"Viper? Yes, and torturer and witch. I know a thousand harsher names for her. I am her own flesh, but all she saw was another tool. I will be wielded by her no longer. If you will not help me, I will find revenge another way. But think: You are of the Tassin. Terraphel poses the most immediate threat to your people. I have lived there since it was taken. I know every weakness, every vulnerability. I know Symorkhel's weaknesses too. With me, it could be taken."
"Why? Why should we take Terraphel? It's small. If Fellyre falls, all its little outposts will fall with it. You are in this war only for your own gain. We fight for all free people."
"I am in this only for my gain. I never claimed otherwise. But know this: If the Sheela stays in Symorkhel's hands, Fellyre will rule the world. Of course, I do not care. I have yet to see any that might be called "free people". You are all some form of slave, whether you see it or not. Slaves to causes, laws, and fears. But your cause and my revenge could serve each other. After Symorkhel is destroyed, I do not care what becomes of Fellyre or the Tassin, but you would do Fellyre an injury that it would take decades to heal."
"I have no reason to trust you."
"And I have no intention of giving you any reason." A long silence ensued as the two faced each other. Eldan's distrust matched the assassin's defiance. For a moment, Kalen thought they were going to fight, but Eldan took a step back and extended her hand, breaking the tension.
"This doesn't mean I trust you, but I don't trust them either," she glanced at Kalen and Jaened, "Welcome to our company. My name is Eldan."
The assassin smirked and took her hand. "Assassin."
"That's your name?" Jaened coughed.
"What of it? My mother is not sentimental. She named me what she wanted me to be, and I have not disappointed. But she never supposed that one day, she would be my victim." She laughed at her own irony.
Assassin proved a strange companion. She made Eldan look genteel and delicate with her crude manners and bitter sarcasm, but her weapons and armor were of kingly quality. Day and night, she wore a hauberk of fine mail under her jacket and greaves over her thick leather leggings. Only for eating would she set aside her flexible gauntlets of leather sewn over with interlocking steel plates. The sword at her side would have trailed on the ground had she been but a little shorter, and she carried a short bow and well-stock quiver, but she obviously favored her knives. There were five strapped to each thigh and an indefinite number hidden amid the crisscrossing mess of belts and straps over her chest. Though he still did not trust her, Kalen felt far safer with her on their side than tracking them. He could see Eldan felt the same, though she chafed at the obvious scorn Assassin cast on her skills. She had met her better and knew it.
When Assassin volunteered to keep watch, Eldan's refusal to allow it was met with a smirk and a shrug. Kalen could see Eldan fuming as she took her place to watch. She was clearly not accustomed to being laughed at. There was really no need for her watch--none of them could sleep that night. None but Assassin, at any rate. She lay down and did not move again until the sun was rising, and, when she did, she was the only one with the strength to rise. She shed her armor with little regard to modesty and polished each piece before forcing them all to their feet.
"And you think Fellyre should fear your kind? The least of my mother's handmaids could have killed you all in your beds by now."
"Well, you would know, wouldn't you, witch's spawn?" Eldan threw back. For a moment, Kalen thought Assassin would go for her throat, but instead, she threw back her head and laughed. The more he heard her laugh, the more he hated it. There was no humor or joy in it: just scorn.
As they traveled on, all Kalen and Jaened could do was keep silent and stay out of the ever growing tension between the two women.
"You don't want to go that way."
Eldan turned on her heel to face Assassin. "And why not?"
"You can go. He's the only one I need alive." Assassin pointed over her shoulder at Jaened. From that point, she took the lead.
Kalen came up quietly beside Eldan. "What do we do if she leads us into a trap?"
"Then we all die."
Kalen mulled over it for a long moment, then asked, "What if we split? All she wants is Jaened. We--you and I could part ways with them. I know that sounds awful, but Jaened--"
"We owe Jaened our lives. We can't part ways with that debt unpaid. Trust me, I am as eager to be free of them as you are, but what would that say of us? We swore to help him free his sister. That was the condition on which he helped us. But we haven't kept it, and I cannot leave a broken promise. It's against the Tassin Code."
Double checking to make sure Jaened was out of earshot, Kalen replied. "I don't know the Tassin Code, but Elnite law calls for equal exchange. We saved his life as surely as he saved ours. If anything, he owes us. But this isn't about Jaened. It's Assassin. She could kill us any moment and I think she'd enjoy it. What might she do with us once her plan has played out? When Symorkhel is defeated and her revenge is over, what will she do with her life? She could wreak havoc on our people. We could be following the Plains' destruction."
"You need not fear that." Assassin called back over her shoulder. How in starlight had she overheard them from that distance?! "Once Symorkhel is destroyed, I will be content. I have no political plans or interests. I would live out my life as far from all peoples as is possible. Your petty tribes and cities disgust me; why would I want anything to do with them?"
"Well, you've already set our course for Syxel. Why is that?" Eldan demanded. Assassin laughed again and kept walking.
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