Assassin 3 - Royal Assassin (80 page)

So the Fool and Burrich have both told me. I
don't think Kettricken would agree.

Kettricken and her child could both have lived
with her grief. As could King Shrewd. Look at what they were. A
foreign woman, widow of a dead King-in-Waiting, mother of a child
that isn't visible yet, and who will be unable to wield power for
years to come. Regal judged Shrewd to be but a doddering helpless
old man, useful as a puppet perhaps, but harmless enough. Regal had
no immediate reason to put them aside. Oh, I agree Kettricken's
position was not as secure as it could be, but she was not in
direct opposition to Regal. That is where she is now.

She did not tell him what we had discovered, I
said unwillingly.

She did not have to. It will show, in her
bearing and in her will to resist him. He had reduced her to a
widow. You have restored her to a Queen-in-Waiting. But it is for
Shrewd that I worry. Shrewd is the one who holds the key, who can
stand up and say, even in a whisper, `Verity still lives, Regal has
no right to be king-in-waiting.' He is the one Regal must
fear.

I have seen Shrewd, Chade. Really seen him. I do
not think he will betray what he knows. Beneath that faltering
body, beneath the numbing drugs and the savage pain, there is a
shrewd man still.

Perhaps. But he is buried deep. Drugs, and pain
even more so, will drive a sagacious man to foolish acts. A man
dying of his wounds will leap to his horse to lead a last charge.
Pain can make a man take risks, or assert himself in strange
ways.

What he was saying made all too much sense.
Cannot you counsel him against letting Regal know that he knows
Verity is alive?

I could try, perhaps. Were not that damnable
Wallace always in my way. It was not so bad at first; at first, he
was tractable and useful, easy to manipulate from afar. He never
knew I was behind the herbs the peddlers brought him; never even
suspected I existed. But now he clings to the King like a limpet,
and not even the Fool can drive him away for long. I seldom have
more than a few minutes with Shrewd at a time anymore. And I am
lucky if my brother is lucid for half of them.

There was something in his voice. I lowered my
head, shamed. I am sorry, I said quietly. Sometimes I forget that
he is more to you than just your king.

Well. We were never really that close, that way.
But we are two old men, who have grown old together. Sometimes that
is a greater closeness. We have come through time to your day and
age. We can talk together, quietly, and share memories of a time
that exists no more. I can tell you how it was, but it is not the
same. It is like being two foreigners, trapped in a land we have
come to, unable to return to our own, and having only each other to
confirm the reality of the place we once lived. At least, once we
could.

I thought of two children running wild on the
beaches of Buckkeep, plucking sheel off the rocks and eating them
raw. Molly and I. It was possible to be homesick for a time, and to
be lonely for the only other person who could recall it. I
nodded.

Ah. Well. Tonight we contemplate salvage. Now.
Listen to me. On this I must have your word. You will not take
actions of major consequence without conferring with me first.
Agreed?

I looked down. I want to say yes. I am willing
to agree to it. But lately even small actions of mine seem to take
on consequences like a pebble in a landslide. And events pile up to
where I have to make a choice suddenly, with no chance to consult
anyone else. So I cannot promise. But I will promise to try. Is
that enough?

I suppose. Catalyst, he muttered.

So the Fool calls me, too, I
complained.

Chade stopped abruptly in the midst of starting
to say something. Does he really? he asked intently.

He clubs me with the word every chance he gets.
I walked down to Chade's hearth and sat down before his fire. The
heat felt good. Burrich says that too strong a dose of elfbark can
lead to bleak spirits afterward.

Do you find it so?

Yes. But it could be the circumstances. Yet
Verity seemed often depressed, and he used it frequently. Again, it
could be the circumstances.

It may be we shall never know.

You speak very freely tonight. Naming names,
ascribing motives.

All is gaiety in the Great Hall tonight. Regal
was certain he had bagged his game. All his watches were relaxed,
all his spies given a night's liberty. He looked at me sourly. I am
sure it will not be the same again for a while.

So you think what we say here can be listened
to.

Anywhere I can listen and peep, from there it is
possible I could be overheard and spied upon. Only just possible.
But one does not get to be as old as I am by taking
chances.

An old memory suddenly made sense. You once told
me that in the Queen's Garden, you are blind.

Exactly.

So you did not know-

I did not know what Galen was putting you
through, at the time he was doing it. I was privy to gossip, much
of it unreliable and all of it far after the fact. But on the night
he beat you and left you to die ... No. He looked at me strangely.
Had you believed I could know of such a thing and take no
action?

You had promised not to interfere with my
instruction, I said stiffly.

Chade took his chair, leaned back with a sigh. I
don't think you will ever completely trust anyone. Or believe that
someone cares about you.

Silence filled me. I didn't know the answer.
First Burrich and now Chade, forcing me to look at myself in
uncomfortable ways.

Ah, well, Chade conceded to my silence. As I
began to say earlier. Salvage.

What do you want me to do?

He breathed out through his nose.
Nothing.

But ...

Absolutely nothing. Remember this at all times.
King-in-Waiting Verity is dead. Live that belief. Believe that
Regal has the right to claim his spot, believe he has the right to
do all the things he does. Placate him for now, give him nothing to
fear. We must make him believe he has won.

I thought for a moment. Then I stood and drew my
belt knife.

What are you doing? Chade demanded.

What Regal would expect me to do, did I truly
believe Verity was dead. I reached in back of my head, to where a
leather thong bound my hair back in a warrior's tail.

I have shears, Chade pointed out in annoyance.
He went and got them and stood behind me. How much?

I considered. As extreme as I can be, short of
mourning him as a crowned King.

Are you sure?

It's what Regal would expect of me.

That's true, I suppose. With a single clip,
Chade took off my hair at the knot. It felt strange to have it
suddenly fall forward, short, not even to my jaw. As if I were a
page again. I reached up and felt its shortness as I asked him,
What will you be doing? '

Trying to find a safe place for Kettricken and
the King. I must make all things ready for their flight. When they
go, they must vanish like shadows when the light comes.

Are you sure this is necessary?

What else is left for us? They are no more than
hostages now. Powerless. The Inland Dukes have turned to Regal, the
Coastal Dukes have lost faith in King Shrewd. Kettricken has made
herself allies amongst them, however. I must tug at the strings she
has spun and see what I can arrange. At least we can see them
placed where their safety cannot be used against Verity when he
comes back to reclaim his crown.

If he returns, I said gloomily.

When. The Elderlings will be with him. Chade
looked at me sourly. Try to believe in something, boy. For my
sake.

Without a doubt, the time that I spent under
Galen's tutelage was the worst period of my life at Buckkeep. But
the week that followed that night with Chade runs a close second.
We were an anthill, kicked apart. No matter where I went in the
Keep, there were constant reminders that the foundations of my life
had been shattered. Nothing would ever be as it was
before.

There was a great influx of folk from the Inland
Duchies, come to witness Regal becoming king-in-waiting. Had not
our stables been so depleted already, it would have taxed Burrich
and Hands to keep up with them. As it was, it seemed like Inlanders
were everywhere, tall, towheaded Farrow men, and brawny Tilth
farmers and cattlemen. They were a bright contrast to the glum
Buckkeep soldiers with their mourning cropped hair. Not a few
clashes occurred. The grumble from Buckkeep Town took the form of
jests comparing the invasion of the Inlanders with the raids of the
Outislanders. The humor had always a bitter edge.

For the counterpoint to this influx of folk and
business in Buckkeep Town was the outflow of goods from Buckkeep.
Rooms were stripped shamelessly. Tapestries and rugs, furniture and
tools, supplies of all kinds were drained out of the Keep, to be
loaded on barges and taken upriver to Tradeford, always to be kept
safe or for the comfort of the King. Mistress Hasty was at her
wit's end to house so many guests when half the furniture was being
hauled off to barges. Some days it seemed that Regal was attempting
to see that all he could not carry off with him was devoured before
he left.

At the same time he was sparing no expense to be
sure that his crowning as king-in-waiting would be as full of pomp
and ceremony as possible. I truly did not know why he bothered with
it at all. To me, at least, it seemed plain he planned on
abandoning four of the Six Duchies to their own devices. But as the
Fool had once warned me, there was no point to trying to measure
Regal's wheat with my bushels. We had no common standard. Perhaps
to insist the Dukes and nobles of Bearns and Rippon and Shoaks come
to witness him assume Verity's crown was some subtle form of
revenge I could not understand. Little enough did he care what
hardship it worked upon them to come to Buckkeep at a time when
their shores were so beleaguered. I was not surprised that they
were slow to arrive, and that when they did, they were shocked at
the sacking of Buckkeep. Word of Regal's plan to remove himself and
the King and Kettricken had not been spread to the Coastal Duchies
by any means other than rumor.

But long before the Coastal Dukes arrived, while
I still endured the greater general chaos, the rest of my life
began to rattle into pieces. Serene and Justin began to haunt me. I
was aware of them, often physically following me, but just as often
Skilling at the edges of my consciousness. They were like pecking
birds come after any loose thoughts I might have, snatching at
casual daydreams or any unguarded moment of my life. That was bad
enough. But I saw them now as only the distraction, the diversion
created to keep me from being aware of Will's more subtle haunting.
So I set my guards most strongly about my mind, knowing I probably
shielded out Verity as well. I feared this was their actual intent,
but dared reveal that fear to no one. I watched constantly behind
myself, using every sense Nighteyes and I possessed. I vowed I
would be more wary, and set myself the task of discovering what the
other coterie members worked at. Burl was at Tradeford, ostensibly
helping prepare the place for King Shrewd's comfort. I had no idea
where Carrod was, and there was no one I could discreetly ask. The
only thing I could discover for certain was that he was no longer
on the Constance. So I worried. And became almost mad with worry
that I did not detect Will shadowing after me anymore. Did he know
I had become aware of him? Or was he so good I could not detect
him? I began to live my life as if every move I made were
watched.

Horses and breeding stock were not all that was
taken from the stables. Burrich told me one morning that Hands was
gone. He had not had time to bid anyone good-bye. They took the
last of the good stock yesterday. The best is long gone, but these
were good horses, and they were taking them overland to Tradeford.
Hands was simply told he was to go along. He came to me,
protesting, but I told him to go. At least the horses will have
well-trained hands taking care of them in their new home. Besides,
there is nothing for him here. There is no stable left for anyone
to be stablemaster over.

I followed him silently on what had once been
our morning rounds. The mews held only ancient or injured birds.
The clamor of dogs had been reduced to a sparse baying and a few
yips. The horses that remained were the unsound, the almost
promising, the past their prime, the injured that had been kept in
the hopes of breeding something from them. When I came to Sooty's
empty stall, my heart stood still. I could not speak. I leaned on
her manger, my face in my hands. Burrich put a hand on my shoulder.
When I looked up at him, he smiled oddly. He shook his cropped
head. They came for her and Ruddy yesterday. I told them they were
fools, they had taken them last week. And truly they were fools,
for they believed me. They did get your saddle.

Where? I managed to ask.

Better you don't know, Burrich said darkly. One
of us dangling as a horse thief would be quite enough. No more
would he say of it to me.