Page 104 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Forty-Two

Teng was right; we had an answer within an hour. The problem was that the person who had attacked me had been cloaked and masked. All we got on them was that they were tall. Could it have been another assassin? Sure. It could have been anyone over six feet.

“That's it!” I stood up. “I'm a fucking assassin; most of my work is surveillance. I'll find out who fucked me over on my own.”

“How?” Teng asked.

“The same way I prepared to kill the King. I'm going to spy on the palace.”

“Good luck.”

“If you find out anything, either on my attacker or Crushei, send a message to the Enchanted Swan.”

Tengven let out an impressed whistle. “You're staying at the Swan? Well, la-dee-da. Someone has grown accustomed to the finer things.”

“Someone wanted to be as safe as possible.”

Teng nodded. “You always have a bunk here, brother.”

“Forgive me, but I'd like to put off swaying in a hammock in a room full of farting Nerakians for as long as possible.”

Teng laughed. “We can't help it, it's the fish. It gives us nasty farts.”

“Yes, that's my point.” I waved goodbye and left.

Half an hour later, I was back at the Swan, getting dressed in black. I fastened on my assassin vest and suddenly felt better. I had a plan, an action to perform, and it was something I was good at.

I waited until it was full dark and left the hotel. I didn't hire a carriage. Instead, I walked to the palace and strolled around the back. Some work had been started on capping the walls, but it hadn't been completed yet. I was betting that was the case for all the changes I recommended. When I made it over the wall unseen, I was both relieved and annoyed at how easy it was. There was a guard posted at the top of the back tower, but he never even glanced my way. Unbelievable. I had to resist the urge of shooting him with an arrow.

First, I went to the King's garden. I had no intentions of spying on Taroc, he'd probably be fucking someone else, but the garden shed was a perfect place to stow my cloak as I roamed the grounds. Cloaks are great for hiding within but not so good when you're going to be sneaking about amid plants and scaling walls.

I climbed onto the roof of the shed, slipped out of my cloak, and pulled up the lower half of my mask. Black, of course, and made of stretchy fabric, it was a tube that covered me from just below my eyes to the base of my neck where my tunic took over. A rigid panel over my nose and two small holes beneath kept the material from smothering me. For times like this, when I went without the cloak and its hood, I had another piece that fastened over the lower one, covering my hair and forehead so that only my eyes showed. I put that into place as well.

Granted, I could have left the cloak behind the shed, or even behind a bush, but leaving it on the roof ensured that no one happened upon it. I was about to climb down when the lights came on in His Majesty's bedroom. I paused, my back to the room. Shivers ran down my spine and my muscles locked up. Looking was a bad idea. Nope, not going to do it. I crouched and grabbed the ledge, preparing to leap.

A roar rent the quiet night and spun me around.

As I gaped behind my mask, the Dragon King proceeded to tear apart his bedroom. My view was limited to the windows to either side of the balcony doors, but it was enough for me to see that the King had lost his fucking mind. Ren ran into the hallway, remaining within sight of her master but out of the combat zone. Things shattered, wood and stone included, and debris went flying. I dropped onto my ass, staring at the scene in shock.

“What the fuck?” I whispered.

Claws tipped Taroc's hands, and he used them to shred wooden furniture as easily as he did the bed linens. His tunic caught on something, and he tore it from his body with another roar, arching backward and shaking his head so that his hair tossed about him. Muscles bunched and veins stood out on his throat as he lowered his head and bared his teeth. I'd never seen him in such a terrifying state. It was as if he were facing off with an invisible opponent.

Then Taroc lifted the remains of the bed and chucked it through the balcony doors.

“Holy fuck!” I jerked back.

The doors exploded in all directions as a chunk of bed frame tumbled to the garden below. With my new unimpeded view, I watched Taroc fall to his knees, cover his face with his hands, and start to cry. From terrifying to pitiful in three seconds. Hunched forward, hair hanging around his face, his whole body shook with his sobs.

Breath ragged, loud in the sudden quiet, I got to my feet. Every instinct I had shouted at me to go to Taroc. To climb up to that balcony, walk inside, and wrap my arms around him. Tell him I was back and I wasn't leaving ever again. But then Ren ran forward and licked his face.

Taroc shuddered, one arm going around the dog to pull her close, then just sat there and cried into her fur.

Maybe this wasn't about me. I was being a fucking narcissist to think it was. Taroc would never cry over me. No, this had to be something else. Maybe it was everything; the assassination attempts, Crushei's possible innocence, and my leaving. I was the pebble that tumbled the rock pile. Nothing but the impetus that brought him to this.

Yep, that's what I was going to tell myself.

I climbed down and walked determinedly away from the sobbing king. Did a part of me feel glad that he was upset? Yeah, I sure as fuck did. My insides were being torn apart by his pain, but there was still a seed of smugness in there. A little fuck you to the man who had tossed me out on my ass for daring to say no to him.

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