The remaining six men slept under tables in the common room, in their armor with weapons beside them. William had managed to sleep in armor a time or two during training, but reckoned he would never get the knack of it, or have to be a great deal more tired than he had been when he last tried it.

He sat at the table where they had dined the day before, too keyed up even to contemplate sleeping. He lost track of time, turning over the day's events in his mind a hundred times. He knew he could not have handled things better, yet felt as if he had somehow failed in his duty. A n.o.ble of a neighboring nation lay abed upstairs at grave risk, men had died, and he had barely avoided losing everything. He was certain Captain Treggar would have something to say to him.

His mind wandered and he started to doze where he sat when a movement beside him caused him to start awake. It was the man Sidi, who said, "I didn't mean to disturb you, lieutenant."

"That's all right. I need to stay alert."

"If they come, it will be soon. Dawn is but two hours away."

The stranger was correct. Just before dawn was when men were the most sluggish and most commanders took advantage of that knowledge when they could.

William studied the strange man in the gloom, the room's darkness cut by only one small candle. "What do you do, if I may ask?"

"I live in a small village inland from the town of Halden Head, up near Widow's Point."

William knew of the area, though he had only traveled through there once. "Rough country."

"It can be, but it suits my needs."

"And they would be?"

The man shrugged. "I trade. Items, gems, rare minerals, sometimes knowledge. There are men and other creatures, goblins and trolls, who are willing to sell me things in exchange for other goods I have."

William said sharply, "You wouldn't be running weapons, would you?"

Sidi said, "I have other items trolls and goblins value.

One does not have to deal in contraband to trade with them."

William sighed. "I'm sorry to be so distrustful, but under the circ.u.mstances . . ."

"I understand. I was eating with the man who attacked your party. I do dabble in trade that many would look upon with suspicion."

William stared at the door as if expecting someone to break in any instant. "Are they coming?" he asked absently.

Sidi said, "We shall know shortly."

They waited in silence.

Minutes dragged by, then one of the sentries said, "Lieutenant!"

"What?" asked William, standing up and drawing his sword.

"Movement, outside," said the guard.

William listened. For moments he couldn't hear any sounds out of the ordinary, then he heard it. Someone or something was creeping around the inn, probably inspecting the windows.

Abruptly, the sound of running feet came from outside, then the door exploded inward with a loud crash. There was no need to shout alarm, as men rolled out from under the tables beneath which they had slept, weapons in hand.

Four men had used a large log as a ram, and dropped it as they surged forward. Weaponless, they hurled themselves at William, Sidi and two other sentries, allowing four armed men behind them to enter the room.

William kicked an attacker in the groin and cut the man behind him as he turned toward Sidi. Sidi brandished a dagger and was facing down a man who was in the process of drawing out a curved sword.

Noise from upstairs told William that Matthews was securing the duke's room and getting ready for the two who were now rushing up the stairs.

The armed men proved to be far more difficult foes than the four who had first come through the door. William's men had disposed of the latter quickly, but the armed men were advancing warily.

Each attacker was attired in black, with a loose head-covering that left only the eyes exposed. They wore baggy pants that were gathered at the ankle, tucked into low black boots. Their black shirts were tightly fastened at the neck and wrists, and their weapons had all been blackened. William shouted, "Clear the door in case there are archers outside!"

The man facing William lashed out with his curved blade, and William took it on his own two-handed sword. The clang of metal upon metal rang out all over the room. His attacker slashed from the other side and William realized he was being measured. William intentionally let his guard lower, antic.i.p.ating that when the third testing blow came, it would be followed by a furious slash that was intended to cut above his blade and take him across the chest.

Instead the man's eyes widened in shock as William's swordpoint took him in the chest. Early on in his training William had realized that most swordsmen consider the longsword a slashing weapon and don't antic.i.p.ate the danger from the point. He had developed that skill as much as possible, often using the sword as other men used the broadsword or rapier. As more than one instructor had said, the slash wounds, but the thrust kills.

The fallen man had barely hit the floor when William saw two men in black hurrying up the stairs. He sped after them, and found them struggling with Matthews and two guardsmen.

William felled one from behind, while the other killed the soldier next to Matthews.

Matthews managed to cut the attacker, who ignored any pain and spun to push the sergeant into William. Tangled for a moment, they saw the man hurl himself against the door to the duke's room.

The door crashed inward, causing splinters to fly through the air like tiny missiles. A scream sounded from the room next to the duke's.

"The Princess!" William shouted to Matthews as he half-pushed, half-pointed the sergeant toward the duke's room. William raised his foot and kicked hard against the door to Paulina's room. The shock ran straight up his leg to his hip, but the door gave way, swinging inward.

Paulina sat cowering in the corner, her fists before her face as the wooden shutters of her window splintered and fell away. Another black-clad warrior was entering from outside. William raced forward, holding his sword with both hands, leveled like a lance.

The man died soundlessly.

William knelt next to the Princess, who looked at him in horror. "Are you all right?" he shouted, as if his loud voice might reach past the fear.

She stared at him and shook her head slightly. He took that to mean she was unhurt. Without any idea how things fared in the rest of the inn, he could only say, "Don't move. Stay right here until someone comes to fetch you."

He hurried next door to find Vladic, Kazamir and Matthews standing over two dead a.s.sa.s.sins. The duke lay half-conscious, staring up at his son and nephew, as if confused as to who they were.

Seeing no immediate danger, William said, "Sergeant, come with me."

They hurried down the stairs and found three guardsmen lying dead on the floor, with five black-dad warriors stretched out beside them. Sounds of struggle came from the kitchen and William said, "Sergeant, guard the stairs," and he raced into the kitchen.

Dead bodies littered the floor, among them the innkeeper, his wife, and the serving girl. Two soldiers, obviously wounded, had one last invader cornered. He stood with his back to the wall, a curved sword in his right hand, a dagger in his left. "Keep him alive!" shouted William.

Seeing no escape, the man reached up with the dagger and with one quick motion cut his own throat.

The two soldiers and William stepped back, astonished at the act. William hesitated, then knelt next to the man. His eyes were staring upward, and what life in them fled in moments as the blood gushed from his neck.

"Fanatics!" said one of the soldiers, holding his sword in his left hand while his right hung limply.

William sat back on his heels. "Yes, fanatics," he said.

The other solder, holding his bleeding side with a bleeding hand said, "Lieutenant, what were they? Nighthawks?"

"I don't think so," said William. He had an idea what they were, but thought better of saying anything to the men. He stood and said, "Let's get this place as secure as we can."

The two men nodded and one tried a salute, but William waved it off. "Get yourself bandaged."

William inspected the kitchen. Besides the bodies of the innkeeper, his wife and the serving-girl, three more a.s.sa.s.sins lay dead, as did the two guardsmen he had stationed there originally.

William stuck his head out of the door that opened onto the stabling yard and saw the sky to the east was lightening. He heard the horses snort in the stable and counted himself fortunate that he hadn't put men needlessly in the stable. Two or three less men in the inn and they might not have survived.

William returned to the common room and looked around. "Someone's missing," he said to Matthews. "Where's Sidi?"

"Vanished during the fight," said one of the soldiers. "Faced one of the killers with a dagger and when I killed the man trying to kill him, he runs off into the night without so much as a thank you."

William nodded. "Given the circ.u.mstances, I don't blame him. Maybe he'll come back." William doubted it. From what he had said, the man skated along the edge of the law and with this many dead, there was bound to be too much royal scrutiny for him to welcome it. William looked at Matthews. "How do we stand?"

"There are five men still living, and you and I, sir."

"Sun's coming up. I think we're safe until reinforcements arrive."

"I'll see to the men, sir. You could use some rest."

William nodded, then stood. "We all could use some rest." He started to pull bodies out of the inn and then said, "Sergeant, I want these a.s.sa.s.sins searched." He was almost certain they'd find nothing but swords and daggers, no personal items, jewelry, or anything else that might reveal who they were.

As Matthews set about tending the men, William went to the first attacker outside. He knelt next to the body and removed the head covering. He then pried open the mouth and saw the man's tongue had been cut.

William sat back on his heels and shook his head. Looking toward the south, he said to himself, "What are Keshian a.s.sa.s.sins doing trying to kill a Prince of Olasko?"

NINE - Decisions Arutha frowned.

He stood to one side of the Duke of Olasko's bed and watched as a priest of the Order of Prandur examined the duke.

The priest was new to Arutha's service, having been selected by his order to serve for a year as Arutha's spiritual advisor. The position rotated through the various major temples in the city, each sending an advisor for a year's term-though some chose not to-and this year it was Father Belson.

The slender, black-bearded cleric stood up, his purple and scarlet robes shimmering with reflected torchlight, and turned to the Prince. "There is infection and something else, a magical element that keeps the wound from healing properly." Then, looking at William, the priest said, "The powder you saw sprinkled upon the wound was green, you say?"

"Yes, Father," William replied.

He had returned to the palace less than an hour ago, bone-tired and filthy. When relief under Captain Treggar had arrived at the inn at dawn, the healer who had accompanied the relief column had p.r.o.nounced the duke's condition beyond his ability to improve, and urged Captain Treggar to return the duke to Krondor as quickly as possible. The captain had utilized a wagon out behind the inn to carry the duke and his family, and while the inn's wagon was being made ready to carry the duke and his family, William had made his report.

Treggar had said nothing to him after that, save direct orders regarding the return to Krondor.

William waited silently while the priest again examined the duke. "I have magic that will burn out the contamination," he said to Kazamir who stood at his father's bedside. "But like most magic practiced by my temple, there is little in it that is gentle."

"Will it work?" asked the young Prince, obviously worried but trying to hide it.

"Yes, but it will leave a scar."

"My father has many scars. Do what you must to save his life."

Belson nodded. "Highness, I will need a brazier and a clean blade that I may heat."

Arutha called for the required items, and nodded at James.

James motioned to William and said, "Come with me."

William followed James from the duke's bedchamber and when they were outside, James said, "You did well, w.i.l.l.y."

William looked at James in open-mouthed astonishment. "Well? According to whom?"

James grinned. "According to Captain Treggar. He says the fact you managed to keep half your company alive and, more importantly, kept the duke's family alive, was commendable."

William sighed. "I thought I was going to be cashiered right out of the army. It doesn't feel like I did much commendable. All I can think about is the men who died."

James said, "I don't want to sound like the old veteran, but I've seen enough warfare in my life to know that you'll probably never get past that. Just keep in mind that you're a soldier and your line of work isn't known to have a long life-expectancy. Now, come along."

"Where are we going?"

"The Prince's office."

"Like this?" asked William, indicating his dirty appearance.

James smiled. "Remember, I've crawled through sewers with His Highness. Right now, expedience outweighs fastidiousness."

They reached the entrance to the Prince's private chambers, and one of the pages flanking the portal opened it. James led William into the Prince's receiving room.

Princess Anita and the twins were waiting. "Cousin Willie!" shouted Borric, followed an instant later by Erland. The boys jumped up from where they had been sitting as their mother read a story to them, and hurried over to inspect the young soldier.

"You've been in a battle!" shouted Erland. "Outstanding!"

William gave the nine-year-old a frown. "Not if you'd been there. We lost some good men."

That calmed the twins down a little. "Did you kill anyone?" asked Borric.

William nodded, looking regretful. "I did."

Anita rose and said, "James, you and William refresh yourselves until Arutha gets here." She indicated a washbasin that had been placed on a table in the corner. "I'll deposit these two thugs elsewhere."

"Aw, mother," began Erland.

Anita held up a ringer to her lips for silence. "Business of the court. You can annoy James and William at supper." Looking at the two young men she said, "You will come?"

James nodded. "Unless your husband has other plans for us, of course."

William hurried to the washbasin and attempted to clean himself as much as possible. A page appeared with a clean tabard, and he stripped off his blood-covered one. He washed his face, hands, and the back of his neck, not wishing to sit at the royal table looking as if he had just come from a slaughterhouse. He was toweling off his face and hands when Prince Arutha walked in. "The duke will live," he said without preamble. With a wave of his hand he indicated that the two young men should sit on the divan vacated by his wife and sons.

They sat and Arutha said, "From everything that has occurred in the last two weeks, I can see that we face as big a danger to the sovereignty of our realm as we did from the moredhel recently.