I let Agata Azul see, hear, and feel all of it.

It might have been from the glow of her crystals, but her face appeared to be flushed when she released me.

Regardless, I couldn't resist. I had to say it. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?"

"The Saghred knew what would break you-your desire for Raine Benares and the feeling of black magic coursing through your veins."

"You're not making this any better."

"I'm not trying to. I need to determine whether you can be trusted when the Heart of Nidaar is beneath your hands and you're tempted with its power."

"Power doesn't tempt me."

"Apparently pleasure can."

I shrugged. "I'm a man."

"So I saw. You didn't have to let me see that much."

"As I said, we don't have time for anything else." I half grinned. "Though at this point, you can call me 'Tam' if you'd like."

"I believe 'Chancellor Nathrach' continues to be appropriate." She returned to her chair and sat, her features inscrutable. "The legend surrounding the Heart of Nidaar doesn't mention any manipulative qualities. However, until we find it, we won't know of any other defensive measures it can employ. We will proceed with caution."

"Are you saying you'll help?"

"I am. I told Kesyn if you passed my test, I would agree."

"He didn't mention that."

"Of course he didn't. You expected him to? That was one of his more annoying qualities during the time he was my teacher. He preferred to let his students discover the consequences of their mistakes on their own."

I scowled. "Like having an ill-prepared spell blow up in your face."

She smiled. "But it made you prepare properly next time, didn't it?"

"How long were you his student?"

"Until it became obvious that my abilities were out of his specialty. However, we've stayed in touch."

"This wouldn't be the first time he kept things from me," I said. "I've gotten used to it."

"Do you have the shard for me to examine?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The shard, the piece of the Heart of Nidaar."

"How could I have a piece of the Heart of Nidaar?"

Agata Azul stared at me in disbelief, obviously wondering if I was a few arrows short of a full quiver. "I assumed you were organizing and leading the expedition not only to deny the Khrynsani of the stone, but to continue your ancestor's work."

I waited for my brain to convert words into meaning. It didn't happen. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"The Heart of Nidaar. An ancestor of yours by the name of Kansbar Nathrach was on an expedition that went looking for it. The name is not familiar to you?"

"No, we have the same surname, but other than that, I've never heard of him. How long ago was this?"

"Approximately nine hundred years. In your defense, he may not have been a direct ancestor, perhaps a distant cousin. It's a hobby of mine to know about powerful gem mages and stones of power. The Heart of Nidaar is said to be as flames captured in stone."

"You're saying that this Kansbar Nathrach was a gem mage?"

"Not that I was aware, or that gem historians know of. Just that he had been on a voyage to explore Aquas. But as with any group who went there, they also looking for the lost city of Nidaar. Gold is a great motivator. By necessity and curiosity, I'm a keen student of history, especially goblin history and gem lore. It's said that those who ignore their history are doomed to repeat it. We goblins have proven to be exceptional at that. We pick and choose what parts of our history to remember, and it is rarely the parts where we made monumentally bad errors of judgment. According to the histories, Kansbar Nathrach was quite the adventurer."

"Many of my family have been."

"This one was captured and tortured by the Khrynsani."

I scowled. "That also has happened more than once, most recently to my parents and brother."

"I had heard. I am sorry."

"We made them pay with interest. Finding the Heart of Nidaar before the Khrynsani do can help us ensure that it does not happen to anyone's family ever again." I thought for a moment. "I wonder why I've never heard about him-or why he wasn't mentioned in the books I've read."

"It wasn't exactly what one could call a successful trip. In fact, if something could go wrong, it did. It was said that the expedition was cursed, especially the return voyage, when they carried with them objects taken from Aquas. It was determined that more than one of the objects was responsible for their bad luck. All of the objects were thrown overboard. Once they were disposed of, the sickness and storms vanished."

"So Kansbar Nathrach threw the shard overboard?"

"The shard wasn't mentioned in any account," Agata said. "The stories emerged after his death. When the expedition's survivors returned to Regor, Kansbar Nathrach was taken prisoner and tortured by the Khrynsani. He was released, but was closely watched for the rest of his life, short though it was."

"How did he die?"

"Impaled on his own sword."

I raised a brow.

"An investigation deemed it to be suicide."

"Uh-huh."

"The king at the time, Omari Mal'Salin, ordered the investigation himself."

"A known Khrynsani puppet, a known and insane Khrynsani puppet."

"After the investigation, Omari confiscated Kansbar Nathrach's house and property."

"That sounds familiar, as well." Sathrik had taken all of my property, too.

The pale stone Agata Azul wore around her neck flared as glass shattered in the front and back of the house, immediately followed by the thumps of something hitting the floor. A second later, two more hit the roof.

I knew those sounds. Gas or incendiary canisters.

Chapter 9.

Agata Azul's house was protected by crystals of every kind, but somehow the canisters had broken through.

I jumped to my feet and reached for Agata to shield us both, and was met with a sharp pop as my arm went numb.

"What the-"

The oval stone around her neck glowed fiercely. "I can shield myself. Do the same."

An instant later, twin detonations threw us to the floor, blasting apart the wall separating us from the front hall and showering us with plaster and splintered wood. I shielded as more explosions tore through the house, my shield buckling with each impact. Agata's crackled with the same energy that had permeated the crystals in her sitting room.

Flames and smoke rapidly filled the house. I didn't sense a firemage on the scene or any other kind of magic, just a well-orchestrated and executed operation. If I hadn't been the target, I could almost admire their work.

I swore silently. "Other doors out. Where are they?"

Agata Azul took in the destruction of her home, the rage in her eyes burning hotter than the flames closing in on us. "The two they just bombed," she snapped. "Under the table is a trapdoor to the tunnels."

Most houses in the old, central city had access to the tunnel system that ran through the bedrock Regor had been built on. The assassins probably had covered that, too, but I'd rather fight than fry.

Agata kicked over the table and pushed the rug aside.

I stopped her as she reached for the ring set into the wood. "They'll be waiting."

She smiled in a vicious baring of fangs. "Not alive, they won't."

I didn't know what surprise Agata had waiting below for uninvited guests, but she seemed confident that it'd done its job. That was good enough for me until I saw otherwise.

She opened the trapdoor, and my nose told me that whoever had been waiting below to ambush us would never ambush anyone ever again.

Burnt flesh. Not just burnt. Charred to the bones.

Before I could step around her to go first, Agata nimbly dropped down the hole and scrambled down the ladder.

I followed and landed in a crystal-powered crematorium.

Four assassins had been waiting for us to flee the burning house. They had been the ones incinerated.

Most people thought rocks were harmless. They'd never met the Saghred or Agata Azul's crystal sentries.

I maintained my shield and Agata was doing the same. Just because four were dead didn't mean there weren't more waiting in either direction down the darkened tunnel. Above us, the house was an inferno. This was our only hope of escape, regardless of who or what was waiting down here. Goblins can see in the dark as well as an elf can see at high noon. We had just come from a brightly lit and now even more brightly burning house. If any remaining assassins had been lurking in the dark down here, their eyes were already perfectly adjusted. It would take the better part of a minute for our eyes to do the same.

"This way." Without looking to see if I was following, Agata Azul ran down the dark tunnel, one hand held out in front of her, keeping a shield in front of us, extending from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. I adjusted my shield to cover our rear.

I closed in behind her, keeping my voice just loud enough to be heard. "Where does this go?"

"Where we go depends on who just ordered me burned out of my home. Any guesses on who followed you?"

"I wasn't followed."

"You must have been. Kesyn knew you were coming, and I know he didn't tell anyone."

"Are you implying that I-"

"I imply nothing. You came to my door asking for my help. Within half an hour, my house is on fire." She hissed out a breath. "Kesyn warned me. Did I listen to him? No."

"I assure you that I took every precaution not to be seen before I passed your front gates."

"Yet assassins burn my home to the ground." She stopped and spun on me, putting us nearly nose to nose. "My home!"

"I'm sorry for your loss." I tried to sound sincere because I was. This was the last thing I wanted to happen, and I didn't think now would be the best time to ask if she was still willing to go to Nidaar. I had a feeling she'd answer such a question with her fist. Not knowing what else to say, I went back to my original question. "Where does this lead?"

"There's a fork about two hundred yards ahead. We can either go toward the palace, or to the waterfront."

"I would suggest the palace. There's a way out near my home."

Agata's response was a terse nod. I took that as an agreement, albeit not an enthusiastic one. At this point, I thought it'd be wise for me to take what I could get.

She continued to lead, and I racked my brains for who could have possibly known I was meeting with Agata and how they'd come by that information. The Khrynsani had been disbanded and outlawed, and those who hadn't been captured in the hours following Sarad Nukpana's death and the destruction of the Khrynsani temple had fled or gone into deep hiding. Perhaps some had crawled out from beneath their collective rock, but this didn't feel like a Khrynsani hit. For one, they would have used magic. They had the talent, and they would have used it. To rely on mundane incendiary grenades wasn't how they operated. As to how they got the grenades past Agata's house defenses, a negating spell of sufficient strength would have done the trick.

If enough Khrynsani remained in the city to pose a threat and wanted to come after me, they would have done so themselves. They refused to work through or hire outsiders. That didn't mean it wasn't them. Desperate times called for desperate measures. If they knew I was inside, and had surrounded Agata's home on the surface and had an ambush waiting beneath, there would be assassins waiting near my home as well. By now they knew we had escaped. Or that we'd avoided their first and second traps. There had to be a third waiting either ahead in the tunnel, or in the streets near my home.

I reached out and touched Agata's shoulder. "Take a left up ahead. We'll surface and approach my house from the back."

She frowned as she considered it, unconvinced.

"If they think they have us on the run, they'll expect us to take the shortest route," I added. "We need to get topside. If it looks suspicious, I have other places we can go."

Agata gave me a trace of a smile. "The Mal'Salin's chief mage and chancellor needs multiple safe houses in his own capital. And people asked me why I never wanted to serve at court."

Chapter 10.