Assassin 3 - Royal Assassin (97 page)

Severely injured in a boar-hunting accident,
Burrich acquired a limp he was to suffer the rest of his life. It
seems to have mitigated the quick and savage temper that was his
reputation as a young man. However, it is also true he remained a
man that few willingly crossed to the end of his days.

His herbal remedy was responsible for halting
the outbreak of scallers that afflicted the lambs in Bearns Duchy
following the Blood Plague years. He saved the flocks from total
decimation, as well as kept the disease from spreading into Buck
Duchy.

A clear night under shining stars. A sound
healthy body, surging down a snowy hillside in a series of
exuberant leaps. Our passage left snow cascading from bushes in our
wake. We had killed, we had eaten. All hungers were satisfied. The
night was fresh and open, cracking cold. No cage held us, no men
beat us. Together, we knew the fullness of our freedom. We went to
where the spring welled up so strongly it almost never froze, and
lapped the icy water. Nighteyes shook ourselves all over, then took
a deep snuff of the air.

Morning comes.

I know. I do not wish to think of it. Morning,
when dreams must end and reality be endured.

You must come with me.

Nighteyes, I am already with you.

No. You must come with me, all the way. You must
let go.

So he had told me, at least twenty times
already. I could not mistake the urgency of his thoughts. His
insistence was plain, and his single-mindedness amazed me. It was
not like Nighteyes to cling so firmly to an idea that had nothing
to do with food. This was a thing he and Burrich had decided. I
must go with him.

I could not fathom what he wanted me to
do.

Over and over, I had explained to him that I was
trapped, my body in a cage, just as he had once been trapped in a
cage. My mind could go with him, for a time at least, but I could
not go with him as he urged me to. Each time he told me that he
understood that, but I was not understanding him. And now we were
back to it again.

I sensed him attempting patience. You must come
with me, now. All the way. Before they come to wake you.

I cannot. My body is locked in a
cage.

Leave it! he said savagely. Let go!

What?

Leave it, let go of it, come with me.

You mean, die? Eat the poison?

Only if you have to. But do it now, quickly,
before they can hurt you more. Leave it and come with me. Let go of
it. You did it once before. Remember?

The effort of making sense of his words was
making me aware of our bond. The pain of my own racked body broke
through to haunt me. Somewhere I was stiff with the cold, and
aching with pain. Somewhere, every breath brought an answering
twinge from my ribs. I scrabbled away from that, back to the wolf's
strong sound body.

That's right, that's right. Just leave it. Now.
Let go of it. Just let go.

I knew abruptly what he wanted me to do. I did
not know quite how to do it, and I was not sure that I could. Once,
yes, I remembered that I had let go of my body and left it in his
care. Only to awaken hours later beside Molly. But I was not sure
how I had done it. And it had been different. I had left the wolf
to guard me, when I had gone wherever I had gone. This time he
wanted me to just break my consciousness free from my body. To
willingly let go the tie that bound mind to flesh. Even if I could
discover how to do it, I did not know if I had the will to do
it.

Just lie down and die, Burrich had told
me.

Yes. That's right. Die if you must, but come
with me.

I made an abrupt decision. Trust. Trust Burrich,
trust the wolf. What did I have to lose?

I drew a deep breath, poised inside myself as
for a dive into cold water.

No. No, just let go.

I am. I am. I groped about inside myself,
looking for whatever bound me to my body. I slowed my breathing, I
willed my heart to beat more slowly. I refused the sensations of
pain, of cold, of stiffness. I sank away from all of it, deep into
myself.

No! No! Nighteyes howled in desperation. To me!
Come to me, let go of that, come to me!

But there was the scuff of footsteps, and the
mutter of voices. A shudder of fear went through me, and despite
myself, I cowered deeper into Brawndy's cloak. One eye would open a
bit. It showed me the same dimly lit cell, the same tiny barred
window. There was a deep cold pain inside me, something more
insidious than hunger. They had broken no bones, but inside me,
something was torn. I knew it.

You are back in the cage! Nighteyes cried. Leave
it! Leave your body and come to me!

It's too late, I whispered. Run away, run away.
Don't share this.

Are we not pack? Desperation as throbbing as a
wolf's drawn-out howl.

They were at my door, it was swinging open. Fear
seized me in its jaws and shook me. Almost I lifted my cuff to my
mouth and chewed the pellet from my sleeve right then. Instead, I
gripped the tiny paper packet in my fist and made a determined
resolution to forget about it.

The same man with the torch, the same two
guards. The same command. You. On your feet.

I pushed Brawndy's cloak aside. One of the
guards was still human enough to pale at what he saw. The other two
were stolid. And when I could not move swiftly enough to suit them,
one seized me by the arm and jerked me to my feet. I cried out
wordlessly with pain; I could not help it. And that response set me
to trembling with fear. If I could not keep from crying out, how
could I hold my defenses against Will?

They took me from my cell and down the hall. I
do not say I walked. All my bruises had stiffened in the night. The
beating had reopened the sword cuts on my right forearm and on my
thigh. Those pains, too, had been renewed. Pain was like air now; I
moved through it, I breathed it in and out of myself. In the center
of the guardroom, one shoved me and I fell. I lay on the floor on
my side. I saw no point to struggling to sit up; I had no dignity
to save. Better that they thought I could not stand. While I could,
I would be still and marshall whatever strength I could still call
my own. Slowly, laboriously, I cleared myself and began to set the
guards on my mind. Over and over, through the pain haze, I went
over the Skill walls I had erected, strengthening them, sealing
myself away behind them. The walls of my mind were what I must
guard, not the flesh of my body. Around me in the room, men lined
the walls. They shuffled, and spoke quietly among themselves,
waiting. I scarcely noticed them. My world was my walls and my
pain.

There was the creak and draft of an opened door.
Regal came in. Will walked behind him, carelessly radiating Skill
strength. I was aware of him as I had never before been aware of a
man. Even without sight, I could sense him, the shape of him, the
heat of the Skill that burned inside him. He was dangerous. Regal
supposed he was only a tool. I dared a tiny satisfaction in knowing
Regal did not know the perils of such a tool as Will.

Regal took his chair. Someone brought a small
table for him. I heard a bottle opened, then smelled wine as it was
poured. The pain had tuned my senses to an unbearable keenness. I
listened to Regal drink. I refused to acknowledge how much I longed
for it.

Dear me. Look at him. Do you suppose we have
gone too far, Will? Something in the arch amusement in Regal's
voice informed me that he had taken more than wine today. Smoke,
perhaps? So early? The wolf had said dawn. Regal would never be up
at dawn ... something was wrong with my time sense.

Will walked slowly toward me, stood over me. I
did not try to move to see his face. I gripped my tiny store of
strength firmly. He nudged me sharply with his foot and I gasped
despite myself. At almost the same instant he slammed his Skill
strength against me. There, at least, I held firm. Will took a
short breath through his nose, snorted it out. He walked back to
Regal.

Your Majesty. You've done almost as much as you
can to his body, without risking damage that would plainly show
even a month hence. But within, he still resists. Pain can distract
him from warding his mind, but it does not inherently weaken his
Skill strength. I do not think you will break him this
way.

I did not ask you that, Will! Regal rebuked him
sharply. I listened to him shift himself to a more comfortable
position. Ah, this takes too long. My dukes grow impatient. He must
be broken today. Almost pensively, he asked Will, Almost as much as
I can, you say, to his body? What then would you suggest as the
next step?

Leave him alone with me. I can get what you wish
from him.

No. Regal's refusal was flat. I know what you
Want from him, Will. You see him as a fat wineskin, full of Skill
strength, which you would like to drain. Well, perhaps, at the end,
there will be a way for you to have him. But not just yet. I want
him to stand before the Dukes and confess himself a traitor. More,
I want him to grovel before the throne and beg for mercy. I will
have him denounce all those who have defied me. He, himself, shall
accuse them. No one will doubt it when he says they are traitors.
Let Duke Brawndy see his own daughter accused, let all the court
hear that the Lady Patience who cries so loudly for justice has
herself betrayed the crown. And for him ... that candle maker girl,
that Molly.

My heart lurched sideways inside me.

I have not yet found her, my lord, Will
ventured.

Silence! Regal thundered. Almost, he sounded
like King Shrewd. Do not hearten him with that. She need not be
found to be declared a traitor by his own lips. We can find her at
our leisure. He can go to his death, knowing she will follow him,
betrayed by his words. I will cleanse Buckkeep from dung heap to
tower top of all who have sought to betray me and defy me! He
lifted his cup in a toast to himself and drank deeply.

He sounded, I thought to myself, very like Queen
Desire had in her cups. One part braggart to one part sniveling
coward. He would fear everyone he did not control. And the next day
he would fear those he controlled even more.

Regal set his wine cup down with a thud. He
leaned back in his chair. Well. Let's continue, shall we? Kelfry,
stand him up for us.

Kelfry was a competent man who took no joy in
his work. He was not gentle, but neither was he rougher than he
needed to be. He stood behind me, gripping me by the upper arms to
keep me upright. Hod had not trained him. I knew if I snapped my
head back swiftly, I could break his nose and possibly take out
some of his front teeth. Snapping my head back swiftly struck me as
only slightly simpler than picking up the floor under my own feet
would be. I stood, hands curled defensively over my belly, pushing
the pain aside, gathering my strength. After a moment I lifted my
head and regarded Regal.

I ran my tongue about the inside of my mouth to
free my lips from my teeth, then spoke. You killed your own
father.

Regal stiffened in his chair. The man holding me
tensed. I leaned in his arms, forcing him to support my
weight.

Serene and Justin did it, but you ordered it, I
said quietly. Regal came to his feet.

But not before we had Skilled to Verity. I made
my voice louder. The effort broke sweat on me. Verity's alive, and
he knows everything. Regal was coming at me, with Will right behind
him. I swung my gaze to Will, put threat in my voice. He knows
about you, too, Will. He knows it all.

The guard held me as Regal backhanded me. Once.
Another slap, and I felt the swollen skin of my face split under
the impact. Regal drew his fist back. I set myself to take it,
pushed away all pain, centered myself, got ready.

Look out! Will yelled, and sprang to knock Regal
aside.

I had wanted it too badly, he had Skilled what I
intended to do. As Regal swung I jerked free of my guard, slipped
aside from Regal's blow, then stepped in. With one hand I seized
the back of Regal's neck, to pull his face toward my other hand
that gripped the now crushed paper of powder. My intent had been to
rub it into his nose and mouth, to hope against hope he'd get
enough of it to kill him.

Will spoiled it all. My swollen fingers would
not close on Regal's neck. Will snatched Regal from my wooden
grasp, swung him sideways away from me. As Will's shoulder collided
with my chest I reached for his face instead, ground the torn paper
and fine white powder into his nose and mouth and eyes. Most of it
floated up in a fine cloud between us. I saw him gasp at the
bitterness and then we were down, both of us, under a wave of
Regal's guards.

I dove for unconsciousness, but it eluded me. I
was struck, kicked, and throttled before Regal's frenzied cries of
Don't kill him! Don't kill him! seemed to matter to anyone save me.
I felt them get off me, felt them drag Will from under me, but I
could not see. Blood was sheeting down over my face. My tears
mingled with it. My last chance, and I had failed. I had not even
gotten Will: Oh, he would be sick for a few days, but I doubted he
would die of it. Even now I heard them muttering over
him.