Shattered Assassin

by Knight, Wendy

  Her uncle had been heir to the crown until he had given it up to marry a commoner, so of course he believed himself better suited to run the country. But they were still family and still grieving over the loss of their brother and King. “Could you ask the captain to come to me, please?” she murmured, taking the missive and crossing to the fireplace. She couldn’t get warm; there was a cold that seemed to be radiating from the inside out and she couldn’t escape it.

  “Of course.” Crystali paused in the doorway and turned back, “There is one other thing, your highness.”

  “What is it?” Kazia asked without looking up. It took too much effort to raise her head. She wished she could cut her hair off, like a boy’s. It was much too heavy.

  “They have sent their own guards to accompany you.”

  “How kind of them.” Kazia closed her eyes, biting back a caustic remark. She tried to summon the energy to pace while she waited for the Luke — as captain of the royal guard, he could advise her in this matter, and since she couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought in her head, she would let him do his job. Besides that, he was the only one she trusted. Besides Nakomi, of course.

  She wanted to lean on him, to bury her head in his embrace and let him protect her when the rest of her life was so dark and frightening, but leaning on Luke would hurt them both, so she fought to remain professional when he walked through the door. Amazing how he could make her pulse race even when she felt like there was no way her heart could still be beating.

  “You summoned, your highness?” he asked with a curt bow. Twice in the previous week and a half he had come to ask if she remembered anything. She had told him no both times, and he hadn’t returned in several days.

  “Yes, Captain,” she murmured, averting her gaze so he couldn’t see her blush. “I received this a few minutes ago.” She crossed the room and handed him the note, which he took without looking at her.

  “They don’t believe you’re safe in the village.” Now he did look up at her, forgetting proper decorum.

  She nodded, stopping herself from pointing out that even the castle had not, in fact, been safe and the village was far from it. “If I leave, how will I rule? How will I be crowned queen?” She hadn’t been crowned yet, so far refusing to face the fact that she was the new ruler of her kingdom. That was her father’s job, and then her brother’s. It was never meant to be hers. She was only supposed to marry a prince — not even an eldest prince — to form the alliance and live out her days ruling her own household and nothing more.

  But her father had raised her to be able to face the unthinkable, should it happen. She supposed she should at least pretend like she knew what she was doing.

  “How long do you plan on being absent?” Luke asked, leaning against the doorframe, watching her with those green eyes.

  She attempted to rake a hand through her curls but only succeeded in tangling them more. She needed a brush. “I don’t know.” She sighed, trying to find the will to care, which had to still live somewhere inside her. Her eyes swept lazily through the room — this house was the biggest in the village, and it wasn’t even as large as her father’s chambers. But the longer she stayed here, the longer this family would be without their home. She knew all too well what homeless felt like.

  “Going might be an acceptable solution. We might find safety within their walls that we do not have here.”

  Luke looked offended. “Princess, we have three guards stationed at your door on a constant basis.”

  “I know, Captain, and please don’t take this as an attack on your capabilities.” It was exhausting trying to be polite all the time. She wished she could just talk, like one normal person to another normal person. It would be so much faster.

  And she missed him. It had been years since she had been allowed to talk to Luke. She blinked rapidly, realizing her thoughts had run amok. “I’m positive it’s more of an emotional safety I’m seeking, rather than a physical one.”

  Luke’s eyes softened. “Of course. I’m so sorry. By all means, you should go. The comfort of family might be just what you need right now.”

  “They have sent their own guards…” she hesitated, unsure how to continue. I know we promised never to speak to one another again all those years ago, but would you accompany me the four days’ journey to their estate? She frowned. Probably not the best way to ask.

  “I saw them arrive.” He nodded, but he wore a fierce frown. “I would suggest, Princess, that I assemble a team of my best guards and we will accompany you. I wish no offense, but until we know who our enemies are, I believe the royal guard should be in your company at all times.” We will accompany you. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest, she was certain he could hear it.

  Cursing her fair skin and the blush that rose easily to her cheeks, she ducked her head, nodding. “As you wish, Captain. I will prepare my belongings for travel.” What I have left, at least.

  He bowed again and left. She cast a long look at Nakomi. “Clearly he has no lingering feelings he’s fighting.” She motioned to Crystali, who waited discreetly by the entryway. “We are going on a journey, it seems.”

  Kazia loved horses. She always had, but she wasn’t the most experienced rider. She was nervous as she settled onto the saddle. Nakomi waited next to her, big wolf head level with the horse’s back Kazia rode on. “Are you sure that thing will be able to keep up with us?” Luke’s second-in-command, Benjamin, motioned toward the gigantic wolf.

  “She can run as fast as a horse, as long as we aren’t sprinting,” Kazia said.

  “But what if we have to sprint? We’ll lose her and we can’t have you stopping to go back for her.” Heath, Luke’s third in command, if Kazia remembered correctly, eyed Nakomi like she might tear them all to shreds at any second.

  “If we sprint, she’ll outdistance us.” Luke cut in as he finished checking the pack horses and swung up in his saddle next to her. “Give it up, boys. The princess would walk barefoot rather than leave Nakomi behind.”

  The others in their small party — there were ten guards accompanying them — gave Nakomi a wide berth. They respected her; how could they not? But she was huge and black and moved like the monsters that hide in the shadows. Yes they respected her, but mostly they feared her.

  Luke did not. He had been Brodi’s best friend growing up, and so Nakomi had grown up with him. He seemed unable to see her as anything but a very large puppy.

  Crystali, on Kazia’s other side, whispered, “Tell me again why we aren’t taking the coach?” She had grown up in the castle. She’d rarely ridden and was more uncomfortable on a horse than Kazia was.

  “The coach is cumbersome and makes an easy target. That is also the reason we have such a small guard. We move quickly and silently,” Luke answered her.

  “We sent my uncle’s guard on a different path. Hopefully, if the assassin is still out there, he’ll follow them,” Kazia said, fighting the chill of terror that raced down her spine.

  “Oh.” Crystali nodded, although she still didn’t look entirely comfortable with the situation.

  “Are you ready, Princess?” Luke asked and she inclined her head.

  “Yes, Captain.”

  The assassin packed carefully. There was no way of knowing which weapons would be best suited for the job ahead, so she had to pack many. They were heavy and difficult to hide, even wrapped in the dresses, traveling cloaks, soft slippers, and undergarments. The knives were set in the satchel, buried, but not too deeply. They had to be within reach at all times, because knives were the assassin’s weapon of choice should she have to fight.

  The rest of her weapons were not for her own protection, but for completing her mission — which did not require hand-to-hand combat. The poison darts she had been given as a gift from a traveling admirer were saved for only the most difficult assignments for three reasons. They were very rare, for one. Two, she could use them from a distance on targets she couldn’t get close to, and three, they made no sound
as they sped through the air. She swathed them carefully in muslin before tucking them in the secret folds of her traveling case.

  The miniature crossbow was the most difficult to find a place for, but it was her favorite weapon and she refused to leave it. Instead, she tore the hidden pocket in her satchel a bit wider and shoved and rearranged and swore until she finally got it to fit.

  She sat back and admired her work, because there was no indication from the outside that her deadliest weapons hid just inside the soft fabric. The blades hidden in the hair sticks were easy enough to conceal; she used them to hold the heavy braids away from her face.

  She lifted the satchel, testing its weight, and decided it would do. Sliding it over her shoulder, she set out, revenge the only thing on her mind.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THEY MET IN THE CASTLE’S COURTYARD before the break of day, and for that Kazia was grateful. She carried a large umbrella to protect herself from the sun’s rays, but it was bulky and uncomfortable when she had it up. However, without the coach they had no other choice. She couldn’t be in the sun for as long as they would have to travel, even with the hood of her cloak to hide in. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground before her, or the sky, or the looming forest, anything to avoid seeing the burned remains of her home.

  Crystali had somehow convinced her that bathing and combing her hair would make her feel better, and so the long blond curls were neatly plaited down her back. The persuasive skills of Kazia’s maid knew no bounds. But under Kazia’s skirts she wore men’s breeches, and refused to ride side-saddle, so perhaps Crystali wasn’t an all-powerful negotiator, after all.

  She had two guards on each side, three in front, and three behind. And of course, Nakomi, always within reach. But even with their small numbers, the pace was slower than she would have liked as they passed through the castle courtyard toward the small trail at the back. Luke sent her uncle’s troops out the main entrance. Palace guards raised the much smaller portcullis to allow them to leave, dropping it behind them immediately. “The castle doesn’t look so bad. Are you sure we can’t stay there?” Crystali asked, light green eyes scanning the high castle walls.

  “It isn’t so bad, but there is structural damage that could be dangerous until it’s fixed. It shouldn’t take more than a fortnight,” Luke said over his shoulder as he led them around the gates toward the darkness of the trees.

  The castle sat high on a hill. The village settled in the valley below the castle on the east, and a deep forest surrounded the other three sides, with only one exit to the west. This path away from the castle was little known to anyone except Nakomi, who roamed the woods at night on occasion. She was the reason the villagers believed monsters hid in the forest’s mists.

  It was dark, very dark, because the trees blocked what little moonlight there still was. No one said a word as they traveled. There weren’t really monsters in the forest; despite its darkness it was usually a safe place, but no one knew if the assassin could be hiding, waiting to kill the princess.

  As long as Kazia was still alive, she would not be safe. Nakomi kept her nose up, testing the air, as if she knew her master was threatened. Kazia scanned the trees and undergrowth, trying to stay alert, but if they were attacked, everyone knew she would be useless in a fight. All she could do would be to run and trust in her guards.

  “It would be helpful if we could stay in the forest throughout the day. The trees will protect you from the sun,” Luke said, turning in his saddle to face her. They had to ride single file now because the trees grew so close together here.

  Kazia scanned the thin path ahead — the forest looked like it would go on forever, but she had been through it before and knew they would be out in the open valley before the sun reached midday. “I’ll be fine,” she finally answered, turning her eyes back to him. He studied her for several seconds before nodding and facing forward once again.

  The rest of the morning passed in silence. As the sun rose, Kazia had a harder time keeping herself awake. She had always been more alive at night than during the day; for some ridiculous reason her body thought it was as nocturnal as her wolf’s. She found herself nodding off in the saddle several times, snapping awake when Nakomi nipped at her heel.

  Rays of sun broke through the thinning trees after several hours of riding. She was already sore and could feel the exhaustion seeping in. She hated her disease and how it weakened her. She hated how fragile she was. But there was nothing to be done, so she focused on keeping herself upright in the saddle.

  When Luke fell back to ride beside her, she tensed, knowing what he would ask before he spoke. “Princess, have you remembered anything about the night of the attack? Anything that will help us find the assassin?”

  She glanced sideways at him. “No, Captain. I’ve already told you if I remembered something I would inform you right away. I have not.” At his frustrated sigh, she continued, “Perhaps you could learn to speak wolf and ask Nakomi. I’m sure she could tell you what you seek.” She hid a smile as his green eyes widened and his mouth opened once, and then snapped shut while he considered his words.

  “I’m only trying to keep you safe, Kazia. If we find the assassin, my job will be done and I can go back to protecting the entire kingdom.”

  Kazia felt like she had been slapped. She straightened her back and stared ahead, refusing to let him see the tears that stung her eyes. “I didn’t ask you to accompany me, Captain.”

  “That isn’t what I meant and you know it.” She could feel his gaze burning her, but she refused to look at him. After several uncomfortable minutes he clicked at his horse and the big bay surged forward, trotting to the front of their small formation.

  “The trees are fewer now and the sun is hot, Princess. Perhaps you should put up your shade now?” Crystalii asked from just behind her.

  Kazia glanced up at the sun and retreated into the folds of her cloak. “Soon,” she whispered.

  “The valley is, at once, safer and more dangerous than the trees,” Luke said, turning in his saddle to address his guards. “We will be able to see a threat more easily, if there is one, but we are also a more visible target. Stay in formation.” He glanced at his men, who nodded silently. Luke was young to be a captain, in fact, the youngest Captain of the Guard they’d ever had. But his father had been a captain, and his father before him. Luke had been raised for this sole purpose, and nothing had been allowed to stand in his way.

  Even me. The thought hurt. Luke had been her champion. She smiled as she remembered sneaking out of her lessons to watch him practice. They took long walks, she and Brodi and Luke. There were many evenings spent playing cards by the fire. Kazia believed, even before she’d known what marriage was, that Luke would be the man she would marry one day. Before her young heart had known better and before the rules of being a princess had been enforced. Even then, when she was forbidden to see him or risk shaming her family and herself and ruining a chance at a proper marriage, she had stubbornly refused to let him go. It had been Luke himself that had finally sent her away.

  She forced the thought away, trying to busy herself watching the landscape. There were too many things she was trying not to think about; too many things she couldn’t deal with yet. Finding a safe topic to occupy her mind was difficult.

  They made camp late, long after the sun set, making the most of the time Kazia could travel without her shade. She ached, everywhere, and nearly collapsed as she slid off her horse. Nakomi leaped to her aid, and Kazia leaned gratefully on her big wolf until she gained her feet. “Thank you, dear one,” she whispered.

  “Is there a problem?” Luke asked, leading his horse past her.

  She shook her head but said nothing. Crystali was soon at her side, offering her arm, and between the three of them they made it to the fire, where Kazia sank gratefully onto her bedroll. “This is highly improper, you realize,” Crystali muttered, indicating the fact that they were sleeping in close proximity to ten men.

  Kazia roll
ed her eyes and Nakomi huffed. “Being proper isn’t high on my list of priorities right now. Staying alive is,” Kazia answered.

  Crystali smiled but said nothing. One of the men made stew and the smell made Kazia’s mouth water, even while her body ached so much she wasn’t sure she could eat. The ground wasn’t soft, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to sleep. “This trip might kill me without the assassin’s help,” she murmured, mostly to herself, stroking Nakomi’s thick black fur.

  “Did you ever realize that your eyes are the exact same shade of brown as Nakomi’s brown one?” Luke asked, settling next to her on a fat rock.

  He was speaking to her — and not, thankfully, about assassins and duty. Kazia tried to calm her racing pulse, smiling as Nakomi turned to look at her with the eye so dark brown it was almost black. She was inexplicably delighted by this. “It’s like we’re soul mates.” Kazia smiled.

  “Yes. The exact same.” Luke pointed a spoon at Nakomi’s face and then leaned forward to stir the pot.

  “The odd thing is that Luke’s eyes are the exact same shade as Nakomi’s green eye. The three of you must be tied together by fate.” Crystali leaned forward to study them both, but Luke, suddenly uncomfortable, leaped to his feet.

  “I’ve got to check the horses.”

  “Did I say something wrong? I was merely pointing out—”

  “No, Crystali, you didn’t. He’s…” Kazia trailed off, shaking her head. “I’m sure he’s just busy with his many duties,” she finally said, watching him dissolve into the darkness. Crystali hadn’t been with her family when Kazia and Luke were younger. She didn’t know about the… falling out she and Luke had had all those years ago. So of course she wouldn’t know that implying that Luke was tied to her in any way would offend him. A lot.

  He hadn’t changed much in the last three years. His shoulders were broader now, and he was taller. But his eyes were still kind. He didn’t go out of his way to be cruel. His dark blond hair was a bit longer than it had been, and it curled at the base of his neck. If she studied him too long, her fingers would itch to wind it around her finger, so she didn’t watch for him to come back.