Page 32 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Fifteen

Ren saw me first and yipped a welcome. Then Taroc turned, dislodging several attendants who were seeing to his elaborate ritual robes.

“There you are,” the King said and shooed his attendants away. “I can handle it from here.”

As they left, I approached the King. He met me halfway, a small smile twitching his lips, and took my hand.

“I have to talk to you,” I said.

“First, I have something to show you.” He led me out of the room, Ren trailing behind us, and down the hall, to the guest room I'd been using.

The dressing room within that bedroom wasn't nearly as grand as his, but it was still larger than I needed. Frankly, I could have slept in there and been perfectly happy. My meager wardrobe didn't fill even an eighth of the space available. But when the King flung open the dressing room door, the space was half full of clothing, shoes, belts, and other accessories.

My first thought was, someone has been in here!

I stepped inside, my gaze going instantly to the trunk of my belongings. I had half of my arsenal on me, but the things I'd left in that trunk were priceless to me. I had used my tools so long that my hands knew the feel of them, every notch and bump. I could use them in complete darkness and that's not something you can replace easily. I went past the racks of clothes and opened the trunk to make sure everything was still there.

“Lock, do you not see your new wardrobe?” the King demanded.

“Huh?” I turned to look at him, then at the clothes. “This is for me?”

“Who else would it be for?” his tone softened. “I can't have my assassin walking around looking like . . .” He waved a hand at me.

“Me?”

“Looking as if I don't pay you enough.”

“You don't pay me anything.”

“That's beside the point.”

“What is the point?”

“The point is that I've commissioned an entire wardrobe for you, and you've yet to show me any appreciation!”

“Ah, I see.” I went to him and dropped to my knees.

When I started to unbuckle his belt, he slapped my hands away with a snort of laughter.

“Get up, you idiot. You know that's not what I meant.”

Lips twitching, I stood. “You said you wanted me to show you some appreciation. That's usually what you mean.”

“It is not. And are you pleased with the clothes or not?!”

I went to a rack and ran my hand over the fine fabrics, then selected a tunic and admired the subtle embroidery around the neckline. “I've never owned anything this nice.” I turned to look at him. “Thank you. Truly, this is . . . hold on, how did they know what size to make these?”

“I gave the tailors a set of your clothes to use as a guide,” he sounded really pleased with himself. “Now choose something to wear today. Hurry, the rite is starting soon.”

He turned to leave, but I called after him, “Wait. I still need to talk to you.”

“I don't have time to talk now, Lock.” He motioned at himself.

“The person who hired me is likely going to be among your guests today. Do you understand that, Taroc?”

“Yes. And?”

“And?!” I gaped at him. “And I've just spoken to the musicians. Musicians know all the best gossip.”

---