The Guild of Assassins

Prince Kythar Dorn narrowed his eyes watching the lonely rider approach the castle at a slow walk. The man’s dusty travel cloak and his plain gray lizard-beast mount made him inconspicuous enough to pass unnoticed. Yet, something about his muscular shape made Kyth’s skin creep as he watched the man come around the last bend in the road onto the wide stretch leading up to the gate. He glanced at Kara standing by his side and saw her neck tense as she, too, watched the stranger approach.

It must be the weapons, Kyth decided. Two sword hilts sticking out above the shoulders suggested that the man was not only highly skilled with blades, but could use both hands equally well. A crossbow adorned the man’s saddle next to a full quiver, and his cloak, folding away at the belt, revealed an array of throwing knives impressive enough to compare to those carried by the Majat of the Royal Pentade of the King’s personal bodyguards. In fact, only the top gem ranks of the Majat carried such a set of weapons. Could it be–?

Kyth threw another glance at Kara. Her posture was tense and graceful as she watched the man approach the castle gate. Her violet eyes glowed like precious amethysts in the setting of her chocolate-brown skin that seemed even darker in contrast to her pale golden hair. She wore it short, its soft waves resting against her cheeks. On top of her beauty, she looked no less deadly than the approaching rider, her own weapons in full view.

“Do you know him?” Kyth asked quietly.

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him before, but I’m pretty sure he’s from the Majat Guild.”

Kyth turned to look down into the front castle courtyard, where the activity told him that the rider had been spotted and his arrival expected. The Kingsguard formed a line in front of the gate and the two Diamond Majat stationed at court, Raishan and Mai, stood behind them with impassive looks.

“You must stay out of sight, Kara,” Kyth said. “If he sees you…”

She nodded.

“Let’s get out of here,” Kyth urged.

“Give me your cloak. I want to see what happens.”

Kyth took off his cloak, its black and blue colors of the Royal House Dorn adorned with a crown on the left shoulder, and wrapped it around her. The movement brought them close, so that for a moment he inhaled her barely perceptible scent of wild flowers and sensed her warmth against him. His pulse quickened as he caught her brief smile. Then she flicked the hood over her face and receded into the shadows beside the tall protrusion of the castle wall. Together they watched events unravel in the courtyard below.

The newcomer rode through the gate and dismounted in a quick, fluid move that left no doubt of his Majat training. He stepped toward the greeting party so fast that his shape blurred. Seeing him next to the two Diamonds made Kyth wonder. Could he be–

A Diamond?

Kyth held his breath, watching the three men below exchange quiet words, too distant to hear. They each looked so different. Mai’s slender build, smooth skin and soft blond curls made him appear much too young for his high post as leader of the Royal Pentade – and far too good-looking to be trustworthy. Raishan with his short brown hair and regular face looked unremarkable next to him, his high rank identifiable only by his powerful grace and the ruthless glint in his slanted gray eyes. The new Majat was of a heavier build, his black clothes far less elegant than Mai’s. He had curly hair cut closely to the scalp and black eyes so large that they seemed painted, their whites shining with a pearl glow against his dark skin.

The newcomer exchanged brief words with the two Diamonds, then took out a folded parchment and handed it to Mai. There was a pause as the Pentade leader unrolled and read the letter, then another brief one when he lowered it and looked at the messenger with unseeing eyes. Then Mai carefully folded the parchment, put it away into a pocket inside his shirt and strode out of the yard.

“He’s in trouble,” Kara whispered. “Because of me.”

Kyth bit his lip. It had been Mai’s decision to spare her life and face the consequences. Besides, Mai was one of the best warriors in the Majat Guild, and was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. But he didn’t say any of this to Kara. She had been cast out of her Guild because of her decision to protect Kyth, and he knew that no matter how casual she tried to be about it, it hurt her deeper than he could ever imagine. There was nothing he could do to make it better.

Kyth watched Raishan run up the narrow stairs of the battlements, closely followed by the white-cloaked shape of Magister Egey Bashi, the second-in-command in the Order of Keepers. The Magister was a middle-aged man, whose grim looks and heavy muscular build suggested that his title had to do with more than scholarly activities. During the past months, Kyth had learned to fully trust this man, rumored to be much older than he appeared, and much wiser than he pretended to be. As Kyth saw the two men rush toward them with grim faces, his momentary relief gave way to a deep pang of anxiety.

The speed of Raishan’s approach made the wind rise in his wake. He came to an abrupt halt in front of Kara after collision seemed inevitable and spoke, the unevenness in his voice betraying more emotion than his face.

“You must stay out of sight, Aghat. This man has come from the Guild.”

Kara took a moment to answer, her violet eyes meeting Raishan’s in an unspoken exchange. “Is Aghat Mai in trouble?”

Raishan’s eyes darted to Egey Bashi.

“I’m sure he’ll be all right,” the Magister said. “The Majat messenger seemed quite friendly. From what I know about your Guild, if there was a problem he would have attacked on sight.”

Kara continued to look at Raishan. “That man’s a Diamond, isn’t he?”

“Aghat Xandel,” Raishan confirmed. “I know him. Both he and I trained together in the Outer Fortress.”

“And the letter he brought was from Master Oden Lan?”

Raishan nodded.

“He
knows
,” she said quietly.

“We can’t be sure,” Raishan said. “I didn’t see the letter. Aghat Mai read it and put it away without showing anyone. But Magister Egey Bashi is right. If the Guildmaster knew what happened, we should have seen a bigger outburst, shouldn’t we?”

“Why else would Master Oden Lan send a Diamond?”

“I could imagine many reasons,” Raishan said. “For example, the King could have sent him, for one. Do you know of any such plans, Your Highness?”

Kyth shook his head.

“I think we’d have heard if that had been the case,” Egey Bashi said.

Kara’s face froze into an unreadable mask. “Did Aghat Xandel say anything?”

“Not much,” Raishan said. “He gave Aghat Mai the letter. And, he said he has another one for the King, to be delivered personally. Aghat Mai went to arrange for security before the audience could be granted.”

“That might take some time,” Egey Bashi said. “The King has other things on his mind.”

His grim tone made everyone pause.

“What other things?” Kyth asked.

The Keeper gave him a dark look. “A messenger from the Aknabar Monastery arrived this morning. Things don’t look good up there. In fact, it seems that the Kaddim Brotherhood has taken more control of the Church than we first thought. I believe there’s no choice for the King but to send armed forces down there.”

“Armed forces? To the
Monastery
?”

“The messenger was a very frightened man,” Egey Bashi said. “He brought news that Father Bartholomeos has been imprisoned. He also brought a parcel containing the head of the late Chief Inquisitor, Brother Valdos. Dipped in tar and quite rotten, I can tell you, but still recognizable. There was a note with it. ‘
From the Conclave to the King
’, not quite in those words, but with far fewer niceties than warranted, I’d say. And now, a response from King Evan is definitely called for.”

There was shocked silence.

“But… But the priests aren’t even supposed to wield weapons!”

“I assure you, Your Highness. The head had definitely been severed with a weapon. A very sharp one.”

“You think the Kaddim Brothers did it?”

“I am certain of it.”

Raishan shook his head. “It’s hard to imagine how a dark order of Ghaz Kadan worshippers could possibly take hold of the Church. The Kaddim and the priests serve opposite sides, don’t they?”

“You forget, Aghat,” the Keeper said. “The Kaddim are capable of mind control. Only a certain type of magic could make people immune to it, and the Church has spent centuries eliminating magic in their midst. If you ask me, something like this was bound to happen, sooner or later.”

Kyth nodded. The Kaddim Brothers could wield a disabling mind control power that bent people to their will. To his knowledge, his own magic gift, the one he hadn’t even fully mastered yet, held the only way to resisting it.

It was good that his father had managed to gather enough support on the High Council to abolish the anti-magic law, but the effects of this law being in place for centuries couldn’t be ignored. For all he knew, the Dark Brotherhood overtaking the Church might not be the only outcome, even if it was hard to imagine a worse one.

He shivered, meeting Kara’s gaze.

“This is bad,” she said.

“All the worse, it seems,” Raishan put in, “because right now the King can’t afford to risk any disagreement with the Majat Guild. Which is why you must stay completely out of sight, Kara. If Xandel is here to negotiate your return to the Guild, things might get ugly.”

“If Mai had killed me like he was instructed,” Kara said, her eyes fixed unseeingly on the distant lake view, “we wouldn’t be guessing right now. And, none of you would have anything to fear from the Majat Guild.”

Kyth reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. She tensed under his touch and for the first time he realized she was shivering.

“It’s not your fault,” he said quietly.

She turned and looked at him, her shivers lessening, her gaze slowly becoming calm and detached as she hid her emotions behind an invisible shield.

“Whether or not it’s my fault,” she said, “it’s too late for regrets.”

Regrets.
Kyth hoped she wasn’t talking about him, but there was no way to tell. Worse, whatever she meant, there was nothing he could do about it. He looked searchingly into her eyes, but she turned away.

“I believe I’ll be speaking for many of us,” Raishan said carefully, “if I say that I’m really glad you’re alive, Aghat Kara.”

“I’ll second that,” Egey Bashi said.

She smiled, but her gaze remained distant.

“Let’s hope I can justify some of it by making a difference. We should go and find out more about Aghat Xandel’s mission. Shall we?”

“As long as you stay carefully hidden,” Egey Bashi pointed out.

“I will, Magister.” She wrapped Kyth’s royal cloak tighter around herself and moved to the stairs leading down from the battlements onto the castle grounds, but Kyth caught her by the arm.

“It’s too risky for you to appear anywhere near the throne room right now,” he said. “Why don’t you and Raishan go to the Keepers’ quarters and wait? Magister and I will go to the throne room and find out what’s going on.”

Kara gave him a brief glance and he imagined that in the shadows of the hood he saw her smile.