“Perhaps,” Grast said, clearly nervous, “a few bottles of the finest wine in the bishopric could persuade you, sir, to—”
“Trying to bribe an officer of the Cathedral Guard, are you, you stinking pile of dog vomit!” roared the guard. “Do you know what the sentence for this crime is?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell—”
“Grab this cocksucker. Let’s teach him a lesson!”
I had to strike fast enough to prevent them from raising the alarm. Speed and accuracy were of the essence here, as was using both my hands simultaneously. I gripped Grave Oath between my teeth and held a throwing star loosely in each of my hands. I could see one of the guards, but I had no idea where the other was. I’d have to locate him, aim, and throw both stars in the space of a mere second.
“Say goodbye to your ears, nose, and an eyeball of your choosing, old man,” snarled one guard as he stepped closer to the wagon.
It was time to do this.
“When I throw them your way,” I whispered to Elyse and Rami, “pull them into the back of the wagon as fast as you can, got it?”
They nodded, their weapons at the ready and their eyes bright with anticipation. I ripped open the canvas and jumped out of the back. The instant I landed on the ground, I performed a rapid visual sweep of my surroundings. Luckily, these two guards were the only ones nearby, and they were so surprised to see me, they simply stared at me with their mouths hanging open.
That moment was all I needed. With two simultaneous flicks of my wrists, I flung the throwing stars at each guard. The projectiles whizzed through the air with deadly accuracy, striking each man in his throat. The sharp black steel bit deep into their flesh, and the necrotic magic began its destructive work immediately. The guards dropped their swords and clutched frantically at their rapidly rotting throats, stumbling and gasping as they choked on their own blackening blood before their souls shot into my dagger.
I charged over to the nearest guard, heaved him up onto my shoulders, and tossed him onto the back seat. Elyse and Rami dragged the struggling man in while I dashed over to the other guard and did the same again. Only this time, I scrambled in with him and hurriedly tugged the canvas screen back into place. Elyse and Rami had each pinned a guard down, and I wasted no time in putting an end to each man’s life. I stabbed Grave Oath through the first thug’s eye, directly into his brain, killing him instantly and sucking out his soul. The next asshole got my enchanted steel through his ear and suffered the same fate.
We immediately pulled the Cathedral Guard tabards off the corpses. I put one on before I climbed out of the back and handed the other to Grast.
“Wear this, my friend,” I said. “For the next few minutes, you and I are going to be Cathedral Guards. The dark should cover us. Hopefully, the other guards don’t look too closely at our faces.”
Grast nodded and squeezed his chubby frame into the tabard. I hopped off the wagon and used the guard’s key to open the huge oaken doors. The other guards, stationed a few dozen yards away, didn’t seem to have noticed anything. Soon enough, Grast got the wagon inside, and I closed the massive doors, locked them, and broke off the key inside the lock. Nobody was going to be getting in—or out— any time soon.
Chapter Twelve
We rolled on down the track leading to the cathedral. The grounds, with their beautifully kept gardens, were dark and silent but for a few pockets of guards carrying burning torches. Since we were dressed in Cathedral Guard tabards, no one paid any attention to us, and we didn’t get close enough for them to get a good look at our faces.
“So far, so good,” I whispered to Grast as I walked alongside the wagon, as if I was escorting him. “We just need to get to the cellar, then, your job is done. Thanks for helping us get this far.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Lord Chauzec, but my nerves are bloody shot after that last encounter. I thought those bastards were going to carve my face up like a bloody pumpkin for sure. I need a good shot of Yorish brandy after that, I do.”
He took a liberal swig from his wineskin and offered it to me, but I refused. I needed my wits about me for the coming fight.
We eventually got the wagon to the rear of the cathedral, where a large ramp led down to the cellar. There were a couple of guards stationed there, but they didn’t look too closely at us, and Grast and I kept our faces turned away from them where we could.
“Where’d that wagon come from?” yelled one guard from a few dozen yards away. “And what’s in the load?”
“Just arrived from one of the vineyards!” I shouted back. “The best fucking wine in the bishopric is what’s in it. And you know how much His Holiness loves his sacred grape juice, eh?”
The guard chuckled, completely unaware that he was conversing with an enemy. “Aye, that old bastard drinks it like water, he does. I’ll get some slaves to help unload it. Looks like there must be a hundred bloody barrels in that thing.”
“Don’t worry about it!” I yelled back. “We’ve got some slaves with us. They’re in there with the load. Just go open the cellar door for us if you could, and we’ll back this thing up and start unloading.”
The guard trudged down the ramp and unlocked the doors at the bottom, while
