides now. I have sent troops to our western border, and even now refugees flood from the region, hampered by the snow."
She raised sorrowful eyes that glowed in a pale visage. "We cannot hope to win this war. I have no other allies. The savages to the east are peaceful, but they will do nothing to aid us. Jashimari will be overrun before the year is out."
Blade put aside his cup, frowning. "Is there no hope of a treaty?"
"No. Prince Verone desires conquests. He knows that the Endless War has weakened my kingdom. He knows that Jashimari will be an easy conquest when beset on two sides."
The assassin stared out of the window at the leaden sky heavy with unshed snow and unborn storms. It befitted the bloody war that was coming, as sorrowful as a funeral day. With the Cotti to the south and only icy wastes further north, there was no way out for the Jashimari people, nowhere to run but for the bog-lands of the east, where people, it was said, lived like animals and scratched a living in the mud. He frowned, lowering his gaze to Shista's golden form as he pondered just how much he disliked having weighty decisions thrown into his lap. If not for his elevation, he would have survived whatever befell the kingdom, unconcerned. Even now, he wished only to leave the palace and disappear into the city's back streets to find a good alehouse. His hatred of the Cotti had prompted him to kill King Shandor, but he bore the Contara people no rancour. Aware that the Queen awaited his reply, he glanced at her.
"Assassinate this Prince Verone."
Minna smiled and shook her head. "He has five grown sons and scores of grandsons. Even if you killed them all, there are cousins and nephews, three brothers, four sisters and numberless in-laws. King Jan-Durval was old and ailing, his people had grown tired of his puritanical ways and iron-fisted rule. They have embraced this new prince. They welcome the war and the spoils it will bring."
She turned to stare out of the window. "We need a great and powerful army to survive, but I do not have that. I have a war-weary people whose sons, brothers and fathers have been slaughtered on the desert border, and now face a new threat from the west. Already I have weakened the desert border by sending troops to the west, for it is easier to defend.
"Soon I shall be sending raw recruits, boys barely out of their teens, to the front to be slaughtered like sheep. When they are all gone, Prince Verone will invade, slaughter and rape our women, plunder our land. The desert armies will invade from the south, and perhaps the two will strike a bargain to divide the remainder of my land, and Jashimari will be no more." She bowed her head to hide her despair.
Blade jumped up and strode over to the window. "What would you have me say? I am not an advisor, merely an assassin. I have no solution to offer you."
"You are no fool, either."
The assassin placed his hands on the window ledge and gazed out at the spires visible beyond the palace's garden walls. "Does Kerrion know about his child?" He looked around to find her staring down at her twisting hands.
"No."
"If this child is meant to bring peace, why wait? If you can make peace with the Cotti, it will leave you in a position to fight the Contara."
"Kerrion has yet to be crowned. My spy in his palace tells me that he faces a blatant challenge from his brother, Prince Lerton." She looked up and forced a wan smile. "Oddly, it is your doing. He is accused of colluding with a whore to murder his father. If Lerton convinces the judges, Kerrion will be deposed and face execution for treason."
&
nbsp; Blade snorted, suppressing a chuckle.
"It is a serious matter," Minna admonished. "If Kerrion is deposed, my plans also fail. There is no hope of peace with Lerton."
"Is there much with Kerrion?"
"Shamsara predicted it."
"Yet he did not predict the Contara invasion."
"He made no mention of it, no."
Blade pushed himself away from the window and turned to face her. "I see no solution to this problem, My Queen."
"You do, just as I do, but you will not admit it." She gestured to the cushions in front of her. "Sit, My Lord."
Blade returned to sink down on the cushions, studying the embroidered hem of her skirt to avoid her gaze.
She sighed. "I wish there was another way out of this, but I see none. Look at me."
Surprised, he raised his eyes to meet hers.
Minna shivered, as if a chill had shot through her. "The fate of Jashimari rests with you, Blade. Kerrion must ascend the throne if we are to survive."
"You are ordering my death."
She looked away. "Perhaps not. I have sent a message to my spy. He will conduct you to the Cotti oasis, and Kerrion's palace. Once you have testified to the judges, make good your escape, and he will bring you back to Jashimari."
"Make good my escape?" His brows rose. "From a Cotti courtroom where I have just testified to assassinating King Shandor? I will be slaughtered on the spot."
"Perhaps Kerrion will help you to escape."
"Kerrion hates me, and if he did, he would be accused of treason again."
Minna gazed at him. "You refuse?"
He sighed, looking out at the sky once more, where a flock of robber ravens drifted on the cold wind. "I am an assassin, My Queen. I have always said that I care about nothing, therein lies my strength. If you would send me to Kerrion's city, let it be for the reason of my trade, not to save Kerrion from the gallows. At least give me the honour of dying as an assassin, not as a helpless pawn caught in the machinations of two rulers. Order Lerton's death, and I shall leave for Jadaya tonight."
Her smile was filled with sorrow. "I am sacrificing a priceless weapon. I need you here to aid me when the time comes, and those who wish to thwart my plans will pit themselves against me. But this is even more important. Killing Lerton alone will not save Kerrion. You must testify as well. But yes, I order Lerton's death."
"Then you shall have it. What will my payment be, should I survive to collect it?"
"Name your price."
Blade smiled, knowing that it twisted her heart like a silver dagger of pain. "I will think on it. Do you wish his death to be quick or slow?"
"I leave that to you."
"Very well."
"I have one more task for you, Blade." She hesitated, biting her lip. "I order you to return when you have assassinated Prince Lerton."
His smile broadened and his brows rose. "A tall order indeed. If at all possible, I shall, My Queen."
"Good." Minna returned his smile, the anguish and despair washed from her expression. She rose, the worries appearing to drop from her shoulders like autumn leaves from the trees outside, now barren and covered with snow. Blade stood up, awaiting his dismissal.
To his surprise, she reached out and took his hand, raised it and turned it palm up. She studied his smooth palm and slender fingers, which bore the scars of his dagger. A slight frown puckered her brow as she pressed a black vial into his hand, closing his fingers over it.
"A poison," she murmured. "If they are to torture you, take it for a painless death. Before you go, I shall have the High Priestess wash your sins away in the sacred river and anoint you a sacred Knight of the Veil."
"I am not a religious -"
"But I am. Do this for me also. If I am sending you to your death, let it be with the assurance that you will be granted entry into the Everlasting. Do not burden me with your damnation also."
He frowned, disliking the idea. "What is it to you? You order thousands of men to their deaths."
She flashed him a look of rebuke. "Do not be impudent. I am your queen, do as I say." She released his hand, and he stepped back.
"My Queen." He bowed.
"Lord Conash."
Blade left without a backward glance, his mind already whirling with plans for Prince Lerton's impending assassination. Next to King Shandor, it would be his greatest triumph, yet he wished that the target was Kerrion as well. Chiana waited for him in his room, and rose from a cushion when he glared at her.
"What do you want?"
"She ordered you to Jadaya, did she not?"
Blade shrugged. "Ask her."
"You will be killed."
Sighing, he started to pull off his tunic, his clothes still damp underneath. He longed for a hot bath and dry clothes, and lacked the patience to deal with more questions. "That seems a forgone conclusion."
Chiana grabbed his arm as he headed past her towards the clothes' rack, surprising and hampering him, since his arms were tangled in the tunic he strived to tug off.
"This is madness. You are needed here," she said.
He turned to face her. "A little while ago, you were urging me to leave, now you wish me to stay?"
"Sending you to Jadaya is folly. It will accomplish nothing. Kerrion will not make peace with the Jashimari, even if we help him."
Blade jerked his arm from her grasp and shucked the tunic, throwing it on the rack. "She still has not told you then?"
"Told me what?"
He turned away, loosening the ties of his shirt. "Ask her, it is her secret."
Chiana seemed to wilt, the fire going out of her. "She does not confide in me. I could offer no advice on the war with the Contara. The situation is hopeless."
"Well, if it is any consolation, nor could I." He sat on the bed and began to pull off his boots.
"You must not go."
He paused to look up at her, noting her flushed countenance and the agitated twisting of her hands. "Why not?"
Chiana swung away, frowning. "It will accomplish nothing, I have told you."
"You do not know that. The Queen has a secret agenda."
"But you will not survive."
He shrugged, struggling with a reluctant boot. "That is no great loss to society."
She swung to face him. "I do not want you to go."
The boot came free, surprising Blade, so distracted was he by this unexpected statement. Since he had been tugging so hard at it, it hit him on the chin with some force. He cursed and flung the offending footwear across the room. Rubbing his jaw, he frowned at her.
"Why?"
She looked away. "I… it will accomplish nothing."
"You have already said that a dozen times. If you want to stop this, you will have to speak to the Queen."
"She will not heed me."
He started on the other boot. "Then I cannot help you."
"And nor will you heed me."
"Apparently not."
"You think me foolish."
He snorted in exasperation, tugging at the boot. "I make no judgements without hearing all the arguments, and so far you have put forward none better than that you think it will accomplish nothing, yet you do not even know what I am to do in Jadaya."
"Testify for Prince Kerrion."
"And assassinate Lerton."
Chiana gasped. "She has lost her mind!"
"It was my idea." The boot came free and flew across the room with a bang. Blade sighed and flexed his toes, bending to remove his wet socks. Chiana came closer, so the hem of her gown brushed his feet, and he looked up at her.
"If I asked you to stay, what would you say?" she asked.
"No."
She blinked. "You are a selfish brute."
"Insults now? How novel."
"You do not understand."
"So enlighten me."
"No."
Blade stood up, growing impatient, and found himself toe-to-toe with her. Chiana raised her chin, daring him, he guessed, to push pa
st her. He smiled, then gripped her waist and moved her aside, stepping past. Going over to the curtained alcove where a steaming bath awaited him, he paused with a hand on the curtain and glanced back, wondering why she lingered and intending to order her out. A tear ran down her face, and he frowned, opening his mouth to ask the reason for it, but she turned away and left, banging the door. Evidently his refusal to be swayed upset her, and he wondered why.
Kerrion looked up from the report he had just read at the two senior advisors who stood before him, their expressions guarded. They waited on the far side of his carved milkwood desk, their bald heads gleaming with sweat despite their cool attire. Over their knee-length cotton shifts, they wore swathes of heavy, gold-trimmed linen wrapped around their hips and draped over one shoulder.
"Lerton ordered this?"
The elder advisor inclined his head. "Yes, My Prince."
Kerrion left his chair in a bound, heading for the door with the crumpled parchment clenched in one fist. The advisors bowed as he stormed past and yanked open the door, slamming it behind him. He arrived in Lerton's rooms flushed with rage. Sunlight streamed into the Prince's apartments through the doors that opened into the gardens. Sienna rugs were scattered on the marble floors and cream curtains billowed in the breeze that blew in through the doors. His brother rose from the gilded couch where he lay, pushing away a concubine who fed him grapes from the bowl of fruit on the low table beside him, where a bottle of wine and a goblet also rested. The concubine fled, and Lerton faced his taller brother, his expression wary and defiant. Kerrion raised the crumpled parchment and shook it under Lerton's nose.
"This is your doing!"
"What might that be?"
"You aided that upstart Verone to overthrow King Jan-Durval!"
Lerton nodded. "Indeed I did. A stroke of genius, I would say."
"Well I would not! He has invaded Jashimari!"
"That was the whole point, brother. With his help, we will overrun Jashimari before the spring."
Kerrion gritted his teeth. "Imbecile! He will ransack the place! There will be nothing left but burnt ruins and trampled fields. Then we will have to fight him."
"No, he is our ally. He has signed a treaty."
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