Imperial Assassin (30 page)

He had thought he would catch up with Reynik before reaching the guard post, but his prey was moving faster than he had anticipated. As he approached, the young man was already talking to the
guards. Shalidar paused for a moment in deep shadow. He knew where Wolf Spider would be heading. The young man would go straight to the Palace. He had promised his father as much.

The quickest way to the Imperial Palace was along the central street that ran right through this quarter of the city. Shalidar decided the best thing to do would be to intercept him further into
the city, where his friends would not hear him if he were to call for help. It would not take much effort to get ahead of him. The only question remaining was how to make the kill. The uniform,
with its protective elements, made a killing knife-throw from any distance less easy. No, he thought. It will be far more satisfying to kill him with the same blade that still runs with his
father’s blood. No military brat possesses enough skill with a blade to worry me. I’ll run him through, as I did his father. There’s a certain poetic feel to killing both in such
a fashion.

Reynik had a few problems convincing the guards to let him back out of the camp on his own. However, the parchment with the Commander’s written authority was enough to see off the most
stubborn objections. With admonitions to be careful ringing in his ears, he strode along the main street towards the city centre and the Imperial Palace.

He had walked no more than four hundred paces when a shadowy figure stepped out from a side street to his left and angled across the road towards him. Reynik’s hand went instinctively to
his sword hilt.

‘Stop where you are! Come no closer, or I’ll draw my sword. I have no wish to harm you,’ he warned, his voice ringing out loud and clear.

‘Sorry, young master, I didn’t mean any harm. I was only goin’ to ask if you’d a few coppers for an old veteran.’

The stranger’s voice was querulous and pitched like that of an old man, but Reynik was suspicious. Anyone out on his own after dark in the city at the moment was potentially dangerous.
Reynik was too on edge to allow strangers to get close without getting a close look at them first.

‘Step into the light of that lamp. Let me see what you look like,’ Reynik ordered, pointing at a lamp a little further down the street.

The shadowy figure put his hands out in front of him with his palms forward in a sign of peaceful intent. He sidestepped carefully until he was standing in the pool of light under the oil lamp.
As far as Reynik could see, the man was an ordinary old man dressed in poor clothing. His cloak appeared torn in several places. From what Reynik could see, his other apparel was in a similar
state.

‘I’m sorry, friend. I didn’t mean to appear hostile, but despite all the patrols, the streets of Shandrim are not safe these days. I suggest you choose better lit areas to do
your begging if you want to avoid getting hurt.’

‘Good advice, young sir, but the streets in the richer parts of the city are run by villains who would be quick to kill me. They don’t want people like me walking their areas. They
only give one warning. If seen a second time, they dispose of those who trespass on their territory. What choice do I have? I’m too old to be of use to anyone. I was once a soldier like you,
but I no longer own a sword. I have nowhere to live. I’m reliant on the charity of strangers. It’s not much of a life.’

Reynik felt pity for the old beggar, but he was still wary. Keeping his eyes on the old man for any sign of foul play, Reynik fumbled in the dark to find some coins. When he had found some, he
laid them down on a paving slab at the edge of the lit area and cautiously moved on, taking a wide line around the man standing under the street lamp.

‘Bless you,’ the man said. Then he suddenly yelled, ‘Look out!’

Reynik had been so intent on the old man, he had not noticed another figure closing in on him from further down the street. The warning was timely. Reynik’s sword cleared his scabbard in a
flash and, by instinct, deflected the new stranger’s blade several times. The ring of steel on steel sounded loud in the quiet evening street.

Forced back by the dark figure, Reynik moved into the dim pool of light given off by the street lamp. The stranger followed him, his sword constantly in motion.

‘Leave him alone!’ the old beggar yelled out, grabbing his coins and staggering off down the street in a shuffling run. Over his shoulder he shouted again. ‘He’s doing no
harm. Leave him alone.’

‘Brother Dragon!’ Reynik grunted, as he realised who he faced.

‘Brother Wolf Spider,’ Shalidar acknowledged in a rasping whisper as he whipped his blade around in a slashing stroke. Reynik barely deflected it. He could just see a sneering smile
under the shadow of the assassin’s hood.

‘What are you doing? What of the bond of the Brotherhood? The creed? Why are you trying to kill me?’

Shalidar paused in his assault for a moment, his sword held poised. ‘The Guild does not tolerate traitors to live, Reynik. You should have completed your mission this night. The Guild
offered you a place in our family. A man cannot give allegiance to two families without creating a conflict of interests. As you’re also working for the Emperor, you’re doubly a
traitor. I will enjoy telling the Guildmaster he was wrong about you, but I will gain even greater pleasure from collecting the fee that was to be yours. Now I must send you to join your father.
The bounty for a traitor’s head is sure to be substantial.’

Reynik’s heart was sinking as Shalidar named him a traitor to the Guild. Had the assassin told anyone else? If Reynik could kill him, would he be safe to go back to the Guild headquarters?
Then he froze as the import of the last few sentences sunk in. Shalidar had killed his father . . . Shalidar had
killed
his father! The feeling in his stomach switched from cold, leaden
dread to white-hot rage in the blink of an eye.

In those first few seconds it took a supreme effort of will to hold back from launching into a berserk attack. A combination of his military training and his lessons with Serrius saved him. The
gladiator’s words in particular flashed back into his head.

‘Never fight angry; I allowed my opponent in the arena to get me angry and look what happened.’ Reynik had seen Serrius’ scars before, but the visual impact of the entry
and exit scars where the gladiator had been run through had lost none of their value. ‘Peace and balance must be at the centre of your being, or you will lose awareness and poise. Be at
peace. Focus. Control your breathing. Allow your balance and speed to be your strength.’

Somehow, Reynik clamped down on his anger. He was not in a mental state of peace and balance, but he kept his emotions under control as Shalidar attacked again. The assassin was a master
swordsman, but he was expecting an opponent with little more than a basic military training to draw on. It took a moment, but Shalidar soon realised that this was no ordinary young soldier.

Reynik met Shalidar’s attack with flowing strokes and fine balance. There was no woodenness about the way he handled a sword. The drills that the Legions favoured in developing fighters
who could work together in lines without maiming the person next to them were not in evidence. Reynik held his ground, matching the assassin stroke for stroke, and countering with some elegant
blade work of his own.

The ringing tones of the two blades meeting in rapid sequences sang loud, echoing down the street. Sparks flashed from the blades with each impact. Reynik could see that Shalidar was superior in
skill and technique, but what he lacked in skill, Reynik made up for with speed and fitness. After an extended exchange of blows with neither protagonist breaking through the other’s defence,
Reynik began taunting the assassin in an attempt to provoke him.

‘What’s the matter, Shalidar? Lost your touch? You’ve got slack, that’s what it is. You’re so used to stabbing people in the back that you’ve lost your
edge.’

Shalidar ignored him. He knew exactly what Reynik was trying to do. It would not work. He began to circle his opponent, stalking him like a big cat. Reynik, too, began to circle, keeping up a
string of taunts.

Leaping in close, Reynik suddenly took the fight to Shalidar. There was another clashing exchange, as Reynik drove forward with a vicious sequence of strokes, but Shalidar met every swing with a
solid defence. Reynik sprang back, but his assailant followed, catching him momentarily off balance.

Shalidar’s blade flashed at Reynik’s neck. Somehow, Reynik blocked it, but the follow up stroke was just too fast for him and it impacted his chest plate. He was lucky that the blow
was a sweeping one, rather than a lunge, or his light armour would not have saved him. However, as he was already moving backwards, the strike on his chest armour was enough to overbalance him. He
fell, deflecting another stroke even whilst in the air. The impact with the cobbled street was painful, and his helmet came loose, spinning off across the stones with a noisy clatter.

The assassin’s blade speared down towards Reynik in a killer lunge. Somehow, with a twist of his body and an inspired parry, Reynik turned the blade aside and the point struck the cobbles
a hair’s breadth from his body. Shalidar had been forced to come in close to make the lunge – too close. With another mighty twist, Reynik kicked Shalidar’s legs out from under
his body, dumping him on the cobbles in a fall that was every bit as hard as Reynik’s.

Both men scrambled to their feet. Another sound intruded: the sound of running feet – booted feet. A formation of Legionnaires was running along the street towards them, swords already
drawn.

Shalidar did not hesitate. He turned and ran. Reynik went after him. The assassin was fast and silent. When he turned off the main road into a side alley, Reynik skidded to a halt. It was one
thing to chase Shalidar up a lit road, but quite another to try to follow him into the shadows. He had no choice. He would have to let the assassin go.

‘I’ll get you next time, Shalidar!’ he called.

There was no response. He was gone. The Legionnaires were closing. He could not afford to waste time explaining himself to every File Leader who thought they should know what was going on. He
had to get to the Palace quickly. If Femke were to get into the Guild headquarters, it would have to be done quickly, before the Guildmaster thought to set a watch on his room. Reynik turned and
ran on up the main road.

‘You there! Legionnaire! Halt!’

Reynik did not waste his breath by responding. He took the next available alleyway on the opposite side of the street and disappeared into the night.

Reynik gave the password to the guard at the servants’ entrance to the Imperial Palace. He was waved through without question. The guard knew better than to question
someone who knew that particular password.

Reynik had called at the safe house where Femke had last been staying. It was empty. If Femke was still using it, then she was not at home this evening. Reynik knew there was a chance she could
be here in the Palace, but it was a long shot. It was more likely she would be out in the city on a mission.

There was no time to search for her, or to wait until she returned home. Reynik needed help. He needed to talk to the Emperor. Surabar would know what to do next. He had been a military General
for years. It was his plan to begin with. He would not have committed them to it without having thought through some contingencies. Of course it was probable this was not a situation he had ever
considered. After all, what were the chances of his infiltrating the Guild, getting found out, but then escaping with his life? It was not a sequence of events he would have anticipated.

Racing through the corridors and up the stairs, Reynik approached the Emperor’s study. He was not surprised to see light flickering in the high windows that opened onto the corridor. Good,
he thought, at least the Emperor is in.

He approached the guard at the door. ‘Legionnaire Reynik to see the Emperor,’ he announced. The guard looked suspicious.

‘Password?’

Reynik gave his password and the guard nodded. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Wait here just a moment.’ The man knocked on the study door and disappeared. He reappeared very
quickly. ‘The Emperor will see you now.’

‘Thanks.’

Reynik stepped inside. He had hoped that Femke might be in the office already, but the Emperor was alone. He marched smartly forward and stopped with his posture firmly at
‘attention’. He saluted and the Emperor smiled.

‘At ease, Reynik. It’s good to see you’ve not forgotten all your military training. Now, why are you here? Femke told me earlier that you’d successfully infiltrated the
Guild. Have you discovered the location of their headquarters? If not then you’ve taken a great risk by coming here.’

‘No, your Majesty. I’ve learned nothing new. I’m here because I have a problem. My cover has been blown. Shalidar tried to kill me not half an hour ago. The Guildmaster set me
a hit, but it was not one that I could carry out. I’m sorry, your Majesty, but I’ve failed. They asked me to kill Commander Lutalo. I could never do that. Commander Lutalo is my
father.’