Will sighed. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.” He moved to the door, intending to show her the way out, then paused. It was still raining heavily. “I’ll have my man get a carriage for you.”
“I need to see her,” said Laina once more, a faint tone of desperation in her voice.
“She isn’t here, but I’ll make sure she talks to you first when she returns,” he answered.
“When will that be?”
Months? Years? He didn’t know. “It could be a while.”
Laina’s prideful visage cracked. “Please. I need her help.”
The look on her face made Will’s chest tighten. Whatever Laina’s problem was, she obviously thought it was a serious concern. “Maybe I could help?” he offered. “If you’ll tell me what you—”
His half-sister’s features hardened. “I’d sooner beg on the streets.” She turned to the door on her own, opening it and stepping out. Then she glanced back at him. “You’ll get yours when I figure out what you’ve done to her. Mark my words.”
“It’s still raining,” he cautioned. “Let me get you a coach—” The door slammed shut.
Blake stepped out from the front room. “Perhaps you should have woken her to come down and see her.”
Will glared at the man. He was all but certain that Blake knew about Tailtiu’s ruse. “Laina knows her too well. You should know that as well as…”
Blake coughed, interrupting him. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, sir. Perhaps I should ask His Majesty for some clarification.” There was a warning in the man’s eyes.
Will closed his mouth abruptly. Translation: don’t say anything that you don’t want the king to hear about. Blake was clearly loyal to his mistress, but as Will had found out in the past, no one dared attempt lying to the king, not if they valued their lives.
He stared at his manservant for a long minute, listening to the rain pouring down outside. Then he turned to open the door and go out.
Blake called out to him with concern in his voice, “It’s cold and wet out there, sir. Let me get you a rain cover.”
“No time,” said Will. “I’ll be back later.”
“It’s dark. It isn’t safe to be out in this alone.”
“Exactly.”
It should have been a half-moon that night, but the rainclouds ruined any chance of decent illumination. Will earned himself a painful headache as he adjusted his vision to make the best use of the scanty light. Apparently wild magic was just as bad for him as formal spells when it came to his injury. He followed Laina while keeping a considerable distance between them, trusting distance and the dim light to keep him unobserved.
The rain soaked through his doublet and undershirt as he followed Laina across Wurthaven’s dark lawns and down the lane that led to the main entrance. He regretted ignoring Blake’s advice. An oilcloth cover would have kept the worst of the water off, but what he missed most was his brigandine under-armor. He’d taken it off as soon as he’d gone to his study. Being outdoors without at least that much protection made him feel vulnerable.
The past year had made him a very paranoid young man.
And I’m probably wasting my time, he thought to himself. Chances are she’ll get home without any trouble at all and I’ll have gotten myself soaked and chilled for naught.
As Laina left Wurthaven behind and stepped onto the main road, Will noticed movement in the darkness ahead. Someone else was following her. His heart sped up, and he quickened his steps.
His mind considered the situation as he tried to close the distance. The stranger was skillful, following Laina at a distance of less than thirty yards without making enough noise to alert her. The newcomer clearly didn’t have his ability to see in the dark, though, otherwise the fellow would have kept a greater distance, like Will. Or is he just following her? He had no way of knowing the stranger’s intentions. “But I’ll find out,” he whispered under his breath.
He would have loved to use magic to hide himself, or to cover the sounds of his movement, but he didn’t dare risk incapacitating himself. He relied on the noise of the rain to cover his approach, and he was no slouch at moving quietly when he needed to. Will sped up and began to close ground.
The stranger was getting closer to Laina as well, and as the man passed under a streetlamp at the next intersection Will saw a flash of metal. Will charged.
The shadowy figure was less than ten feet from Laina’s unsuspecting back when Will reached him. The man heard him splash through a puddle at the last moment, and Will saw a flash of bright eyes and thin brows above a cloth mask as the man turned and ducked his first punch.
The fellow failed to avoid the second, simultaneous swing, which connected with the his midsection. The man folded slightly, the air rushing from his lungs, while Will felt a sharp pain shoot up his arm. The assassin had been wearing some sort of armor.
Will’s opponent had fallen to the ground, but the man rolled out of the way before Will could bring his foot down. Glancing up, Will felt a sense of relief as he saw that Laina had already noticed the fight and was wisely running away. He focused on her assailant. It was time to get some answers.
The man had already gotten back to his feet, and now that he had time to observe the fellow he could see that the man was rather short with a slim build. This will be quick. He moved in and was surprised when his foe spun, turning his back on him, something only a fool would do. When the man leapt from the ground and continued the spin, Will was almost caught off-guard by the heavy boot that came rushing at his head.
Will threw himself to the side, robbing the kick of some of its sting, but he still fell hard. He caught himself on one hand and pushed himself back toward the man, who was following up the kick with a lunging stomp. His sudden change of direction put him inside the fellow’s attack, and he took advantage by driving his fist into the man’s groin as the stranger stomped at the place where he’d expected Will to be.
The man let out a brief grunt of pain but didn’t fall, even though Will was sure he’d connected solidly. His opponent took a step back, but Will pressed his attack, creating a point-defense shield to trip his foe.
Or rather, he tried to do so. A crashing wave of pain overwhelmed him and for a moment he couldn’t see. It was followed by a more familiar sort of pain as his opponent took advantage of the moment and drove an elbow into the side of his head. Will fell sideways and caught a boot to the belly as he tried to cover his head. Then his vision cleared, and he saw a flash as a long-bladed knife appeared in the stranger’s hand.
The world slowed to a crawl as Will tried to move in time, but his body wouldn’t respond quickly enough. A sharp pain took his breath away, and then his head slammed into the cobblestones. Everything went black.