"Make good my escape?" His brows rose. "From a Cotti courtroom where I have just testified to assassinating King Shandor? I will be slaughtered on the spot."
"Perhaps Kerrion will help you to escape."
"Kerrion hates me, and if he did, he would be accused of treason again."
Minna gazed at him. "You refuse?"
He sighed, looking out at the sky once more, where a flock of robber ravens drifted on the cold wind. "I am an assassin, My Queen. I have always said that I care about nothing, therein lies my strength. If you would send me to Kerrion's city, let it be for the reason of my trade, not to save Kerrion from the gallows. At least give me the honour of dying as an assassin, not as a helpless pawn caught in the machinations of two rulers. Order Lerton's death, and I shall leave for Jadaya tonight."
Her smile was filled with sorrow. "I am sacrificing a priceless weapon. I need you here to aid me when the time comes, and those who wish to thwart my plans will pit themselves against me. But this is even more important. Killing Lerton alone will not save Kerrion. You must testify as well. But yes, I order Lerton's death."
"Then you shall have it. What will my payment be, should I survive to collect it?"
"Name your price."
Blade smiled, knowing that it twisted her heart like a silver dagger of pain. "I will think on it. Do you wish his death to be quick or slow?"
"I leave that to you."
"Very well."
"I have one more task for you, Blade." She hesitated, biting her lip. "I order you to return when you have assassinated Prince Lerton."
His smile broadened and his brows rose. "A tall order indeed. If at all possible, I shall, My Queen."
"Good." Minna returned his smile, the anguish and despair washed from her expression. She rose, the worries appearing to drop from her shoulders like autumn leaves from the trees outside, now barren and covered with snow. Blade stood up, awaiting his dismissal.
To his surprise, she reached out and took his hand, raised it and turned it palm up. She studied his smooth palm and slender fingers, which bore the scars of his dagger. A slight frown puckered her brow as she pressed a black vial into his hand, closing his fingers over it.
"A poison," she murmured. "If they are to torture you, take it for a painless death. Before you go, I shall have the High Priestess wash your sins away in the sacred river and anoint you a sacred Knight of the Veil."
"I am not a religious -"
"But I am. Do this for me also. If I am sending you to your death, let it be with the assurance that you will be granted entry into the Everlasting. Do not burden me with your damnation also."
He frowned, disliking the idea. "What is it to you? You order thousands of men to their deaths."
She flashed him a look of rebuke. "Do not be impudent. I am your queen, do as I say." She released his hand, and he stepped back.
"My Queen." He bowed.
"Lord Conash."
Blade left without a backward glance, his mind already whirling with plans for Prince Lerton's impending assassination. Next to King Shandor, it would be his greatest triumph, yet he wished that the target was Kerrion as well. Chiana waited for him in his room, and rose from a cushion when he glared at her.
"What do you want?"
"She ordered you to Jadaya, did she not?"
Blade shrugged. "Ask her."
"You will be killed."
Sighing, he started to pull off his tunic, his clothes still damp underneath. He longed for a hot bath and dry clothes, and lacked the patience to deal with more questions. "That seems a forgone conclusion."
Chiana grabbed his arm as he headed past her towards the clothes' rack, surprising and hampering him, since his arms were tangled in the tunic he strived to tug off.
"This is madness. You are needed here," she said.
He turned to face her. "A little while ago, you were urging me to leave, now you wish me to stay?"
"Sending you to Jadaya is folly. It will accomplish nothing. Kerrion will not make peace with the Jashimari, even if we help him."
Blade jerked his arm from her grasp and shucked the tunic, throwing it on the rack. "She still has not told you then?"
"Told me what?"
He turned away, loosening the ties of his shirt. "Ask her, it is her secret."
Chiana seemed to wilt, the fire going out of her. "She does not confide in me. I could offer no advice on the war with the Contara. The situation is hopeless."
"Well, if it is any consolation, nor could I." He sat on the bed and began to pull off his boots.
"You must not go."
He paused to look up at her, noting her flushed countenance and the agitated twisting of her hands. "Why not?"
Chiana swung away, frowning. "It will accomplish nothing, I have told you."
"You do not know that. The Queen has a secret agenda."
"But you will not survive."
He shrugged, struggling with a reluctant boot. "That is no great loss to society."
She swung to face him. "I do not want you to go."
The boot came free, surprising Blade, so distracted was he by this unexpected statement. Since he had been tugging so hard at it, it hit him on the chin with some force. He cursed and flung the offending footwear across the room. Rubbing his jaw, he frowned at her.
"Why?"
She looked away. "I… it will accomplish nothing."
"You have already said that a dozen times. If you want to stop this, you will have to speak to the Queen."
"She will not heed me."
He started on the other boot. "Then I cannot help you."
"And nor will you heed me."
"Apparently not."
"You think me foolish."
He snorted in exasperation, tugging at the boot. "I make no judgements without hearing all the arguments, and so far you have put forward none better than that you think it will accomplish nothing, yet you do not even know what I am to do in Jadaya."
"Testify for Prince Kerrion."
"And assassinate Lerton."
Chiana gasped. "She has lost her mind!"
"It was my idea." The boot came free and flew across the room with a bang. Blade sighed and flexed his toes, bending to remove his wet socks. Chiana came closer, so the hem of her gown brushed his feet, and he looked up at her.
"If I asked you to stay, what would you say?" she asked.
"No."
She blinked. "You are a selfish brute."
"Insults now? How novel."
"You do not understand."
"So enlighten me."
"No."
Blade stood up, growing impatient, and found himself toe-to-toe with her. Chiana raised her chin, daring him, he guessed, to push past her. He smiled, then gripped her waist and moved her aside, stepping past. Going over to the curtained alcove where a steaming bath awaited him, he paused with a hand on the curtain and glanced back, wondering why she lingered and intending to order her out. A tear ran down her face, and he frowned, opening his mouth to ask the reason for it, but she turned away and left, banging the door. Evidently his refusal to be swayed upset her, and he wondered why.
Kerrion looked up from the report he had just read at the two senior advisors who stood before him, their expressions guarded. They waited on the far side of his carved milkwood desk, their bald heads gleaming with sweat despite their cool attire. Over their knee-length cotton shifts, they wore swathes of heavy, gold-trimmed linen wrapped around their hips and draped over one shoulder.
"Lerton ordered this?"
The elder advisor inclined his head. "Yes, My Prince."
Kerrion left his chair in a bound, heading for the door with the crumpled parchment clenched in one fist. The advisors bowed as he stormed past and yanked open the door, slamming it behind him. He arrived in Lerton's rooms flushed with rage. Sunlight streamed into the Prince's apartments through the doors that opened into the gardens. Sienna rugs were scattered on the marble floors and cream curtains billowed in the breeze that blew in through the doors. His brother rose from the gilded couch where he lay, pushing away a concubine who fed him grapes from the bowl of fruit on the low table beside him, where a bottle of wine and a goblet also rested. The concubine fled, and Lerton faced his taller brother, his expression wary and defiant. Kerrion raised the crumpled parchment and shook it under Lerton's nose.