Part 25 (2/2)

Treggar looked as if he was about to say so, then just nodded He turned and ran after William

James took a deep breath of fresh air as the late afternoon sun set behind the eastern peaks Then he turned and climbed back down into the ancient fortress

Willia the children on Stardock, or the fastest cadet at Krondor, but he had always had endurance He kneould have to call upon that endurance to overtake the assassin, as clearly faster William suddenly realized the assassin had made a mistake and had chosen to run down the ancient wadi, to the passage along the west that William and his companions had used to enter the fortress Had he run the other way, he ate, or pounded on it to get attention and quickly bring help Now, William had a chance

He saw the assassin ahead of hientle turn to the north Running downhill, Williahtly Excitement or fear had lent speed to theinto astride

Willia chased, since he had not looked back at any tiht Willia He blinked perspiration out of them He breathed evenly, but his throat was dry and he could feel his body aching Lack of sleep, water and food was taking its toll

Putting everything out of his mind but his duty, he forced hiaining on the assassin William had no sense of where he was, and no idea howthe trail that passed north of the wadi's entrance He could i scant yards ahead of the assassin, or another mile He didn't knohich

He saw he had halved the distance between himself and the man; he had closed to barely a hundred yards when the assassin looked over his shoulder Either he had sensed Williaardless of the cause, he noas being chased

The ht off a nation Whatever James's plan was, it was clear the squire didn't want the assassins to know of a way into the fortress through the plateau

Willias and a heart that seemed ready to burst from his chest This assassin ht of why he must not fail The Prince needed to know of this place, how to get in, and the de: the royal family, the common people of the city, the servants in the palace; and then he thought of Talia He remembered the demon that had appeared at the bloody rites, and he vowed he would die before allowing such a horror to be visited upon her

Slowly he closed the gap with the assassin The realization that he was gaining filled hiue to fade It was clear the assassin was tiring and would soon have to face him

The wadi broadened and now William could see the trail where they had bidden farewell to the two soldiers who had left with the goats and cart

Reaching the trail, the assassin hesitated on which way to turn, and in that ht

Theout a scimitar, and readied himself He obviously expected William to slow and draw his oeapon, but rather than do as expected, Williaed to let lose with a war-cry as he lifted the long blade over his head

The assassin leapt aside, startled by the rush, but not losing his wits He parried Willia to face him as William slid to a stop in the dirt and also turned

The two er fro it to parry, which Willia blade He stayed wary, for the assassin would surely not hesitate to throw the blade if he saw an opportunity He had no doubt the ht with either hand

The assassin was shorter than Williaet as he stood with knees bent, waiting to see what Willia for an opening When rested, Willia blade as many other men ith a broadsword, but he was far from rested He knew he had only two or three blows left before he would be at the otherhis blade as he moved, so that he could level a backhand slash at the ht-hand side He hoped to force the assassin to parry with the scimitar William prayed the sci the risk to his blade, the assassin ju, and William seized the moment to press forward He jerked his blade up short rather than let it carry around, leaving the point just to the right of the assassin's dagger hand

The assassin let fly with the dagger, the blade aiht for Williah with his blow

Instead of striking hilanced off Willia the muscle just above the chain mail he wore over his tunic ”damn!” William said as his eyes teared from the pain

He didn't have ti struck one inch to the right, where it would probably have bounced off his chain, for the assassin followed his throith a headlong rush

Williaet his sword up to block the s as the assassin drove his shoulder into Williaround in a heap

Willianored the fiery pain in his shoulder, rolled away from the assassin, and tried to come to his feet Pain exploded in his face as the assassin kicked hi as the sky turned yellow and red

Fighting to re lost his grip on his sword As he tried to sit up, another blow struck hi froht which landed on his chest

Blinking hard, trying to force his senses to obey him, William looked up to see death upon hi over him, one boot firm on Willia blow

In the split second between the recognition of his plight and the thought that he rab the assassin's boot and knock hie that he would be too slow to do it, William saw the assassin freeze for an instant, then fall away

A figure in chain mail not unlike his own stood above Williaar

The captain put his sword away and knelt over Williaed to croak, ”Yes”

”Can you stand?”

”I don't knohispered Williaot a hand under William's arm and helped hi at William's wound After a mo and his legs were rubbery, but he said, ”That's good news”

”But that cut's going to burn like hell for a while until we can dress it”

The captain tore off a piece of his tunic and jaainst the wound Williaar held him up ”We don't have time for you to faint, lieutenant”

”No, sir,” said Willia to find the Prince, and if I have to leave you behind, I will”

”Understood, sir,” said Willia himself to take deep breaths ”I'll do ar ”Come on, and let's hope we find the Prince before those assassins find us”

William looked around ”Where's Ja tofor hi, but inside he ondering if he possessed that sort of courage James would be lucky to survive the time it would take to find the Prince and return with hi slowly at first, then picking up the pace as Willialanced around He had taken a few minutes to move the rocks that had fallen when he and Willia There was little he could do about the dust but he still tried to move soned to that being his best effort, he hurried toward the route he judgedset upon by an are arsenals of weapons at their disposal

”Ruthia,” he said quietly, invoking the name of the Goddess of Luck ”I know I've abused our relationshi+p at ti your shrine, but if you could see your way clear to granting me just a little orous in my devotions”

He turned the corner and stepped into a large room, and an instant too late realized that there weremotionless upon each side of the door He spun to be confronted by tords pointing at him, just as another half-dozen assassins suddenly burst into the roo around, he saas hopeless to fight, so he held up his hands and let his sword drop froers Under his breath, heno!”

One of the assassins stepped forward and struck James across the face with the back of his hand Jastones and thethe scant contents of his stohed and said, ”Ruthia, you can be such a bitch” Then the man kicked him in the head and James lost consciousness