"Baron Kirof, thank you," the duke said, a bit dramatically. He lowered his voice again. "So you're the player."

"Yes. Let's try not to put me out of work."

"I've never killed anyone before."

"Let's make sure tonight isn't your first," Kylar said. He looked at the jeweled dagger tucked into the duke's belt. It was an heirloom in the duke's family, and its inexplicable loss would be part of the evidence that the duke really had killed Baron Kirof. "If you do this, you'll be going to prison, and not a nice one. We can call it off." Kylar waved his hands around as he talked the way the real Baron Kirof did when he was nervous.

"No, no." The duke sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "Have you ever done this before?"

"Set up someone by pretending to be someone else? Sure. Pretended to get killed? Not so much."

"Don't worry," the duke said. "I-" Tenser's eyes flicked past Kylar and his voice went tight with fear. "They're here."

Kylar jerked away from the duke as if startled. "Is that a threat?" he barked. It was only a fair imitation of the baron's voice, but blood covers a mult.i.tude of acting sins.

The duke grabbed his arm. "You'll do as I tell you!"

"Or what? The G.o.dking will hear about this." They definitely had the guards' attention now.

"You'll say nothing!"

Kylar shook his arm free. "You aren't smart enough to take the throne, Duke Vargun. You're a coward, and..." He dropped his voice. "One stab. The blood bladder is right over my heart. I'll do everything else." He contorted Baron Kirof's face into a sneer and turned away.

The duke grabbed Kylar's arm and yanked him back. With a savage motion, Vargun rammed the dagger-not into the sheep's bladder of blood, but into Kylar's stomach. He stabbed once, twice, then again and again. Staggering backward, Kylar looked down. His cream-colored silk tunic was dripping red-black blood. Tenser's hands were gory and flecks of red dotted the blue of his cloak. Staggering backward, Kylar looked down. His cream-colored silk tunic was dripping red-black blood. Tenser's hands were gory and flecks of red dotted the blue of his cloak.

"What are you doing?" Kylar choked out, barely hearing the whistle blowing at the far end of the dock. He swayed, grabbing at the end of the railing to hold himself up.

Sweating profusely, his black hair hanging in lank ropes, Tenser ignored him. Every trace of the hesitant, b.u.mbling n.o.ble he'd been only a minute before had disappeared. He grabbed a fistful of Kylar's hair. For him, it was a lucky grab. An inch forward, and he would have destroyed the illusory face Kylar wore.

As footsteps began pounding down the dock, Duke Vargun let Kylar drop to his knees. Through eyes dimming with pain, Kylar saw Commander Gher charging down the dock with his sword drawn and two guards at his heels. Duke Vargun dragged the dagger across Kylar's throat, sending blood spurting. Then, with as much emotion as a woodcutter burying his ax in a stump for the next time he's going to split wood, Duke Vargun jammed his dagger into Kylar's shoulder.

"Stop! Stop now or die!" Commander Gher roared.

Duke Vargun propped a calfskin boot on Kylar's shoulder and smiled. With a shove, he propelled Kylar off the dock and into the river.

The water was so cold Kylar went numb-or maybe that was from the blood loss. He'd inhaled before he hit the water, but one lung wasn't cooperating. In moments air bubbled out of his mouth, and-disconcertingly-his throat.

Then there was agony as he breathed the thick, dirty water of the Plith. He thrashed weakly, but only for a moment. Then the calm descended. His aching body was only a distant pulse. Something jabbed his body and he tried to grab for it instinctively. He was supposed to grab. There was something he was supposed to remember about a catchpole.

But if his hand even moved, he couldn't tell. The world didn't go black, didn't fade into darkness. His vision went white, his brain starving as blood poured from his neck. Something jabbed him again. He wished it would go away. The water was warm, a perfect peaceful cloud.

Duke Tenser Vargun tore his eyes away from the hungry river and lifted his hands. He turned slowly and said, "I'm unarmed. I surrender." He smiled as if he couldn't help it. "And a good evening to you, Commander. Commander."

5

Will this G.o.dking flay me or f.u.c.k me?

Vi Sovari sat in the receiving chamber outside Cenaria Castle's throne room, straining to overhear the G.o.dking while she toyed with the guard who couldn't help but stare at her. Anything she could learn about why she'd been summoned might save her life. Her master, Hu Gibbet, had just brought in Duke Tenser Vargun-one of the Khalidoran n.o.bles who had come in to help a.s.similate Cenaria into the Khalidoran Empire. Apparently, the duke had murdered some Cenarian n.o.ble.

It had to pose an interesting problem for the king who styled himself a G.o.d. Tenser Vargun was a trusted va.s.sal, but letting him off would have serious ramifications. The Cenarian n.o.bles who'd bent the knee to serve Garoth and been allowed to keep at least portions of their lands might find their spines and rebel. The Cenarian n.o.bles who were in hiding would have new evidence of Khalidoran brutality to rally more people to their banners.

But why is Master Gibbet here? Hu had exuded that air of clever self-satisfaction that Vi knew all too well. Hu had exuded that air of clever self-satisfaction that Vi knew all too well.

She crossed her legs to recapture the guard's attention. In fighting terms, the terms Hu Gibbet had taught Vi, it was a feint. The motion of her legs got his attention, turning her head to the side gave him safety, and leaning forward gave him a view. She didn't dare invoke a glamour this close to the G.o.dking, but that was fine. Cleavage had its own magic.

She wore a fitted cerulean dress, so light it was faintly translucent. She had made her intentions clear to Master Piccun, so the tailor kept the dress simple-hardly any embroidery, just a little in the old Khalidoran runic style around the hem and wrists, an inscription from an ancient erotic poem. No lace, no frills, just clean lines and curves. Master Piccun was an inveterate letch, and this was the only dress he'd declared fit for the G.o.dking. "The man has dozens of wives," the tailor sniffed. "Let those cows speak with silk. You will sing the sweet tones of flesh."

If the guard was like most men, he would stare for two to four seconds, double-check that no one was noticing him stare, and then stare again. The trick was-Now.

Vi flicked her eyes up suddenly and caught the guard just as he was starting to stare again. She pinned him to the wall with her eyes. Guilt flashed across his features and before he could cover it with boldness or glance away, she stood and walked toward him.

He was Khalidoran, of course, so she adjusted accordingly. Khalidorans' sense of personal s.p.a.ce didn't extend as far as Cenarians'. p.r.i.c.king the bubble of his personal s.p.a.ce, with all the attendant connotations, meant stepping so close that he could smell not just her perfume but her breath. She stepped in and held him with her eyes for one more second, until he was about to speak.

"Excuse me," she said, still looking him in the eye, her expression intense. "May I sit here?"

"I wasn't staring-I mean-"

She sat in his chair, a foot from the door, her shoulders forward, face turned up, angelic. She wore her blonde hair up so the elaborately woven plaits didn't obscure the view.

It was too tempting. The guard's eyes shifted the fraction of an inch from her eyes to her cleavage and then leapt back to her face. "Please?" she said with a little smile that told him yes, she'd seen and no, she didn't mind.

He cleared his throat. "I, uh, don't think that would be a problem," he said.

Vi instantly forgot him and listened.

"... can't go directly to the Hole, that would defeat the purpose," a tenor voice said. That would be Duke Vargun. But he sounded confident.

What? How can he sound confident?

Vi heard her master reply, but couldn't tell what he said. Then the G.o.dking spoke, but she caught nothing but "-common cells until the trial.... Then the Hole..."

"Yes, Your Holiness," Duke Vargun said.

Vi's head spun. Whatever they were planning, the Khalidoran duke had nothing in his voice that suggested a prisoner begging for clemency. He sounded like an obedient va.s.sal, accomplishing some high purpose with a reward waiting at the end of it.

She didn't have any time to try to put it together before the doors opened and her master led Duke Vargun out. Contradicting what she'd just heard, the duke looked beaten, both physically and mentally, his clothes disheveled and dirty, and his eyes stuck to the floor.

Hu Gibbet turned to her as they walked past. The wetboy had such delicate features that he couldn't be called handsome. With fine blond hair that reached his shoulders, large eyes, and a sculpted figure, he was still beautiful even in his mid-thirties. He smiled his serpent's smile at Vi and said, "The G.o.dking will see you now." even in his mid-thirties. He smiled his serpent's smile at Vi and said, "The G.o.dking will see you now."

Vi felt a chill, but she just stood and walked into the throne room. From this room, the late king Gunder had hired her to kill Kylar Stern. As she was apprenticed to Hu Gibbet, Kylar was apprenticed to the city's other great wetboy, Durzo Blint, who was more respected, equally feared, and less reviled than her own master. Killing Kylar was to have been Vi's master's piece, the last kill of her apprenticeship. It would have meant freedom, freedom from Hu.

She'd botched it, and later that very day in this very room, someone they called the Night Angel had killed thirty Khalidorans, five wytches, and the G.o.dking's own son. Vi thought she might be the only person who suspected that Kylar was was the Night Angel. the Night Angel. Nysos! Kylar stepped into legend the same day I had him under my knife. I could have aborted a legend. Nysos! Kylar stepped into legend the same day I had him under my knife. I could have aborted a legend.

There was no sign of the battle now. The throne room had been cleaned of blood and fire and magic, and stood pristine. On each side, seven columns supported the arched ceiling, and thick Khalidoran tapestries draped the walls to fight the autumnal chill. The G.o.dking sat on the throne, surrounded by guards, Vurdmeisters in their black-and-red robes, advisers, and servants.

Vi had expected her summons, but she had no idea of the reason for it. Did the G.o.dking know Kylar was the Night Angel? Was she to be punished for letting the G.o.dking's son die? Did the man with dozens of wives want to f.u.c.k another pretty girl? Or was he just curious to see the city's only female wetboy?

"You think you're clever, Viridiana Sovari?" the G.o.dking asked. Garoth Ursuul was younger than she had expected, maybe fifty, and still vigorous. He was thick through the arms and body, bald as an egg, and his eyes fell on her like a millstone.

"Pardon me, Your Holiness," she started to make it a question, then changed her mind. "Yes. And it's Vi."

He beckoned her forward, and she climbed the fourteen steps to stand directly in front of his throne. He looked her up and down, not surrept.i.tiously as men so often did, nor hot and boldly. Garoth Ursuul looked at her as if she were a pile of grain and he was trying to guess her weight.

"Take off your dress," he said.

The inflection of his voice gave her nothing to work with. It might have been a comment on the weather. Did he want her to seduce him? She didn't care if Garoth Ursuul banged her, but she planned to be lousy if he did. Becoming the G.o.dking's lover was too dangerous. She'd been warming one monster's bed since p.u.b.erty, and she didn't fancy trading up. Still, G.o.d or king or monster, Garoth Ursuul was one you didn't cross. one monster's bed since p.u.b.erty, and she didn't fancy trading up. Still, G.o.d or king or monster, Garoth Ursuul was one you didn't cross.

So Vi obeyed instantly. In two seconds, Master Piccun's dress slid to the floor. Vi hadn't worn undergarments, and she had worn perfume between her knees. It was the most punctilious obedience. He couldn't fault her for it, but at the same time, she knew sudden nudity wasn't nearly as enticing as slow disrobing or the tease of lace undergarments. Let Ursuul think her an ineffectual tease, let him think her a s.l.u.t, let him think whatever he wanted, as long as he did it from a distance. Besides, she wouldn't give any man the satisfaction of seeing her back down. Vi felt the stares of every courtier, adviser, Vurdmeister, servant, and guard in the room. She didn't care. Her nudity was her armor. It blinded the drooling fools. They couldn't see anything else while they saw her body.

Garoth Ursuul looked her up and down again, his eyes not shifting in the least. "You wouldn't be any fun," the G.o.dking said. "You're already a wh.o.r.e."

For some reason, from this terrible man, those words sank in with barbs. She stood naked before him, and he'd completely lost interest. It was what she'd wanted, but it still hurt.

"All women are wh.o.r.es," she said. "Whether they sell their bodies or their smiles and their charm or their childbearing years and submission to a man. The world makes a woman a wh.o.r.e, but a woman makes her terms. Your Holiness."

He seemed amused at her sudden fire, but his amus.e.m.e.nt pa.s.sed. "Did you think I wouldn't see what you did with my guard? Did you think you could eavesdrop on me? me?"

"Of course I did," Vi said, but now her flippancy was a farce. He saw me? Through the wall? He saw me? Through the wall? She knew she had to hold on to her bravado or she might dissolve right into the floor. With the G.o.dking, if you wanted to win, you had to play as if you despised life. But she'd heard about gamblers who'd lost. She knew she had to hold on to her bravado or she might dissolve right into the floor. With the G.o.dking, if you wanted to win, you had to play as if you despised life. But she'd heard about gamblers who'd lost.

The G.o.dking chuckled, and his courtiers followed his lead. "Of course you did," he said. "I like you, moulina. moulina. I won't kill you today. Not many women would get in a p.i.s.sing match with a king, much less a G.o.d." I won't kill you today. Not many women would get in a p.i.s.sing match with a king, much less a G.o.d."

"I'm not like any woman you've ever met," Vi said before she could stop herself.

His smile withered. "You give yourself too much credit. For that, I will break you. But not today. Your Sa'kage is giving us trouble. Go to your little underworld friends and find out who the real Shinga is. Not a figurehead. Find out, and kill him."

Vi felt naked for the first time. Her armor wavered. G.o.d or man, Garoth Ursuul had t.i.tanic confidence. He told her he would break her, and then exhibited not the slightest concern that she would disobey him. It wasn't a bluff. It wasn't arrogance. It was a simple exercise of the prerogatives of vast power. The courtiers eyed her now like the dogs under a king's table eyed a fine sc.r.a.p of meat that might fall to the floor. Vi wondered if the G.o.dking would give her to one of them-or all of them. Ursuul had t.i.tanic confidence. He told her he would break her, and then exhibited not the slightest concern that she would disobey him. It wasn't a bluff. It wasn't arrogance. It was a simple exercise of the prerogatives of vast power. The courtiers eyed her now like the dogs under a king's table eyed a fine sc.r.a.p of meat that might fall to the floor. Vi wondered if the G.o.dking would give her to one of them-or all of them.

"Do you know," the G.o.dking said, "that you're wytchborn? As you southrons say, Talented. So here's your incentive. If you kill this Shinga, we'll call it your master's piece, and not only will you be a master wetboy, but I'll train you myself. I'll give you power far beyond anything Hu Gibbet could even imagine. Power over him, if you wish. But if you fail me-well." He smiled a thin-lipped smile. "Don't fail. Now begone."

She went, her heart thumping. Success meant betraying her world. Betraying the Cenarian Sa'kage, the most feared underworld in Midcyru! It meant killing their leader for a reward she wasn't sure she wanted. Train to become a wytch with the G.o.dking himself? Even as he spoke, she imagined his words were webs, binding her tighter and tighter to him. It was almost tangible, a spell draping over her like a net, daring her to struggle. She felt sick. Obedience was the only possibility. However bad success was, failure wasn't an option. She'd heard the stories.

"Vi!" the G.o.dking called. She stopped, halfway to the door, feeling a shiver at that horror using her name. But the G.o.dking was smiling. Now his eyes touched her naked body the way a man's eyes might. Something flashed like a shadow toward her and she s.n.a.t.c.hed the wad of cloth out of the air on reflex. "Take your dress," he said.

6

I feel like I've been breathing sawdust for a week," Kylar said. feel like I've been breathing sawdust for a week," Kylar said.

"River water. Five minutes," Uly answered. Terse. Snotty.

Kylar struggled to open his eyes, but when he did, he still saw nothing. "So you did pull me out. Where are we, Uly?"

"Take a whiff." She was acting tough, which meant he'd really scared the h.e.l.l out of her. Is this what little girls do? Is this what little girls do?

He got half a breath in before coughing on the stench. They were in Momma K's boathouse on the Plith.

"Nothing like warm sewage on a cool night, huh?" Uly said.

Kylar rolled over. "I thought that was your breath."

"Which smells as good as you look," she said.

"You ought to be respectful."

"You ought to be dead. Go to sleep."

"Do you think domineering is cute?"

"You need to sleep. I don't know what dumb earrings have to do with it."

Kylar laughed. It hurt.

"See?" Uly said.

"Did you get the dagger?"

"What dagger?"

Kylar grabbed her by the front of her tunic.

"Oh, the one I had to use a prybar to get out of your shoulder?" she asked. No wonder his shoulder hurt. He'd never seen Uly quite so snotty and glib. If he didn't watch it, she'd burst into tears. It was one thing to feel like an a.s.s. It was another to feel like a helpless a.s.s.

"How long have I been... out?"

"A day and a night."

He cursed quietly. It was the second time Uly had seen him murdered, his body mutilated. If she had an ironclad conviction that Kylar was coming back, he was glad. He had promised her that he would, but he'd never known. All he knew was that he'd come back once. The Wolf, the strange yellow-eyed man he'd met in the place between life and death, hadn't made any guarantees. Indeed, this time Kylar hadn't met him at all. Kylar had been hoping to ask him a few questions, like how many lives he got. What if it had only been two?

"And Elene?" he asked.

"She went to get the wagon. The guards Jarl bribed are only on duty for another hour."

Elene had gone alone to get the wagon? Kylar was so tired. He could tell Uly was right on the verge of tears again. What kind of a man put a little girl through this? He wasn't much of a subst.i.tute father, but he used to think that he was better than nothing.