by Jaye McKenna
“There doesn’t seem to be much point in continuing them, does there?”
“No. No sir, there doesn’t. I… I’m sorry, sir.”
Larrad pinned him with a predatory gaze. “No, you’re not. But since that’s largely my fault, I’ll try not to hold it against you. Do not go shouting your change in fortune from the rooftops, boy. I’ll be letting people know in my own time, and in my own way. And especially do not breathe a word to Lady Eslian. She’ll be dreadfully disappointed, and I’ll need to speak to Lord Finnia about how we’ll handle the announcement. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir. Very clear, sir.”
The rest of the meal was completed in an uncomfortable silence. Dani, for one, was grateful for it.
* * *
The night dragged, and Rio slept only fitfully. He’d heard the carriage leave soon after he’d gone off-shift. It had returned two hours later, and then immediately left again. Had Dani managed to anger his father again? And been beaten for it?
Rio feared the worst, but dared not go up to the house to check. There would be no way to disguise that kind of concern, and Coryn would certainly report it. With reluctance, Rio kept to his quarters, and tried not to worry.
When shift change finally came, Rio forced himself to walk to the house even though every fiber of his being was urging him to run. Coryn was standing at his post as usual, not looking at all concerned.
“How was your night?” Rio asked, struggling to keep his tone casual.
“Interesting,” Coryn said. “Changes coming, I’d say. We might not be needed here much longer.”
Rio’s heart sped up, pounding as if it were trying to break free of his ribcage. “Why? What’s happened? What have you heard?”
But Coryn only shook his head. “Nothing official. Just an observation.”
Before Rio could question him further, Dani emerged from the dining room looking as if he hadn’t slept. Which, Rio realized, meant he probably had been aboard the carriage. The stimulant preventing him from succumbing to the side effects of the anzaria would have kept him awake all night.
When Rio studied his face, he could see it, the burning eyes that said the crash was imminent.
“No lessons today,” Dani said with clearly feigned brightness. “Or any day.”
“Oh?” Rio fell into step beside him as Dani headed for the stairs rather than the library. “How did you manage that?”
“Father’s finding himself a new successor,” Dani said. “He says I can journey to Altan to join my mother. I’ll be leaving as soon as he’s able to arrange for passage. I…” His eyes sought Rio’s, then strayed away. “A few weeks ago, that was all I wanted, but… it means I’ll be leaving.”
Rio heard the unspoken you at the end of Dani’s statement, but that wasn’t what made his stomach turn. “What made him decide to let you leave?” he asked carefully.
“Last night. It was…” Dani trailed off, swallowing. “It was awful. I couldn’t… I thought he was going to kill me this time.”
Rio’s chest squeezed so tightly he could hardly breathe. “Tell me.”
Dani’s eyes clouded, and a small frown wrinkled his brow as he paused to open the door to his suite. When they were inside, with the door safely shut, Dani said quietly, “He’s buying and selling slaves. Children, even. I… I had no idea.”
“I’m sorry,” Rio said, and he truly was.
“So am I. I wish I could stop him. Help them. But I don’t… I don’t know where I’d even begin. He’s a powerful man. He has resources I can’t even imagine, and he has the king’s ear, if not his complicity.” Dani drifted over to the window. “Haiden knew. He only worked for him to protect me. Father used me to make him do terrible things. And I never even knew. Never felt it. I don’t know how that’s possible, given the bond we shared, but… I had no idea.” His shoulders slumped, and Rio moved to his side and put an arm around him.
Dani leaned against him, shivering.
The stimulant crash, when it came, was sudden. Dani went limp against him, and Rio had to move quickly to stop him from hitting the floor. He lifted Dani easily in his arms and carried him into the bedroom, where Pen had just finished tidying.
“Oh, it’s finally hit him, has it?” Pen said. “Coryn said he didn’t sleep a wink.”
“He wouldn’t,” Rio said. “Not with that stuff burning in his blood.”
He helped Pen ease Dani out of his clothing, then covered him and took up his post by the door. Dani would sleep long and deep, leaving Rio nothing to do but watch him all day.
How soon would he be leaving?
And how soon would Rio and Coryn be dismissed?
Sooner, rather than later, Rio guessed. If Larrad had truly washed his hands of Dani, it didn’t make sense to keep paying the Guild’s fees to keep him safe.
He tried to see the good side of it: that Dani would get the teaching he needed in Altan, and he’d be with his mother’s family. But once Dani left Tallin, Rio would never see him again. The Guild didn’t operate in the Tovashi Domains, so Rio couldn’t even hope to be sent there on assignment.
A clean break was for the best. There was no kind of future in which they could be together. Rio knew that. He’d known that all along, but it hadn’t stopped him from dreaming.
A beam of sunlight peeped through the closed curtains to dance across Dani’s hair, bringing out glinting red and gold highlights. Rio drank in the sight of Dani sleeping, and allowed himself to dream for just a little longer.
* * *
Dani slept the rest of the day, and was still sleeping when Coryn came to relieve Rio. When Rio arrived in his quarters after a visit to the mess hall, he stopped dead in the doorway. A letter lay on his bunk.
He lit the lamp, then picked up the envelope. Icy fingers trailed up his spine as he recognized Bajhan’s precise script. With shaking hands, he tore open the envelope and unfolded the thick sheets of paper within.
At first glance, it looked like a chatty letter from an old friend, but reading the coded message hidden within the innocuous words was like taking an arrow in the gut. His vision blurred and his knees went weak as the meaning of the precisely formed words burned through him.
Rio sat down hard on the bunk and slowly deciphered the code once more to be certain he’d interpreted it correctly.
The message hadn’t changed.
After reading it a third time and committing the details to memory, Rio dropped the letter into the pitcher of water left over from his morning shave. Ink floated off the paper, swirling and twisting in the water like black ribbons streaming in the wind. In moments, his new orders were unreadable, except in his own mind, where they’d been seared in runes of blood.
Dani’s blood.
Someone wanted Dani dead, and Rio was in a perfect position to do the deed. Of course, Bajhan would give the job to Rio; it was an excellent opportunity for Rio to prove himself.
Except for one thing.
I can’t kill him…
But if he didn’t, someone else would, and his own life would be forfeit. He was nothing but a tool, as Bajhan had so emphatically reminded him after his utter failure in Akhat. And the Guild had no use for a broken tool.
Choking back a sob, Rio lifted the wet paper from the jug and crumpled it into a ball.
He didn’t have to act immediately; the message said Larrad’s business partner, Lord Finnia, was to take the blame for Dani’s murder. It would take time to set things up so the blame fell where the client wanted it. He had some breathing room, and if he was going to get himself out of this mess, he’d better use it to come up with a plan that wouldn’t leave Dani dead or himself facing the wrath of the Guild Master.
Of course, the only plan that made any sense was to take Dani across the mountains, into Altan, where he could take advantage of his uncle’s offer of sanctuary. Dani would be safe there; the Guild never sent its operatives farther east than the Dragon’s Spine. Rio had never learned the reason for that, but t
here were whispers among his Guild-brothers, stories of Guild operatives who had ventured into the Tovashi Domains in the course of a mission and never been heard from again.
He closed his eyes and took a few moments to calm himself. One step at a time. The first thing he had to do was get Dani out from under Larrad’s roof and off into the wilderness. Until he’d done that, none of the rest of it mattered.
He could do this.
He had the whole night to prepare.
And tomorrow… tomorrow he’d have to confess the truth to Dani. And hope that once Dani understood what he was, he would still trust him enough to let Rio help him.
* * *
By morning, Rio had gathered the supplies he needed, most of them filched from the armory, the stables, and the kitchen of the Jherek estate. It had taken most of the night, and though the need for sleep burned in both his mind and his body, he knew he wouldn’t rest until Dani was safe.
There was nothing in Coryn’s demeanor to suggest he might be aware of the change in Rio’s orders. Nothing to suggest his feelings for Rio might go beyond friendship, either. He was quiet when Rio met him for shift change, but then Coryn was always quiet, a still river running far deeper than Rio had ever guessed.
“How was your night?” Rio asked, struggling to keep his tone casual.
“Quiet.” Coryn regarded him with veiled eyes. “He was asleep for most of it.”
“He slept most of the day, too. Is he all right?”
“Stimulant crash.” Coryn shrugged. “I warned him it would happen. Some people shake it off after a day, some need a day and a night. He’s up and about now, though. Getting dressed. Apparently he’s no longer expected to show up for breakfast.”
“Ai, Hawk mentioned he’d been given permission to take his meals here.”
“If that’s all, I’m going to bed,” Coryn said.
“Ai,” Rio said, eyes starting to sting. This might be the last time he saw Coryn. Ever.
But he couldn’t say goodbye. Couldn’t breathe a word of his plans. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he wished Coryn a good sleep, and turned away before his friend saw the beginnings of tears in his eyes.
His vision blurred as he thought of the bright, wild boy Coryn had been, and the quiet, closed man he’d become. Tal and Coryn had been the only good things he remembered about his childhood. Tal had been gone a long time, and soon, Coryn, too, would be beyond his reach.
“Are you all right, Rio?” Dani’s voice startled him, and Rio blinked the tears from his eyes.
“No, I’m not,” he said in a rough voice. “Dani, we need to talk. There are some things you need to know. And none of them are going to be easy to hear.” Or to say, but that was his problem, not Dani’s.
“Do you want to sit down?”
Rio nodded. “That might be best.” Sitting would make it harder for Dani to haul off and punch him, if it came to that.
Dani led him to the sitting room and settled himself in one of the armchairs, leaving Pen to finish tidying the bedroom. Rio pulled a footstool across the floor and settled himself in front of Dani so they were eye to eye. Dani watched him with gentle, trusting eyes, and Rio’s gut tightened in dread. There was no way Dani was going to take this well, and no way Rio could avoid telling him.
“I already know you’ll be leaving,” Dani said softly. “Once I’m no longer Father’s heir, there’s no reason for anyone to kill me.”
A knife twisted in Rio’s heart. “I’m afraid that’s not true, Dani. In fact, someone’s already taken a contract out on you.”
The color drained from Dani’s face, and wide, golden-brown eyes fixed on Rio. “Who?”
Rio shook his head. “I don’t know. Who would benefit if you were killed and Albrin Finnia framed for it?”
“Albrin Finnia?” Dani whispered, face going even paler as he slumped back in the armchair. “If… if Finnia were to be blamed for my murder, he would be executed. My father would take over all his business interests. It’s all set out in the contracts they signed. They… they became business partners shortly before Haiden’s death… I think… I think they planned for Haiden to wed Eslian, and eventually take over both businesses. But before anything could be arranged, Haiden was…” He drew in a sharp breath. “That’s why he didn’t want me to tell Eslian I’m leaving. He doesn’t want Finnia to know what he’s up to.” His expression turned bitter. “Getting rid of Finnia and me clears the way for him to take control of Finnia’s transport business.”
“That sounds like a risky way to go about it. Why involve you? Why not just get rid of Finnia? He’d still control Finnia’s business.”
“Ai, but after my reaction to the slaves the other night, he knows he can’t trust me,” Dani said. “I made it very clear I won’t stand for it. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I… I just couldn’t. They were children, Rio. Children!”
“I know,” Rio murmured, putting a hand on his knee and squeezing gently.
Dani stared at Rio for nearly a minute before asking, “But… but how did you find out someone wants me dead?”
The question was inevitable. And perfectly reasonable. He’d known it was coming; he’d just hoped he might have a bit more time to consider his response.
He hesitated, staring into Dani’s eyes. This might be the last time Dani looked at him with anything other than hate and fear.
“Rio, whatever you have to say—”
“Don’t. Just… let me say this.” He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I belong to the Khalshir Guild. You’ve probably never heard of us. Most people haven’t. Sometimes we work as bodyguards, but mostly we work in the shadows, spying, manipulating, and… and killing, where we’re ordered to. Last night, I received a coded message from my superior. I’ve been ordered to kill you and make it look like Albrin Finnia did it.”
Dani’s eyes widened as the meaning of his words sank in. “You…” he whispered, looking faintly ill, “you’re an assassin?”
“Ah… no.” Rio stared down at his hands, unable to watch the inevitable progression from shock to horror and finally, fear. “Not… not really. I… thought I could be, but… I’m a miserable failure as an assassin. My last assignment… I was ordered to make my first kill and I… I choked. I couldn’t do it.”
After a long silence, during which Rio dared not look up, Dani leaned forward and took hold of Rio’s hands in his own. Rio looked up in surprise, and Dani flashed him a tight, nervous grin. “I assume if you were planning to carry out your orders, you wouldn’t be telling me this.”
“No,” Rio whispered. “I couldn’t hurt you. I don’t… I can’t do this.”
Dani’s hands tightened on his own. “What will happen if you don’t follow your orders?”
“Someone else will do it,” Rio said miserably. “Coryn, probably. He might even be ordered to kill me, as well.”
“Coryn would kill you? I don’t believe that for a minute. Not after seeing the way he was watching you the other night.”
“Coryn’s loyalty is to the Guild. Has been for a long time.”
Dani frowned. “But… you’re sworn brothers… you said—”
“People change, Dani. We were sworn brothers before we joined the Khalshir. And I joined a full two years before he found his way there. I don’t know what happened to him in those two years, but he’s not the same person I left behind in Vhalion.”
“So we can’t trust him.”
“I don’t think so. He’s… he’s supposed to be reporting to our mentor, letting him know how I’m handling this assignment.”
Dani caught his lower lip between his teeth, brow furrowed in concentration. “What would your Guild do if you disappeared?”
“Hunt me down,” Rio said immediately. “No one leaves the Guild.”
“What if you disappeared into the Tovashi Domains?”
“I… I don’t know. The Guild doesn’t operate on the other side of the mountains. There are stories among my Guild-brothers of operatives di
sappearing there. No one knows what happened to them. You might be safe there, but I’m not sure I will be.”
“What if you were under the protection of the High Lord of the Domain of Altan?”
Rio let out a bark of laughter. “And what if I had my own personal army to protect me? It’s not going to happen, Dani.”
“Isn’t it?” Dani arched one fine, coppery eyebrow. “If you saw me safely to my uncle’s court, he would be honor-bound to offer you his protection.”
“You have that much influence over him?”
“I told you I spent more than a few summers in the palace. I grew up calling the heir Cousin Tari and the High Lord Uncle Ty. He’s already offered to grant me sanctuary. He would grant it to you, too, if I asked him.”
For the first time since he’d read Bajhan’s message, hope fluttered in Rio’s heart. “All right,” he said, nodding slowly. “That’s a good plan. I’ve got supplies ready and hidden just beyond the estate. We can leave today, if you’re ready. Are you still confined to the grounds?”
“No,” Dani said with an ironic grin. “But I have been instructed to take my bodyguard with me if I venture out.”
Rio returned the grin. “Then might I suggest, sir, that we go riding this morning?”
“You might, indeed,” Dani said, and leaned forward to kiss him.
Chapter Nine
Rio rode carefully along the false trail he’d laid, then into the shallow water of the creek and downstream to where he’d left Dani.
“All finished?” Dani asked as he approached.
Rio leaned forward to pat the neck of the horse Hawk had given him permission to use while supposedly escorting Dani on a ride through the forested estate grounds. “Ai. I think it’ll do. Any searchers will lose our trail where the ground turns rocky. It may not fool them for long, but they’ll have to check it to be sure. They’ll guess we’ve headed for Altan, since you’ve family there, and they’ll assume we’re taking Blue River Pass. It’s the easiest way across, and when they find our trail heading north, that should confirm it in their minds. Did you fill the water skins?”