“Ah, figured that out, have you?” Blint asked. “This may be the first time you’ve seen me, Brant Agon, but it isn’t the first time I’ve seen you.”
The lord general looked puzzled. “So you’ve seen me. So have half the people in the city.”
“Does your wife still crowd your side of the bed? Sweet, isn’t it? Does she still wear that drab nightgown with the daisies embroidered on the hem? You really love her, don’t you?”
Lord General Agon froze.
“You call me abhorrent?” Durzo asked. “You owe me your life!”
“What?”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why you got a promotion instead of a knife in the back?”
From his eyes, even Azoth could tell that the lord general had.
“I was in your house the night King Davin died, when you and Regnus Gyre met. I was to kill your wife as a warning to you. Later, the prince would offer you a better marriage to a young noblewoman who would be able to give you sons. And I was authorized to kill both you and Regnus if you were plotting treason. I spared you—and I don’t get paid unless I leave corpses. I don’t expect your gratitude, lord general, but I demand your respect!”
Lord General Agon’s face went gray. “You . . . you told Aleine that my price was the promotion. He thought he bought me off with a promotion rather than a wife.” Azoth could see him mentally reviewing comments he must have heard over the last four months, and getting sicker and sicker. “Why?”
“You’re the illustrious general, the old war hero. You tell me.” Durzo sneered.
“Putting me in charge of the army divided the Sa’kagé’s enemies. It kept the king from putting someone he could trust in charge of the military. You bastards have got people everywhere, don’t you?”
“Me? I’m just a sellsword. I’m just a wreck of a human being.”
The general’s face was still gray, but his back never bent an inch. “You’ve . . . you’ve given me much to think about, Master Blint. Though I still believe the murders you’ve committed merit hanging, I dishonored you and myself with my hasty words. I apologize. My apology, however, has no effect on the king’s determination that you serve him. I—”
“Get out,” Master Blint said. “Get out. If you reconsider your threats, I’ll be here for a few minutes.”
The general rose, and watching Master Blint carefully, walked to the door. He opened it, and kept his eyes on Master Blint until he closed the door behind himself. Azoth heard his steps echo down the hall.
Master Blint stared at the door and scooted back from the table. Instead of relaxing now that the general was gone, he tensed. Everything about him spoke of potential action. He looked like a mongoose waiting for a serpent to strike.
“Step away from the door, Azoth,” he said. “Stand by the window.”
There was no hesitation. Azoth had learned that lesson. He didn’t have to understand; he just had to obey.
He heard a crash on the stairs and loud cursing. Azoth stood by the window and looked at Master Blint, but the man’s pockmarked face betrayed nothing.
Moments later, the door banged open. The lord general lurched in, sword drawn. “What have you done?” he roared. His knees bowed and he leaned heavily against the doorframe to keep from falling.
Master Blint didn’t say anything.
The general blinked and tried to straighten, but a spasm passed through his body as his stomach cramped. It passed, and he said, “How?”
“I put a contact poison on the door latch,” Master Blint said. “It seeps right through the skin.”
“But if we’d reached a deal . . .” the lord general said.
“I’d have opened the door for you. If you’d worn gloves, I had other plans. Now I want you to listen very closely. The king is an incompetent, treacherous, foul-mouthed child, so I’m going to make this very clear. I’m a first-rate wetboy. He’s a second-rate king. I won’t work for him. If you want, you can hire me yourself: I’ll kill the king, but I won’t kill for him. And there’s no way you or he can pressure me.
“I know he won’t believe that, because Aleine Gunder is the kind of man who believes he can get whatever he wants. So here’s why he’s going to believe.” Master Blint stood. “First, I’m going to leave a message for him tonight in the castle. Second, you’re going to investigate what happened to Count Yosar Glin. He was the client