"So who was it?" he insisted, "A jealous husband? A jilted girlfriend? Perhaps an angry customer?"
Blade swung around and strode over to the Prince. Yanking a dagger from his belt, he pressed it to Kerrion's throat.
Kerrion glowered up at him. "You will not kill me."
"If you think that, you are a fool. Killing you would give me more pleasure than delivering you to the Queen."
"You would not get your reward."
"I do not care."
A chill of apprehension ran down Kerrion's spine. "Do it then. I am not afraid to die."
"You should be." Blade sheathed the dagger, and the Prince relaxed. For a moment he had doubted his reasoning, and was glad that he had been right. Reassured of his safety, he tried again.
"So did the Queen do it herself?"
The assassin whipped around and hit Kerrion hard enough to make his eyes water. The salty tang of blood invaded his mouth.
"You do not learn, do you?" Blade snarled.
Kerrion blinked, shocked by the suddenness of the attack and its violence. Until now, Blade had seemed too well controlled to resort to brutality, but apparently he had found the one subject able to enrage the assassin beyond the point where he could control his temper. He longed to strike back, but the chains made him helpless, and he glared up at the assassin. Even Blade's mocking smile, ever on hand to rile his opponent, had deserted him in this instance.
Kerrion spat blood. "So you do care about something."
"I dislike nosey Cotti bastards who pry into another man's business like a fishwife into her neighbour's household."
"So why did she do it? To punish you for some indiscretion? Did you forget to grovel properly?"
Blade's eyes glinted, and he grabbed a cloth from one of the packs and stuffed it into the Prince's mouth. "If you will not be quiet, I shall make you."
While the assassin hunted for a cord to bind the gag in place, Kerrion pulled it out. "How does it feel to be a half man? Do you hate her now? Why do you still serve her?"
Blade rammed the gag back in with such force that the Prince almost choked on it, then wound a strip of cloth around his head, holding it in place. He tied it tightly and shoved Kerrion aside before he reclaimed his seat on the far side of the fire. There he sipped his tea and regarded at his captive, who could only glare back at him. The assassin sat for a long time, measuring the Prince with his eyes. Finally he spoke into the silence.
"You are going to goad me with that whenever you can, are you not? You seem to enjoy making me angry. I see that now. It is a kind of revenge, the only one of which you are capable. You seem to think that this is something I am ashamed of, and thence stems my anger. But you are wrong. I will tell you what you want to know. It seems I have told you too much already, but hopefully you will die soon. Perhaps, being a Cotti, you have a right to know."
Kerrion frowned in confusion, and Blade went on, "All the Jashimari boys were… gelded in your camps. I suppose they thought we would live to be adults, and by gelding us they would make us easier to handle. Jashimari are strong-willed and stubborn, unlike Cotti, who spend all their energy talking, and are easily persuaded to do as they are told, even offering to be willing captives." Blade cast a scornful eye over the Prince.
"I never stopped trying to escape, and several times they beat me almost to death. What they did to me only made me hate them more, and I became more determined to escape them, no matter how they punished me. Do not insult me with your pity, either, for I have found my… difference to be a great asset at times, ensuring that I never find myself at the mercy of some scheming woman. And it has enabled me to be a good assassin, providing, as it does, a fool-proof disguise.
"Your father fell for it, as many have done before him, and paid the price. You could say that what your soldiers did led to his death, for any normal man would not be able to pass himself off as a woman, for obvious reasons."
Blade's gaze rested on Kerrion's chin, from which a three-tenday-old beard sprouted. He raised a hand to rub his smooth cheek, a slight smile curling his lips again.
"So, now you know, and I do not really care who you tell. I do not like to talk about it, but it has never been a secret. Most people know what I am when they see me, and how I became what I am is irrelevant. You may take some pride in what your soldiers did to me, but it has not done you, or them any good, has it? Perhaps I will suggest to the Queen that she return the favour with you, and send back to the Cotti a king who will never beget sons. I will gladly kill all your brothers, too."
Kerrion longed to tell Blade that he had no pity in his heart for a man like him, but what the soldiers had done was so wrong that it made him ashamed. That his father had been a part of it was even more shameful. The assassin finished his tea and put away the cup, then tied the Prince to a tree as usual before rolling himself into his blankets, leaving Kerrion gagged.
The Prince lay awake for a long time, thinking about what he had learnt. He had always thought war an honourable thing, an undertaking by brave men who fought for honour and glory, who battled and died proudly under the flags of their King and country. Sometimes there were prisoners, and these were taken to work in the mines, digging ore to forge into new weapons for the Cotti army, a fitting punishment for setting themselves against the might of his father's kingdom.
Women and children were innocents, however, and to his knowledge never taken prisoner and certainly not abused in the way Blade described. He wondered if the assassin was lying, but somehow believed him. Much as he disliked Blade for murdering his father and his own harsh treatment, he also admired his courage, spirit and determination. For all his faults, the assassin was a man with many admirable traits.
"When did this start?" Minna demanded of her chief advisor.
"Almost a three tendays ago, My Queen."
"And why was I not informed earlier?"
"At first General Hannach thought it merely another attack. They are fighting a war, after all. The Cotti attack all the time. But they have been throwing themselves at the mountain pass relentlessly, and the general says that their fury is frightening to behold."
Minna's eyes sparkled with joy. "Then he has succeeded!"
"Perhaps," Chiana allowed. "He might have only enraged them with his attempt."
"No. He has succeeded. What of the Prince?"
Chiana shook her head. "No one has seen either Blade or the Prince."
The Queen did not seem to hear. "If this started three tendays ago, and Blade has been gone almost a moon phase, he must be nearly here by now."
"My Queen, there is the more pressing matter of the general's request for reinforcements."
"Yes, yes." Minna made an impatient gesture. "You take care of the matter, send him whatever he requires."
Chiana bowed and headed for the door, but the Queen's command stopped her. "I did not give you leave to go. There is more. Send orders to the guards, to Captain Redgard, to be on the lookout for Blade. When he comes, they must let him in instantly."
Chiana bowed again. "Yes, My Queen."
"He will be here any day now, with the Cotti King as his captive."
The Queen walked to the windows and gazed at the dreary gardens drenched by sleeting rain. Her eyes sparkled and her pale cheeks were flushed with delight. She looked like a girl of sixteen, and sometimes acted like one, despite her upbringing. Chiana closed the doors softly behind her as she left.