Assassin’s Fate

She nodded and resumed her survey of what remained in the room. I began setting the firepots into the belt she had made. She watched me with an eagle’s gaze. ‘Remember which fuse is which. Blue is slow. Chade has greatly refined those since you last used one. They are much more reliable and powerful. He is …’ She lifted a hand suddenly to her lips. ‘He was so proud of them,’ she corrected herself and I saw her eyes flood.

‘I’ll use them well,’ I promised her.

A moment later she announced, ‘The flame-jewel bracelet is gone!’

‘I’m not surprised. The fire-brick?’

‘It’s here. And here’s a gentlemanly little shoulder bag I sewed for you yesterday. The brick will fit nicely in the bottom.’

‘Thank you.’ It suddenly felt companionable and right to be assembling my assassin’s gear with a fellow killer. I tucked the fire-brick in the bag. It held it nicely upright. I removed one of the exploding pots from the harness and used a scarf to settle it on the fire-brick. A grease poison, and an extra knife. She watched me.

‘Never carry all your supplies in one place,’ she guessed, and I nodded at Chade’s old wisdom. I watched her putting her picks into a cuff seam and said, ‘I’m a grandfather. Nettle Skilled to me this morning.’

‘Girl or boy?’ she asked without looking up.

‘A girl.’

‘Chade would have been a great-uncle? No, a great-great uncle.’

‘Something like that.’ The carris seed was bringing the morning into sharper focus. I would have blurted all my news out to the Fool. I weighed and measured what I knew before I spoke to Spark. How much would she understand? How much would she believe? ‘Nettle Skilled the news to me. And then, I sensed something else. Someone else. Vindeliar.’

She was horrified. ‘The man who made everyone forget at Withywoods. He Skilled to you?’

‘No. Yes. It was like Skill but … clumsier. And very powerful. As an ox is to a horse.’ Her eyes were getting wider. I told her the worst thing of all as it finally settled into my brain. ‘I think he felt me. And Paragon. I think he knows we are coming.’

Her expression looked as sick as I felt at that thought. I spoke quietly. ‘Pass me the tubes of Silver.’ It was unlikely I would do something so drastic. Very unlikely I would use them.

She moved tossed clothing, looking for them. ‘All our plans that we made … that was all a ruse? All the work I did?’

‘I consider it likely.’

I heard her catch her breath. ‘Fitz. There’s only one here. She’s taken a tube of Silver with her.’

TWENTY-NINE Accusations