Caim drew his other knife and crossed the room just as the second bodyguard turned. As the man raised his sword arm to strike, Caim lunged in close and drove his weapon full length into the joint under the man's armpit. The bodyguard gasped and slid off the knife.
"Caim!" Kit shouted from behind him.
He turned, knees bent with his knife at the ready. From this vantage he could see the wardrobe Kit had mentioned. It was pulled aside, and a black tunnel mouth yawned in the wall beyond. A young man in the duke's livery with fair hair and a short goatee emerged with a bared arming sword in his hand. Caim pivoted out of the path of the falling sword and thrust his knife into his opponent's side. The point struck a rib. Caim twisted the blade and punched it through the connective tissue between the bones.
The young man's last breath wheezed from the wound as he crumpled to the floor.
The duke cringed beside a massive, four-post bed. "Please." His jowls trembled as he held out his hands before him. An angry welt marred one of his palms. "I'll give you anything you want."
"Yes." Caim crossed the floor. "You will."
The duke died with considerably less effort than his bodyguards. Caim left the body stretched out on the bed with a bloody hole carved into the chest. He hadn't been able to take out Reinard in front of his dinner guests. His clients would have to be satisfied with butchery. The message was sent.
Caim retrieved his other knife and scanned the chamber. If he hurried he could be over the walls and outside the keep before the duke's men organized any meaningful pursuit. He didn't expect them to trail him for long. With their liege dead, they would be more concerned with finding and protecting Reinard's heir. By all accounts young Lord Robert was a decent boy, a far cry from his monstrous father. The duchy would be a better place.
Calm's gaze fell on the young man sprawled at the tunnel entrance. He had never set eyes on Lord Robert, but he had a reliable description. Twenty-two years old, light brown hair with a wisp of a beard and blue eyes. The youth on the floor matched the description too closely to be a coincidence. Caim cursed under his breath. So much for leaving these lands in the care of a kinder, more tolerant liege.
Kit walked through the door to the hallway. "You're going to get some company very soon."
Caim considered the open window. "How many?"
"More than you can handle. Believe me."
"I do. What about outside?"
"All those pretty ladies and gentlemen have stirred up quite a commotion in the yard. Every exit is sealed and extra men have been put on the walls. Search parties are scouring the grounds."
"And the tunnel?"
Kit gave him a sassy grin. "Lots of stairs and the rest of the duke's bodyguards wait at the other end. They might not be happy to see you come out before their boss."
Caim wiped his knives clean on Lord Robert's tabard. Nothing was going his way tonight. He was going to have to use his last option. By the amused expression on her face, Kit knew it, too. He hated admitting she was right, but he'd probably hate dying even more.
He went around the room snuffing candles and lamp wicks to plunge the chamber into darkness except for a single lantern resting beside the tunnel mouth. He passed the Duke's traveling trunk and the sacks spilled on the floor without a glance. Just one of those purses would set him up for a year, but he was an assassin, not a thief.
Fists banged on the door.
"You'd better hurry," Kit said.
Caim tried to ignore her as he pressed his back against a wall in the darkest part of the room. There amid the shadows, he closed his eyes and shut out the outside world. He focused on the sliver of fear quivering at the center of his core. Fear was the key. It was always there, hidden beneath layers of denial and repression. Caim hated this. He had to tap into that feeling, allow it to possess him. At first, he didn't think he could. There were too many distractions. The pain was too far removed. But then a memory seized hold of him. It was an old memory, full of pain.
Raging flames painted the night sky in hues of orange and gold, and