WeaverWitch

Chapter 9- Reunited Part 1

Aeduan fiddled with the knives lining his baldric, long fingers playing with the buckles as he checked that they were ready to be loosed at a moment's nervous. But only in an emergency. He was making a new attempt to not leave a trail of bodies wherever he went. Why? He had no idea. He owed nothing to this world. He had paid a hundred blood debts and let the contents of his veins spill on the earth a thousand times over, only to be resurrected again and again. He had never had qualms about ending the lives of those who did not deserve the air they breathed before.

And yet here he was, going over the pressure points in his head that would knock the guards out harmlessly as he broke into the palace of the Emperor.

He checked all his knives one more time, then slipped between the stones of the dark space outside of the palace where he was waiting for the sun to set. It was dark, sheltered by shrubbery from the bored gazes of the guards on the battlements, and if he timed it right, he would be able to slip through one of the doorways before they realized there was anything wrong.

This was all embellishment, of course. In a little while, he would stroll into the throne room in the embroidered black suit he was wearing under his armor, recorded to have come in from the front gate at exactly 5:00. Aeduan knew exactly how to bribe a guard.

Later, panicked nurses from the infirmary would report that several guards had been found unconscious, knocked out by a mysterious intruder, and the papers decreeing Cartorra's treaty with the Raider King would be found missing.

But first, he needed to slip in through the infirmary under the cover of darkness.

He timed the beats of the guard's feet slapping against the stone. One. He ducked through the doorway, the man's heel disappearing around the corner. Two. A second man, clad in a chainmail shirt and a cloth uniform, marched down the steps, eyes widening as Aeduan swept by and shoved his hand under the man's jaw. He dropped like a stone, Aeduan catching the edge of his collar and lowering him slowly so he did not make a sound when he hit the steps. Three. He stomped in beat as he walked up the stairs, giving the other men no reason to be suspicious, and then dashed into the third doorway he saw at the top. Four-and-Five. He was gone before the next guard came around.

Now he was in a dark hallway, windows showing that he was alongside the throne room. The maids had not yet come through to light the torches, seeing as it was only a few minutes after sunset, so it was dark. He sprinted down towards the turn, hands curling around his knives. He was-relaxed. This is what I do. He was back to infiltrating castles, ready to assassinate some sleeping duke or steal a big jewel. But this time, he was stealing something entirely different- a treaty. When Henrik realized that the only thing keeping him safe in his palace, holed up with half his army, was missing, he might actually get up off his saggy bum to make a new one. Undoubtedly, the meeting would gain so much publicity that everyone in the Witchlands would know the exact date and location of his parley with Aeduan's father by the next day. The perfect stage for an assassination.

Aeduan pressed his body against the corner, seeing the "Infirmary" sign hanging above the doorway to his left and laying a hand on the stone. His senses ignited, and he inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring and eyes rolling back in his head. He could suddenly smell the blood scent of everyone for a hundred feet. Focusing on the hallway around the corner, no doubt lined with the rooms of resting patients, he tried to latch on to a conscious scent but came away with nothing. Of course the infirmary at the Emperor's palace would be empty- so much space, staff, and supplies, yet the most critical injury they probably had gotten in the last year was a child's scraped knee. What a complete waste.

Letting down his guard, Aeduan strolled out into the dark passage, letting his boots click against the wood.

And a blurry figure flew out of the darkness and slammed him into the wall.