He left his last thought hanging in the air. A sham, his preference, because that he could control.

“I’ll be gone a few weeks. No more. But if Tierny still hasn’t shown by the time I get back, it doesn’t bode well for him. It will be your turn to ride with a show of force and see if we have a challenger who needs to be brought into the fold. We can’t have renegade governors when so much is at stake. Especially with the critical supplies we need coming from Arleston.”

“Tierny is always late.”

“Late or not, when I return, you go. And without her. Remember what I said. We aren’t cocks guarding hens. We are the Rahtan.”

The Rahtan. I was eleven the first time I repeated those words back to him. Younger even than Eben. By then, I had been under his protection for a year. He’d made sure I got double portions of food. At that point, my eyes were no longer sunken, the hollows in my cheeks had filled out, and meat was back on my scarred ribs. I had said the words with all the pride I heard in his voice now. We are the Rahtan, the united brothers, dauntless and enduring. From that moment, he had begun grooming me to become the next Assassin. I was awed and grateful for the trust he gave me.

My loyalty to him was probably greater than anyone’s. He had slaughtered many to save my skinny bones. I owed him everything. He was the Assassin back then. Three Assassins had come and gone since, none of them surviving more than a few years. At the age of fifteen, I was the youngest ever to claim the position. That was four years ago.

How much blood do you have on your hands, Kaden? How many people have you killed? I couldn’t answer Lia because I didn’t know the numbers. I knew only gurgled breaths. The half gasps that came too late. The hands that were too slow to draw the weapon poised at their side. I knew the startled eyes that took a piece of me with them before they closed. They had grown into one faceless blur. All I knew was that they were traitors who had infiltrated other kingdoms to escape justice, or officers at outposts, whose attacks were relentless and brutal, and who hunted down families like Eben’s that tried to settle in the Cam Lanteux. But the work of an Assassin could only instill fear in the enemy, and perhaps slow the attacks. A marching army could stop them for good.

The Komizar stopped several yards short of the gate. “We can’t let weakness take hold, and that brings me to my next matter,” he said. “Three soldiers ran. We found them hiding with a camp of vagabonds. The vagabonds were dealt with for sheltering them, but the soldiers were brought back.”

“Vagabonds? Which ones?”

“In the forests north of Reux Lau.”

I took an easier breath. I shouldn’t have been relieved that any vagabonds had perished, but I had a special fondness for Dihara and her clan. I knew Dihara was too smart to harbor traitors. Most vagabonds were. News of the harsh consequences meted out to a few traveled like wind through vagabond camps.

He told me the execution would be at the third bell in front of comrade soldiers, and I was to call the count.

Though a chievdar carried out the executions and staking, the Komizar or the Keep always gave the last interrogation, always called to the troops who witnessed for a yea or nay, always gave the final instruction for them to lay their heads on the block. Always gave the final nod. The count, it was called, the final steps that dealt justice.

“But remember, don’t kill them too quickly. It goes a long way toward discouraging similar actions. Make sure they suffer. You’ll take care of that, right, brother?”

I looked at him. Nodded. I always met my duty.

He gave me a hearty hug and walked away, but after only a few steps, he paused again and turned. “Oh, and make sure you feed the emissary. I think Ulrix will conveniently forget, and I don’t want to return to a corpse. I’m not done with our royal ambassador. Yet.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I spotted Griz leading a horse out of the stable. With Kaden’s and the Komizar’s backs still to me, I hurried over to intercept him. He saw me coming and stopped, his ever-present scowl receding.

“May I speak to you?” I asked. “Privately.”

He looked to each side. “We’re as alone as we’re going to get.”

I had no time for diplomacy. “Are you a spy?” I asked bluntly.

He stepped forward, his chin tucked to his chest. “No more talk of that,” he grumbled low. His eyes darted to nearby governors talking in groups of three or four. “I did you a favor, girl. You saved my life and that of my comrades. I pay my debts. We’re even now.”

“I don’t believe that’s all it was, Griz. I saw your face. You cared.”

“Don’t make it out to be more than it was.”

“But I still need your help.”

“We’re done, Princess. Do you understand that?”

But we couldn’t be done. I still needed more help. “I could reveal to them all that you speak fluent Morrighese,” I threatened. I was desperate for his help, even if I had to blackmail him to get it.

“And if you did that, you’d be condemning my whole family to death. Thirty-six of them. Brothers, sisters, cousins, their children. More than that whole company of men you watched die. Is that what you want?”

Thirty-six. I searched his scarred face and saw fear, true and real. I shook my head. “No,” I whispered. “That’s not what I want.” I felt my hopes slump with another door closed. “Your secret is safe.”

“And yours is as well.”