Blades of the Old Empire Read online

  She shivered. “Does it still hurt?”

  He smiled. “Only as a memory. I’ll live, thanks.”

  “Kaddim Tolos’s men were the same ones that attacked us back on the road,” she said. “Probably the same as back in the King’s castle, too – except that I didn’t have a chance to take a good look back then.”

  He nodded. “Back on the road, you recognized they weren’t real Holy Knights. I guess now we know for certain you were right.”

  “But why? Why did they try to attack us then? And why are they here?”

  “Something tells me we’ll soon find out.” A strange gleam lit up in his eyes.

  She suddenly became aware of a thought that had been nagging at her for a while. Something that related back to her earlier conversation with Mai. Something Kaddim Tolos had said.

  “Remember when we played the guessing game?” she said slowly. “When you were testing if I could sense the truth?”

  He nodded.

  “You lied to me back then, didn’t you?” she said.

  He shifted in his seat. His eyes became innocent, but there was mischief behind them.

  “About what?” he asked.

  “About killing.”

  He looked at her with sudden interest. “What makes you say that?”

  She swallowed. “I watched you fight. You could’ve killed those men today, but you didn’t. None of them. And, back on the road, you could’ve killed them too, but all you did was cut their saddle straps.”

  “So?”

  She kept his gaze. “Kaddim Tolos was right, wasn’t he? You only kill if it’s part of your assignment.”

  He laughed. “So?”

  “You haven’t really killed two hundred people, have you?”

  He leaned forward, his face becoming serious in a flash. The change was so fast that she drew back in fright.

  “Why do you think that?” he asked.

  She forced herself to stand her ground. “You couldn’t have killed two hundred people. Not with the way you avoid killing, even accidentally.”

  “How do you know?” he insisted. “Maybe before I became the King’s bodyguard I had an assignment to kill two hundred people.”

  She looked into his eyes searchingly. It was possible, of course. In theory. But she just couldn’t believe it. No one could kill two hundred people in cold blood and keep looking so young and innocent. No ruthless killer could have such laughter in his eyes. And yet – how much did she really know about the Diamond Majat?

  “Tell me,” she insisted. “Please. Have you really killed so many?”

  He leaned back against the wall. His gaze wavered.

  “No,” he said.

  She let out a sigh. “How many have you killed?”

  He smiled. “If I told you, you wouldn’t be able to know if I told the truth anyway, would you?”

  “No. But you could just tell me the truth, couldn’t you?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Please,” she begged. “Just this once.”

  He shrugged. “If you must know, four.”

  “Really?” she whispered.

  “Really.” He met her eyes. There was no laughter in them anymore. But it was too late to back down.

  She took a deep breath. “What about everything else you told me that time?”

  He smiled, but his eyes were in shadow. “Which time?”

  “You know which time.” She sensed the blush creep to her cheeks and did her best to ignore it. “The time we– the time you tested my gift. Did you lie about everything else?”

  His smile became wider, mischief gleaming behind the outward innocence. It was clear that he knew exactly what she meant, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her.

  “If I did,” he said, “it wouldn’t be much of a test, would it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it. If you wanted to know if someone could tell true from false, you should tell this person…” He paused, looking at her expectantly.

  Ellah nodded. Of course. What a fool she had been!

  “You should tell at least one lie,” she said. “And at least one truth.”

  She looked at him with wonder, almost fright. It did make sense. To know if one could tell true from false, you should put both true and false into the game. It would be foolish not to.

  And yet, how could he have been so calculating when talking about feelings?

  Mai leaned forward toward her. She didn’t draw back. She waited until his face came so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek.

  “Right,” he said quietly. “At least one thing I told you was the truth.”

  She shivered. She wanted to indulge herself in this wild hope, to believe, if only for a moment, that the truth he had told her back then was about his feelings for her. Since that time, she couldn’t think of anything else. She needed to know. And now, with his face so close and his voice so quiet, it was so easy to think that it was indeed what he meant. But another, sensible part of her mind stirred up, watching her from aside with cool logic. In all likelihood, it said, he’d probably told the truth about his age. Really, no matter how young he looked, he had been the head of the Royal Pentade for the past four years. He should be at least twenty-four. At least.

  And yet–

  At least one thing was the truth, he said. At least one. But no one said anything about only one thing.

  “One?” she asked quietly.

  He smiled and leaned back. “Now, if I told you that, it wouldn’t be a challenge anymore, would it?”

  Ellah sighed. Why did everything in life have to be a challenge?

  She shook her head. “I’m not good enough for this. I have no real power.”

  He laughed again, but there was something behind the laughter that she couldn’t read. “Of course you have power. Just not with me, right?”

  She looked at him helplessly. “Not with you.”

  “And that bothers you?”

  Yes, she wanted to say. It did bother her that she couldn’t tell whether he meant what he had said to her back at the camp. But it was clear that she wasn’t going to find out. Not this time.

  “I don’t belong here,” she said instead. “I shouldn’t have come with Mother Keeper at all. If I was meant to travel, I should’ve gone with Kyth and Alder.”

  He reached forward and touched her arm. His hand was warm, slightly roughened at the fingertips. He slid them down her wrist in a brief caress that made her shiver. Dazed, she raised her eyes to him.

  “There’s no use in thinking what you should’ve done in the past,” he said. “The future is ahead of you. Think of that.” He dropped away his hand and sprang to his feet. “We should go. It’s time. I think you’re about to earn a place in the King’s retinue.”

  Before she could ask him what he meant, Mai swept away. Ellah got up and followed.

  Everyone was gathered in the King’s chambers. As Ellah walked in, Mother Keeper looked her up and down with eyes that seemed to notice everything, including Ellah’s flustered state, and the blush that simply wouldn’t leave her cheeks. The older woman took her time before glancing over to Mai, who had taken his place by the King’s side with the calm ease of a cat reclaiming its rightful spot on the back of the master’s armchair.

  “You need to change,” Mother Keeper told Ellah.

  Ellah raised her eyebrows in surprise. After the fight she had been in, her other outfit needed mending. She had changed into her spare dress when they came back from the lower courtyard. She had nothing else to wear.

  “Don’t you think it would be better if she went the way she is?” Evan asked Mother Keeper. “They’re going to know she’s a girl anyway.”

  “And how would you explain her presence in your suite, Your Majesty?” the older woman asked. “I’d say she should change. She’s tall enough. With her slim build and short hair she could pass as a boy.”

  A boy? Ellah looked at her in disbelief.

&nbs
p; Evan shrugged. “A boy in what capacity, Mother Keeper? Surely not a bodyguard. Not when the Pentade is present. And I wouldn’t be able to tell Daemur that she was my manservant, would I?”

  Manservant? Ellah gaped. Why were they talking about her as if she wasn’t here?

  The Ruby Majat, Brannon, cleared his throat and glanced at Mai for permission to speak. Getting no objection, he said:

  “She could be a weapon carrier. She could carry His Majesty’s sword. It’s not uncommon. We could outfit her, with Your Majesty’s permission.”

  Ellah found her voice. “Where am I going?” she demanded. And, as an afterthought, added: “Your Majesty.”

  Evan’s face softened. “Forgive us. We’ve been impolite discussing you like this. I’m going to meet with Daemur Illitand. Mother Keeper believes your gift may be useful to me during this meeting. If you could stand in my line of sight and show me whether he is lying or telling the truth, our negotiations could go a lot better. If you would, of course.”

  She met his eyes. He looked so much like Kyth it made her feel homesick, her resentment melting away like spring ice. Suddenly she didn’t mind at all.

  “I would be honored to help, Your Majesty,” she said. “And if I must wear a man’s clothes and carry your sword as part of my disguise, I would be glad to.”

  Evan gave her a warm smile. “Thank you.”

  17

  THE NEW ASSIGNMENT

  Sitting at his desk in the corner tower of the inner grounds, the Majat Master Oden Lan watched the slim, elegant figure clad in black approach the tower at a fast walk. A wave of short golden hair bounced against her dark skin in rhythm with the stride, the distinct coloring that marked her Olivian origin. The narrow hilt of her weapon showed from above the shoulder, the double-sworded staff whose elegant, efficient design made it one of the deadliest of weapons in the history of their Guild. Oden Lan knew of only one Diamond’s weapon that could boast the same elegance and uniqueness, but he hadn’t seen that weapon in over four years.

  As she approached, Oden Lan admired her grace and precision that made her stand out even among her fellows in rank. Each Diamond was special, but Kara was more special than all.

  He had overseen her training since she was four, and even at that age her talent had been incredible. At twelve, she had defeated a Jade in a face-on combat with blunt training swords. At fifteen, she had become an artist with her blade, her fame spreading like wildfire through the inner and outer grounds. When she turned eighteen, she had been pitched against a Diamond and after an exhausting melee she got through, leaving a mark on his face with a particularly wicked backhand blow. Soon after, she became the youngest Diamond to get ranked in the history of the Guild.

  She was his prize champion, the proudest of what Oden Lan, the Majat Master for over twenty years, considered his creations. But even more important than her skill was her incredible life force. A passion drove her, filling her entire being with the creative power of her gift. Oden Lan never ceased feeling amazed that such a perfect creature was serving under his command.

  She made no sound as she walked up the stairs. She merely disappeared into the opening of the tower at the bottom to reappear in the Guildmaster’s study a few moments later. Despite the height of the stairway she had to ascend in such a short time, she wasn’t in the least bit out of breath.

  She stopped in the doorway and met Oden Lan’s gaze. “Shelah, Aghat.”

  “Shelah.”

  She approached his desk and placed her token in front of him. The diamond set into the center of the throwing star glittered, and her name rune carved into the ornaments around the gem echoed with a suffused light.

  Oden Lan nodded and picked up the token, tracing his long fingers against the name rune. Each of these runes spelled a secret nickname, one given to every Majat at the time of their ranking, so that no two Majat tokens would look alike. Kara’s rune meant “black”, a word which in the old Ridges’ dialect sounded similar to her name.

  “You did very well on your first assignment, Aghat,” he said. “I am very proud of you.”

  She bowed her head in acknowledgment, but kept her silence.

  Oden Lan would have hesitated to say a thing like this to any other Diamond. But Kara was different. If the Guildmaster had been allowed to have personal bonds, he would have loved her, almost like a daughter.

  “Now,” the Guildmaster said, “I’m sending you on a new assignment.”

  She looked at him with question, but still didn’t speak.

  “Your new assignment will be relatively easy,” Oden Lan went on. “You will escort a group of travelers from here to the Bengaw Crest and ensure their safety on the way. There will be no complications and no true challenges you’ll have to face. Your new employer paid enough for a promise that no other Majat will be dispatched to conflict with your assignment. I gave him my word.”

  She kept his gaze. There was a strange gleam in her eyes.

  “From here?” she asked.

  “Yes. Your employer arrived in the fortress a few hours before you and waited for you to come back.”

  “Waited for me?”

  The Majat Master shifted in his seat. “He hired you by name. And paid the price for it in full. Three times the cost of a Diamond.”

  To his surprise he saw alarm in her eyes.

  “Who is he?” she asked slowly.

  Oden Lan reached for the bell on his desk and rang. A guard noiselessly appeared in the doorway. Oden Lan nodded to him and turned back to Kara.

  “Your new employer insisted that I brief you on the details of your mission in his presence. He wanted to make sure there would be no mistakes.”

  Light steps echoed up the stairs and a man appeared in the doorway. Oden Lan gestured toward him. “Allow me to introduce Master Nimos.”

  Kara’s eyes widened. Her cheeks flushed and went pale, making her dark skin seem ghostly gray. She watched with an entranced expression as Nimos approached and stopped in front of her.

  They stood for a moment, eyeing each other in silence.

  “Glad to see you again, Aghat,” Nimos said.

  She continued to stare at him.

  “What the hell is going on?” Oden Lan demanded. “Do you two know each other?”

  Nimos’s thin lips twitched into a crooked smile. “Aghat Kara and I met on the way here. I can see I left an impression.” He smirked, his eyes resting on Kara with such lust that even the Guildmaster felt uneasy. “I told you, Aghat Kara, one day we would be traveling together. Aren’t you glad the day has come so soon?”

  Kara looked past Nimos and met Oden Lan’s gaze.

  “What will be my assignment?” she asked.

  Oden Lan leaned back in his chair. The way Nimos was eyeing Kara, practically eating her up with his eyes, made the Majat Master wonder if this man really understood what the services of a Diamond consisted of, and what wasn’t included. He knew Kara was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but to see this going on in front of his eyes was unsettling.

  “Perhaps it would be best if we all sit down and discuss the details?” he suggested.

  “Of course.” Nimos approached the table and lowered himself into a chair. Kara remained standing. Oden Lan waited for her to come over, but she didn’t move.

  “Master Nimos,” the Majat Master said after a pause, “wants your help to escort two youngsters, Kythar and Alder, to a secret stronghold in the Bengaw Crest. You know who I’m talking about, of course. You accompanied them here.”

  He glanced at her but she didn’t respond.

  “There’s a possibility,” Oden Lan went on, “that they wouldn’t go willingly, but that won’t be your concern. Master Nimos has his own men to take care of that. To assist with the operation, I have placed the youngsters in the guest barracks next to Master Nimos’s men. These men will handle the capture and the upkeep of the prisoner. Your job, Aghat, will be to ensure that they reach their destination safely and without delay. Since I
gave my word not to dispatch any Majat on a conflicting mission, the trip should be easy and fast.”

  Kara stiffened. “One of these young men is the King’s only son, crown prince and heir to the throne.”

  “I know that.” Oden Lan’s voice became stern. “And I assure you, Master Nimos has paid enough to cover the boy’s high station. You do remember, Aghat, that the Majat Guild doesn’t participate in politics and doesn’t take sides.”

  “Prince Kythar is under the protection of the Guild,” Kara said. “He came here to seek our help. We can’t capture him on our own grounds.”

  The Majat Master smiled. “We can’t. But we’re not obliged to interfere if Master Nimos’s men capture him.”

  “But His Highness is here to hire a Diamond.”

  Oden Lan spread his hands. “Master Nimos was here first. And the agreement we made with him makes it impossible. If the young man tried to hire a Diamond now, it would certainly qualify as a conflicting mission.”

  She continued to stand still, tense like a coiled spring.

  A triumphant smile flickered on Nimos’s lips. “We wish to leave tomorrow at dawn, Aghat Kara. Shall we, say, meet you at five in the morning by the East Gate?”

  She didn’t respond, looking past him to the window outside. Oden Lan wasn’t sure she even heard these words.

  “She’ll be there,” the Guildmaster assured. “Here’s her token.” He handed Nimos the glittering throwing star. “You may go and make your preparations, Master Nimos,” he went on. “And please don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything.”

  The slight man got up from his seat and strode to the door, brushing past Kara on the way. She shuddered at the contact, but didn’t step aside or otherwise acknowledge his presence. She didn’t move even after the door closed behind Nimos. She stood so still that Oden Lan began to wonder if she was all right.