Chapter Four
"Did you kill Seaver or Owen?"
"No." Niss said, meeting Kel's gaze.
"Truth."
"Truth?" Kel choked, staring at Numair in disbelief.
Numair shook his head, smiling. "Kel, I really don't know what's gotten into you."
"Just one more question," Kel pleaded. "Just let me ask her one more question."
"We're bending the rules enough as it is," he replied. "Legally, she wouldn't even have to respond." To Niss he said, "Thank you for cooperating. I hope you haven't been offended in any way."
Niss laughed. "I was accused of murder! But no, I'll let it slip." She looked at Kel, her eyes dancing. "And I forgive you Kel. These are tough times for you, poor thing, and it's easy to see how your judgment could be affected."
Kel kept her Yamani straight face, but she knew there was something afoot here. She just had to find out what it was exactly.
Numair left, and it was back to just the lady and the knight again.
Kel stepped a hand's breadth away from Niss. "I know you're up to something," Kel said quietly. "And believe me, I'll find out what it is."
Niss smiled slyly. "Oh, I don't think you'll have to worry about anything much longer."
Kel gave her a hard look and left.
It was on her way across the garden that she first felt it. Kel was wondering about Niss's sudden change in manner, and of Owen, when her vision blurred and her head felt like a cloud had been stuffed in it. She stumbled, and when her head cleared she found that she was supporting herself against a tree.
'What was that,' she thought. 'Is this from emotional stress?'
She considered seeing Neal about it, when nausea filled her stomach. With dismay she realised she was going to throw up. She rushed to her chamber and collapsed over the privy. Nothing.
Kel was almost disappointed. She'd be stuck with this sick stomach now.
Kel felt exhausted, and, too mind-weary to get up, soon fell asleep against the wall.
It was dark when Kel stirred. She immediately grew tense, wondering what had woken her, because she sure hadn't finished sleeping.
Slowly she stood, and peeked into her room. Nobody there. She creeped through the doorframe and went straight for her glaive...
...that wasn't there. Kel thought of a serene lake. This was no time to use her imagination. She lit some candles and looked across the wall. Something out of place caught her eye, and she saw the end of a wooden pole sticking out from the gap between her desk and the wall. She recognised the wood as her glaive and pulled it out.
'Now how had it gotten there?'
She stepped back a bit, looked over her shoulder, just to be sure, and looked back to her glaive.
This was not right. Not right at all. She should leave right now, go seek Dom and be safe in his room.
What if something was happening to Dom right now, or Neal, or Merric...which one of them was next in line? Was it her?
She got the most horrible feeling that it was.
She thought of Niss. What part did she play in this?
Kel took a deep breath. 'Be brave.' Maybe she could kill the assassin: save her friends. The idea was inviting. Tobeis popped up into her mind. Tobe and Jump and her sparrows; waiting for her back at New Hope. They would not be happy if she went and got herself killed. Light reflected off her suit of armour that was propped up and on display like the ones used as decorations in the great halls. She leaned closer and saw a pale face against the shining metal.
Her face. A sick face. She went back into the bathroom and frowned at herself in the mirror. White skin, tinted with yellow, and big black smudges under her eyes. Without warning her vision blurred as it had earlier and she pressed both hands against the wall. The dizzy spell lasted a whole minute. She decided something was definitely wrong. Was it something she ate? Had someone poisoned her food? She felt nauseous.
Was this how Owen and Seaver were so easily brought down?
Kel gasped. Was this...the drug?
Kel picked up her glaive. It helped make her feel a little more safe. She turned around and went back into her room. She stopped dead. There was something on her bed. Something that wasn't there before:
A rolled up piece of parchment.
Kel looked about wildly. Nobody!
She swallowed, and picked the parchment off the bed.
Maybe it's nothing. Maybe she just hadn't seen it before. No one was in here. So what was so wrong?
She sat on the side of the bed, placing her glaive right beside her. She reluctantly unrolled the parchment.
The bearer of this document has commission to kill the following:
Lady Keladry, Knight of Tortall
Under the ruling of the Mother Reaper of the ancient society of Reapers.
And it had the black stamp right underneath.
Kel stopped breathing. This was out of control. She had to leave, had to get help. The dizzy spell came back again, her stomach ached and her ears blocked up. She could hear her own pulse, deep and imperious. She hugged her stomach, willing the pain to go away. It began to ease, as with the dizziness. She kept her weariness at bay. Then...
She stilled.
Behind the throbbing in her ears, she caught a noise...
Creeeak, creeak, creaak.
She pinched her nose and popped her ears.
Creeeeak.
The noise was familiar. Very familiar.
Slowly, she turned, like she was not looking forward to what she might find.
She blinked in surprise, what in the Goddess's name was her suit of armour doing right behind her, with a sword poised right above her head.
WHAT!!! Her mind screamed, and she swung her glaive around just in time to intercept the sword. From inside the suit someone cursed. Kel spun to meet the next ferocious, well-aimed swings, and once she had her bearings, she stopped defending and let loose her own offensive manoeuvres.
It did not take long for Kel to realise her muscles were not reacting as quickly as usual, and her mind was not timing moves like it should be. The sword narrowly missed a pierce at her chest.
'Could this be it?' Kel wondered.
"No!" She yelled, surprising herself. The attacker hesitated, and Kel lunged.
Her glaive slit through the armour like it was butter, striking the heart. Kel jerked her weapon before pulling it back out.
The attacker's sword fell, and he, or she, staggered back, staring at the blood spilling down the cuirass. Then the helmet straightened, and looked at Kel, and the person dropped.
Kel gasped, breathing heavily and leaning her weight on the glaive. She stared blankly at the body, torn between crumpling over to sleep, or finding out who's behind that helmet.
Curiosity won out, and Kel half collapsed to one knee to remove the helmet. Dark hair spilled out of it, and a pale, familiar face stared at the ceiling.
To Kel's astonishment, it wasn't Niss: it was Niss' friend, Assa. Assa of Forestends.
This was the girl who found where Niss' love letter hid in Seaver's chamber. The one who had lectured Kel for accusing Niss. Kel wondered if Niss knew of her friend's dubious profession. What would Niss say when she found out Assa was dead by Kel's hand?
The knight groaned as her stomach lurched. She felt like going to sleep on the floor. She crawled a few paces away from Assa, and lay down on her side. She shut her eyes, instantly drifting off, but something still nagged her. Something she had forgotten.
"Poison...the drug," said a faint voice, far off into the back of Kel's consciousness.
"Poison!"
Kel jumped. It was the rudest awakening she ever had had. She didn't even know what had woken her, but it suddenly occurred to her that, yes, the killer was dead, but wasn't she drugged, or poisoned, just like Owen and Seaver had been?
She needed a healer, and fast. She mentally battered away cries for her to go back to sleep, and she dragged herself across the floor with her powerful arms. 'As long as you get yourself to the neighbour's door, you might live the night,' Kel told herself over and over. It became her sole motivation.
By the time she banged her head against her neighbour's door, Kel was beyond exhaustion. Her head hit the stone floor when her neighbour opened up, and one of his feet bumped against her. She heard him exclaim, and felt strong hands grip under her arms, then experienced the hard floor as her limp body was towed across it. The last thing she remembered of this eventful evening was Neal's worried face above her.
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