A howl from the trees sent her stumbling back toward the woman with the sword, killer or no, and Iliana watched the woman finish removing the mud from her horse before moving to the next. “Go sit at the fire if you’re wet.”
Iliana’s jaw ached, but she stood by the woman’s side. “I-I’m fine.”
Shendra paused mid-stroke. “You’re cold. Go warm up.” When Iliana refused, Shendra asked, “What? Why won’t ya go sit by the fire?”
“If that–that Bredych wants me dead, who cares if I’m cold?”
The hug was unexpected, and Iliana flinched at the contact. “No one’s gonna kill ya. I promise. On my life to Anur, I swear,” Shendra whispered.
Iliana touched a grubby finger to the tattoo across Shendra’s jaw. She’d expected it to feel rough somehow, scratchy, but the black circle was smooth to the touch.
“As long as you promise…” she whispered. Iliana peered out into the night made darker by the forest trees and shivered.
PART I
CHAPTER ONE
Aruna, Sadai; 255 Agaen 20th
Murder was a crime against the Thirteen, punishable by death. What I do, I do for the Little Dozen and all its people. Anur’s blessing upon my hand. The invocation wasn’t required before a job, but Adelei felt better having said it and swung first one leg and then the other over the ledge of the windowsill. She stiffened as her feet touched the wood floor. Sweat trickled down her face and neck but left no trail in the dark ebony grease smeared across all visible skin.
Don’t get caught, her master had warned her—not that she ever had—but as she waited in the darkness, she remembered.
Her roommate. Her friend. Sent outside of Sadai to the Kingdom of Alexander. A bitter taste tinged her tongue at the image.
Limbs cut from her friend’s body and tossed across the border, where they had lain rotting in the Sadain Desert sun until a merchant’s guard had found them. He had uncovered the head a mile later and had recognized the tattoo at her stubborn jaw line.
They’d said she’d be safe in Alexander. Adelei squeezed her eyes shut a moment; outside the open window, someone kicked a stray stone. It clattered across the cobble in the darkness, and she leaned against the wall, using the flapping curtains to hide her. Not that the child below could see her in the dark room, and he didn’t look up as he hummed his way across the alley.
I am honored, Luthia, for your blessing of silence. The child rounded the corner, moving out of view. This Amaskan needs all the help she can get tonight.
Amaskan—in the old tongue it meant assassin, though Adelei doubted many knew more than a smattering of the old language. Besides, the term wasn’t exactly accurate. A closed-mouth grin crossed her greased face.
She waited ten heartbeats after the child had passed, alert and ready as she stood one shadow among many. Tonight her orders had come from the King of Sadai himself, though evidence to the fact would never be found since the Order protected its clients. If caught, no one would come to her defense. Or her rescue.
Tonight of all nights, she had to be careful. To be sure. To be safe.
Adelei listened again for signs of an awakening house, and her eyes scanned for a shift in the shadows. A fine layer of dust coated the silk bed sheets, and a heavy iron candelabra hung from the unusually high ceiling.
Rich enough to have smooth wood floors but not wealthy enough to invest in enough servants to clean unneeded rooms until necessary. The knowledge matched what the Order had told her about the Magistrate. With hope, the map was just as accurate.
Adelei pictured the map of the house’s interior. Two rooms to the left and through a sitting room. Across the hallway and through the fourth door on the right. That room would be the library. She’d take the back exit and go down the hall. He would be in the first room on the right.
The hallway outside the door remained silent. Some grease from her pouch applied to the door’s hinges helped prevent any noise as she squeezed it open enough to slither through. In the corridor’s darkness, her black silk clothing clung to her body and hid her lithe frame, but even with the disguise, she trod carefully—each step placed with great care. Adelei counted the doors as she made her way through the house fifty times the size of her room at the Order.
The pig lived there alone, except when he had “visitors.” Her lips curled in a grimace at the thought. It wasn’t his solitude that made him a mark, but his enjoyment of children—particularly young, defenseless children.
Most criminal activity in the Little Dozen Kingdoms of Boahim fell under the jurisdiction of local constables. If necessary, a kingdom’s guards might bring the crime before the King. But a crime against the Thirteen meant the involvement of the Boahim Senate. Not even royalty could escape punishment.
If caught, that was where she’d end up, assuming they had the balls to do it. The hinges of another door bore the hint of rust, and she rubbed more grease across them before testing it. A small squeak echoed through the library, but the only response was from the mouse that scurried across the woven rug near the entrance.
The Order of Amaska had escaped their wrath thus far, though how, Master Bredych wouldn’t say. Her hand touched the wooden door of the library’s exit, and she flinched as another mouse squeaked in protest at her sudden appearance. Such a creature shouldn’t have startled her. Focus on the job. Politics later.
The job is the life. The life is the job. Taumen.
A single candle burned toward the hall’s end, its wick drowning in melted wax, and her footsteps carried her to it. She didn’t have to pinch the candle as the wick dipped under the weight of the flame. Black covered her as she
