LITMIR.BIZ

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like a wooden terrace built to one side of the great hall. The walls were screens, and there was a sort of balcony where he might stand and look down before descending. These rooms were much more richly decorated. Some of the work was obviously Chyurda, bright birds brushed onto silk panels and figurines carved of amber. But many of the tapestries and statues and hangings looked to me like things Regal had acquired for his own pleasure and comfort. I stood waiting in his antechamber while he finished his bath. By the time he ambled out in his nightshirt, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open.

      ‘Well?’ he demanded of me.

      I looked at him blankly. ‘You summoned me,’ I reminded him.

      ‘Yes. I did. I should like to know why it was necessary. I thought you had received some sort of training in this sort of thing. How long were you going to wait before you reported to me?’

      I could think of nothing to say. I had never remotely considered reporting to Regal. To Shrewd or Chade, definitely, and to Verity. But to Regal?

      ‘Need I remind you of your duty? Report.’

      I hastily gathered my wits. ‘Would you hear my observations on the Chyurda as a people? Or information on the herbs they grow? Or …’

      ‘I want to know what you are doing about your … assignment. Have you acted yet? Have you made a plan? When can we expect results, and of what kind? I scarcely want the Prince dropping dead at my feet, and me unprepared for it.’

      I could scarcely credit what I was hearing. Never had Shrewd spoken so bluntly or so openly of my work. Even when our privacy was assured, he circled and danced and left me to draw my own conclusions. I had seen Sevrens go into his other chamber, but had no idea where the man was now or how sound carried in this chamber. And Regal was speaking as if we were discussing shoeing a horse.

      ‘Are you being insolent, or stupid?’ Regal demanded.

      ‘Neither,’ I rejoined as politely as I was able. ‘I am being cautious. My prince.’ I added the last in the hopes of putting the conversation on a more formal level.

      ‘You are being foolishly cautious. I trust my valet, and there is no one else here. So report. My bastard assassin.’ He said the last words as if he thought them cleverly sarcastic.

      I took a breath and reminded myself I was a King’s man. And in this time and place, this was as close to a king as I was going to get. I chose my phrases carefully. ‘Yesterday, in the garden, Princess Kettricken told me you had told her I was a poisoner and that her brother Rurisk was my target.’

      ‘A lie,’ Regal said decisively. ‘I told her nothing of the kind. Either you had clumsily betrayed yourself, or she was merely fishing for information. I hope you have not spoiled all by revealing yourself to her.’

      I could have lied much better than he did. I let his remarks slide by, and went on. I gave him a full report, of my poisoning, and of Rurisk and Kettricken’s early-morning visit. I repeated our conversation verbatim. And when I was finished, Regal spent a number of minutes looking at his nails before he spoke to me. ‘And have you decided on a method and time yet?’

      I tried not to show my surprise. ‘Under the circumstances, I thought it better to abandon the assignment.’

      ‘No nerve,’ Regal observed with disgust. ‘I asked Father to send that old whore Lady Thyme. She’d have had him in his grave by now.’

      ‘Sir?’ I asked questioningly. That he referred to Chade as Lady Thyme made me nearly certain that he knew nothing at all.

      ‘Sir?’ Regal mimicked back at me, and for the first time I realized the man was drunk. Physically, he carried it well. He did not stink of it, but it brought all his pettiness to the surface. He sighed heavily, as if too disgusted for words, then flung himself down on a couch draped with blankets and cushions. ‘Nothing has changed,’ he informed me. ‘You’ve been given your task. Do it. If you are clever, you can make it appear an accident. Having been so naively open with Kettricken and Rurisk, neither will expect it. But I want it done. Before tomorrow evening.’

      ‘Before the wedding?’ I asked incredulously. ‘Don’t you think the death of the bride’s brother might lead her to cancel it?’

      ‘It would be no more than temporary if she did. I have her well in hand, boy. She is easily dazzled. That end of this thing is my concern. Yours is getting rid of her brother. Now. How will you do it?’

      ‘I’ve no idea.’ That seemed a better answer than saying I had no intention. I would return to Buckkeep and report back to Shrewd and Chade. If they said I had chosen wrongly, then they might do with me as they wished. But I remembered Regal’s own voice, from so long ago, quoting Shrewd. ‘Don’t do what you can’t undo, until you’ve considered what you can’t do once you’ve done it.’

      ‘When will you know?’ he demanded sarcastically.

      ‘I don’t know,’ I hedged. ‘These things cannot be done recklessly or sloppily. I need to study the man and his habits, explore his chambers, and learn the habits of his servants. I must find a way to …’

      ‘The wedding is two days hence,’ Regal interrupted. The focus of his eyes softened. ‘I already know all the things you say you must discover. Easiest, then, for me to plan it for you. Come to me tomorrow night, and I will give you your orders. Mind this well, bastard. I do not want you to act before you have informed me. I would find any surprise unpleasant. You would find it deadly.’ He lifted his eyes to mine but I kept my face a careful blank.

      ‘You are dismissed,’ he told me regally. ‘Report to me here, tomorrow night, at the same time. Do not make me send Sevrens to fetch you. He has more important tasks. And do not think my father will not hear of your laxity. He will. He will regret not sending Bitch Thyme to do this little deed.’ He leaned back heavily and yawned, and I caught a whiff of wine, and a subtle smoke. I wondered if he were learning his mother’s habits.

      I returned to my chambers, intending to ponder carefully all my options and formulate a plan. But so weary was I and half-sick still, that I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

       TWENTY-TWO

       Dilemmas

       In the dream, the Fool stood by my bed. He looked down at me and shook his head. ‘Why cannot I speak clearly? Because you make it all a muddle. I see a crossroads through the fog, and who always stands within it? You. Do you think I keep you alive because I am so entranced with you? No. It is because you create so many possibilities. While you live, you give us more choices. The more choices, the more chances to steer for calmer water. So it is not for your benefit, but for the Six Duchies that I preserve your life. And your duty is the same. To live, so that you may continue to present possibilities.’

      I awoke in precisely the same quandary I had gone to sleep in. I had no idea of what I was going to do. I lay in my bed, listening to the random sounds of the palace awakening. I needed to talk to Chade. That was not possible. So I lightly closed my eyes and tried to think as he had taught me. ‘What do you know?’ he would have asked me, and ‘What do you suspect?’ So.

      Regal had lied to King Shrewd about Rurisk’s health, and his attitude toward the Six Duchies. Or, possibly, King Shrewd had lied to me about what Regal had said. Or Rurisk had lied about his inclinations toward us. I pondered a moment, and decided to follow my first assumption. Shrewd had never lied to me, that I knew, and Rurisk could have simply let me die instead of rushing to my room. So.

      So Regal wanted Rurisk dead. Or did he? If he wanted Rurisk dead, why did he betray me to Kettricken? Unless she had lied about that. I considered. Not likely. She might wonder if Shrewd would send an assassin, but why would she immediately decide to accuse me? No. She had recognized my name. And known of Lady Thyme. So.

      And

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