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When I wake it's dark and quiet. Either I'm dead or the riot's stopped. A door opens, letting light into the room, and Makri enters. Her head is bandaged, but she seems healthy. #2 | | |
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"Lisutaris' counterspell worked. The whole city started to return to sanity about three hours ago. #4 | | |
Just in time for you and Hanama. Good fighting, incidentally." #5 | | |
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I notice that I'm not feeling too bad, considering what I've been through. #7 | | |
"The Sorcerers patched you both up. After they'd seen to the Princess of course. All the rioters have departed to put out fires and lick their wounds. Half the city's been burned but the Sorcerers that are left seem to have it under control now, And the Civil Guard is out in force." #8 | | |
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"Next door. It took the Sorcerers a long time to heal her wounds." #10 | | |
"Should have let her die." #11 | | |
Makri points out this is rather ungrateful of me. Without Hanama, the mad crowd would have overwhelmed us. #12 | | |
"Maybe. Maybe not. I figure I had things pretty well under control. Well, time to get back to work, I guess." #13 | | |
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"I've got the Prince's letter back and probably gathered up enough information about the dwa dealing to keep Cerius out of court. Not sure about the Princess though. We'll have to hope that Bishop Gzekius comes through on that one and persuades the authorities that she didn't kill the dragon. And then there's the Cloth . . . I've been doing a fair bit of thinking about that . . . let's go and see Hanama." #16 | | |
Makri declines. She's keen to get back to the Avenging Axe and check on things there. She's concerned that someone might have made off with the funds she's been collecting for the Association of Gentlewomen during the riot. #17 | | |
"What if my philosophy notes have been burned?" #18 | | |
Makri departs in a hurry, leaving me to seek out Hanama. The diminutive Assassin is not in the room next door, but I find her in the wine cellar sitting on the floor with a bottle in her hand. Her black clothes are in tatters after the fight but like me she seems in good shape after her healing. #19 | | |
"Well well," I say. "That makes two surprising discoveries about you in one day." #20 | | |
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"Firstly, you can be sufficiently shaken by events to need a drink to calm you down." #22 | | |
"I do not need a drink to calm me down," says Hanama, coldly. #23 | | |
"Well, I do," I say, selecting a bottle and opening it with the corkscrew I keep on my key ring, and sitting down beside her on the floor. "We just fought off more maniacs than two Humans could reasonably be expected to cope with. A magnificent effort, though I say so myself. Anyone deserves a bottle of wine after that, even an Assassin, trained to be emotionless. Which brings me to my second discovery about you, Hanama. You're not emotionless." #24 | | |
"And why do you say that?" #25 | | |
"You saved my life. I'm touched." #26 | | |
"You shouldn't be. I merely saved you because I needed you at my side to fight off the mob." #27 | | |
I don't pursue it. She's probably telling the truth. "You know, Hanama, I seem to run across you a lot these days. I haven't worked out why that is yet. Still, I must say, for the number three in the Assassins Guild, you're not such a bad sort. A little distant, perhaps, but hey, for a woman who once scaled the sheer walls of Menhasat Castle in a snowstorm to assassinate Consul Pavius, you're not bad company. Is it true you once killed a Sorcerer, a Senator and an Orc Lord all in the same day?" #28 | | |
"The Assassins Guild does not discuss its work," replies Hanama. #29 | | |
"Cheers," I say, raising my bottle. #30 | | |
She raises her own a fraction, and we drink together. All around are wine racks stuffed with excellent vintages, though I can't see any beer. I finish one bottle and open another, selecting the finest I can find. #31 | | |
I don't bother asking Hanama why she has been after the Cloth as I know she will simply deny it. #32 | | |
But I do express some surprise about finding her unconscious on the beach. #33 | | |
"Even though you'd just been half drowned in that sewer I'd have thought it was impossible for anyone to sneak up behind you." #34 | | |
She looks faintly troubled. "So would I. I swear I'd have sensed an attacker, half drowned or not." #35 | | |
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She shakes her head. She didn't sense any sorcery and a woman of her skills and training would have. I didn't pick up anything at the scene either. It remains a puzzling mystery. And a puzzling coincidence as well, now I think about it, because it seems very unlikely that anyone could sneak up behind Sarin the Merciless after the warrior monk training, yet they did. Obviously someone very good at sneaking is going around Turai clubbing people on the back of the head. Does that mean, I wonder, that the same person who took the Red Elvish Cloth from Hanama also took the dwa from Sarin? An interesting thought. #37 | | |
"There was something, but . . ." #38 | | |
I look at her inquisitively. #39 | | |
"I can't put my finger on it. But at the instant I was hit I thought I sensed . . . well I don't know . . . #40 | | |
something not quite Human." #41 | | |
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She can't say. It was too fast and she was half drowned at the time. A dim memory rises inside me but disappears before I can identify it. #43 | | |
Hanama takes another drink then rises gracefully. It's time for her to get back to see how things are at Assassins Guild headquarters. As number three in the organisation, Hanama is important enough to wear a special protection charm, but that doesn't apply to all Assassins by any means. Must have made it interesting when they all went mad with the Eight-Mile Terror. #44 | | |
She leaves. I open another bottle of wine. The cellar is cool and it's the first time I've been comfortable in weeks. I find myself drifting off to sleep and it's an effort to rouse myself and get back to work. #45 | | |
"I guess it's better than rowing a slave galley," I mutter, and haul myself to my feet. #46 | | |
