Page 240 of A Touch of Poison
“On me,” I shouted to the guards at the door and smirked as the attackers turned.
With their attention split, they fell under our wave.
I slashed and stabbed with my dagger and slid beneath a swinging blade, scooping up a sword from a fallen attacker.
Ascendants had stolen our blades—it seemed only right to take them right back.
Righteous rage burned through me, keeping me going as strike after strike missed or landed on my weapons.
My shadows tripped and jerked enemies off balance—imprecise actions that didn’t require much strength were easy while I focused on parrying and attacking.
By the time the last attacker fell, the breaths sawed through me. But I had no time for exhaustion.
I caught up with the highest ranking guard, a broad-shouldered woman with a scar on her cheek. “What’s our status?”
“Her Majesty’s safe. There have been a few attacks from the lodestones, but they appear to be testing our defences rather than actually trying to break through.”
As I thought. Sura wanted to secure Dawn and assassinate King Lucius. Question was whether they’d come for the queen next or wait until another day. If I had my way, they wouldn’t succeed with the king. And if she was here…
Well, no bargain bound me not to hurt her, did it?
“Good work.” I inclined my head to the guard. “We’ve got injured in the dining room and attackers just inside Dawn’s door. Get everyone evacuated.”
Before she could answer, I set off again. Still too winded for a sprint, I jogged through the familiar corridors until I reached my offices.
The wards on the entrance were intact. Either Sura’s people hadn’t reached here yet or they weren’t after my secrets. With her interest in the Crown of Ashes, I suspected the former.
I locked the doors behind me, grabbed my Shadowblade and Kat’s weapons from the desk, strapped them on, and strode into the secret passage.
Since I didn’t need to show her through the darkness, I could run to the courtyard.
A trowel and a trug sat on the bench, together with Kat’s gardening gloves.
The simple domesticity of it smacked into my chest. She had to be safe.Hadto be. She couldn’t be in here gardening one day and then gone the next.
I wouldn’t allow it.
Squaring my shoulders, I listened at the other door. Aside from my spy, no one from Dawn should know about this place but just in case, I edged it open.
Another dark passageway led away. No sign of life.
Good.
I crept ahead, ears straining to catch any sound. Occasionally the shouts and metallic clang of battle reached through the walls. Other times, as I passed the peepholes, I caught the whispered conversations of folk in hiding.
Nothing of use.
At last I reached a door that led into a small office and eased out. No one here. When I closed the door behind me, it looked like part of a bookcase.
I snuck through corridors, getting my bearings. Although I’d spent little time in Dawn’s side of the palace, I’d pieced together plans based on my informant’s sketches and partial designs from various refurbishment projects over the years. It was amazing what you could find in architect’s sketches. Soon, I understood where I was and how to reach the throne room.
A couple of times, I came across Ascendants, usually in pairs. Seemed they were more focused on holding the lodestones and keeping the corridors clear so they could move freely.
That made my job easier.
Hide around the corner, send my shadows to knock a vase over, then while they were distracted, sneak out and cut the first one’s throat. That left just the second, and in a one on one fight, with shadows on my side, they stood no chance.
Arrogant, perhaps, but I’d spent years of my childhood training with a former general until I was ready to drop. Some days I had. Even then, he’d shown little mercy.
