Shattered Assassin (3 page)

Crystali, on Kazia’s other side, whispered, “Tell me again why we aren’t taking the coach?” She had grown up in the castle. She’d rarely ridden and was more uncomfortable on a horse than Kazia was.

“The coach is cumbersome and makes an easy target. That is also the reason we have such a small guard. We move quickly and silently,” Luke answered her.

“We sent my uncle’s guard on a different path. Hopefully, if the assassin is still out there, he’ll follow them,” Kazia said, fighting the chill of terror that raced down her spine.

“Oh.” Crystali nodded, although she still didn’t look entirely comfortable with the situation.

“Are you ready, Princess?” Luke asked and she inclined her head.

“Yes, Captain.”

The assassin packed carefully. There was no way of knowing which weapons would be best suited for the job ahead, so she had to pack many. They were heavy and difficult to hide, even wrapped in the dresses, traveling cloaks, soft slippers, and undergarments. The knives were set in the satchel, buried, but not too deeply. They had to be within reach at all times, because knives were the assassin’s weapon of choice should she have to fight.

The rest of her weapons were not for her own protection, but for completing her mission — which did not require hand-to-hand combat. The poison darts she had been given as a gift from a traveling admirer were saved for only the most difficult assignments for three reasons. They were very rare, for one. Two, she could use them from a distance on targets she couldn’t get close to, and three, they made no sound as they sped through the air. She swathed them carefully in muslin before tucking them in the secret folds of her traveling case.

The miniature crossbow was the most difficult to find a place for, but it was her favorite weapon and she refused to leave it. Instead, she tore the hidden pocket in her satchel a bit wider and shoved and rearranged and swore until she finally got it to fit.

She sat back and admired her work, because there was no indication from the outside that her deadliest weapons hid just inside the soft fabric. The blades hidden in the hair sticks were easy enough to conceal; she used them to hold the heavy braids away from her face.

She lifted the satchel, testing its weight, and decided it would do. Sliding it over her shoulder, she set out, revenge the only thing on her mind.

CHAPTER THREE

_T
HEY MET IN THE CASTLE’S COURTYARD
before the break of day, and for that Kazia was grateful. She carried a large umbrella to protect herself from the sun’s rays, but it was bulky and uncomfortable when she had it up. However, without the coach they had no other choice. She couldn’t be in the sun for as long as they would have to travel, even with the hood of her cloak to hide in. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground before her, or the sky, or the looming forest, anything to avoid seeing the burned remains of her home.

Crystali had somehow convinced her that bathing and combing her hair would make her feel better, and so the long blond curls were neatly plaited down her back. The persuasive skills of Kazia’s maid knew no bounds. But under Kazia’s skirts she wore men’s breeches, and refused to ride side-saddle, so perhaps Crystali wasn’t an all-powerful negotiator, after all.

She had two guards on each side, three in front, and three behind. And of course, Nakomi, always within reach. But even with their small numbers, the pace was slower than she would have liked as they passed through the castle courtyard toward the small trail at the back. Luke sent her uncle’s troops out the main entrance. Palace guards raised the much smaller portcullis to allow them to leave, dropping it behind them immediately. “The castle doesn’t look so bad. Are you sure we can’t stay there?” Crystali asked, light green eyes scanning the high castle walls.

“It isn’t so bad, but there is structural damage that could be dangerous until it’s fixed. It shouldn’t take more than a fortnight,” Luke said over his shoulder as he led them around the gates toward the darkness of the trees.

The castle sat high on a hill. The village settled in the valley below the castle on the east, and a deep forest surrounded the other three sides, with only one exit to the west. This path away from the castle was little known to anyone except Nakomi, who roamed the woods at night on occasion. She was the reason the villagers believed monsters hid in the forest’s mists.

It was dark, very dark, because the trees blocked what little moonlight there still was. No one said a word as they traveled. There weren’t really monsters in the forest; despite its darkness it was usually a safe place, but no one knew if the assassin could be hiding, waiting to kill the princess.

As long as Kazia was still alive, she would not be safe. Nakomi kept her nose up, testing the air, as if she knew her master was threatened. Kazia scanned the trees and undergrowth, trying to stay alert, but if they were attacked, everyone knew she would be useless in a fight. All she could do would be to run and trust in her guards.

“It would be helpful if we could stay in the forest throughout the day. The trees will protect you from the sun,” Luke said, turning in his saddle to face her. They had to ride single file now because the trees grew so close together here.

Kazia scanned the thin path ahead — the forest looked like it would go on forever, but she had been through it before and knew they would be out in the open valley before the sun reached midday. “I’ll be fine,” she finally answered, turning her eyes back to him. He studied her for several seconds before nodding and facing forward once again.

The rest of the morning passed in silence. As the sun rose, Kazia had a harder time keeping herself awake. She had always been more alive at night than during the day; for some ridiculous reason her body thought it was as nocturnal as her wolf’s. She found herself nodding off in the saddle several times, snapping awake when Nakomi nipped at her heel.

Rays of sun broke through the thinning trees after several hours of riding. She was already sore and could feel the exhaustion seeping in. She hated her disease and how it weakened her. She hated how fragile she was. But there was nothing to be done, so she focused on keeping herself upright in the saddle.

When Luke fell back to ride beside her, she tensed, knowing what he would ask before he spoke. “Princess, have you remembered anything about the night of the attack? Anything that will help us find the assassin?”

She glanced sideways at him. “No, Captain. I’ve already told you if I remembered something I would inform you right away. I have not.” At his frustrated sigh, she continued, “Perhaps you could learn to speak wolf and ask Nakomi. I’m sure she could tell you what you seek.” She hid a smile as his green eyes widened and his mouth opened once, and then snapped shut while he considered his words.

“I’m only trying to keep you safe, Kazia. If we find the assassin, my job will be done and I can go back to protecting the entire kingdom.”

Kazia felt like she had been slapped. She straightened her back and stared ahead, refusing to let him see the tears that stung her eyes. “I didn’t ask you to accompany me, Captain.”

“That isn’t what I meant and you know it.” She could feel his gaze burning her, but she refused to look at him. After several uncomfortable minutes he clicked at his horse and the big bay surged forward, trotting to the front of their small formation.

“The trees are fewer now and the sun is hot, Princess. Perhaps you should put up your shade now?” Crystalii asked from just behind her.

Kazia glanced up at the sun and retreated into the folds of her cloak. “Soon,” she whispered.

“The valley is, at once, safer and more dangerous than the trees,” Luke said, turning in his saddle to address his guards. “We will be able to see a threat more easily, if there is one, but we are also a more visible target. Stay in formation.” He glanced at his men, who nodded silently. Luke was young to be a captain, in fact, the youngest Captain of the Guard they’d ever had. But his father had been a captain, and his father before him. Luke had been raised for this sole purpose, and nothing had been allowed to stand in his way.

Even me
. The thought hurt. Luke had been her champion. She smiled as she remembered sneaking out of her lessons to watch him practice. They took long walks, she and Brodi and Luke. There were many evenings spent playing cards by the fire. Kazia believed, even before she’d known what marriage was, that Luke would be the man she would marry one day. Before her young heart had known better and before the rules of being a princess had been enforced. Even then, when she was forbidden to see him or risk shaming her family and herself and ruining a chance at a proper marriage, she had stubbornly refused to let him go. It had been Luke himself that had finally sent her away.

She forced the thought away, trying to busy herself watching the landscape. There were too many things she was trying not to think about; too many things she couldn’t deal with yet. Finding a safe topic to occupy her mind was difficult.

They made camp late, long after the sun set, making the most of the time Kazia could travel without her shade. She ached, everywhere, and nearly collapsed as she slid off her horse. Nakomi leaped to her aid, and Kazia leaned gratefully on her big wolf until she gained her feet. “Thank you, dear one,” she whispered.

“Is there a problem?” Luke asked, leading his horse past her.

She shook her head but said nothing. Crystali was soon at her side, offering her arm, and between the three of them they made it to the fire, where Kazia sank gratefully onto her bedroll. “This is highly improper, you realize,” Crystali muttered, indicating the fact that they were sleeping in close proximity to ten men.

Kazia rolled her eyes and Nakomi huffed. “Being proper isn’t high on my list of priorities right now. Staying alive is,” Kazia answered.

Crystali smiled but said nothing. One of the men made stew and the smell made Kazia’s mouth water, even while her body ached so much she wasn’t sure she could eat. The ground wasn’t soft, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to sleep. “This trip might kill me without the assassin’s help,” she murmured, mostly to herself, stroking Nakomi’s thick black fur.

“Did you ever realize that your eyes are the exact same shade of brown as Nakomi’s brown one?” Luke asked, settling next to her on a fat rock.

He was speaking to her — and not, thankfully, about assassins and duty. Kazia tried to calm her racing pulse, smiling as Nakomi turned to look at her with the eye so dark brown it was almost black. She was inexplicably delighted by this. “It’s like we’re soul mates.” Kazia smiled.

“Yes. The exact same.” Luke pointed a spoon at Nakomi’s face and then leaned forward to stir the pot.

“The odd thing is that Luke’s eyes are the exact same shade as Nakomi’s green eye. The three of you must be tied together by fate.” Crystali leaned forward to study them both, but Luke, suddenly uncomfortable, leaped to his feet.

“I’ve got to check the horses.”

“Did I say something wrong? I was merely pointing out—”

“No, Crystali, you didn’t. He’s…” Kazia trailed off, shaking her head. “I’m sure he’s just busy with his many duties,” she finally said, watching him dissolve into the darkness. Crystali hadn’t been with her family when Kazia and Luke were younger. She didn’t know about the… falling out she and Luke had had all those years ago. So of course she wouldn’t know that implying that Luke was tied to her in any way would offend him. A lot.

He hadn’t changed much in the last three years. His shoulders were broader now, and he was taller. But his eyes were still kind. He didn’t go out of his way to be cruel. His dark blond hair was a bit longer than it had been, and it curled at the base of his neck. If she studied him too long, her fingers would itch to wind it around her finger, so she didn’t watch for him to come back.

She longed to be as indifferent to his presence as he was to hers. In that attempt, she ate her stew in silence and curled up on her side, feigning sleep until it finally found her.

But it didn’t last long. Her insomnia kicked in before the moon had made it very high in the sky. She stared at the stars for a long time, trying to find pictures her father used to tell her were there. She’d never had trouble finding them before, but now they were just stars — the pictures were gone with her father.

Unable to lie still any longer, she got up, untangling herself from the blankets. Across the campfire, Benjamin kept watch, but his back was to her. Nakomi was silent beside her, rising to her feet and padding across the grass at Kazia’s heel. They wandered away from the fire, but staying well within the confines of camp. Kazia wished fiercely for her flowers and the comfort of her garden.

She stared at the sky again, desperate to see the pictures. Desperate to see something that would bring her father back to her, just a little. “Where are you?” she didn’t realize she had tears running down her cheeks until they splashed onto her neck. She scrubbed at her eyes with her fists, sucking in deep breaths, welcoming the cold as it invaded her lungs.