The Queen & The Assassin 1 - Iron by Marshall Lisette

Author:Marshall, Lisette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2021-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Tamar did sleep well.

She slept so well, even, that she didn’t wake until the vigorous knocking on her bedroom door eventually forced her to – long after sunrise, even in the middle of winter. But despite that forceful start of her morning, despite the fact she had fallen asleep in her stiff day dress, despite the disconcerting mess of memories of the past night, she woke with her mind calm and clear, a serenity that could not even be broken by the thought of the world waiting outside.

She was alive. She was still alive. And the assassin – Runo…

With a groan she sat up on the edge of her bed and scanned her room. No trace of him. As if he never walked in through her balcony doors, pushed a knife to her throat, told her about his Cuvri village, and…

She raised a hand to her mouth, cautiously pressed her fingertips against her lips. Had he kissed her?

Had she let him?

Only then did she realise that the steady beat of knuckles against her door still continued, with irregular intervals. She muttered a curse and got up, brushed the worst wrinkles from her skirts, and steeled herself. Whatever was going on, if it required minutes of knocking, she shouldn’t ignore it for a daydream. Even if it was a daydream of the man who should have killed her last night –

And hadn't?

For hell’s sake – a question for later.

She ran a hand through her hair in the few steps to the other side of her room, just enough to tame the worst of the chaos, and unlocked the door. When she swung it open, she found Amiran on her doorstep, flustered and rumpled, surrounded by a handful of guards.

‘Thank the gods, Tamar, I nearly started thinking…’

Only then did it occur to her that he would have stood here knocking for a far, far longer time if Runo hadn't so abruptly changed his mind last night. A shiver ran over her back.

‘Apologies,’ she said, and it didn’t come out as confident as usual. ‘I was fast asleep, it seems – is there anything wrong?’

‘Some news about the assassin.’

Her blood turned cold. ‘What is it?’

‘One of Reziko’s informants heard some rumour downtown,’ Amiran said, and every muscle in her chest relaxed at once – rumours downtown. Not some overly zealous guard piercing a sword through him at first sight, then. ‘It seems that over the course of this night someone closed a deal with some unseemly fellows from Woodside District. About your assassin. About his life, that is.’

Tamar stared at him, her shoulders tensing up again. ‘Gods’ sake. How much?’

‘Fifty pieces of gold.’

‘Fifty?’

‘Exactly.’ He grimaced. ‘Someone seems quite determined not to let him escape.’

‘Good gods,’ she said, blinking. Fifty pieces of gold. A melodious voice still echoing in her ears, soft lips on hers. ‘I doubt it’s about his escape. More about what he might tell us if we found him first – but hell, that’s a lot of gold to put on anyone’s head.

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