Blade of the North Read online

  This village could be any of a thousand, except it is built up in the trees rather than on the ground. There is activity wherever I look. The trees are alive with people moving about on the pathways and bridges. Some are tending to small cook fires, the light of which was invisible from below so thick is the foliage we have climbed through. Others are tending weapons, sharpening knives, or fletching arrows. No one pays us any attention, but I have the feeling everyone has noticed us. And dismissed us as unimportant. I guess assassins know how to do that – to quickly judge who is and who is not a threat. Clearly, we are in the second category.

  When we are all up on the platform, Jondar leads us to one of the huts. “You’ll stay here. Rest up for the day. Your training begins tonight.” Without another word, he strides away.

  The hut is barely big enough for us to all lie down in, with old bedrolls covering the wooden floor.

  “No wonder no one has ever found them,” Rose says. “Just walking in the forest is difficult enough. Who would ever think to look up here?”

  “Who would even be able to climb up here without help,” Miya adds.

  “It’s perfectly concealed from below,” Dain says. “I was worried Jondar was leading us up here to throw us off.”

  “So was I,” Aveline admits.

  “Who are you,” Theolin rounds suddenly on Aveline, “and what do you know about these people?”

  For a moment Aveline is taken aback. Then she regains control of herself. “I’ve told you about me,” she responds.

  “Obviously not everything,” Theolin scolds. “Like about those jewels. Where did they come from? Or about your father being the mayor of Coream. Or that the reason you knew about the assassins was because your father had already used them. You’ve told us nothing!”

  “Calm down,” I say. “You don’t know the full story.”

  “That’s pretty obvious,” Theolin hisses in response.

  “Alright,” Aveline says. “Yes, my father was the mayor of Coream. And yes, he once hired an assassin to kill a business competitor. But what of it? How did your father earn a living? Are there things he did that you’re not proud of? And if there are, well, so what? Those are not your actions; they are the actions of someone else. They may shape who we become but they don’t define who we are.”

  Theolin glares coldly at Aveline. “There is nothing my father did that I am not proud of.”

  “Then be thankful for that,” Aveline replies, just as coldly.

  “And what about the others from your town,” Miya says suddenly. “You said you were in Tolos with the other refugees from Coream. But we never saw you with anyone. Why?”

  “Enough,” Jarryd implores, looking distressed. “Can’t you tell it’s painful for her to talk about?”

  “It’s alright, Jarryd,” Aveline replies. “They believe they have a right to know, so I will tell them.” She turns her steady gaze on the rest of us. “My delightful older sister, Keilly, and her husband, Garth, thought to follow in my father’s footsteps. They plotted to have one of their business associates assassinated. The financial benefit to them would have been enormous. Fortunately, their plot was discovered before they could even send a messenger to hire the assassin. Unfortunately, however, they laid out the entire plot before the town and placed the blame solely at my feet. Which wasn’t too difficult to do when they found the proof in my bedroom.”

  “What proof?” Miya asks.

  “The payment for the assassins,” Aveline replies. “It was a small leather pouch filled with jewels. They hauled me before the town council. They wanted to try me then and there for attempted murder. When they produced the pouch, my sister shoved it in my face, screaming at how I had disgraced the family.” She stops, takes a deep breath, then smiles sadly. “That’s when, from seemingly nowhere, the Peace Bringers attacked. In the battle and confusion that followed, everyone forgot about me. I was already holding the pouch with the jewels, so I hid it under my clothes. When the battle was over, and a small number of us escaped to make our way to Tolos, no one wanted anything to do with me. I was guilty in their eyes.”

  “Why did you stay with her?” Alek asks Jarryd. He has been silent until now.

  “Because I knew better,” Jarryd replies. He exchanges one of those looks with Aveline that I saw so often between Mother and Father. The look that says I love you and trust you completely. Despite what they must have been through, right now, I am envious of them. Though why Jarryd would love someone like Aveline is a mystery to me. She’s certainly pretty enough, but she’s also… more than difficult.

  “So you hated your father for hiring an assassin,” Theolin says, “yet you joined us to hire an assassin. Very moral of you,” she adds scornfully.

  “To end the war, yes,” Aveline replies. “That’s what we all want, isn’t it? That’s why you wanted to come here, too.”

  “I want revenge on the man who caused the death of all my family,” Theolin replies. “And now we’re all to become assassins and do the deed ourselves. Apparently,” she adds, looking at me.

  “Better than being dead,” Alek responds. Slowly Dain, then the others, nod their agreement.

  Theolin is still staring at me. Finally, her face softens. “Alek is right. Whatever made you think of it, Fairgrey, you saved our lives.”

  I am shocked to hear Theolin say something like that to me. There is no warmth in her voice or the way she is looking at me, but at least she has acknowledged what I have done.

  But what have I done? I don’t want to be an assassin. I doubt any of my friends do, either. But somehow Tigranik must be stopped. The war must be ended. And soon, before Tolos – and Father - falls. And there really was no other way. Storm had decided our fate. Now, for the moment at least, we have a reprieve. But I’m terrified about what is going to happen to us.

  “Get up! All of you, get up!”

  Blearily I open my eyes. Jondar is at the door of the hut, calling out. “Come on. Storm is waiting.”

  Quickly we roll up our mats and follow him outside. After sleeping through the day, night has fallen. Small lanterns are scattered throughout the village, above and below us, on the paths and bridges, attached to tree trunks and hanging off branches. They only emit a small amount of light, giving the impression of stars in the night sky. It’s eerily beautiful.

  Following Jondar down the tree is frightening. Once we are beneath the foliage there is barely any light to see by, so I have to feel for the footholds with my feet. My arms are scratched from holding the tree so tightly. Finally, when we are all on the ground, Jondar sets off, leading us through the forest.

  We walk for nearly an hour until the trees suddenly open out before us and we come to a wide, fast-running river. Seeing the stars again is a shock - they light the sky brilliantly, their reflection sparkling off the river.

  In front of us is a natural weir formed of rocks that crosses the river. The water rushes across the weir before falling a few feet to where it continues. Out in the middle of the river, standing on one of the rocks, Storm is leaning on a staff that is a full head taller than herself. The water rushes past her, coming up to her ankles. Standing on our side of the river is the large man who was with Storm earlier. Silently he watches us with cold, calculating eyes.

  “Your task is simple,” Storm calls out to us. “Get past me to the other side of the river.”

  Jondar pushes us out on to the weir. We form up in a line behind Dain on the weir and slowly, one by one, make our way out to her.

  “Why are we doing this at night?” I ask.

  “Anyone can learn skills in the daylight,” Storm replies. “But you want to be assassins. We do most of our work at night. So that is how you will learn. Now cross.”

  Cautiously Dain makes his way across the rocks. He waves his arms about him, struggling for balance. Storm watches him, amused. When he finally reaches her, she reaches out and pushes him disdainfully off the weir. He falls with a muffled cry into the river on the other side of
the weir. When his head surfaces, he swims back towards the shore.

  “Next,” Storm calls out.

  Jarryd makes his way out, very slowly. His balance is worse than Dain’s and he doesn’t even make it out to Storm before he slips and falls into the river.

  Storm shakes her head and waits for the next in line.

  It is Theolin. She lets out a low growl and crouches down. Then she bursts into a run as though she hopes to simply race past Storm. She jumps from rock to rock, but I can tell she isn’t in control. Sure enough, before she is even halfway to Storm, she tumbles down into the river.

  Slowly Rose, then Aveline, try to cross. Aveline at least makes it out to Storm but with the same result as the others.

  Now it’s my turn. Crossing the rocks doesn’t prove much of a challenge for me - my balance has always been good. I stop a few feet away from Storm. There are no other rocks to step onto, so there is no way around her. It has to be through her.

  I feint to the right, but she doesn’t move. I try again, this time pretending to move my foot onto her rock before quickly drawing it back. She still doesn’t move, just watches me.

  Well, if she’s not going to do anything, maybe I can just try to –

  I’m falling into the river. When I get my head back above the water Storm is still standing on her rock, seemingly unmoved. I must have slipped. But as I try to swim back for the shore, I feel a sharp pain in my right shoulder. Maybe I hit a rock on my way down?

  When I get back to the shore the others have all tried as well. And are coming out of the river behind me.

  “That was woeful,” Storm cries out. “Again.”

  We line up to try again. “I didn’t think anyone could be that fast,” Alek says behind me.

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “When you tried to jump past her,” he replies. “I can’t believe how quickly she knocked you off with her staff.”

  So that was why my shoulder was sore. I hadn’t even seen her move!

  Dain is first in line. He steps out to try again but Storm stops him. “What did you do wrong?” she asks.

  Dain stares at her. “I don’t know,” he says at last.

  “Does anyone know?” Storm calls to the rest of us. We are all silent. “Well, you better start paying attention. You need to learn from your mistakes. And from everyone else’s.”

  Storm calls the same thing out to each of us before we try again. Exhorting us to think. To learn from what we have seen. But the result is the same for each of us.

  “Again,” Storm calls out after Miya has taken her second dip into the river.

  So we try again. And again. Each time Storm asks us the same question. I try to examine what the others are doing to see what mistakes they make. Dain is too uncertain of himself, so his weight is always on his back foot, slowing him down when he tries to launch past Storm. Jarryd has poor balance and doesn’t once make it out as far as Storm. Theolin is too angry and rushes in without thinking. Rose is well balanced but too timid, almost jumping into the river when she reaches Storm. And so on with the others.

  I try and learn from the mistakes of the others. I keep my balance. I don’t rush blindly. I’m calm and try to be calculating. But nothing works. By the fifth time, I at least see her staff coming before it hits me. Now, after the twelfth attempt, I have bruises on my legs, ankles, arms, body. Even my head has a growing lump on it. And I am weary and frustrated. Storm is making us all look like uncoordinated children.

  Standing in front of her now I try again. As nobody has tried it before, I try to strike out at her with my leg. Storm twists off to the side and I see clearly to the other side of the weir. I spring forward but while I am still in mid-air, I feel her hand on me, pushing. And I fall again into the water.

  When I rise to the surface, I slap the water in frustration. There is no way past her! I look forlornly to the other side of the river, the side I am supposed to reach. Looking back up at the weir, Storm has already forgotten about me and is waiting for Alek to have his next turn. Well, I’ve had enough of the bruises and falls. I swim for the shore – the far shore. Climbing out of the water I walk up the hill to the other side of the weir.

  “I’m here,” I call out.

  Storm turns around but she doesn’t look surprised. Maybe she hadn’t forgotten about me at all. Behind her, Alek takes his opportunity and rushes for her. Without looking, she strikes the staff backwards into Alek’s chest. A loud groan escapes his lips as he topples into the river.

  “Well,” Storm says. “It’s good to see one of you has some intelligence.” She puts her staff over her shoulder and springs lightly across the rocks to the other side of the weir, where the others are watching. “Get some sleep during the day. Jondar will collect you all again when night falls.” With that, she strides off back to the village in the trees, the large man at her side.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The next night Jondar wakes us again. This time he leads us deeper into the forest where Storm and her muscular friend are waiting.

  “This,” Storm says, indicating the man next to her, “is Karam. He will show you some of the many plants and herbs you will be able to use in your future… profession.”

  Karam takes us on a tour of the nearby forest, Storm and Jondar following behind. “This,” he begins, holding up a small, five leafed plant, “is called snowbark.” He points out the white colouring under the leaf which gives the plant its name. “It will induce a cough in the victim which sounds like a dog’s bark. Their lungs will fill slowly with liquid until they suffocate.”

  Growing up in a town on the edge of a forest, I thought I knew all about which plants were safe and which were dangerous. But Karam shows just how limited my knowledge was, as, hour after hour, he shows us deadly plants, flowers, and herbs. He notes the identifying features of each and what it will do to its victim. His voice is calm and soft, which is so at odds with both his appearance and his poisonous subject.

  Each deadly plant and herb also has a remedy. Karam shows us these as well and how each is to be prepared.

  As the night wears on, he sits us down and tests us about all he has shown us. He wants us to remember everything. After the test, he sends us out to collect some of the different plants and bring them back to him. Surprisingly though, when we return, he doesn’t check the plants and herbs we have brought. “When you need to use them, you won’t have a teacher with you,” he says. I guess he’s right. But it is frustrating looking at the plants in my hands, not knowing if I have picked the right ones.

  Walking back to the huts I fall in beside Aveline.

  “Infuriating isn’t it?” she says.

  “Extremely,” I agree.

  We walk on in silence for a while. We don’t know each other well, but there are things about Aveline that I’ve been curious to know ever since she produced that bag of jewels.

  “Why are you here?” I finally dig up the courage to ask. “I mean, with your bag of jewels, you and Jarryd could have gone to live anywhere. And you certainly know how to get people to do what you want.” She raises her eyebrows at me as though I’ve insulted her, so I continue quickly before she can reply. “People listen to you. They want to do what you suggest. Wherever you chose to go you would never lack for friends. Instead, you were staying in a mean little inn in Tolos.”

  Aveline shrugs her shoulders. “We’d thought about it, though we truly hadn’t had time after arriving in Tolos to make definite plans. But…” She looks at me now with the fierceness of will that I’ve come to know is always there, even if it’s hidden at times below the surface. “Do you know what it’s like to live with shame? Not shame for something I’ve done, but for what my father did, in hiring an assassin to murder a business competitor. And shame for what my sister was about to do – to hire an assassin to murder a business associate. I live with their shame. Then when you came up with the idea of hiring an assassin to kill the emperor and end the war… I felt like… it’s a way I can clean
se myself from my family’s shame.”

  I don’t pretend to understand what Aveline has gone through, but I nod my head anyway. We are all different people, here for our own, individual reasons. But we are united in our desire to see an end to Tigranik and his murderous war.

  The following night we find ourselves in the clearing where we first met Storm. She and Karam are sitting on the fallen tree trunk. On the ground in front of them are pots filled with what look like different coloured paint.

  “Knives,” Storm says to us, “are your best friend. Provided you know how to use them.”

  “What about swords?” Dain asks.

  “Swords are for soldiers,” Storm replies. “Knives are for assassins.” She has a knife in her hand, twirling it. With a sudden flick of her wrist, the knife flies out and embeds itself, point down, into the ground in front of us.

  “Are you going to teach us how to throw a knife?” Theolin asks eagerly.

  “You must learn how to handle one before you can learn how to throw one,” Storm replies. She jumps down lightly and paces back and forth in front of us. From somewhere on her body she draws out a knife with each hand.

  “These blades are made from Nicaelin steel,” she says.

  “I thought the Nicaelin mines were shut down,” Aveline says.

  “So does the emperor,” Storm replies wryly. “At least, the mines are supposed to be shut down. Tigranik made it illegal for all but his own workers to mine the steel, as he doesn’t want anyone else having such high quality weapons. But there are still slaves who discreetly work the mines – for a price. And for what has been done to them they are more than willing to send out the weapons they make.”

  “Are the rumours true then?” Aveline asks. “Does the emperor pluck out the eyes of everyone who works the mines?”

  Storm regards Aveline critically for a moment before answering – she doesn’t seem pleased to be interrupted. “Rumours tend to hint at truth while still being far from it,” she answers. “Tigranik fears rebellion in his conquered realms. That fear is lessened if you ensure your enemy doesn’t have access to weapons as strong as your own. The emperor has many ways of protecting his mines. Plucking out eyes is only one of them.