Fifth Quarter by Tanya Huff Page A

shook his head. "You're not going to tell me, are you? No matter. You're a military assassin and a very good one if you've been doing it since you were fifteen."
     
    "Twenty-one."
     
    "Why are you telling him?"
     
    She winced as Bannon's protest drove yet another spike of pain into her head. "What difference does it make? We need him to deal."
     
    "We don't need anything from him."
     
    "Except your body."
     
    "Which I'll take back!"
     
    "How?"
     
    "Children…"
     
    Nobody spoke to her like that. Not if they wanted to live to see morning. After everything else that had happened; after discovering Bannon in a dying body not his own; after finding the precarious balancing point that let them both exist in her head; after tracking Aralt; after confrontation and capture—that smug patronizing tone was just too much. Vree's eyes narrowed and she began working her strength against the scarves securing her; if the silk wouldn't give, perhaps the chair would. All at once, it became very easy not to see her brother in the man sitting on the bed.
     
    "Vree, stop it. You'll hurt yourself."
     
    She could see his mouth moving, white teeth flashing between curved lips, but she couldn't hear what he said over the roaring in her ears.
     
    "Vree, let it go. It isn't worth it. Listen to him."
     
    "You said we didn't need anything from him." Rage clipped each word to its bare essentials.
     
    "I was wrong." She felt him sigh. "He has my body. We have to deal."
     
    "How come you're so slaughtering composed all of a sudden?"
     
    "Because you aren't?" Bannon's laugh still held a hint of hysteria, but his thoughts felt clearer than they had. "We're a team, remember. I see the dangers you don't. You spot the dangers I miss. I want my body back, Vree, as much or more than you want me out of your head. I, I can't force my way in…" He hated to make the admission—Vree could feel him struggle with it. "… so we have to listen to him. We don't have a choice."
     
    She drew in a long breath and managed to unclench her teeth before she slowly let it out. "Maybe I should've fallen apart hours ago."
     
    "Maybe."
     
    "You haven't been listening to me, have you?"
     
    "No." With the fury gone, Vree sagged against the scarves.
     
    Bannon/Aralt shook his head and sighed. "Family matters? No, never mind." He raised a cautioning hand, a gold signet gleaming on his second finger. "I don't really want to know. I shall present the case once more. This time, I suggest you pay attention." Steepling his fingers, he leaned forward slightly, the action at odds with the flesh he wore. "As admirable as this body is, it comes with none of the little extras that make life worthwhile, and I have no wish to remain in it for very long. So, did you stop to tell any of your comrades about what happened in Ghoti or did you rush blindly after me?" He read the answer on her face and smiled. "Good. You will use your skills to help me get another body."
     
    "One with extras ?"
     
    "Precisely."
     
    "What kind of extras?"
     
    "Wealth. Power. Position."
     
    "Why do you need me? Us? You seem to have managed fine so far."
     
    "Yes, well, the body I have in mind—if you'll pardon the expression—will be heavily guarded and I'll need you to help me get close enough to make the transfer. When that happens, your brother will have his body back."
     
    "What happens to the life from this new body?"
     
    "Why should you care?"
     
    Why should she? As long as Bannon got his body back, what difference did the death of one stranger make? "Who is it?"
     
    "Prince Otavas."
     
    The youngest of the Emperor's four children, Prince Otavas, at seventeen, had just begun to take his place in public life. His coming of age had been celebrated across the Empire and the Sixth Army had happily drunk a river of beer in his honor. Pounding heads made for a silent parade the next morning, but the swearing of allegiance had rung out with enough volume to echo off the garrison walls lest