Page 34 of The Uncrowned Prince

He must have been deep in thought, however, because when Karreya appeared abruptly in front of him, he shied back in alarm, both hands diving instinctively into the pockets of his long dark coat.

And then he winced, pulling his left arm against his side in a way that suggested he was worse off than she’d first assumed.

“I apologize,” she said, and bowed her head slightly, wondering whether he had properly understood her intentions. “I had hoped to gain information, not to run from danger. It did not occur to me that they might be a genuine threat to you.”

It brought her a swift surge of relief when Niell laughed quietly. “I’m going to pretend that’s a compliment. The truth is, I am not very accomplished in a fight unless I am in deadly earnest. Tryingnotto kill anyone is actually much harder.”

“That is true enough,” Karreya agreed soberly. It was not something she would have expected a man like Niell to understand. “Do you require assistance?”

“I wouldn’t mind a shoulder to lean on,” he said. “One of those idiots got in a rather admirable hit on my ribs and I can’t tell yet whether anything is broken.”

A shoulder to lean on…

It would hamper her abilities in a fight. Render her less effective should Niell be harboring any ill intentions. In her head, Mistress Bethia glared icily and proclaimed her a waste of her training, but Karreya ignored her and stepped beneath Neill’s outstretched arm. His hand curled around her shoulder, and her own arm automatically wrapped around his waist to help stabilize his weight.

He was warm, was her first thought, and she fit neatly against his side. But there were more muscles hiding beneath that coat than anyone would suspect, and his weight nearly staggered her for a step or two.

Then he looked down at her and she did stumble, because the grin he wore was crooked and flirtatious and just a little bit blinding, even in the dim light provided by the flickering streetlamp on the corner.

“So what happened?” he asked, moving off down the street at a slower pace than before. “Did you catch him? Figure out who he was?”

It shamed her to confess how thoroughly she’d failed. “I did not,” she said in a low voice. “That is, I followed him, but I did not discover until too late that I was not the only one in pursuit.”

Niell sagged against her with a fresh sense of defeat. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“I was careless,” Karreya admitted. “The assassin reached him before I could react. He did not even have time to cry out.”

“Then he was right,” Niell mused, sounding grimly thoughtful. “Someone did want him dead. It just wasn’t me. He probablydidknow who killed Trevelian, and why.”

Karreya observed curiously that it was not the first time Niell had referred to the sovereign of the Irian Throne by his name only.

“The assassin was not simply bought, but owned,” she informed him. “I caught and detained him, but he took his own life rather than risk being tortured for information.”

Here Niell paused to look down at her for a brief moment, and she could almost see him sorting through the various questions he wished to ask.

“No,” she said coolly, “I would not have tortured him. There is no honor in testing another’s strength through pain.”

He nodded, as if to acknowledge his doubt. “But you are certain he would not have chosen suicide unless he believed in his cause.”

She shook her head. “It seems unlikely. Also…” Here, she was the one to pause. There was no reason for him to believe her, however…

Reaching beneath her cloak with her free hand, she pulled out the dead assassin’s weapon and handed it to Niell. “This is an imperial dagger,” she said, “however, the man himself was not from my homeland.”

“How do you know?” Niell sounded curious rather than skeptical.

“I accused him in terms he would have understood if he had trained among my people. He did not recognize my challenge.”

Niell was silent for a dozen more steps before Karreya could no longer hold back her question.

“You do not doubt me?”

He glanced down at her, but did not stop. “Doubt you how?”

“I could have killed the first man and invented a rival assassin to convince you of my own innocence. Lied about the encounter to protect my secrets.”

“Could you?” he asked, a challenging curve to his lips.

“You should not trust so easily,” she argued, not even sure why she felt so driven to defend her point. “Ask me for proof.”

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