Page 71 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Thirty-One

It was late, and I was exhausted, so I went to the bedroom I'd never slept in and got ready for bed. I felt comfortable leaving the King alone for the night since half of it was gone, he had Ren with him, and the knights were finally following my instructions. Still, I kept a knife beside the bed and slept with my pants on.

So, when someone stormed into my room the next morning, I was prepared. Even tired as I was, I was used to coming awake quickly and jumped up as soon as I heard the door open, my hand automatically going to the knife. Then the lights came on, and I realized it was Vettan.

“What the fuck do you want?” I growled.

“Your presence has been requested by His Majesty,” Vettan said.

Something about him was wrong, and it wasn't his scathing tone or the way he lifted his chin to stare down his nose at me. All that was pretty standard for Vettan. It took me a second to figure out what new aspect of his appearance bothered me.

“Is that blood?”

“It's not mine.” He turned and left the room.

“Fuck!” I tossed the knife aside, yanked on a tunic, shoved my feet in my boots, and grabbed my assassin's vest. I was still fastening it when I entered the King's dining room, seconds after Vettan. “What's happened?”

Taroc stood near the table and a half-eaten meal. He was speaking with some of his knights and didn't pause to answer me. I waited, listening in on their conversation.

“No one enters that house unless they're one of ours,” the King said. “Not even the Talons.”

“Yes, Sire.”

“And block the street as well.”

“Yes, Sire.”

Taroc headed out of the room, the rest of us following in his wake. Ren was the only one who kept pace with him, even I held back.

That is until he snapped his fingers and said, “Assassin!”

I ran up beside him, glancing at his strained expression before setting my stare forward. “Your Majesty?”

“Captain Vettan found Lord Yusef dead in his home this morning. You will help me investigate his murder.”

“Fuck!”

“Yes,” he said with a grimace my way. “It is unfortunate.”

“Motherfucker! I shouldn't have suggested we wait until morning.”

“It was my decision, and I agreed with your recommendation. He should have been safe until morning.”

“Yes, he should have been,” I murmured, my anger simmering into something more pensive. “So why wasn't he?”

“Who else knew his identity?” the King asked as he led me through the hallways, toward the palace's main doors.

“No one who would share it. I had to threaten my source to get it out of them.”

“And who was that?”

“I will answer you when we are alone, Your Majesty. I promised to keep their name out of this.”

He grunted.

The palace doors were opened for us, and we went out into the pallid morning, a crisp breeze greeting us. A carriage waited at the bottom of the steps along with saddled horses for the knights. The King got in the carriage, Ren went next, and I climbed in to close the door after us. I had barely sat down when the carriage lurched forward.

“I'm sure you realize that you shouldn't be leaving the palace,” I said. “So I won't say it.”

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