Assassin's Apprentice

"We are better parted, boy. Better for both of us. There can be no misunderstandings if there are no understandings at all. I can never approve, or ignore, what you do. Never. Come to me when you can say you will do it no more. I will take your word on it, for you've never broken your word to me. But until then, we are better parted."

He left me standing by the paddock and went back for his other horses. I stood a long time, feeling sick and weary, and not just from Kettricken's poison. But I went back into the palace, and walked about, and spoke to people, and ate, and even endured with silence the mocking, triumphant smiles Cob gave me.

The day seemed longer than any two days in my previous experience. Had not it been for my burning and gurgling stomach, I would have found it exciting and absorbing. The afternoon and early evening were given over to congenial contests of archery, wrestling, and footraces. Young and old, male and female, joined in on these contests, and there seemed to be some mountain tradition that whoever won such contests on such an auspicious occasion would enjoy luck for a full turn of a year. Then there was more food, and singing, and dancing of dancers, and an entertainment, like a puppet show, but done all with shadows on a screen of silk. By the time folk began to retire, I was more than ready for my bed. It was a relief to close my chamber screen and be alone. I was just pulling off my annoying shirt and reflecting on what a strange day it had been when there was a tap at my door.

Before I could speak, Sevrens slid open the screen and slipped in. "Regal commands your presence," he told me.

"Now?" I asked owlishly.

"Why else would he send me now?" Sevrens demanded.

Wearily I pulled my shirt back on and followed him out of the room. Regal's chambers were in an upper level of the palace. It was not really a second floor, but more like a wooden terrace built to one side of the Great Hall. The walls were screens, and there was a sort of balcony where he might stand and look down before descending. These rooms were much more richly decorated. Some of the work was obviously Chyurda, bright birds brushed onto silk panels and figurines carved of amber. But much of the tapestries and statues and hangings looked to me like things Regal had acquired for his own pleasure and comfort. I stood waiting in his antechamber while he finished his bath. By the time he ambled out in his nightshirt, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open.

"Well?" he demanded of me.

I looked at him blankly. "You summoned me," I reminded him.

"Yes. I did. I should like to know why it was necessary. I thought you had received some sort of training in this sort of thing. How long were you going to wait before you reported to me?"

I could think of nothing to say. I had never remotely considered reporting to Regal. To Shrewd or Chade, definitely, and to Verity. But to Regal?

"Need I remind you of your duty? Report."

I hastily gathered my wits. "Would you hear my observations on the Chyurda as a people? Or information on the herbs they grow? Or-"

"I want to know what you are doing about your ... assignment. Have you acted yet? Have you made a plan? When can we expect results, and of what kind? I scarcely want the Prince dropping dead at my feet, and me unprepared for it."

I could scarcely credit what I was hearing. Never had Shrewd spoken so bluntly or so openly of my work. Even when our privacy was assured, he circled and danced and left me to draw my own conclusions. I had seen Sevrens go into his other chamber, but had no idea where the man was now or how sound carried in this chamber. And Regal was speaking as if we were discussing shoeing a horse.

"Are you being insolent, or stupid?" Regal demanded.

"Neither," I rejoined as politely as I was able. "I am being cautious. My prince." I added the last in the hopes of putting the conversation on a more formal level.

"You are being foolishly cautious. I trust my valet, and there is no one else here. So report. My bastard assassin." He said the last words as if he thought them cleverly sarcastic.

I took a breath and reminded myself that I was a king's man. And in this time and place, this was as close to a king as I was going to get. I chose my phrases carefully. "Yesterday, in the garden, Princess Kettricken told me you had told her I was a poisoner and that her brother, Rurisk, was my target."

"A lie," Regal said decisively. "I told her nothing of the kind. Either you had clumsily betrayed yourself, or she was merely fishing for information. I hope you have not spoiled all by revealing yourself to her."

I could have lied much better than he did. I let his remarks slide by and went on. I gave him a full report, of my poisoning, and of Rurisk and Kettricken's early-morning visit. I repeated our conversation verbatim. And when I was finished, Regal spent a number of minutes looking at his nails before he spoke to me. "And have you decided on a method and time yet?"