"Gotcha, boy."

Will took a large, staggering step to catch himself. Something caught his side with a glancing blow, spinning him to the ground. He landed awkwardly, his right hand still clutching the wooden disk, trapped awkwardly under his chest. Searing pain shot through his upper body. It pierced him with agony so intense he could not draw a breath.

Had he been stabbed?

Will gasped at the pain ripping through his lungs. His heart felt as though it had burst and was pouring his life's blood out upon the ground. He rolled to his side and grasped frantically at his chest, feeling for a wound. His shirtfront was intact. He craned his head around awkwardly to see if there was blood upon his back. What little he could see was muddy, but not bloodied.

"Get up, you lousy piece of filth. Attack my guildmaster, will you?"

Dregs. Bruin. Will opened his mouth to speak, but the agony in his chest was so intense he couldn't force air out to make a sound.

Bruin bent down, reaching for him. Using the tactics his father had pounded into him over years of practice, Will rolled fast, not away from but toward his attacker, slamming into the man's legs. The guild man toppled over him, his armored shins smashing Will's ribs and making him grunt in pain. But he kept rolling until he was clear of Bruin's tangled form.

Will leaped to his feet and took off running once more. At first he attributed the daggers of pain in his chest to the excessive running for his life. But as he stopped and slowly caught his breath, the pain intensified rather than dissipating. He opened his shirt to check for some injury Bruin might have inflicted without Will's being aware of it. The man worked for wizards and sorcerers, after all.

The agony centered on a single spot just to the left of Will's breastbone, about the height of his heart. He looked down. Odd. The wooden disk the lizardman girl had slipped in his pocket was stuck to his chest. He gave it a tug. It didn't come off.

He tried to wedge a fingernail under the edge of the flattish medallion, but it was plastered fast to his skin. And every time he tried to peel it off, the pain intensified. The thing felt as if it was slowly burning a hole through his flesh and muscle to the bone. What manner of strange object was this? What had that lizardman girl done to him?

CHAPTER.

16.

Aurelius studied Bruin, who stood before his desk, brushing mud off of himself in disgust. His vaunted elven control slipped a notch and he asked the knight anxiously, "But he got away, though?"

"Yes, Guildmaster. As you ordered. You do realize I'm going to be harassed for years to come about letting a mere boy give me the slip like that?"

"I thank you for your sacrifice, Drake Bruin-and for your superior acting skills. Did the boy believe the ruse?"

"Oh yes. He was convinced I meant to kill him then and there."

"Perfect. And my message? You found the gentleman in question and were able to deliver it?"

"Aye. Selea said he would do as you asked. He said it was good fortune, indeed, that he happened to be in the area to aid you." Bruin added somewhat reluctantly, "And he said you would owe him a large favor for this night's work."

Aurelius nodded, wincing. He leaned back in his chair behind the charred and splintered ruins of his desk. A wry smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "This desk is kindling. The boy packs a punch, doesn't he?"

"Like his father," Bruin commented quietly.

"Aye. Tiberius was the most talented battle mage I ever had the privilege of fighting beside."

"Agreed." Bruin was silent for a moment, then said reflectively, "Will the son live up to the father, do you think?"

"If we are to survive, he must exceed the Dragon's skill, Bruin. He must."

"Was the news he brought you so dire, then?"

Aurelius looked candidly at his drake, unable to conceal his deep unease. "I have a bad feeling about it. Very bad."

Anton hated skulking around Dupree in the middle of the night like some common criminal. He was the governor, for stars' sake. But there was one man on this forsaken continent who wielded more power than he, and it was to this man, who had summoned him, he went. Anton pulled his dark cloak and nondescript clothing closer to him, darting from shadow to shadow so as not to be seen.

At least the curfew had finally taken effect. He wanted with every ounce of his being to head for Aurelius's storehouse and finally glimpse the extent of the treasure within. Lust for the taxes he could levy on the undeclared property coursed through his blood, thick and hot.

And the small treasure room in the back ... if that room had been breached ... to see Aurelius's greatest magical treasures. Ahh, he would give his firstborn child to have his pick of that horde. He could all but taste the schemes of that insufferable solinari that he could upend. Emptying the special treasure room's contents into his own coffers could be disastrous to Aurelius. Set the whoreson back decades. The power he could gain ...

But instead, here he was creeping along like a sewer rat. Summoned ... summoned!... to speak with Kane. The cursed assassin had interfered with Anton at every turn ever since they'd both arrived in Dupree on the same ship.

He'd sent letters through channels weeks ago to the Imperial Assassin's Guild requesting a new round of assassinations. More specifically, he'd demanded writs for right of vengeance. He'd expected to meet with Selea Rouge, rumored to be a local master assassin, so the nulvari could deliver his writs to him.

But instead, Kane himself had answered. He was said to be master of the entire Dupree Assassin's Guild. What did it mean? Surely the assassins weren't trying to signal some sort of break with the Empire. But lo, the possibilities if they were ...

Kane had been specific. Anton was to come alone. No guards. No girls. Although why he'd bring women to this sort of meeting Anton had no idea. Exactly what kind of governor did Kane think he was, anyway? It did hint at his reputation back in Koth, though.

Anton nodded in satisfaction. He intentionally cultivated rumors that he was an incompetent libertine accomplishing nothing of worth in Dupree, which had turned out to be not a particularly productive or profitable colony. It kept other Kothite nobles from rushing over here to replenish their coffers.

More important, his poor reputation lowered the Emperor's expectations of income and productivity from him. All the more for his own coffers-unless some rabble broke into a rich guild storehouse and took booty that he coveted for himself, curse them all. He would crush the perpetrators slowly and publicly for that. A stern lesson to the people of Dupree not to tangle with their empire's gold- "You are late."

Anton jumped violently as a disembodied voice came out of a lane between two buildings. "Who goes?" he demanded.

"Do you answer the call or not?"

He did not appreciate being treated like some lackey. "I am here aren't I?" he snarled.

"Then come with me."

He rolled his eyes at the heavy mystery surrounding this rendezvous and followed the cloaked figure deeper into the alley. An unmarked door opened before his guide, who stepped back to let Anton enter alone.

He looked around a plain, low-beamed room. A fireplace provided the only flickering light, and two tall-backed, stuffed armchairs sat at angles to each other before the fire. Other than that, the room was completely bare. He moved around the chairs and was not surprised to see a man seated in one of them already, an average-looking fellow of middle age.

Anton didn't bother to memorize the features. He'd heard that Kane never allowed his true face to be seen by any who did not die immediately upon seeing it. No doubt tonight's facade was the result of a potion of disguise, anyway. Tricky recipe to master. Rare. Expensive. But this was Kane.

Anton took the second chair. He didn't bother to ask if they had privacy. This was the Assassin's Guild. Of course their business would be conducted in complete secrecy.

"Governor."

"Guildmaster." He noted with satisfaction that the assassin did not correct the rank. So. He finally had confirmation that Kane was the guildmaster. Slippery whoresons, these killers. Even that simple a piece of information was a closely guarded secret. "You wished to speak with me?"

"I require evidence before I can sign a writ approving right of vengeance."

A man of few words, this Kane. Anton said equally briefly, "I have it."

"Do you wish to pursue single deaths or something more permanent?"

Anton raised his brow to express his annoyance at being made to state the obvious. "I wish to eliminate all of the people on my list permanently."

"Permanent death is a different matter. We do not make a routine practice of signing over permission to nonguild members to pursue such a goal. To do so encroaches greatly upon our purview."

Even in matters such as this he could not escape guild wrangling? Anton marshaled his irritation enough to answer reasonably politely, "I will not object to your people carrying out the assassinations as long as my targets are removed permanently."

"What you seek is difficult to achieve."

"But not impossible. With persistence and repeated deaths, entirely achievable."

"An expensive endeavor."

He didn't bother to respond. He was the governor of Dupree. His resources were more or less unlimited.

A gloved hand reached across the space between them expectantly. The black leather was so thin and perfectly fitted that it looked like skin painted on Kane's hand. "Your list."

Anton rummaged in his belt pouch and came up with the list of names. He passed it over.

Kane perused it in leisurely fashion. "Do you invoke the right of vengeance, Governor?"

"I do." It was good to be governor. He had the power to declare his own right of vengeance against anyone who dared to cross him.

The hand was held out expectantly once more. Silently Anton laid a sheaf of parchments in the hand. The required proof that his targets had all earned vengeance from him. It was mostly a formality for him to produce it. As governor, he could fabricate any evidence he needed and there was no one to gainsay his word.

However, the protocols must be followed. When Kane signed a writ, he was vouching for the validity of both the contract and the evidence for the contract. Should the writ later be proven invalid, Kane would die for it and not the customer contracting for the assassination. It kept the guild from running around killing anyone whom it chose. Or at least that was the reasoning. Whether it truly worked that way or not was anyone's guess.

Kane perused the documents at length. Eventually, he murmured, "Your evidence is adequate."

Not necessarily real, but adequate. After all, this was not an Imperial court of law. Kane required only enough documentation to cover his hide should someone challenge his signature on the writs.

The guildmaster added unexpectedly, "I have an asset ideally placed to execute several of these contracts."

Anton itched to know who the asset might be and which of his enemies was exposed, but that was not how the guild worked. Show too much curiosity and you were likely to become a target yourself.

"There is one target I wish for you to deal with personally, Guildmaster."

"Which one would that be?"

"The first name on the list."

"Ahh." A world of understanding was packed into that single syllable. Then, "That will be a difficult contract, indeed."

Anton didn't have a care for the difficulty of it. He was sick and tired of his enemies thwarting him, and it was time they were removed once and for all. If the cursed Boki couldn't do the job, he would see to it himself.

Kane said quietly, "I will execute that contract personally, as you request. However, there is something special I will need for the job. And I believe you are ideally suited to provide it to me, Governor. You are an accomplished alchemist, are you not?"

Anton nodded in the affirmative. He would move heaven and earth to give Kane whatever he needed to get that particular job done. But when the assassin named his requirement, it gave even him pause. Whether the assassin planned to use the item in doing the killing or merely take it in payment for the killing Anton did not know. He knew better than to ask.

He answered quickly, "I will get it for you."

Kane named an additional price for the other killings that would beggar most men. But he was not most men. He was Governor Anton Constantine, and he'd been looting Dupree for many years. Anton nodded and raised his right hand in solemn promise. "We have a deal."

"Done."

Will had to get moving. But he felt terrible. His head swam and he alternated between shivering and sweating. He'd emptied his stomach long ago, but his body still heaved as if he had not. He felt on the verge of collapsing but dared not stop moving. Soldiers ranged throughout the city still, looking for looters and rabble-rousers. Twice he heard troops capturing and beating their victims close by.

He had to find the Heart building. Rosana would expect him there. And maybe he could get some healing for whatever ailed him.

He dragged himself along with the vague idea of also finding the black lizardman girl and getting her to take this stupid wood thing off him. His thoughts limped in desperate circles along with his feet. But he found no answers in the town's muddy bowels.

Despair swallowed him. He had no supper, no roof over his head, and no coin to buy either. His message was delivered, his grand quest finished before it began. The man who was supposed to help him had instead taken away his name and threatened to kill him. His parents were dead, his home destroyed. What was he supposed to do now?

A tavern. Maybe he could tuck himself into a corner and go unnoticed for the night. Maybe work for a meal. A shout went up ahead of him, and three soldiers broke into a run, rushing toward him.

He backed up a few steps, ducked into a side street, and ran for his life. If he was lost before, now he was turned around and confused to boot in the maze of narrow, dark streets. He didn't run far; he was simply too exhausted to go on. He crouched in a fetid alley, dizzy with sickness and fear.

He ducked behind a pile of empty, decrepit barrels. Something-someone-had just slipped into the alley from the far end. Someone up to no good, if the way the person was sliding from shadow to shadow was any indication. The cloaked and hooded stranger stopped in a recessed doorway not far ahead of him and froze there, nearly invisible, as if waiting to meet someone.

Will debated what to do. He dared not reveal himself to the dangerous-looking stranger. Then another figure came up from behind Will, gliding past his hiding place silently, and he was left with no choice but to stay put. The second person was shorter and stockier than the first. But he, too, wore a dark cloak and deep cowl.

The first figure waited until the second was abreast of him before stepping out of the doorway. Shorty lurched.

Whispered snatches of a whispered conversation floated to Will.

"... entire southern quadrant and west wall locked down..."

"... riot down by the Red Boar Inn..."

"... army's on a rampage..."

Then Shorty whispered brusquely, "I have a job for you-"

"Who and how many?" Will thought he heard a sigh in the tall stranger's whispery voice.

"Three for you. There are others, but I can take them easily enough."

The tall one muttered, "The writs?"

Shorty rustled under his cloak and produced a narrow leather tube. "Here. Signed by Kane himself."