hurt her husband or her child, then by the gods they were going to suffer for it.
The Silent Hunter sneered and tried to spit at her, only to miss. Tylas stepped forward and backhanded the assassin until the bottom half of his face gleamed crimson.
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
The assassin tried to smile and only managed to wince. “Bringing about…bringing about the downfall of your Empire.”
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
“Bringing victory to the Order.”
“Centurion,” said Claudia, “start cutting pieces off him until he talks. Save his tongue for last. We’ll need that.”
Tylas nodded and drew a dagger. The other Imperial Guards moved into a circle around the captured assassin, ready to shield his torment from the eyes of anyone who passed by. Not that anyone was likely to intervene. Erghulan had made it very clear that the Imperial and Umbarian embassies were not to shed blood in the streets, and no one would come to the Silent Hunter’s aid.
Especially since the assassin had tried to kill a pregnant woman. The Istarish held that as an especially heinous crime, and in those gloomy epic poems they loved so much the villains often established their wickedness by ordering the death of the hero’s wife in the ninth month of her pregnancy, a death usually accompanied by several stanzas of maudlin verses.
As inconvenient as it was, Claudia had to admit that pregnancy sometimes offered advantages.
“Wait!” said the assassin, his eyes fixed on the dagger. “Wait. Wait!”
Tylas seized the Silent Hunter’s wrist, holding his hand steady. “Which finger, my lady?”
“Surprise me,” said Claudia.
“What do you want to know?” said the Silent Hunter.
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
“I do not know,” said the assassin. “He left the city after the fighting at the Alqaarin harbor.”
“What happened at the docks?” said Claudia. She had heard differing accounts, all of them contradictory.
“An ambush,” said the Silent Hunter. “For the Balarigar. Lord Cassander knew the Balarigar would be there, so he laid a trap for her. Yet she eluded him, and he left the city in a rage the next day, I know not where.”
“Pursuing the Balarigar, I presume,” said Claudia.
“Yes,” said the Silent Hunter, bobbing his head. “The red woman told him where to go.”
“Red woman?” said Claudia, a little chill running down her spine.
She remembered the Red Huntress’s mask of crimson steel, remembered the woman slashing through the Immortals at the Court of the Fountain like a wolf savaging sheep.
“The red woman,” said the Silent Hunter. “Lord Cassander did not tell us who she was. Yet she visited him often, and after her last visit, he gathered many Adamant Guards and Silent Hunters and sailed from the Alqaarin harbor.”
“Did he say when he would return?” said Claudia.
“No,” said the Silent Hunter. “There has been no word from him since. The other magi of the embassy have been…restless.”
“Probably slithering around each other like snakes in a bucket,” muttered Claudia, remembering some of the brothers of the Imperial Magisterium that she had met. Ranarius and her late half-brother Torius Aberon would have made fine candidates for the Umbarian Order. She would have thought her father an Umbarian as well, if not for the fact that the Order had spent the last two years trying to kill him.
“There has been some…discord,” said the Silent Hunter.
“Undoubtedly,” said Claudia. If the Red Huntress was after Caina again, she had to be warned. Yet Caina had departed nearly a month and a half ago, and Cassander had disappeared soon after. Their confrontation had likely already happened.
It was possible that Caina was dead, that Cassander was on his way in triumph to Istarinmul. Erghulan Amirasku had promised to open the Starfall Straits to the Umbarian fleet if Cassander slew Caina,
The Silent Hunter sneered and tried to spit at her, only to miss. Tylas stepped forward and backhanded the assassin until the bottom half of his face gleamed crimson.
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
The assassin tried to smile and only managed to wince. “Bringing about…bringing about the downfall of your Empire.”
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
“Bringing victory to the Order.”
“Centurion,” said Claudia, “start cutting pieces off him until he talks. Save his tongue for last. We’ll need that.”
Tylas nodded and drew a dagger. The other Imperial Guards moved into a circle around the captured assassin, ready to shield his torment from the eyes of anyone who passed by. Not that anyone was likely to intervene. Erghulan had made it very clear that the Imperial and Umbarian embassies were not to shed blood in the streets, and no one would come to the Silent Hunter’s aid.
Especially since the assassin had tried to kill a pregnant woman. The Istarish held that as an especially heinous crime, and in those gloomy epic poems they loved so much the villains often established their wickedness by ordering the death of the hero’s wife in the ninth month of her pregnancy, a death usually accompanied by several stanzas of maudlin verses.
As inconvenient as it was, Claudia had to admit that pregnancy sometimes offered advantages.
“Wait!” said the assassin, his eyes fixed on the dagger. “Wait. Wait!”
Tylas seized the Silent Hunter’s wrist, holding his hand steady. “Which finger, my lady?”
“Surprise me,” said Claudia.
“What do you want to know?” said the Silent Hunter.
“Where is Cassander Nilas?” said Claudia.
“I do not know,” said the assassin. “He left the city after the fighting at the Alqaarin harbor.”
“What happened at the docks?” said Claudia. She had heard differing accounts, all of them contradictory.
“An ambush,” said the Silent Hunter. “For the Balarigar. Lord Cassander knew the Balarigar would be there, so he laid a trap for her. Yet she eluded him, and he left the city in a rage the next day, I know not where.”
“Pursuing the Balarigar, I presume,” said Claudia.
“Yes,” said the Silent Hunter, bobbing his head. “The red woman told him where to go.”
“Red woman?” said Claudia, a little chill running down her spine.
She remembered the Red Huntress’s mask of crimson steel, remembered the woman slashing through the Immortals at the Court of the Fountain like a wolf savaging sheep.
“The red woman,” said the Silent Hunter. “Lord Cassander did not tell us who she was. Yet she visited him often, and after her last visit, he gathered many Adamant Guards and Silent Hunters and sailed from the Alqaarin harbor.”
“Did he say when he would return?” said Claudia.
“No,” said the Silent Hunter. “There has been no word from him since. The other magi of the embassy have been…restless.”
“Probably slithering around each other like snakes in a bucket,” muttered Claudia, remembering some of the brothers of the Imperial Magisterium that she had met. Ranarius and her late half-brother Torius Aberon would have made fine candidates for the Umbarian Order. She would have thought her father an Umbarian as well, if not for the fact that the Order had spent the last two years trying to kill him.
“There has been some…discord,” said the Silent Hunter.
“Undoubtedly,” said Claudia. If the Red Huntress was after Caina again, she had to be warned. Yet Caina had departed nearly a month and a half ago, and Cassander had disappeared soon after. Their confrontation had likely already happened.
It was possible that Caina was dead, that Cassander was on his way in triumph to Istarinmul. Erghulan Amirasku had promised to open the Starfall Straits to the Umbarian fleet if Cassander slew Caina,
Similar Books
