Sworn To Transfer

“If by ‘all wrong’ you mean making enemies, pushing away allies, and generally making a nuisance of yourself, then I’d say yes.”

Ciardis grimaced. “I did what I had to do to save Sebastian’s life.”

“And endangered your own. Did you think that you were the only one who cared?”

“I was the only one who did anything when his powers were failing,” countered Ciardis.

“We were working on that behind the scenes. You managed to turn a two-year investigation into the loss of the Prince’s powers on its head in less than a week.”

“I solved it in less than a week.”

Stephanie put an impatient hand on her hip and glared.

“Who’s ‘we,’ by the way?” asked Ciardis innocently.

The look Stephanie returned said she wasn’t fooled. “That’s not important right now.”

“Really? I think it is.”

“You know what is important?”

Ciardis stood. She was tired of being talked down to.

“Getting some straight answers out of you.”

“No, getting this body out of here before someone sees him.”

They both looked down at the dead man lying on the floor. Ciardis couldn’t say she disagreed. A dead man would be one more thing she would have to answer for and with the way things were going she didn’t have much faith in the Companions’ Guild backing her against charges of murder from a Duke. All of this made her wonder why Stephanie was here though...surely the Guild hadn’t sent her?

Stephanie sighed, “Look we don’t have much time and I can’t explain to the council that I’m here so we have to get rid of the body.”

An hour later, they had him wrapped in a blanket and were busy hauling him through a tunnel that existed behind a secret door in Ciardis’s room. The man was big, and carrying him was putting a strain on both women.

“Some stairs are coming up,” said Stephanie as they wedged around a corner.

Ciardis gritted her teeth as she lifted his feet while Stephanie angled his upper body, taking most of the weight, as they went up the stairs. Luckily it was just a few steps, and then they were in a different tunnel.

“About five feet to the right there’s a hole,” Stephanie said.

“A hole large enough to drop a body?” Ciardis questioned.

“It’s the trash chute that goes direct to the underground sewer, so yes.”

As they knelt down and awkwardly shifted the body around to drop him in head first, Ciardis had to wonder what her life had come to. From laundress to Companions’ Guild trainee to accomplice in a murder who couldn’t talk about the murder in case the assassin’s master wanted to take another shot at her. Meanwhile, Stephanie searched the dead man’s vest. She was methodical, looking for anything that would link him to the duke. In his inner pocket she found just what she needed: a bronze crow pin. The duke’s symbol, and worth its weight in gold.

“I have what I need to prove the duke ordered the man to kill you,” Stephanie said.

“Why would he be carrying that?” said Ciardis.

“I suspect because he never thought you’d catch him.”

“And the Duke? Once his man fails to return he’ll find a way to pin this on me or send another assassin.”  Bitterly Ciardis spoke, “I’m not sure which would be preferable. Accussations of murder or another attempt.”

“With this pin I can make sure the Duke knows that we know about him. He won’t try again,” Stephanie said cryptically.

“Fair enough, as long as I’m not indicted for this crime.”

Stephanie nodded. She didn’t want to be accused of a crime, either.

Together they pushed the man over the side.

As they walked back in silence through the tunnels, Ciardis thought of the past. For a long time the only life she had known was the vale—the day-to-day drudgery of being a laundress and the hope of marrying well. She almost felt as if she’d left that life too soon. She had come into the courts eager to succeed, eager to show that she belonged. Now she was dumping bodies in holes, ducking arrows and breaking up assassination plots. In many ways she was worse than those at the courts she had initially sought to emulate.

“Wake up, airhead,” said Stephanie, “We’re back.”

And so they were. Opening the door into Ciardis’s room, they walked in to silence. The room looked normal except for the glaive and crossbow resting on the bed. And the pool of blood on the marble floor.

“We need to clean up the blood,” said Stephanie, looking around for cloth.

Ciardis was already on her way to the bathroom. “I’ve got it.”  She returned with a bucket filled with lemon water and sanitizer as well as some rags. Stooping down, she started wiping to get every drop of red.

*****

Sitting down on the bed, Stephanie watched as the young woman bent over the floor. Ciardis wasn’t saying a word. Stephanie was wondering if she was in shock or perhaps planning. Either way, she hoped the pretty hair and the soft nightgown hid a young woman who could do more than speak and dance well.

The Shadow Council needed people who could do more, people with talents, people with the strength to make a difference, and those willing to sacrifice for the common good. Ciardis had shown that she had two of those three qualities. But her performance needed a lot more polishing.

“Where have you been?” said Ciardis, not looking up. The blood had already turned the bucket water red, though there were still spots to clean up.  She didn’t see Stephanie watching her as she finished cleaning off the crossbolt that Stephanie had removed from the dead man’s chest with a handkerchief from Ciardis’s nightstand.

“Away,” the woman said. “Training.”

“With whom?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“And you evade all of my answers,” said Ciardis pointedly.

She put the clean crossbolt back into the bow and primed it to fire. “Not unintentionally.”

Ciardis dropped the last rag in the bucket and raised an irritated eyebrow.“Look, you come in here criticizing the way I handle things—”

“And saved your life.”

“And want me to do things your way,” Ciardis continued without pause. “But you won’t tell me what the way is or how you knew about the duke’s man.”

Standing up, Stephanie tossed her an irritated look. “The duke’s man was obvious—the Duke of Cinnis hasn’t been subtle in his loathing of you ever since you revealed that he cheated on his wife.”

“Why does everyone focus on that?” Ciardis said, her temper rising, “He was trying to assassinate Sebastian, but does anyone mention that? No! It’s always, ‘Oh, that evil Ciardis, she exposed him in bed with another woman.’”

Stephanie snorted. “You’ve got a lot to learn. Scandal always trumps murder. The only thing better is if it’s a scandalous murder.”

Heading over to the door, Stephanie said, “Let’s go; I’ve got something to show you.”

Biting her tongue, Ciardis put away the cleaning supplies, changed her clothes, and put the glaive back in its corner. On her way past the nightstand, she grabbed a small dagger and a wrist sheath to hold it. With one last look at her bedroom, she followed Stephanie out. They left the palace through a side entrance and went across the bridge to the nobility’s quarters.

It was the quarter that Stephanie had moved to after being inducted as a full Companion and receiving a Patron. As they walked through the tree-lined streets, Ciardis expected them to go into one of the beautiful mansions. But as they ducked in and out of side rows, cut across lawns, and finally ended up in the artisan’s district, she had more concerns about where they were going than why.

“Where are you taking—”

Stephanie held up a silencing hand. She ducked behind another building into an alley filthier than the last. Ciardis had no choice but to follow. Not if she wanted answers. As they raced up the back stairs of a derelict building Ciardis caught glimpses of soldiers spreading out through a crowd in the market square. A man was giving