The Guild of Assassins (26 page)

The war council reconvened in the evening. In addition to the four Diamonds, it included Kyth, Lady Celana, Alder, Ellah, and Egey Bashi. Kyth couldn’t help feeling out of place as he sat at the command table across from Mai and Kara, watching them put small pins into the map, shifting them around in response to comments from Lance and Raishan. They looked as if they were playing an elaborate game.

Mai looked refreshed and relaxed, back to his usual self. Watching him, Kyth couldn’t help wondering if this change was due to the fact that the Diamond had gone to his room upstairs to catch a few hours of sleep, or to the fact that Kara was now back at his side, sitting so close that their sleeves touched as they moved their hands over the map. Part of him wished to be in Mai’s place. Another part couldn’t get rid of an unsettling feeling he couldn’t quite name. Watching the effect Kara had on Mai made Kyth wonder, for the first time, what would happen to Mai if she chose Kyth in the end. Would Mai ever be able to come to terms with it? Or, would it shatter him once and for all?

Would Kyth be the one she chose...?

He dismissed the last thought. With the impending battle, these things should be the farthest from his mind.

He focused on the information relayed to him earlier by Lady Celana. If she was right, the different magic of the Kaddim Brothers should indeed be distinguishable to his inner eye as he wielded his power against them. He thought it was possible. Except, he didn’t seem to be able to put his hand on how to do it.

“With the force we’re bringing this time,” Mai said, “they will likely assemble their men further in, probably in the main courtyard at the back entrance to the Shal Addim Temple.” He pointed to a large rectangle on the map, accented with pins around the perimeter.

“Unless they try to break us up,” Lance said.

“We shouldn’t let them. If we want our increased numbers to make a difference, we must keep together.”

The four Diamonds drifted into a discussion that involved too many military terms for Kyth to follow, eventually shifting into the language of their Fortress, sharp words with hard consonants he couldn’t possibly reproduce. He spent the time watching Kara, so beautiful and radiant now that she was well again, sitting at the table among her fellows in rank. She looked so natural in their midst that Kyth couldn’t help wondering if the life with him at court could possibly make her happy. He forced this thought away too, turning to Alder instead.

“Can you send your spiders to strike on command?” he asked.

Alder hesitated.

“They do listen to me, at times, but I haven’t ever tried to ask them to
strike
anyone. Why?”

Kyth shook his head. “I thought… if I could indeed spot the Kaddim Brother we want to destroy, it could be a good way. Lady Celana thinks the spiders’ venom would prevent them from resurrecting.” He briefly glanced at the lady by his side, who blushed and lowered her eyes.

He was just beginning to feel he was actually good for something, when he caught Mai’s gaze from across the table.

“
Can
you spot the right Brother?” Mai asked.

Kyth shrugged. There was nothing wrong with the question, but he couldn’t stand the look, mocking and challenging at the same time.

Here we go again.

“I’m trying to figure it out,” he said.

“Figure it out?”

Kyth sighed. “Don’t you have a map to look at or something? I thought you were busy planning the attack.”

“Yes, and you’re in it. Unless you have second thoughts about how many men you can protect.”

“Do you have second thoughts about how many men you can lead?” Kyth bit his tongue. He was aware how everyone was looking at him now, with surprise and concern. He had let his dislike for Mai get the better of him, again. If only Kara wasn’t sitting so close, Mai towering over her as if he owned her.
He doesn’t. No one owns her. Not him. Not me.
For some reason, the thought brought no comfort whatsoever.

“Perhaps,” Egey Bashi put in, “Prince Kythar and I can try to analyse the specifics of what he can sense about their power?”

Kyth let out a breath, watching Mai recede back into his seat as the tension around the table slowly released.

“Do it, Magister,” Mai said.

He is in charge. I wanted it this way. I can deal with it.
Kyth took another deep breath.

“I’m not sure I can feel a difference when I defend against them,” he said. “But as I recall, I could sense distinct flavors of their powers on occasions when I tried to use them instead of the wind.” He paused, aware of the puzzled looks from around the table. It made no sense, the way he said it. Nobody could possibly understand it.

“Tolos’s power,” Kyth went on, “was
bitter
. It left a taste on my tongue I couldn’t possibly mistake for anything else.”

“Good,” Egey Bashi said. “That’s a start. What about the others?”

Kyth shook his head. “All the other times I have been using their combined powers without trying to tell them apart. When done this way, it leaves a… muddle of sensations, really – none of them pleasant, but all different.”

“Perhaps,” Lady Celana said, “recognising Kaddim Tolos’s power would be a good start? If he can be targeted, the Kaddim would have no means of escaping – assuming that Aghat Mai’s forces can finish them off.”

Mai hesitated, then nodded. “True. Besides, if Prince Kythar cannot distinguish the rest of them, Tolos is the only one we can even consider.”

Kyth shook his head. “It’s more of a problem than that.”

“A problem?”

Kyth paused, watching Mai. He tried to convince himself the Diamond was just being efficient, not trying to mock Kyth deliberately and show everyone who was a better man. He also tried to tell himself that the way Kara was sitting, so easy and relaxed next to Mai, had nothing to do with the way she felt about him. She just chose a good spot to be close to the map, nothing more.

He swallowed. “I can only sense their power when I’m not protecting anyone.”

Mai’s shoulders slowly relaxed. “Not much use to us then, is it?”

“Actually,” Kara said, “it could be, if we do decide to target Tolos.”

Mai turned to her. “How?”

She smiled. “You and I can go in with Kyth and target whoever he points out. We’re both resistant, aren’t we?”

Egey Bashi shook his head. “Too risky. The Brothers would likely be very heavily protected.”

“Still,” Kara said. “If our attack is successful, Tolos is the one who can pull them out. To prevent that, we must target him, one way or another. If Kyth can identify him early on when they least expect it, in theory we could take advantage of it.”

“In theory.”

“Yes.”

Mai appeared to consider it.

“Possible,” he said, “but not something we can plan for in advance.”

“Perhaps we can keep it in mind, then?” Kara said.

“If we do,” Mai said, “I think we have a better option.” He turned to Kyth. “I’ll put a Jade next to you. If you spot Tolos, tell the Jade and he’ll shoot at him. With the way the Brothers are protected he’ll likely miss, but this way he can mark the target for us – just like Lady Celana did, back at the Majat Guild.”

His short glance made Lady Celana’s cheeks light up with deep crimson. Damn, how did he manage to have such an effect on women?

“You are too kind, Aghat Mai,” Celana said.

Mai smiled. “You should know me enough by now to realize how far from the truth that is. It was a brilliant shot, my lady, one I would never have expected from an outsider to our Guild.”

Kyth bit his lip. This was how Mai did it. Some flattery, some attention, some showy looks. Was this what it took to get women on your side?

Weren’t both Kara and Lady Celana smarter than that?

“You
are
kind, Aghat Mai,” Lady Celana said, “even if for some reason you choose to pretend otherwise. And, my shot back at the Majat Guild was Prince Kythar’s idea. So, the praise should really be due to him.”

Mai looked at her in quick surprise. So did Kyth, feeling his eyes widen as he turned to the lady by his side. Was she actually
praising
him to Mai?

For the first time he looked at the royal lady with new eyes. Her attention, which he had believed to be a part of her political ambitions, suddenly acquired a new color. The way she was willing to spend time with him when no one else was around. The way she always seemed so interested in his stories as he recalled his travels to the Grasslands and his previous encounters with the Kaddim. Could it be that she actually
cared
?

He couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you for your confidence, my lady,” he said. “While I agree with Aghat Mai that your shot was brilliant, I do appreciate your resolve to speak on my behalf.”

She nodded, her blush so captivating that he couldn’t help gaping. It took him a moment to realize that the conversation had moved on and that everyone was bending over the map again, the Majat drifting into a lengthy exchange of military terms with Magister Egey Bashi.

He looked at Alder again, and at Ellah by his side, both of his friends as out of place here as he felt.

“How about your truthsense?” he asked Ellah. “Can it be used to distinguish the
flavors
of somebody’s powers?”

She hesitated. “I suppose. If they’re using their joint power while their specialty is in something else, it could have some flavor of a lie. Or… not a flavor. A color.”

Kyth nodded. She wielded colors in her mind to enable her truthsense. Perhaps if he tried to learn it from her…

“Can we join our powers somehow?” he asked. “We–”

He paused abruptly as he realized Mai was looking at him again.
Damn.
Did this man have two pairs of ears?

“We’re not taking Ellah into battle,” Mai said.

Kyth sighed. “Of course not.”
What the hell was I thinking?

Mai shook his head. “If you can spot Tolos, it would help, but in the upcoming fight it doesn’t guarantee us victory. Preventing their escape is more of a strategic move to make sure they’re not a problem later on. Don’t sweat over it. Your main task is still to protect everyone.”

Kyth nodded.

“You’re not having any second thoughts, are you?” Mai asked.

A retort froze on Kyth’s lips as he realized grudgingly that the question made sense. As a commander, Mai had to know.

“No,” he said.

Mai’s gaze softened. “Just remember. We’re taking a risk, betting on your ability that has never been tested before. Don’t try to impress anyone. If you feel – at any point – that you may not be up to the task, you must tell me at once.”

“
Tell
you?”

“The Jade archer will shadow you. He’ll know how to give a signal.”

Shadow
me
. Kyth’s skin crept. In the Majat Guild, shadowing someone meant being able to kill him. He hoped that wasn’t what Mai had in mind.

Lady Celana had just said that Mai was kind, even if he did a good job of hiding it. Kara was sitting so close to him. Even Ellah at some point had been infatuated with Mai, along with dozens and dozens of court ladies of all stations. The Diamond had this effect on people that made them follow him even when there seemed to be no special reason to trust him. Was Kyth the only one mistaken? Or was it possible that Kyth was the only one with the ability to see through Mai’s glamor to the man inside?

Was it the man Kyth was prepared to trust with everything he cared for?

Was it the man he could accept as a successful rival for Kara?

Was Kyth prepared to step aside and let him have her?

He forced these thoughts away. He had made a decision to trust Mai fully with this attack, and so far the Diamond had given him no reason to doubt his honesty, or his intentions. It may be different when it came to women, but the upcoming battle plans should not be driven by such considerations. If they all survived and defeated the Kaddim, there would be time for rivalry later on.

For now, all he hoped was that Mai’s attack plan would not put Kara’s life in jeopardy again.

The Majat force marched in full daylight, a hundred men fanning around the tall Monastery wall. Kyth kept to the center of the formation, next to Egey Bashi, Alder, and a tall Jade archer Mai had assigned to him for the duration of the attack. Gahang Torr.

Four Rubies surrounded them, Kyth’s protection throughout the operation. One of them threw a grappler hook for the Prince, as a hundred hooks flew up around them in near synchrony. Kyth did his best to keep up as a row of black-clad shadows slid over the wall beside him in one single move. The attack had begun.

The Majat’s tactics were different this time. The party paused in each courtyard, sending scouts to the gateways on all sides and waiting for their signals before proceeding. Like last time, they met no resistance as they ventured deeper into the compound.

Mai called an all-stop at a large double gate, tightly shut. His quick hand signs rearranged the formation in the blink of an eye. Several men scaled the walls, sending more hand signs as they peered over into the courtyard beyond and noiselessly dropped back to the ground.

“From what I understand of this language,” Egey Bashi said quietly, “our welcoming party is behind this gate. Or the best part of it, anyway.”

“Do you think they are capable of defeating us, Magister?” Kyth asked quietly.

“Hard to tell,” Egey Bashi said. “They will likely send reinforcements, again and again. They will probably also try to separate the attackers into smaller groups. I know that Aghat Mai is prepared to resist these attempts. Just focus on your part, Your Highness. The rest is in capable hands.”

Kyth sighed. He wished he could fully believe that.

Two men pulled the gates open. The Majat hid behind it, waiting for a wave of arrows to sweep out and hit the wall on the opposite side of the courtyard before rushing inside. Kyth shivered. Last time they had encountered no ranged attack. Clearly the news of the Jades in the Majat party had reached the defenders.

He sensed waves of Kaddim force flow in through the open gateway. He focused on countering it, his invisible blade rising up to protect every man in sight. The task was far more challenging than last time, when he had only twelve to worry about. Fully absorbed in it, he didn’t even notice how the fight started, the clashing of weapons reaching his ears as if from a distance as he put his entire mind into wielding his defense.

He saw a man at the edge of his vision waver under the Kaddim’s force and increased his efforts, expanding his invisible shield. Damn. It was taking everything he had. He felt dazed as his Ruby bodyguards ushered him forward. He followed them like a sleepwalker, unable to spare any attention even to the movement of his feet, feeling as if he was handling far too much.

Was Mai right all along? Had Kyth taken too much upon himself in a misguided attempt to impress him?

He kept the best of his effort on the Diamonds and Rubies, aware that this was the tip of the attack force they couldn’t afford to lose. He had the most trouble with the Jades, who stuck to the edges behind the fighters and scaled the walls and roofs to shoot from above. He could tell the Jades were doing less damage than they could as he struggled to focus his power over a larger distance. If only the wind was stronger, so that it could aid his magic…

The wind.

Last time he was fighting a Kaddim battle, he didn’t have the wind at all. He used the Kaddim power instead, wielding it as if it was an elemental force. Perhaps it
was
an elemental force of sorts, tainted with unpleasant flavors, bitter and destructive by nature, but potent nonetheless. Should he try to tap into it again?

Could he use it to defeat the Brothers?

He tried to take his mind back to the time in Illitand Hall when he had managed to intake the combined power of four Kaddim brothers and throw it back at them. He was dealing with five now, but shouldn’t that make it even better?

He searched them out, five hooded figures standing in the deep shadows by the far wall. He couldn’t tell which one was which, but he could sense the pulsing power they emanated, its net targeting everyone in sight, breaking against his invisible blade. One blade seemed hardly enough. He should have asked Mai to teach him to fight at least with two, maybe it would double his defense capabilities?

He could see that, despite their spectacular moves, the Majat were making less progress than they could expect with their kind of force. Worse, even the Diamond spearhead wasn’t doing so well, surrounded by vast numbers of the best fighters the Kaddim could put forth. As he watched, he saw Lance waver as an orben hit him in the arm, a wound that was surely going to cripple his attack. His heart wavered.

Damn it, why couldn’t he do better?

He concentrated.

Think of your blade as if it’s a rope,
Mai had said to him once.
Soft and relaxed until you drive its end into a target. Don’t think of it as hitting. Try to reach instead
. Back then, exhausted and defiant, he hadn’t wanted to listen. But now, suddenly, it made perfect sense.

He extended his invisible blade, imagining a rope with a knot on its end reaching deep into the enemy line. It cut through the waves of Kaddim power like a flash of lightning.

He could sense the effect as the battle picked up, the Majat attack instantly acquiring more speed. He continued to lash out in every direction, making sure his rope-like blade reached equally to every fighter on their force.

He could sense it working by the way the clashing of the weapons around him suddenly rang with a new beat, the Jades’ arrows whizzing by, picking out the attackers. The Kaddim Brothers by the wall huddled closer, clearly spending more effort than before. He tried to target the source, cutting off their force as soon as it left their outstretched palms, breaking it before it could even reach the battling men.

It felt so easy as he mastered it that he suddenly felt he could do more. Keeping his blade at work, he used another part of his consciousness to extend forward, tugging at the strings of power from the Kaddims’ hands, testing them one by one. A metallic, thick smell that had a gagging quality of infected blood. A choking sensation, like a cloud of dust thrown in the face. A gust of wind that made his eyes itch, like smoke. A smell of rot, like dead fish at the pit of a shallow pond. There. The bitter smell that left a taste on his tongue, like bile.

Tolos.

“Gahang Torr,” he shouted. “Shoot that one!”

The attack wasn’t going as smoothly as Kara had hoped. She could tell that Kyth was having trouble. Most of the men around her were doing nothing more than holding their own. At this rate, the outcome of the battle was very much in question, especially if Kyth didn’t improve very soon.

The only people fighting with full might were herself and Mai. They needed every bit of it, too. It seemed that at least half of the Kaddim fighters were honing in on them, as if determined to take them down no matter what.

Despite all that, she was surprised at the energy and excitement she felt, fighting next to Mai. The way she sensed his movements, the way he responded in perfect synchrony as they both yielded to their ability to anticipate each other’s actions, made it feel like a dance, deadly and perfect – an attack nobody could possibly resist. Despite the strain of battle, she felt perfectly balanced, a calmness singing inside her as she hacked and parried, the pile of bodies at her feet growing so tall it hindered new attackers as the Majat spearhead cut deeper into the enemy line. Fighting next to Mai, she felt invincible, like never before.

She could see the huddled group of Kaddim Brothers by the far wall. Kara hoped she and Mai would have a chance to break through and take them down. Given the trouble Kyth was having, this step seemed essential to guarantee victory without losing too many men.

She saw Lance by her side take a direct hit, his left arm hanging limply as the orben likely dislocated the shoulder. She cursed, marveling at the way Lance continued the attack, doing nothing more than dropping his off-hand blade and changing his stance, putting his right foot forward to protect the injured arm. He was an amazing fighter, but he wasn’t going to be able to hold like this for long. Worse, the very fact that the attackers got through to him wasn’t a good sign.

She sensed a sudden change in pace and dared a quick glance toward Kyth and his group, noting that the Prince was now standing straighter, with a more confident look. He was finally getting a grip on it. She hoped it was in time to turn the advantage to the Majat.

As she glanced at him again, she saw Kyth pointing and shouting, followed by the low hum of an arrow whistling through the air toward the group of Kaddim Brothers. Torr’s sound arrow, signaling the identity of Kaddim Tolos. Her heart raced as she glanced at Mai, realising no help was forthcoming from his end, the line of his attackers so dense that it rivaled the densely packed stones of the Monastery wall at their backs.

She swept through her own attackers, no longer bothering with clean blows, using all the dirty moves she had ever learned to cripple, injure, and disable everyone in sight, even if temporarily. Her eyes darted to the far wall, noting the hooded man who ducked Torr’s arrow, throwing a murderous look at the archer. As he raised his head, she caught the gleam of the man’s yellow eyes – eyes she would never forget from the time he and Nimos had cornered her in the Illitand Hall.

She slid between the attackers, putting her entire force into moving fast enough to transcend the enemy line. She whipped up two throwing daggers as she ran, weighting them in her hand. Could she do another shadow throw?

She felt inspired enough to try.

She didn’t stop running as she sent the two blades flying in perfect unison toward the yellow-eyed man. He made no attempt to deflect them, but tried to dodge instead, his frantic moves telling her he knew all about this kind of throw and how dangerous it was to attempt to alter its course. She heard a thud as the daggers hit, sending the man down to the cobbles. In the next moment the other four Kaddim were around her, each drawing two curved sabers from the sheaths at their back.

She swallowed, feeling as if she were reliving a bad dream. Back in Illitand Hall, when she had faced Nimos and Tolos side by side, she’d had no weapons except a captured orben and was handicapped by the weight of a child in her arms – Princess Aljbeda, whose protection got her into the ordeal. That time, only Mai’s interference had saved her from imminent death. And now… could she handle four, all by herself?

She could see carnal triumph in their eyes – Nimos’s dark and owl-like, and others, speckled, and purple, and snake-gray. She tried to distance herself from them as she focused on parrying their attack. They formed a tight circle around her, thrusting simultaneously from all sides, moving in perfect unison, as if controlled by a single mind. If there was such a thing as a five-dagger shadow throw, could there be a technique called “shadow attack”?
Dear Shal Addim, our Shadow Master is one of them, and he knows all my weaknesses and can relay them to the others.
She dismissed the thought, putting all her strength and speed into the fight.

Her peripheral vision caught a movement behind her. Tolos, the man she had wounded, rising to a crouch, making passes with his hands. She smelled a bitter wisp of smoke.
He’s summoning a time vortex.

It dawned on her how the Kaddim Brothers were crowding in, putting more effort into containing her within their circle than into the actual attack... The smoke was enfolding her, making her eyes tingle, blocking her vision...

Are they trying to take me with them?

A chill in the pit of her stomach caused her a moment’s lapse in concentration, a saber whizzing too close to her face. She forced herself to distance her mind from what was going on behind her, from the way the cobbles suddenly felt uneven, buckling and caving under her feet.

Pulling...

A dark shadow darted behind her attackers’ line. A black polished staff cut into the circle of the Kaddim, a blade springing from its end, hitting one of them in the chest.

Mai.

Relief washed over her as she watched him sweep past the falling man, clashing weapons with another one by her side. He was shouting, and in her daze she couldn’t make out the words, but she could see the action erupt in his wake as the Majat regrouped, forming an impenetrable line. The enemies fell to their blades left and right, the Jades’ arrows blocking the waves of new reinforcements at the side gates. Thick furry shapes darted by her feet.
Spiders.
They launched upon a hooded man at her side, his scream as they stung him echoing to every corner of the courtyard. Then, waves of thick smoke enfolded her and she felt Mai’s hand grip her arm, pulling her out of the way as the cobblestones under her feet finally caved into a bottomless pit.

Time vortex.

She held on to Mai, grasping with all her might as he pulled her away, watching the cobblestones pop back into place. Sounds returned, the clashing of the ending battle, the gusts of the wind. The courtyard around her stood level, far more solid and somewhat emptier than moments ago.

The Kaddim Brothers were gone, as if they had never existed.

“Bloody hell,” Magister Egey Bashi said, striding up to her side.

Dazed, she ran her gaze around the courtyard. The battle was dying out, the Kaddim fighters crumpling under the Majat attack. Without their leaders and the mind power to back them up, they were demoralized. Jade arrows whizzed by, joined by the swordsmen, cornering the remaining men, picking them off one by one until the large courtyard was strewn with bodies, hiding the cobblestones.

The Kaddim fighters made no attempt to surrender. But even if they had, Kara knew they would be shown no mercy.

There seemed to be no reason to rejoin the fight, which appeared to be all but over under the overwhelming Majat force. She let out a breath, her death strain slowly giving way to fatigue as she steadied herself against Mai, finally finding the strength to disengage from his grip. His stunned look answered so well the way she felt inside.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

She shivered, surprised at the way she felt like crying. Facing the Kaddim Brothers again after what happened last time seemed like too much. Having been nearly caught in the middle of their time vortex…

She shivered. Why were they trying to take her with them? What did they want with her?

All around her the fighters were stopping and lowering their weapons. There were no standing enemies in sight. She watched Kyth approach with his group, and Alder swept past her, bending down to pick up his spiders.

“Have we… won?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kara said slowly. “I think.”

“We have definitely succeeded in freeing the Holy Monastery,” Egey Bashi said, “as well as in taking down a major number of Kaddim warriors. This ends the Kaddim rule within these walls, and the takeover of the Holy Church that, to my knowledge, had been in progress for at least decades. I’d call that victory. The King will be so pleased.”

Mai shrugged, his look suggesting he didn’t give a damn about the King’s pleasure.

“Let’s survey the grounds,” he said. “I, for one, would like to make sure there are no Kaddim left.”

Egey Bashi glanced at Kara. “Did you see which one of them the spiders bit?”

She shook her head. “No. Sorry, Magister.”

“It’s fine,” Mai said, “as long as they bit at least one of them.”

“They did.” Kara swallowed, feeling an unpleasant weakness in the pit of her stomach. She would probably never know how close it had been, but one thing was certain. If it hadn’t been for Mai she would likely be out there right now, trapped in the worst nightmare that had ever haunted her dreams. He had told her he had permanently erased her debt with him. But it was impossible in her situation not to feel at least a little bit grateful.

She realized something else too. Whatever else she felt toward him, she was certain that this gratitude would never prompt her to act differently toward him. The way she felt about him surpassed any simple feelings like debt, gratitude, and duty.

She would do anything for him, even if it meant staying by his side without ever being able to let him know how she felt.