Part 25 (2/2)
Putting everything out of his mind but his duty, he forced himself to pick up the pace, and slowly he could see he was gaining on the a.s.sa.s.sin. William had no sense of where he was, and no idea how much farther he would have to run before reaching the trail that pa.s.sed north of the wadi's entrance. He could imagine it being scant yards ahead of the a.s.sa.s.sin, or another mile. He didn't know which.
He saw he had halved the distance between himself and the man; he had closed to barely a hundred yards when the a.s.sa.s.sin looked over his shoulder. Either he had sensed William behind him or he had heard him, but regardless of the cause, he now knew he was being chased.
The man picked up the pace and William fought off a moment of resignation. Whatever James's plan was, it was clear the squire didn't want the a.s.sa.s.sins to know of a way into the fortress through the plateau.
William bore down, ignoring the burning in his legs and a heart that seemed ready to burst from his chest. This a.s.sa.s.sin must be tired as well, William thought. And then he thought of why he must not fail. The Prince needed to know of this place, how to get in, and the demon. He thought of his duty and those he was protecting: 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 b.l.o.o.d.y rites, and he vowed he would die before allowing such a horror to be visited upon her.
Slowly he closed the gap with the a.s.sa.s.sin. The realization that he was gaining filled him with an elation that soon caused the fatigue to fade. It was clear the a.s.sa.s.sin 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 a.s.sa.s.sin hesitated on which way to turn, and in that moment he had sealed his own fate. He had to turn to fight.
The man did so, pulling out a scimitar, and readied himself. He obviously expected William to slow and draw his own weapon, but rather than do as expected, William pulled his b.a.s.t.a.r.d-sword on the run and managed to let lose with a war-cry as he lifted the long blade over his head.
The a.s.sa.s.sin leapt aside, startled by the rush, but not losing his wits. He parried William's blow, spinning to face him as William slid to a stop in the dirt and also turned.
The two men crouched, facing one another. The a.s.sa.s.sin drew a dagger from his belt with his left hand and held it as if using it to parry, which William knew would be foolish against his long blade. He stayed wary, for the a.s.sa.s.sin would surely not hesitate to throw the blade if he saw an opportunity. He had no doubt the man could fight with either hand.
The a.s.sa.s.sin was shorter than William, presenting a compact target as he stood with knees bent, waiting to see what William would do next.
William circled to his left, looking for an opening. When rested, William was as fast with his long blade as many other men were with a broadsword, but he was far from rested. He knew he had only two or three blows left before he would be at the other man's mercy.
William leapt forward, turning his blade as he moved, so that he could level a backhand slash at the man's right-hand side. He hoped to force the a.s.sa.s.sin to parry with the scimitar. William prayed the scimitar would snap when he struck it.
Apparently sensing the risk to his blade, the a.s.sa.s.sin jumped back, rather than parrying, 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 a.s.sa.s.sin's dagger hand.
The a.s.sa.s.sin let fly with the dagger, the blade aimed straight for William's throat, or where it would have been had he followed through with his blow.
Instead of striking him in the throat, the blade glanced off William's shoulder at its juncture with the neck, slicing the muscle just above the chain mail he wore over his tunic. ”d.a.m.n!” William said as his eyes teared from the pain.
He didn't have time to consider the ill-luck of it not having struck one inch to the right, where it would probably have bounced off his chain, for the a.s.sa.s.sin followed his throw with a headlong rush.
William barely managed to get his sword up to block the man's scimitar. His breath burst from his lungs as the a.s.sa.s.sin drove his shoulder into William's chest, taking them both to the ground in a heap.
William ignored the fiery pain in his shoulder, rolled away from the a.s.sa.s.sin, and tried to come to his feet. Pain exploded in his face as the a.s.sa.s.sin kicked him, causing him to fall backward, his vision swimming as the sky turned yellow and red.
Fighting to remain conscious, William was abruptly aware of having lost his grip on his sword. As he tried to sit up, another blow struck him, and his head rang from the pain. Half-conscious, he was barely aware of the weight which landed on his chest.
Blinking hard, trying to force his senses to obey him, William looked up to see death upon him. The a.s.sa.s.sin was standing over him, one boot firm on William's chest, his scimitar poised to deliver the killing blow.
In the split second between the recognition of his plight and the thought that he must somehow act-grab the a.s.sa.s.sin's boot and knock him off balance-and the knowledge that he would be too slow to do it, William saw the a.s.sa.s.sin freeze for an instant, then fall away.
A figure in chain mail not unlike his own stood above William. It took a few moments for him to recognize Captain Treggar.
The captain put his sword away and knelt over William. ”Can you hear me?”
William blinked and then managed to croak, ”Yes.”
”Can you stand?”
”I don't know,” whispered William. ”Help me to my feet and we'll find out.”
Treggar got a hand under William's arm and helped him to stand. ”Let me see that,” said the captain, looking at William's wound. After a moment, he said, ”You'll live.”
William's head still rang and his legs were rubbery, but he said, ”That's good news.”
”But that cut's going to burn like h.e.l.l for a while until we can dress it.”
The captain tore off a piece of his tunic and jammed it hard against the wound. William's knees threatened to buckle and Treggar held him up. ”We don't have time for you to faint, lieutenant.”
”No, sir,” said William weakly.
”We're going to find the Prince, and if I have to leave you behind, I will.”
”Understood, sir,” said William, forcing himself to take deep breaths. ”I'll do my best.”
”I know, Will,” said Treggar. ”Come on, and let's hope we find the Prince before those a.s.sa.s.sins find us.”
William looked around. ”Where's James?”
”He went back inside. Said he was going to make them spend time looking for him rather than us.”
William said nothing, but inside he was wondering 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 him.
They set off toward the east, moving slowly at first, then picking up the pace as William regained his senses.
James glanced around. He had taken a few minutes to move the rocks that had fallen when he and William had moved the flagstone above the crack in the ceiling. There was little he could do about the dust but he still tried to move some of it around with his feet.
Unsatisfied, but resigned to that being his best effort, he hurried toward the route he judged most likely to get him to where he wanted to be without being set upon by an army of angry men in black with large a.r.s.enals of weapons at their disposal.
”Ruthia,” he said quietly, invoking the name of the G.o.ddess of Luck. ”I know I've abused our relations.h.i.+p at times, and I'm far overdue in visiting your shrine, but if you could see your way clear to granting me just a little more of your favor, this time, I swear I will be far more rigorous in my devotions.”
He turned the corner and stepped into a large room, and an instant too late realized that there were men who had been standing motionless upon each side of the door. He spun to be confronted by two swords pointing at him, just as another half-dozen a.s.sa.s.sins suddenly burst into the room from three other doors.
Glancing around, he saw it was hopeless to fight, so he held up his hands and let his sword drop from limp fingers. Under his breath, he muttered, ”Ruthia, you didn't have to be so emphatic in saying no!”
One of the a.s.sa.s.sins stepped forward and struck James across the face with the back of his hand. James fell hard to the flagstones and the man kicked him brutally in the ribs.
Vomiting the scant contents of his stomach, James coughed and said, ”Ruthia, you can be such a b.i.t.c.h.” Then the man kicked him in the head and James lost consciousness.
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