“What did it look like?” Relam asked.
“Brown liquid, thin,” the assassin said, shrugging.
And pretty much any poison would fit that description, Relam knew. But maybe they could use the origins of the poison deliverer to narrow down the options.
“Thank you,” he said to the assassin. “Enjoy staying here and rotting for the rest of your miserable life.”
“I stay?” the assassin asked, his expression saying that he was quite relieved by this announcement.
“Yes. Keep your life,” Relam said, turning to go.
“Not that it’s worth all that much,” Narin muttered as he released the man, dropping him to the floor.
“And guard stay too?”
Relam turned back. The assassin seemed almost hopeful. Relam shrugged in reply. “Why not? If your memory improves, tell them and we will come with more questions.”
“I’ve told you everything! Everything that any of us knows!”
“Doubt it,” Narin grunted.
“I have!”
Relam shook his head and retreated, closely followed by Narin. “Then you have nothing to fear,” he replied. “You can stay here, untroubled and forgotten.”
“Nothing to fear,” the assassin laughed harshly. “Oh, foolish prince, no idea how wrong you are. I have everything to fear. And I know that I will not be forgotten.”
Relam locked the door to the second cell and moved to the third and final door. As he went to open it though, a sound reached his ears and he paused, listening. Broken sobs were emanating from the space within.
“Do you hear that?” he asked Narin.
“Yes, your highness.”
Relam wondered briefly what could possibly make an assassin break down in such a manner. As he hesitated with his hand on the door, Narin moved him gently to one side and took the keys himself.
“I’ll do it,” he said quietly. “This sounds like a desperate man, and desperate men do strange things when cornered.”
Relam nodded gravely and stood aside. Narin turned the key in the lock, and shoved the third door open.
The first thought Relam had was that they had opened the wrong cell door. The figure cowering in the far corner of the cell looked as though he had been imprisoned for ten years or a hundred, not mere days. His eyes were sunken far back into his skull, his skin waxy and his hair lank. The man’s arms and legs were painfully thin, and Relam could count three ribs through a hole in his stained and filthy shirt.
“We’re not in the right place, are we?” Narin asked, backing up quickly.
“This is the cell,” Relam said quietly.
Narin frowned and knelt in front of the man. “Is it?” He studied the prisoner, then nodded slowly. “Yes, he is one of them. I remember his face. I captured him myself. But . . . he’s only been here a few days.”
“Guards!” Relam called through the open cell door. There was a rush of metal studded boots on the stone floor and the two palace guards assigned to the assassins appeared in the entrance. “Yes, your highness?” the first asked.
“What has been done to this man?” Relam asked angrily, gesturing to the prisoner.
“Nothing,” the guard replied, surprised. “He refuses food and drink, just sits there cowering and crying day and night. Seems convinced that someone will come after him.”
“He has not been tortured or mistreated in any way that you know of?”
The guard shook his head. “No. The only torments he experiences are those in his own head.”
Relam looked back at the assassin in time to see the man flinch and bat at an imaginary threat feebly. “Leave me!” he shrieked. “It’s not my fault!”
“Dismissed,” Relam said to the guards quietly. “Narin and I will handle this.”
“As you wish, your highness.”
Relam moved to kneel in front of the prisoner as well, resisting the urge to gag at the smell emanating from the wretched figure. “It’s all right,” he said quietly. “We are not here to hurt you.”
“You may as well be,” the assassin moaned. “You got him to talk, didn’t you? I heard you through the wall. The moment he finds out we’ll be dead, all of us!”
“The moment who finds out?” Narin asked quietly.
“I dare not speak his name, lest word reach his ears that I have betrayed him,” the assassin said, looking around fearfully. “If that happens, he will come for me. He will punish me for my failure.”
“The man who hired you?” Relam asked curiously.
The assassin nodded. “The others know not his name, but I do. I know that voice anywhere, ever since I first heard it all those years ago. I know my master, and I know that all men should fear him. Me,” he said, looking up at Narin and Relam. “And you.”
“We can protect you if you cooperate with us,” Relam promised. “Tell us who hired you, and we can make you disappear, hide you forever.”
“No good,” the assassin whispered, tears running down his cheeks. “He will find me. He will kill me, if I am lucky. I have failed him.”
“Look,” Narin said patiently. “Just give us a name. We can find this person, whoever he is, and eliminate him before he has a chance to harm you.”
The broken assassin shook his head, still sobbing uncontrollably. “You have no chance,” he whispered. “You have no idea what you are up against.”
Relam leaned in close to the prisoner, shaking off Narin’s cautioning hand. “Does that mean he will try again?” he asked softly.
“He is relentless,” the assassin replied. “Failure for him is unheard of. And failure is punished.” The man flinched again, trying to push himself through the outer wall. “It wasn’t me! He led the attack, I only followed orders! I followed orders, do you hear me? Spare me, I beg of
