Sacred Knight of the Veil (33 page)

The Cotti's eyes narrowed. "Really? And they just let you walk around unattended?"

Blade shrugged. "Why not? They were good enough to offer me water and a map. I was just leaving."

"On foot?"

"No, I have horses tethered around the side."

"Funny, we didn't see any."

Blade smiled. "Well, you didn't see me come in, either. Perhaps you were asleep."

The leader glanced at his men, unable to refute this. He frowned, his eyes raking the assassin. "What are you doing in the desert?"

"Exploring. It's a strange country you have, so hot and dry."

"You don't appear to be dressed for it."

Blade glanced down at his leather clothes. "I have a jelabah, but it's cold at night."

The leader looked unconvinced, and turned to the man beside him. "Go and find Brendal, and you go find his horses."

Two men trotted off, which suited Blade. Now all he had to do was kill the four who remained before they returned. He noticed two of the men moving behind him, and no one had put away their swords. Clearly they did not trust him, and the leader was no fool. His next words confirmed this.

"You're dressed like an assassin, Jashimari, and even if I believed your story, we can't let you go."

"Why not?" Blade feigned innocence, taking a step towards the Cotti. The soldiers' armour cut down his target area to their throats and eyes, reducing his chances of success. Having decreased their numbers from six to four, he had to make his move soon, or he would lose this slight advantage. The Cotti seemed relaxed, confident of their superiority in numbers, which also worked in his favour. He strained to sense the men behind him, but they seemed to be quite far away still, and he moved closer to the leader. The man eyed the daggers Blade held, his expression growing more suspicious.

"Because you're probably a spy," he said. "And I don't believe that Brendal let you go."

"You think I killed him? And five soldiers?"

"They would have been asleep."

"Yes, they were, but I'm not a murderer."

The leader's lip curled. "All Jashimari are murdering swine."

"Really?"

Blade lifted his hands, preparing to throw a dagger at the Cotti's throat. The wolf charged with a snarl, taking him by surprise. It leapt for his arm, its teeth snapping together a hair's breadth from his wrist as he spun away. He slashed at it with the other dagger, opening a gash in its flank, but it lunged for his legs, forcing him to leap aside. Its speed rivalled his, and the soldiers charged him at the same time, compelling him to divide his attention. He threw a dagger at the leader as the man bore down on him, striving to avoid the wolf's snapping teeth at the same time.

The dagger impaled the leader through the throat, sending him crashing to the sand. The wolf had just succeeded in sinking its teeth into Blade's leg, and released him with an anguished howl. The second charging man reached him, and Blade slashed his throat as he spun away to avoid the scything sword aimed at his ribs. The Cotti fell, spouting blood, and a weapon glanced off Blade's chain mail. He swung to face the last two, but they were upon him, and a blow to his head robbed him of his senses.

Chapter Seventeen

Minna looked up as a Cotti soldier appeared in the doorway, the blood draining from her cheeks. The man turned and vanished again, and she knew that Blade was in trouble. She did not know how many men guarded her, but evidently it was more than Blade had expected. As the soldier's footsteps receded down the corridor, she glanced at the sand cat.

"Shista, kill him! Help Blade!"

The cat leapt up and bounded from the room, ten feet of sleek, deadly muscle. Minna had never ordered her familiar to kill a man before, and the prospect that she might be hurt filled her with dread. If Blade was defeated, however, it would be even worse. She rose to her feet, her legs shaking with weakness after tendays of near starvation. The food she had just eaten had not given her any energy yet. Tottering after the sand cat, she clung to the corridor walls as she made her way to the top of the staircase.

Shista had caught the soldier on the steps, and had the man's throat in her jaws, throttling him. He kicked and flailed, beating at her in a futile bid to make her release him. Minna turned away from the sickening sight. She longed to order the cat to let him go, but could not. If she was to help Blade and win her freedom, the soldier must die. When she looked again, the man sprawled on the steps, and Shista had gone.

Minna sidled past the corpse and hurried downstairs as fast as her shaking legs would take her. At the bottom, she found another corridor, and a distant door let in a flood of golden light. Minna walked towards it, forcing her tired legs to carry her when she would rather have sat down and rested. Already a film of sweat sheened her brow, and she gasped.

By the time she reached the door, her legs were almost buckling under her weight. She peered out into the sunlight, squinting against the glare of the golden sand. Two soldiers stood in the middle of the courtyard, and three corpses lay at their feet. At first she thought that Blade had escaped, then she realised that one of the bodies was his. Now that Shista could not help him, she sent a silent command to recall the cat.

Moments later, Shista appeared from behind a wall, trotting towards her like a golden wraith. She was so perfectly camouflaged against the sand that she was almost invisible, at home in her element. Slipping into the doorway, she stood beside the Queen and gazed at the men she had almost attacked. The soldiers bent and turned Blade over to examine him. One pulled a leather thong from his pocket and tied the assassin's hands behind his back. Minna's legs almost gave way with relief as she realised that he was not dead, and hope still remained.

Leaning against the wall, she tried to think, her mind clogged with fatigue. Somewhere in the desert close by, her daughter waited for the assassin to return, and now he would not. Would she come in search of him, or continue to wait? If so, for how long? Minna was too weak to try to find the camp, even if Shista could find and follow Blade's trail. She was loath to give up her freedom, however, so she would hide for as long as possible.

Turning away, she made her way back down the corridor, leaning against the wall. Perhaps she could reach the edge of the desert and wait there, in the hope of meeting Kerra if she came in search of Blade. Kerra would have horses, on which they could make their escape, although the thought of leaving Blade behind did not appeal to her. Trying to free him may result in their capture though, and she had no idea how many soldiers still remained. Minna passed the staircase and tottered on down the passage, searching for another exit. Shista stalked behind her, huffing through her nose.

Blade became aware that he was being dragged along a corridor, his arms and legs bound. His head pounded savagely from the blow that had knocked him senseless, but he forced himself to remain limp. As long as they thought him unconscious, his captors were unlikely to abuse him, and might even be lax in guarding him. The soldiers dragged him up the staircase, and stopped to curse when they found a body there. They continued to the room where the nightshift's corpses lay, swearing vilely as they surveyed his handiwork. Dragging him into the room across the hall, they dumped him.

The one who stood beside him said, "Looks like we're the only ones left, and Bosset."

Presumably Bosset was the man who had been sent to look for Blade's imaginary horses, and had not returned yet.

The other man growled, "Go check on that damned woman."

Silence fell as the first man left, and moments later another man entered, demanding, "What happened?"

"This bastard killed Captain Drair and all the rest. You, me and Vegar are the only ones left."

"There weren't any horses around the side."

"Hardly surprising." Blade sensed someone leaning over him, and a hand tugged his collar open. "He's an assassin, just as Drair thought. Someone must have sent him to free Kerrion's woman."

Vegar came hurrying back into the room. "She's gone."

"She can't have got far. You and Bosset go look for her."

"What about him?" Bosset asked.

"I'll watch him."

"Why don't we just kill him?"

The man who had taken charge paused to consider this. "I'm tempted to, believe me. But we had better send a message to the Prince and let him decide. He might want to question him."

"What for? He's just a bloody assassin."

"Think about it. He's Jashimari, sent to free Kerrion's woman. He's killed eight men without getting a scratch on him, and I was lucky to jump him. I think he may be the one they call the Queen's Blade. If he is, he has the girl with him, the one Prince Endor wants so badly. There aren't enough of us to search the oasis for her, but Trelath will want to speak to this bastard, I'm sure."

After another pause, Bosset asked, "Should I send Crawal to the Prince, then?"

"Yes."

Blade deduced that Bosset was the man of crows, and the one who had taken charge must be the man of kestrels. He was glad that Minna had fled into the oasis, but once Trelath arrived with more men, there would be no hope of escape. If she found Kerra, he wondered whether they would flee to Jadaya and leave him. If they did, Trelath would execute him. Bosset and Vegar left to search for the Queen, and the man of kestrels leant over Blade and slapped his face a few times to try to rouse him. Blade kept his eyes closed, and the man gave up, moving away to stand guard by the door.

Kerra glanced at the sun for the umpteenth time, her worry growing by the time-glass. She had expected Blade to shake her awake at dawn, after his nocturnal reconnoitre, but instead the growing heat as the sun rose had woken her. After feeding the horses, she had settled down to wait, staring at the distant oasis with its trees and shade. The temptation to go there was strong, but if Blade had encountered trouble, she did not wish to stumble into the same trap.

Then again, if he was in trouble, he might need her help. What help could she offer him, though, if a bunch of soldiers had captured him? Getting captured herself would only add to his problems. She glanced at Myasha, who perched atop a saddle, preening. He turned his head to meet her gaze, and read her silent request. Spreading his wings, he took off across the desert, beating the air to gain altitude as he headed for the oasis.

After what seemed like time-glasses, he returned, landing on her wrist to communicate what he had seen. The pictures and sensations exploded in Kerra's mind, forcing her to unravel the jumbled images into some sort of coherent train of thought. A ragged woman crouched behind a wall with a sand cat at her side. Two soldiers walked around, peering into nooks and crannies. Two dead men lay in the sun, and a crow flew away across the desert. He had not seen Blade, so the assassin must be in the keep.

It seemed that he had been captured, or was hiding, and had freed Kerrion's wife, who was also hiding. The two dead men proved that there had been a fight, but it seemed that it had not gone Blade's way this time. The possibility that he was dead made her skin crawl, and she put the thought from her mind. Once more she stared at the oasis, wondering what she should do.

A large part of her insisted that she must help Blade, while a smaller part told her that to put herself in danger was folly, and logic stated that she could not wait here forever. Without Blade, she would fall prey to men in the first town she encountered, if she could find a town. She pondered the woman Myasha had seen. Doubtless she was Kerrion's wife, and the sand cat must be her familiar. Such a large cat could surely kill a man, so why did the stupid woman not let it kill the soldiers who were searching for her?

Annoyed by her indecision, she jumped up and paced around in the sand, racking her brains for an intelligent solution. She had relied on Blade too much for too long, and now that the burden of planning the next move fell on her, she could not decide what to do. Common sense told her that to go to the oasis in broad daylight would invite capture, yet she worried about what was happening to Blade.

If he had been captured, the soldiers might torture him, but her chances of freeing him were slim. If he was dead, it made no difference how long she waited, and the darkness would hide her after nightfall. If Kerrion's wife could stay hidden until then, she might be able to rescue the woman and find out what had happened to Blade. His penchant for doing things at night made sense, and she sank down on the sand beside the little tent, her mind made up. She would wait for darkness, and if Blade had not returned by then, she would go to the oasis and see what she could do.

Blade tested the thong that bound his wrists, finding it tight. The soldiers had not found the daggers in his wrist sheaths, but they were useless while the thong secured his hands. He had lain unmoving for some time now, and parts of his anatomy were growing numb. Opening his eyes a slit, he surveyed what he could see of the room. The soldier stood at the door behind him, and he could only see a window and the rest of the empty room.

If only the soldier would leave him alone for a few minutes, he would be able to get free. He flexed his muscles, restoring some circulation to those parts of his anatomy that had lost sensation. Perhaps the only way to get free would be to enlist the aid of the soldier who guarded him, in which case playing dead no longer served his purpose. With a groan, he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes, twisting his head to look at the soldier by the door. The man straightened and smiled, his eyes brightening with anticipation. He had a typical Cotti face, hawk-like and fierce.

"So I didn't hit you hard enough to brain you. Prince Trelath will be pleased."

Blade squirmed around until he faced the man, raising himself on his elbows. "Cotti dog. You should have killed me while you had the chance. Your beloved Trelath is a traitor to his king, and you're the puppet of a traitor. There's only one thing worse than a traitor, and that's the man stupid enough to work for him."