Amaskan's Blood

by Raven Oak

  While Ida smiled, the corners of her mouth didn’t stretch far enough, and the smile’s light didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m sorry for my part in all this.”

  Adelei touched the armor bearing shoulder. “I know you were doing your job, as I’m doing now. When the Master sends you to Justice, your blade must carry you through.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “If I had it my way, I’d be home in Sadai right now and not on this job.”

  “This is your home, Iliana Poncett, whether ya agree or not. I hope ya remember what this place once meant to ya.”

  “May we meet again soon, Ida.”

  “May ya find your Way here, and may the Way be home.”

  Adelei drew her hand to her mouth in surprise at the ancient blessing. It was a blessing given between only the closest of family, the very same blessing Master Bredych whispered in her ear as she left Sadai over a week ago. Tears sprang to her eyes, which she blinked away rapidly. All three saddlebags were dragged into her room.

  This isn’t home.

  She could give into the morose mood that had settled in behind her thoughts, but she decided to redecorate in earnest. All flowers, embroidery, and tapestries were removed and tossed into the chest at the bed’s foot. Even the floor rug, a hideous baby blue with cherubs bouncing around on clouds, was stowed away, though she regretted the loss as the stone floor was cold right through her boots.

  No fireplace warmed the room, and she vowed to get more appropriate rugs and bedding soon. She needed to secure several blankets if she didn’t want to freeze to death at night. No windows was both a blessing and a curse. She was safer than some, but unable to see the enemy coming. It also meant she couldn’t leave the room any other way than through the main door.

  Unpacking her few belongings kept her from thinking too long and hard about the inevitable meeting with her father. Adelei’s stomach knotted. She stashed her reserve weapons around the room in easy reach: one beneath the corner of the bed’s mattress and another inside a now empty vase.

  Most of her books remained at the Order. She didn’t know if they would send them to her or not. What would a former Amaskan need with such texts? Her finger brushed against the three books she had packed, and she set them on one bookshelf where they rested as footnotes to the empty case.

  It would do for now. Adelei leaned carefully on the chair to test its strength. It wobbled, and a small creaking confirmed it was as useless as the decorations had been. Nothing else to do, she sat on the bed and studied the furniture. What was a liability? What was a weapon?

  The bed’s location was a problem. Pushed against the wall with a chest at the foot left her only one direction to flee in a fight, and chances were that would drive her straight into the sword of an attacker. Bookshelves were pushed out of the way and not a concern, but the desk faced the wall, leaving her back exposed to the door and only means of entrance.

  There was room to work with, too much in fact. Adelei removed her cloak and left it folded on the bed. Free to work, she spun the desk around to face the door until it rested perpendicular to the wall. The two mostly empty bookshelves could be moved behind the desk and against the rear wall, but their heavy mahogany resisted the stone floor, and they remained in place.

  When someone knocked on her door, she stubbed her booted toe on one of the bed legs, and a guard opened the door to find her leaning over the desk cursing. His mouth fell open, and she schooled her expression into one of boredom. Adelei returned his stare and said nothing.

  He retreated quickly and shut the door behind him none-too-gently. A few words were spoken outside the room. No doubt muttering about the crazy person tearing her room apart.

  Continuing the task of liberating herself from a poorly designed room, she dragged the chest closer to the door and pushed the bed until it was centered along the front wall. Only the bed’s headboard was against a surface, giving her three means of retreat. Anyone who entered was going to look to the rear wall first, expecting that to be the bed’s location and giving her the chance to fight or flee before she was seen.

  “There,” she said. Sweaty but satisfied, she sat cross-legged on the bed and used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her face.

  The expected knock at the door still startled her, and she rose in a rolling motion. She expected a guard come to escort her to the King, but her heart knocked against her chest at the possibility of Tribor. When the door opened, the guard she’d expected was not the face she met—instead, a face similar to her own, yet older and weathered by pain lay before her, the royal circlet across his brow.

  Her father.

  He was both what she expected and what she had not—royalty and finery, yet a pallor to his skin that spoke of illness. Recent illness.

  King Leon filled the doorway with his tall frame and searched her face. The King battled the father in his eyes; she could see it in the twitch of his hand and tenseness of his jaw. The father wished to wrap her in a hug as if that could erase the distance between them. Fifteen years of distance. His arms shook at his side, and he halted the lift that would have led to outstretched arms.

  The King, however, knew the moment would wait. A deep baritone filled the space between them. “Master Adelei, I would welcome you formally but would rather do so after the enemy hand has been stopped. I would discuss your purpose here with you.”

  The guard behind him relaxed and stepped back, giving the King room to close the door. Before it shut, she noted the curiosity in the guard’s face. Bodyguards didn’t typically sleep in former Princess’s bedchambers, and the guardsman knew it. She needed to spread the word around as to her purpose here, maybe even sleep on the floor outside Her Highness’s bedchamber.

  Keeping this in mind, she angled for light conversation. “I would offer you a chair, Your Majesty, but mine is sorely in need of repair,” she said, gesturing toward the three-and-a-half-legged stool. She executed a formal bow and kept her head down until his hand touched her shoulder. While she expected the touch, it surprised her as foggy memories swept over her of his hand doing just that, many times before as she “played” princess at court.

  “Iliana—”

  The whisper of the name made it all the more powerful. She rose from her bow and held up a hand to silence him. Then Adelei pointed at the door and cupped her hand around her ear to mime listening. King Leon nodded, and she returned to the bed where she folded herself into a seated position with ease. “Your Majesty, Master Bredych sent me here at your request to guard the life of your daughter. I assume I’m to attend the wedding to protect Her Highness from these assassination attempts. I’ll check the castle’s security and do some of my own investigating, with your permission of course.”

  “My people and the people of Shad will know their future Queen is well-guarded by the b-best in the Little Dozen.” He stumbled over the word as if it were soured. “We are honored to have you here and–and wish to know if you have been to Alexander before? You speak our language very well.”

  For a moment, she stared at him, unsure. He knew who she was—or did he? Then her father slowly winked one eye. “I was here before, as a child, though I was too little to remember the… visit. But I was taught several languages as part of my training.”

  His throat bobbed and several tears trickled down his flushed face. He approached her then, touching a gentle hand to her damp cheek, wet despite her own volition not to feel anything for the man before her. The man who abandoned her for dead. But he had believed he’d made the best choice by sending her away. A choice made out of love for his child. Would Bredych have done any different?

  Her master’s name lanced her heart of compassion, and she couldn’t return her father’s smile, though she allowed him the touch before she said, “While I have visited here with my father, he sent me away long ago for a peace treaty. I grew up in the Order with my adopted father, Master Bredych, who values your friendship very much to send his own daughter into such a difficult situation. Despite my own misgivings
, I will not dishonor him in my service to you, my liege.”

  His face fell a moment before the professional and kingly mask slipped into place, the moment with the father now gone. What the father couldn’t deal with, the King would. “When you leave your room, you must ensure that you are disguised enough that no one knows your background, no one knows who you… are.”

  She nodded, and he continued, “There may be times when… another role will be required of you, but we will speak of this later with my daughter present. Her Royal Highness marries in just short of two months’ time. Tomorrow morning, a servant will see to whatever you will need to be present at the event itself. A servant will be assigned to you as portrays your rank—”

  “But I’m not a—”

  King Leon silenced her with a look. “—As Master of the Sword. Ask whatever you need of your servant, including a new chair. I would tell you, there is more to these attempts than the good captain knows.”

  The smell of his sweat reached her, and she gave him a questioning look. “Is she not to be trusted? I thought her your sepier.”

  “Yes, well, suffice it to say she can’t be trusted. But that’s not important.” Her father closed his eyes and when he opened them, the fierceness of those muddy ovals worried her. “I suspect the Shadians may be behind this.”

  He said the words like they were some great, all-telling statement, and she frowned. “So Captain Warhammer said.” He picked at the corner of a fingernail until she thought she would scream. Instead of terrorizing His Majesty, she merely said, “Whatever’s on your mind, please speak it truthfully. If I’m to do my job, I need all the information you have, Your Majesty.”

  “Even rumors?”

  “Especially rumors.”

  “Why? Gossip serves its purpose well enough at court, but little truth be had from such a creature.”

  Adelei’s smile reflected in his eyes as he watched her. “Ah, but there’s where you’re wrong, Your Majesty. Usually a kernel of truth can be found at the root. Rumors will often lead to fact.”

  “There are rumors about my daughter’s future husband.” Her leg muscles tensed, and the bed groaned as she shifted her weight. “People say he isn’t a man but some sort of monster. Some sexual deviant who prowls through cities, leaving broken people in his wake. No evidence is ever found. No one left alive to speak word against him. But if this is true, I cannot uphold the treaty. I must know if this man who’s to join my family is what they say he is.”

  It was Master Meserre all over again. Just the thought of the man’s name brought her blood to flush across her skin, and she bit the side of her cheek. “Your Majesty, I will do what I can to protect Her Highness, no matter who the enemy may be—be they Shadian, Tribor, or the captain herself.”

  He nodded and opened the door to leave. Her father turned back once, the mask slipping. Regret stretched across his frown only to be replaced a second later by a strength she’d never had the chance to know. “We thank you again for coming to us in our time of need, knowing that it cost you greatly to leave your home, as it would cost us greatly to lose a daughter.” And with that, his great frame was gone from the doorway, leaving a puzzled guard who only glanced at her once before leaving to renew his post outside the door.

  Adelei wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and wallow in a good round of self-pity, but the job stretched before her—a mysterious blank canvas. She rose, wearing her own mask as a shield in front of her.

  Now was as good a time as any to get the lay of the castle and the people in it. Better now than as they approached the wedding, where there was sure to be an attempt on Her Highness’s life. The door to her room closed behind her, shutting off the flow of emotions and all thoughts of her father. For the time being, she was Amaskan.

  Nothing more. The job was all that mattered.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Three guards stood outside. They tried not to stare at Adelei, whose brown dress would have been more at home in the servant’s quarters than in the royal suite. The long, black tresses from her wig were braided up into an elaborate twist tied with a satin ribbon. The simple dress, rough spun and bearing little embellishment, washed out her complexion, but to the high court, she would be one random person among many.

  A man twice Adelei’s age cleared his throat. “Is there something we can do for you, milady? Are you lost?”

  “I’m fine, thank you.” She didn’t blame them for not recognizing her. The “small and lost” disguise worked well. Adelei made it one step before the eldest guard blocked her path. She side-stepped and he stumbled forward, misjudging his grab for her arm. His forward motion gave her the advantage, and she twisted his arm behind him. The other two drew their swords, but neither moved against her.

  Useless, like the statues in the tapestry behind them.

  As quickly as she gained access to the guardsman, she released him with a gentle shove, and he tumbled into the other men. “Rule number one: don’t assume someone is innocent and unarmed because of their attire. Not all assassins dress so obviously—in fact, almost none do. And rule number two: pay attention to who comes and goes from the royal suite. Who has entered these doors in the past hour and not left?”

  The shortest of the three, a tubby man with fading red hair answered first. “Her Highness and her lady-in-waiting, her handmaidens, and some Master out of Sadai.”

  “Exactly. So knowing that, who would I be?”

  “Well, you’d either be someone we missed, maybe someone come to harm Her Highness, or one of those from inside.”

  Adelei nodded. “If I was someone here to harm Her Highness, you’d already be dead. I’ll make it easier on you though—I’m Master Adelei, here at the King’s orders. You may see me come and go at all hours and often in odd dress. Don’t let that stop you from making me identify myself if you don’t know who I am, because you’re right. Someone here to harm the royal family is going to do their best to blend in. Always watch who comes and goes, understand?”

  “Yes, master.”

  Where she was going she didn’t know, but that was the point. Walk the halls. Draw a map of the layout. Learn where you are seen and where you are not. A well-practiced mind sought out the shadows and corners as she traveled down the hall. She wasn’t interested in talking or making friends. She wasn’t out to be noticed this evening, choosing instead to hide in obscurity and listen. Do so now before everyone knows who you are, prompted Master Bredych’s voice in her mind.

  A turn brought her to a lengthy corridor which should’ve led to the stairwell. Instead she found a storage closet. Adelei retraced her steps until she found the staircase. She would work from the ground up, so she followed the stairs down to the first floor and down another hallway until she reached the entryway. Masses of people gathered as they waited to sup in the great hall. She doubted the assassin was hiding—in fact, she bet it was someone in the hall, someone in plain sight.

  For now, she passed by the crowd of people as she continued her map making. As she moved, most ignored her entirely, deeming her the peasant or servant she appeared. Someone not worthy of acknowledgement. A few women nearby commented loudly on her appearance. “Who let that in?”

  “Who does she think she is to be here, walking amongst us so freely?”

  “Did someone’s serving girl get lost?”

  I’ve never understood why people of class and blood think themselves so far above everyone else. I could slit their throats as easily as a prince in finery. Once past the entrance to the great hall, she roamed into the kitchens where a corpulent woman with arms the size of fire logs loaded her down with a pile of dirty mugs for the scullery. Adelei used the excuse (and the disguise) to pass through the kitchens and into the scullery where she dropped off the dirty mugs with pleasure.

  Beyond these rooms lay a back entrance to a smaller courtyard with a well and the back pathway to the stables. Adelei didn’t spend long outdoors and moved back into the castle. She passed the cellar, a larde
r, and several other rooms for the making and storing of the castle’s food and drink. Around the corner were the servants’ quarters. The majority of the rooms were little more than closets, but she made an internal map of each one. When she tried to go down the stairwell at the end of one hallway, a brute of a guardsman stopped her. “Dungeon’s down here, milady. Ye not be needin’ ta go down here for naught.”

  She would have to give it a good explore once she was recognizable to the guards. A few guest rooms for the commons finished up the first floor, and she moved on to the second. By now, the mass of people had moved into the great hall, leaving her free to climb the staircase in peace. The second floor was simple: guest rooms, a shared bathing house on each end, and several ambassador suites.

  At first, she thought the third floor similar to the second as she encountered more guest rooms, but near the great chamber lay the castle library. It wasn’t the book collection, albeit vast, that caught her attention, but the two women who stood in the back corner, deep in conversation. Ladies like this will be missed at dinner. What business do they have here at this hour? Adelei moved to a shelf on the other side of them and crouched down to listen between a crack in the bookshelves.

  The woman facing Adelei’s direction said, “With all the rumors I’ve heard about him, I wouldn’t let my dog marry him, let alone my daughter.” Her pink-tinted grey hair stood out as did the string of rubies at her neck—one the size of Adelei’s thumb.

  I wonder if they’re speaking about this prince. More rumors, perhaps?

  “Shhhh…” Her companion, a woman in green too bright for her pale skin, waved a hand.

  “What? I’m not afraid to make my thoughts known.”

  “I thought I heard the door earlier. Could be stray ears about, Millicent.” The woman wearing green cast a look about the library but didn’t see Adelei through the bookcases. “I’ve heard he leaves a trail of bodies behind him, and no matter where he goes, no one can stop him. Just look at what happened with your—”