Generally a broken leg meant being excused from pacing back and forth in anxiousness. But Corvo persevered. His crutches thudded along the carpet-padded floor, and he half-scowled at the floorboards before turning clumsily and limping his way across the room yet again.

"Lord Protector, sir?" One of the guards - a lanky, youthful fellow who didn't quite fill out his uniform - shuffled into the room and tossed Corvo a salute. "We've checked the perimeter again, sir. All's well. No breeches, no suspicious activity."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, sir. ...this is the third time we've checked this hour." The guard sounded exhausted enough for Corvo to let him be. But he didn't stop pacing back and forth across the small room, even as the guard continued, half-grumbling. "There's no special events planned for today, sir, but I've doubled the guard as requested anyway..."

"And the Empress Emily? Where is she?"

"Just about to leave the study after her morning lessons, sir."

Corvo nodded curtly in response, limping out of the door. He was able to move on crutches with remarkable speed, but it was still a hindrance. Perhaps for the first time in months he was actually starting to look as if he had been through all the trials he had endured. Threadbare, almost. Normally, even at the Hound Pits, he was exquisitely careful to keep Emily from seeing any trace of pain or stress. But now there was worry sitting on his brow clear enough for her to see as she walked out with Callista. He expected to hear the details of her studies for that day, but instead Emily's face drew into a pouting frown. "Is something wrong, Corvo?"

"...Hm? No, no. Of course not." And he quickly smiled in reassurance.

There wasn't any good way to tell Emily that all he had was a hunch, a gut feeling that something awful was about to happen. The clouds had parted on a sky that was just too bright and too cheerful. It felt saccharine. It made him nervous. Or maybe he had been so conditioned by months of torture and disaster to expect the worst that when peace finally came again he didn't know what to do with it. That thought made his chest ache.

As they stepped out into the gardens, he took a deep breath, forced himself to relax. Simple paranoia, that was all. Probably just feeling on edge because of how his broken leg was aching in its cast. Yes, that must be it...

He hadn't been listening, but shook his head and tried to pay attention as Emily continued to chatter at him. "...And I have to write an essay on the Seven Strictures, too. It's not fair, Corvo! It's really not!"

Callista quietly rolled her eyes, walking behind the two, and Corvo chuckled. "They're all important things to know, Emily."

"But I'm the Empress now! Shouldn't I just have an advisor to remember all these things for me? Especially all the boring history... Or the Strictures." Her eyes glanced to Corvo's hand and the Outsider's brand he wore.

He caught her stare and narrowed his eyes worriedly, almost in reprimand. From across the gardens Corvo could already feel the heat of the newest High Overseer's glare on him. It was only through Emily's protection that he hadn't yet been executed for such crimes against the Abbey of the Everyman, after all, so when he spoke he made sure his voie was just a touch louder so that the Overseer could hear. "The Strictures are especially important to know, Emily. They're good advice, not just for you, but for everyone. And -"

Movement to his left. He cut himself off, shoulders drawing in taut with worry, pausing mid-stride on the crutches. A guard? No, this was different - and then Corvo saw it. One person stepping out of another. The guard doubled over, gagging, incapacitated. Air rippled around him as if betraying those who were lurking in the shadows. But the man who stepped forward - neatly trimmed brown hair, thick belt slung from hip to shoulder, rope of a scar over one eye - Daud.

He'd had a sinking feeling, at the time, that leaving Daud to his own guilt was going to be a bad decision.

And now the assassin wore a grimace, eyes red and bloodshot from lack of sleep - or something else? This wasn't the man Corvo had let go out of mercy (or spectacular cruelty, depending on how you looked at it). This was someone else entirely. Someone half out of his mind, someone who had spent too many nights staring into the Void and listening to every whisper the Outsider put in his head...

Glint of steel. Daud's knife was in his hand.

Instinctively Corvo had positioned himself between Daud and Emily. Half a heartbeat's glance over his shoulder - Callista looked as if she was about to scream - more of Daud's men were seeming to materialize out of nothing, keeping the guards occupied. "Go - RUN!" It was a roared command but both Callista and Emily instantly understood it, even if Emily seemed ready to disobey. Callista gave the young Empress no choice in the matter, scooping her up, dodging and weaving as more of Daud's men seemed to appear and dispatch the guards.

And yet... none of them seemed interested in Emily in the least. Corvo's head whipped around to the side to confirm what instinct was telling him. No guards in the garden. Daud's men were merely keeping the High Overseer busy instead of killing him outright. And Daud's eyes weren't fixed on Emily, but instead on Corvo.

The world was slowing to a stop. Emily's mouth opened in a scream. The trim on Callista's coat fluttered. Then as if suspended in ice, all was still - except for Corvo, and Daud, and the garish glinting of the sunlight on the blades in the courtyard.

Daud still wore that peculiar new look. Desperate. Hungry. Maddened.

"Let's see which Serkonan the Outsider loves best."

And then he lunged forward.

The blade sliced neatly enough through one of Corvo's crutches as he brought it up to block, but it was just the momentary distraction he needed - swift kick upwards with his injured leg (he could worry about the pain later) - Daud stumbled back. Only the barest second to catch his breath and fumble for his own sword. Parry - and again - one of his hands flailed, desperately trying to keep his balance. Daud's assault was full of relentless fury, but sloppy in its anger, and Corvo couldn't help but give a small triumphant cry as his sword lashed out, past Daud's, to strike the other man's shoulder. A glancing blow, but first blood. Corvo flung his other crutch out, making Daud have to dodge it, before curling his free hand into a fist. Daud saw the movement, mirrored it - they danced around each other, blinking to where the other had just been, never quite catching one another but keeping in constant movement to help disorient their opponent.

And the world was starting to move again, ungluing itself, bullets finally moving instead of being suspended in mid-air, the shouts from across the gardens becoming undistorted, the scream on Emily's lips finally making it into the wind for Corvo to catch - she was screaming his name -

A momentary distraction was all that Daud needed.

The blast of air caught Corvo hard, mid-blink, and flung him forward. A lucky direction, or else when he hit the high stone railing of the gazebo he would have broken his back, but there was still the unpleasant crunch of breaking ribs as he found himself bent over the marble. For a moment all he could do was gasp and gag - blood on his lips? Something metallic, anyway - before trying to push himself off, though his body was starting to become tired. Pain blazed in his torso. It surely would be one hell of a bruise. Footsteps and the murmur of the Outsider's magic behind him...

He twisted abruptly to check Daud's blade even as it was bearing down on him, and the other man snarled in a distinctly feral way. It was easy, now, to knock Corvo off-balance, and he stumbled back, bracing against the railing as best he could. But a leg in a cast was, at best, a liability in a fight such as this. No time to think - Daud had him pinned down - not even enough time to concentrate on the Outsider's magic - just parry, block, parry - and finally, an opening presented itself.

Daud's eyes, crazed and changed as they were, flared open in greedy victory. Corvo was barely aware of the blade slipping neatly into his shoulder, and how Daud's shoulders were tensing, ready to spin him around and deliver the final blow.

But Corvo's sword found its way into Daud's neck first.

The other man's expression went suddenly and horribly slack as Corvo kicked him away. It was all the signal the other assassins needed, and each of them disengaged, desperately trying to flee. Some succeeded. Some did not. Guardsmen and assassins alike ended up bleeding out into the garden grass. The High Overseer was barking out orders to his personal attachment, and evidently they were ready to pursue the assassins for use of the Outsider's magic alone. Corvo watched as Daud's chest finally stopped moving after the other man gave a rattling wheeze.

"Corvo!" Emily tried to squirm out of Callista's grip, tears already in her eyes, reaching out to him in panic. Callista didn't look so good herself, pale and swaying from the shock of the frenzied battle. Reinforcements of guardsmen were already pouring into the gardens, swarming around the Empress.

Dull, fiery pain in his shoulder. Corvo reached up to pull out Daud's sword almost as an afterthought, tossing it onto the ground and then immediately pressing his hand against the wound. "I'm fine, Emily, I'm fine. It's just my shoulder, nothing serious," he said quickly. "We need to get you to somewhere we know is safe."

Why was the wound still burning? Stronger now, even. Onto his fingertips, if he had to be honest. An unpleasant needling bite. And spreading down across his chest, coupled with the warmth of blood spreading on his woolen coat. He could deal with it later.

"Callista - the eastern tower is the most defensible position. At least until the all-clear is sounded. Even if Daud was coming just for me -" He took a step forward and nearly fell over. "One of the others could..." The world pitched and swooned momentarily. One of the guardsmen gingerly put a hand on his good shoulder, steadying him, before offering an arm to lean on. Corvo wasn't too proud to accept it. "...Want to... nevermind, you... you know what I mean."

Even as they hurried towards the inside of the palace once more, Corvo felt something in his gut twisting, writhing, turning frigid. He'd seen the world sway like this before. And the colors... the colors were all starting to fade from his eyes...

Emily was sobbing. "Corvo - Corvo, are you all right? You're not all right, are you?! Don't leave! If you leave -"

"I'm not going to leave you, Emily, I promise." The softer light of the indoors was at least a little less harsh. Metallic tang on his lips again. When had his mouth become so full of his tongue, and when had his tongue become so stagnant and difficult to move? Not that he would have expected anything less than a poisoned blade from Daud - but this was much swifter than that which had been poured in his drink. "I'm fine." His words were slowing down, slurring. He could tell. And he reached out with his bloodied hand for the mantlepiece of the small adjoining tower-room, fumbling, leaving red smears on the fine wood. "I'm fine, but you don't need to see this."

He drew in a deep breath. It hurt. And his heartbeat continued to thud in his ears. Callista's voice seemed garbled and distant, as if through water - she was repeating his name worriedly. A plea for him to look at her. He shook his head as if that would make the world stand still for just a little while more. The blazing heat was eating at his shoulder in earnest now. Hard to keep his eyes open. Black at the edges of his vision.

He put all of his effort into smiling for Emily even as he braced himself against the wall. "You don't have to worry, Emily. I'm fine. I just need to... to sit down for a moment."

Corvo's intention had been to make it to the chair. He took half a step forward before his knees buckled. And before he hit the floor, the world had dissolved into dull green static.