Perhaps she does have more power than I gave her credit for, after all, because while I don't like the idea of bringing anyone but my men with me, I incline my head. "As you wish. I am to leave within four hours; your mage will be expected at our base when possible."
She doesn't ask why I need this long.
I leave my excitable sister to chat with the artful queen, and return to Vlari's chamber.
When I arrive, I'm not alone.
Out of Breath
Drusk
It's late enough in the day that the rest of Whitecroft Hall starts to wake. I hear servants and lords stir around me, reviving fires, preparing or eating their breakfast.
I’ve had little sleep, but I need to see Vlari more than I need another one or two hours in bed.
I’m annoyed I’m not the first to arrive. I’m not in a mood to socialize—I’d prefer to have her all to myself this evening.
There's a fae next to her—someone I’ve never met. It's not saying much; I don't know everyone in Whitecroft, but most of them are familiar to me, by sight at least, or by their smell.
This stranger stands out in several ways. He wears heavy padded leather that doesn't quite look like the kind of craftmanship I normally see. Even his way of standing is different. He looks like a gentry, yet he almost slouches, his eyes drifting from one side of the room to the next.
Shifty. He's shifty.
"Who are you?"
He looks between me and Vlari, in a way I can only deem calculating.
Vlari’s dark fox, that hardly ever stirred before—other than baring his teeth and hissing at me—is sitting on her stomach, his bright eyes fixed on the stranger. His tail flicks the air in annoyance.
I step inside, lifting one hand and gathering Myst in my palm. "I said, who are you?"
By this point, it’s of no importance. If he meant no harm, he would have answered the first time around.
I step toward him, each move calculating. He’s a lot closer to Vlari than I am. I need to reach them now.
The stranger moves faster than I anticipated, plucking a ball filled with black liquid from inside his cloak.
He throws it on the floor and breaks the glass under his heel. His enchantment spreads, rendering the room pitch black. This is no natural darkness, and I can't dissipate it with my power. Now blind, I have to rely on my other senses, but the intruder doesn't make a sound.
There's only one thing I feel, one thing I am certain of: Vlari's location. I can pinpoint it exactly in the dark room, though nothing else is clear.
I stumble as fast as I can, making my way to her. Something solid blocks my path.
There you are.
I sense an attack just in time to stop his approaching arm. A blade bites into my face, cutting my cheek. He has a knife or a dagger in hand.
My heart stops, not because I've halted a deadly blow. Because I understand the point of his weapon. This wasn't meant for me. His blade was intended to end up in Vlari's heart. This is an assassin.
I don't think I've ever known true rage until now. I believed I did a time or two, but the pure, undiluted hatred and fury poisoning my heart blinds all needs but one. I have to kill this scum. I have to make him suffer. I have to send his soul to the deepest of hells.
I kick and punch, screaming the vilest insults. His blade slices my arm, then my leg, and finds its way into my shoulder, but I don't feel any of it.
The assassin curses and attempts to step out of my reach, lunging to his left, toward Vlari's bed. Now that he understands I'm not easy prey, he's trying to carry out his mission and get away.
I think not.
His spell has started to dissipate, or perhaps my eyes have become accustomed to complete darkness, because I see a blur of movement. I lunge toward it, knocking him down with my body, and I pin him under me. The man thrashes to escape, but I'm heavier and just as well trained as he—this close, he has no chance of getting out from under me. Or so I think. Then he manages to kick upright. I wince as another blade gets lodged in my back. His boots are fitted with knives, too. He kicks a second, then a third time to get me off him. I try to keep him pinned, but when his knife hits the side of my ribs, he manages to weasel out, then jumps out of the way.
