“The Order requires you to complete this job.”
“Is there even a job to take? Is the Princess under attack, or is that a guise to force your hand? Did you even think of that, Father?”
His sigh was one of reflex, an action so engrained in her memories she could picture it without trying: the slump of his shoulders, one of which bore a spider-webbed scar from an arrow; the way he closed his eyes right before the exhale; and the slight tick near his mouth as he prepared his argument. His fingers held too tight to his reins until she apologized. “As far as we know, there have been attempts on her life. Possibly by Tribor. Before you ask, yes, we investigated it. And at high cost, too.”
The rolling hills gave way to rockier terrain as they approached the coastline. The Harren Sea stretched out before them, a hazy blue-gray with white tipped peaks scattered here and there. Instead of turning with the trail, Adelei pulled the mare to a stop to watch the smaller waves break across the rocks up ahead. How could she leave this? The spray filled the air with the smell of salt and seaweed.
“Every time I look across this ocean, I think of you, Father. When I first came here, I was so young. My mind was confused, like the waves. I thought the ocean was ugly. Grey and gloomy. Depressing.” Adelei dismounted and gave the mare lead enough to munch on the tall grass nearby. When he stepped up beside her, she lifted a hand to his face and stared into his blue-grey eyes. “I’ve grown to love the grey.”
Tears welled up and threatened to spill over his wrinkled lids. “I have no choice, Adelei. If I could undo this, I would.”
“This is my home. My family. I’d be leaving this forever.” She’d be leaving him forever. A lump rose in her throat then, and she inhaled deeply of the sea air to cover it.
“You’re the best Amaskan I’ve ever trained, daughter, and I need you to be the best. Return home to your birth father. Protect the Princess from these assassination attempts. Find out what beast swims within the murk.”
“I wouldn’t be who I am without you.” He dabbed at the corner of his eyes, which she ignored. Adelei tossed a stone into the ocean where it sank beneath the waves. “How did King Leon find out our location?”
Bredych lowered his frame to the ground, his knees popping as he crossed his legs. “I don’t know.”
His fingers traced patterns in the ground. He was lying. He always doodled when he was hiding something. “Father, the Boahim Senate has come after the Amaskans before. What’s changed? Let them come.”
“I’m too old to start a war against the Senate. We kill because Anur says we must, for Justice—not even the Senate can change that—but if we compromise the location of the Order, we put at risk not just Amaskans, but anyone who has ever hired us, anyone who has ever cried out for our help. Even the Gods themselves may not be safe.”
The air cast a chill about Adelei, and she pulled her black cloak tighter about her shoulders. How can Gods not be safe? Something about the way his jaw pulsed kept her from asking, though she itched to do so. She gazed at the ocean and waited. Maybe time would loosen his tongue if words would not.
The tide rolled in while their horses grazed until the sun’s passage and their growling stomachs reminded them that life continued. As they gathered up their mounts, Bredych said, “You wanted to know how you’re going to get into the Kingdom of Alexander.”
“Yes.”
She saw the knife too late, its metal glinting in the setting sun. By then his hand had already moved between the distance, and the blade peeled across her jaw. Adelei didn’t shout, didn’t scream though she ground her teeth and clenched her fingers into fists. Grand Master Bredych held the knife before him, a piece of her skin dangling from it. Blood ran down her jaw to land, hidden on her cloak.
Her tattoo was gone.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Order of Sadai
“You can’t enter Alexander as an Amaskan.”
Adelei held the absorbent cloth to her jaw and glared at her master. The astringent stung as she huddled near the ledge, but that wasn’t what brought tears to her eyes. Damn him. How dare he? She closed her eyes and breathed deep of the ocean air. The trickle of blood slowed and she tossed the rag to land a few inches from his feet, where he stared at it.
“Adelei?”
When she didn’t answer, he strode toward her. Adelei wiped sweaty hands across her breeches and held one palm up. “Don’t. Don’t come near me.”
“I had no choice,” he whispered. One of the horses pawed at the ground and nickered. “If you aren’t Amaskan, you can pass easily into the kingdom and do the job required of you.”
“The job?” She sprang to her toes and closed the distance between them. “Is that all you care about? The job? What about me? If I’m not Amaskan, what am I?”
Bredych placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Adelei blinked back the tears, and her father wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Even with the tattoo gone, you are still Amaskan. No one can take that from you. The Order is a way of life—you know that—and even if you leave here, you take a piece of it, of me, with you.”
He misjudged her tears. He would, selfish bastard. “They’ve struck me from the histories, haven’t they?”
Her father nodded. “The truth has to stand up to scrutiny. If any spies look, it has to appear that you are not Amaskan.”
Adelei pulled
