was his best ticket to getting out of here safely and into a different continent. His only chance of making a new life for himself without constantly having one eye over his shoulder would be to leave Wynngaard completely.
Bloodless glanced up at the hovering Resken, the unspoken question in the air, What if you betray me?
Siobhan answered it as if he’d spoken it aloud. “Don’t worry about Wolf. He growls a lot, but as long as you don’t provoke him, he won’t do anything to you.”
“Well, in that case….” He held out a hand to seal the deal. She took it without hesitation, gripping his forearm, surprised that it felt like she gripped an iron bar. He was deceptively stronger than he looked.
Bloodless shook his head in wry amusement. “Don’t ya know better than ta come within arm’s reach of an assassin?”
“You’re not going to kill me,” she responded with absolute certainty. “My death won’t profit you anything.”
He reclaimed his hand and asked Wolf, “Is she always this crazy?”
“No,” Wolf growled in true agitation. “Sometimes she’s worse.”
Bloodless grinned. “My sympathies.”
Siobhan ignored this by-play and rocked back up to her feet. “Alright, sit tight. I’ll negotiate you out of those chains in a minute. But there’s one last thing.”
Bloodless cocked his head at her, silently questioning.
“I’m not calling you Bloodless,” she informed him bluntly. “That’s the name you give a hunting dog, not a human being. Don’t you have a true name?”
“Not that I know of.”
The answer told her more than he probably intended. Just how young had he been abandoned to the cold mercies of the world that he didn’t even remember the name his parents had given him? If he’d had parents at all, that was. She didn’t like the return of that lifeless quality in his eyes, either. Blowing out a breath, she flipped her hand palm up, letting that pass.
“Then is there a name you prefer to be called by? Or shall I choose one for you?”
He blinked at her, nonplussed and confused.
Wolf cleared his throat behind her. “Siobhan, the only person that can name another is their parent, or someone who acts as a mentor. It’d be very strange for you to name him.”
Oh? Ooops. She hadn’t known that little fact of Wynngaardian culture.
“Ya can,” Bloodless said suddenly, eyes intent on her. For some reason, the expression on his face reminded her of a hungry animal, although why, she couldn’t begin to understand. “Ya can name me.”
She stared back at him for a long moment, trying to figure out why he said so. Was he afraid of upsetting their deal by denying her? That didn’t seem to be it, though. She glanced up at Wolf, but he seemed just as puzzled by this.
Well, alright, he was willing and she truly couldn’t bring herself to call him by a pet’s name. She thought on it for a moment before offering, “Rune. It means ‘secret.’” Heaven knew the man had a boat- load of them.
“Rune,” he repeated and smiled slightly as he said it, as if liking the taste of it. “Sure. I’ll be ya secret, sweet Guildmaster.”
“Not quite how I meant it,” she denied with a shake of the head. “But fine. Rune, sit tight. I’ll have you out of those chains in a few minutes.”
ӜӜӜ
The Ahbiren did not at all like her proposal. In fact, he was with Wolf on this one—the only good assassin was a dead assassin. But after much discussion, promises, and such, he finally relented. Siobhan was well aware that she only got permission because Wolf cheerfully swore that if Rune acted up at all, he’d kill him without hesitation.
Siobhan decided not to care as long as she got Rune out of those chains and under her custody.
She went back to Rune with the key for the manacles in hand, knelt, and undid the chains, taking in his overall condition with a clinical eye. He looked—and smelled—terrible, as if he had been completely neglected except for the odd meals shoved his direction. Assassination attempt aside, how could anyone treat another human being like this? She understood anger, and retaliation, but outright cruelty was beyond her ken. She couldn’t stomach him being left like this.
“Rune, listen to me carefully. The Ahbiren does not like the idea of you living one little bit and he’s going to keep a close eye on you. So stay close to me and don’t cause trouble, alright?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he promised without a hint of sarcasm.