1.14

The High Lady Krissa sat down on the small couch, a thoughtful expression sliding across her features.
"Yes, I am the Daughter of Azril. An inconvenient fact for those who run the Palace." she said looking up at Cord.
"I thought Azril had killed all the closest claimants to the throne? Everybody thinks so. Why are you still alive?" said Cord.
"My father has not sanctioned any killing!" her voice was heated, but her tone softened. "He is no longer the man he once was."
"What do you mean?" asked Cord.
"Many years ago, a distant relative of my father's moved to the Palace. He was a liaison for the Southern Duchies. At least that was what he said. You will know his name. Jabin Felgorn."
"The Captain of the Royal Guard?" said Cord, incredulous. "Why would a nobleman become a Guardsman?"
"That is only a title. He actually has almost complete control."
Krissa explained that Jabin had started out as a liaison, but had slowly spread his influence over the Palace staff, carefully maneuvering matters so that his associates and friends were promoted over others. Anyone who spoke against him was swiftly replaced by a more agreeable person. The entire Palace Guard was slowly replaced by soldiers loyal to Jabin. The only reason that Krissa was still alive is that not all the soldiers were loyal to Jabin, and some had already lost their lives preventing assassination attempts. The fact that the assassin had made it through her door tonight without raising an alarm showed that the balance had finally swung in Jabin's favour. It would only be a matter of time now.
Cord cut in, "Well, then there is only one option. You must leave the Palace. Tonight."
Krissa shook her head, "I cannot. He will kill my father if I leave. He gave me his word."
Cord shook his head. "No, he won't. He can only kill your father when he has everything in place to have the king replaced. If he kills the king, you must be dead so that he avoids a Succession. If you stay until he has everything ready, your father will be killed and you will follow him within the hour."
"How could I not see this?" she said "I have been a fool. Moping around here instead of doing my duty."
"Sometimes you need to be on the outside of an issue in order to see clearly." said Cord.
"You are a forthright and courageous man, Cord Caldragin. I find I have need of such a man right now. Will you assist me?" She had regained her regal bearing now that Cord had shown her the truth of the situation. Cord could see that she was a woman of great courage, but had been trapped in a situation that she could not see a way to escape.
"I will" said Cord, and found to his own surprise, that he was completely devoted to the task of keeping the beautiful princess from harm...

1.13

"Don't move," said the melodic voice from the darkness, "I will shoot you if you try anything."
"I believe you." said Cord, not moving from his crouch. He could make out a lot more now that his eyes were becoming fully accustomed to the dark. When he had tackled the assassin into the room, they had rolled into an antechamber. To his left were what must be doors leading into the actual bedroom, in front of him was a small chair. There was a couch to his right, and rising from a crouch behind it was the woman. She had a small crossbow trained on Cord, held in a steady hand. Her features were in shadow, and Cord could not see her face. She moved toward the door where she lifted a shade from a burning lamp. Light flooded the room, and it seemed to Cord's eyes that the sun had suddenly risen. He squinted and studied the woman.
She was beautiful. It was not a term that Cord applied to many, but the woman deserved it. She had long dark hair that was neither straight nor curly, and skin that seemed to be polished bronze. Large green eyes that seemed to pull in the light. She was wearing buckskin trousers and a hunting tunic that allowed Cord to see the curving contours of her body.
"Sit in the chair." she said, indicating towards the small chair in front of him with one hand.
Cord entered khudin. He could not afford to be immobilised. He would convince her that he was not a threat, but he would not do so from a vulnerable position.
He launched himself at her. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she pulled the trigger instantly.
In khudin time moves slower. As Cord moved toward the woman he watched her finger tighten on the trigger, and saw the bolt slid forward along the stock. His right shoulder dipped automatically as his subconscious calculated the trajectory of the bolt. The air seemed thick as the bolt left the crossbow with an angry snapping noise from the string. It tore through the air just above his shoulder on it's way to embedding itself in the far wall. In that time Cord closed the gap to the woman and disarmed her of the crossbow. He stood in front of her smiling, with the crossbow now in his hand, as khudin fled and life returned to normal speed.
Her mouth opened.
"I'd prefer it if we talked, before you start screaming" he said, keeping his smile in place. He wanted to talk to her, but if she tried to raise the alarm he would have to prevent that. Using force on such a beautiful woman seemed wrong somehow.
She shut her mouth for a moment, then she spoke. "That was incredible. I've never seen the like of it."
"You should get out of the palace more," replied Cord.
She smiled at that, then she attacked.
Cord was surprised by the attack, but his training kicked in immediately.
Her attack was fast and sure, several hand and foot strikes in rapid succession forced Cord to step backwards as he parried. She saw that Cord was still smiling, and that seemed to fuel he attack. Her right hand shot towards his jaw with more speed than many men he had fought, and her balance was very good. Whether he deflected her blows, or simply evaded them, she did not once lose her footing or get thrown off balance. Cord was impressed.
He side-stepped her next attack. "You are very skilled, my lady".
She turned to face him slowly. "Until a moment ago I thought so too." she said looking him in the eye.
"You have trained with the Warriors of Sho," said Cord, "I see the influence of their strikes in your attack"
"Yes, and also with the Nordmen, the Saldissins, and the Bal Min Faran."
"A good education... for a warrior. Why would a noblewoman endure such?" Cord was curious.
"My father insisted. He wanted to be sure that his daughter was as good as any son he could have had."
Cord could hear some anger in her last comment.
"I think that you succeeded. I have fought many, and few were as good as you."
She seemed to be comforted by that thought. "Nobody that I have fought was as good as you," she said.
"Well, I had better teachers than you did. But that is a story for another time. Now, I need to get some information. I assume that you will not try to shoot me again?"
"I never intended to shoot you!" she said, "You surprised me. I had hoped that you might be an ally.
"Well, in order to be allies, it pays to know one another's names. I am Cord Caldragin."
"I am Krissa," she replied.
Cord held in a gasp. The lady before him was supposed to be dead, because if she was alive she would be the Queen!

1.12

The assassin had been very well trained.
He rolled with Cord's strikes, partially deflecting the blows and preventing them from having the desired knockout effect. As they landed on the floor, Cord felt an attempt to break his grip on the assassin's weapon hand. He quickly pushed the hand to the ground and struck out at the outline of the assassin's head with his palm. Cord had kept his eyes mostly closed when he was in the light of the passage, and it had given him partial night-vision, but that was a significant advantage in the current situation.
The assassin fell onto his back pulling both of his knees up, and aimed a vicious double-footed kick at Cord, obviously hoping to gain some space to restablish his balance and use his weapon. Cord swayed sideways so that the kick struck only air, and as the assassins head came up in an attempt to locate a new target, Cord struck back. The assassin's head met The Ship's Boom, and he was knocked unconscious by Cord's shin.
"I have a crossbow, and I can see you." said a voice from a few metres to Cord's right.
Cord thought it strange that there was a person speaking to him so calmly, when quite clearly he was someone who was not meant to be there. No cry of alarm had been raised, no call for aid. And it was definitely a feminine voice, thought Cord. Strange.
"I followed this assassin from the city. I am certain he meant to kill whoever occupies this room." There was enough truth in the statement to make it credible.
"You followed an assassin into the King's Palace, rather than simply notifying the guards?" asked the voice. It had a very pleasant lilt that Cord liked. There seemed to be no anger in it.
"A man can get into trouble telling tales. Sometimes it's better to take matters into one's own hands." said Cord.
"That's true, but not always wise. After all, you may have killed an assassin, but now you're all alone in a Palace filled with guards, hoping that someone will believe your story?"
"Well, at least you believe that I'm not the assassin, otherwise you would have killed me. So maybe I might make at least one friend here?"
"Hmm. We'll have to see about that..." said the voice.

1.11

It was obvious that the assassin knew exactly where he was going. There was no hesitation as he approached a door in the first passage he turned into. The door looked to be a solid piece of oak, hardened and darkened by age. It appeared out of place when viewed alongside the rest of the palace decorations. No doubt it was one of the original fittings, from a time where the bedroom door might be a last defense against enemies of a political nature. Assassination had often been a quick path to ascension on the throne.
The assassin was once again avoiding making any noise. The passages may have been cleared for him, but whoever was behind the door was not privy to those arrangements. Slowly the assassin twisted the door's handle, and slowly Cord approached him from behind.
The handle stopped turning and the assassin pushed against the wood. Nothing happened.
It seemed that the assassin had expected the door to be unlocked. But, a locked door was not any real impediment. Quickly the assassin rextracted two wire instruments from a pouch on his arm, crouched down and set to work on the door-lock.
Cord was now directly behind the assassin, crouching in the opposite door-arch's little bit of shadow. He squinted his eyes, blocking out as much light as he could.
There was a very faint sound of metal grating, and the assassin put away his lock-picks. From his boot he pulled a long stilleto with a green stone in the pommel.
Cord tensed and waited for the assassin to start moving. The assassin rose and slowly pushed open the door, taking his first step into the room beyond. Cord launched himself from his position across the hallway and was across the gap in an instant. The assassin became aware of the attack, but it was too late.
Cord had known that the doorway would limit his attack, but also that it would hinder the assassin's defense if he saw or heard the attack.
The assassin had just enough time to half turn his head, and so doing present a better target to Cord's attack.
Charging Panther took the assassin in the temple and the Bull's Horn slammed into his ribs. The speed of Cord's attack kept him close to the assassin as he was thrown into the room by the strikes, and Cord was able to grab the hand that held the dagger before they were enveloped by the darkness of the room's interior...

1.10

Cord raced across the roof, using all of his skill to maintain silence. The last thing he needed was someone in the palace below to hear footsteps on the roof now. He scanned the edges of the roof to see whether the other assassin had used a rope to lower himself over the parapet.
"Fool!" he thought. If he could gain access to the palace without a rope, why assume that the assassin needed one?
Cord changed direction toward the parapet on his right, and slowed down, approaching it cautiously. When he reached it he peered over the edge, checking left and right.
Nothing.
Quickly he went over to the other side of the roof and looked over. He was just in time to see a shadow disappear into a lighted window several metres to his left. He had overrun the spot where the assassin had entered the palace. Quickly he moved along the parapet to the point above where he had seen the assassin. He could not hear anything from below. That meant that the other assassin was going about his task under the assumption that his comrade had dealt with Cord, or he was waiting in ambush below.
Cord had no choice but to follow, and see which of those possibilities was true. He grabbed the parapet with both hands and swung his legs over the edge, before quietly straightening his arms and lowering himself.
The courtyard was a long way below him as he dangled in empty space. If the assassin struck now, there would be very little that Cord could do to defend himself.
No attack came, and after a small back and forward swing Cord let go and dropped onto the window sill of the open window. The passage that lead away from the window was decorated with opulent tapestries and vases almost large enough to hide a man. The floor was carpeted in rich brown carpets that would prevent even armoured feet from making a sound. Cord had a feeling it must be the a section of the King's apartments. There would be guards about.
Cord would have to find the assassin and thwart his mission quickly. And he had to do that without being discovered by the guards in the King's apartments.
"Why did I have to decide to do something this foolish?" he thought as he dropped silently into the passage.

1.09

Cord took half a step forward lifting his cudgel as if to start an overhead strike hoping that he could draw the assassin into an early attack. He knew that the longer a fight went on the more his opponent would learn about the way he fought. The assassin seemed to see that it was a feint, and merely raised his swordpoint slightly. He was not an amateur that would be lulled into false sense of confidence. No doubt the fact that Cord had evaded his first attack showed him what sort of opponent Cord was.
Cord edged towards the assassin, falling automatically into khudin. Thought disappeared, and time slowed. In his state of heightened awareness Cord perceived every movement of the assassin, but his mind did not dwell on any details.
He edged forward, slowly closing the gap between him and his black-clad opponent. Suddenly the assassin launched himself at Cord, his sword flashing forward impossibly fast. Cord automatically responded, executing Horses Tail and following through with Serpent Strikes. The assassin similarly deflected Cord's attack and struck again. The two warriors danced across the roof in a deadly choreography of wood and steel too fast for an ordinary person to comprehend. After several strikes and counterstrikes Cord changed tactics. Instead of blocking the next attack with his cudgel he executed a simultaneous parry with one hand and downward strike with his cudgel known as The Waterwheel. His blow landed on the top of the assassin's head. The assassin slumped to the roof unconscious. Quickly Cord knelt and made a search of the assassins clothing, looking for something in particular. He found it in a sheath tied to the assassin's shin. A long needle-like knife with a round Greenstone in the pommel. The assassins were what he had feared. The weapon he held was left thrust into a victim's left eye as a signature by a group of assassins known simply as Cul'Shan, or 'The Green Eye'. They were the deadliest assassins in existence and would not rest until they achieved their mission. Whoever the target was had very rich and very powerful enemies. Quickly Cord untied the cotton belt from the assassin's waist and used it to bind the man's wrists and ankles together. If he came around he should not be able to get very far. He would take the assassin's weapons with him and dump them further along the roof so that they could not be used to facilitate an escape. Knowing he could not afford to waste any more time Cord set off across the roof again. He had to find the other assassin very quickly. Hopefully the one lying on the roof had not delayed him for too long...

1.08

Cord glanced about as he moved across the rooftop. He needed to go fast enough to find and stop the assassin, but he had to make sure he didn't raise alarm. There was also the danger of the assassin setting an ambush if he realised that he was being pursued.
Cord thought he spotted movement on the roof ahead of him and immediately stopped, ducking down behind a chimney. He scanned the darkness ahead, and made out a faint outline moving slowly across the roof. Cord slowed his breathing and continued to watch the shadow move around the roof. He could make out the assassin's shape in the dark. The assassin stopped moving and squatted down next to a chimney. Cord couldn't think why the assassin would be waiting on the roof.
Cord's neck hairs suddenly rose. He dove sideways and felt something split the air where he had been squatting an instant before. There was the sound of metal hitting stone. Cord rolled and came to his feet in a single motion, sweeping his eyes to find his attacker and bringing his cudgel into a defensive position in front of his body. There was a second assassin. The two assassins must have planned for the possibility of interference and set an ambush. Cord had charged right into it. The second assassin had recovered from his first attack, and the surprise of failing to kill with his first strike, and now padded warily toward Cord with his sword held in both hands at waist-height. Cord knew that he could not afford to spend time fighting on the roof. The first assassin was gone, no doubt on his way to complete the task they had been given. Time was running out if Cord wanted to stop it from happening. He would need to defeat his opponent quickly...

1.07

Cord moved quickly to the steps leading down from the wall. The steps led down into one of the gardens, which were well-lit. Cord sat motionless as he scanned the gardens, looking for any sign of the assassin. There was no movement, which made Cord wary. Surely, there should be a patrol or a guard?

He decided that the paths in the garden would be too exposed, even if it was the shortest route to the palace. He decided follow the wall west, even though it would take him away from his goal. A few hundred yards away were the servants quarters, which would be full of people, but he should be able to get onto the roof and make his way across towards the western entrance to the palace. He would need to find a way to get to the palace unseen, and then once again climb up to the roof and make his way to the private apartments, which were on the northern side. It was a long way to go, and every second counted. Turning away from the garden he stealthily made his way along the walkway, keeping to the shadows.

Cord leaped across the gap between the walkway and the servants quarters, landing with a quite thump on the balcony that ran along the entire length of the servants quarters. He bent his knees and rolled over forwards to soften the landing, immediately returning to his feet to stand with his back against the wall. He waited to see if any of the nearby rooms' occupants had heard him. No sound came from within. Satisfied that his gamble had paid off, Cord stepped up onto the balustrade that ran the length of the balcony and reached up to get a handhold on the floor of the balcony above. Finding a suitable grip, he pulled himself up to the next level and climbed up onto the balustrade. He repeated the process again until he was squatting on the roof of the building. The roof was dark, and Cord waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness again. The leap from the wall had been in a well-lit area, and his vision had been affected. Once he was satisfied that he could see fully, he moved across the roof, and was happy to find that the roof was well-maintained and sturdy. Soon he was at the north end of the building and only a few yards away from the palace. He was happy to see a feature that he had not been aware of.

Cord lay flat on top of a covered walkway that had been built at some stage to link the palace and the servants quarters. It had been built to link the third floor of the quarters with the palace, probably to prevent the servants taking too long to arrive when being summoned. It also gave Cord a good way to get across to the palace. He had simply been able to hang from the roof of the building and his feet had found purchase. The area was well-lit, but Cord was not worried about anyone from the ground seeing him, their night vision would be terrible, and they would be looking up at a black sky. Cord was stating flat in case the assassin was in the vicinity. As fast as he could while remaining silent, Cord crawled across the walkway's roof. He kept checking the palace roof and balconies for any sign of movement. He reached the palace walls, and was happy to see that the decorative work on the walls and balconies provided many handholds. Quickly he scaled the walls up to and onto the roof. There was no sign of guard or assassin, and Cord set off across the palace roofs as fast as he could. He was beginning to wonder whether he could catch the assassin in time...

1.06

Cord edged up the wall slowly and methodically, carefully inserting each blade into the narrow gap between the large stones and testing that it held. When he was certain that it held he pulled the blade attached to his opposite hand free and reached upward to insert it into the next gap. He was glad that he had spent so many hours training, as he would be in a very difficult position if he ran out of strength before reaching the top of the wall. As it was, his shirt was wet from the effort of the climb despite the cool night air. The climb would be much easier if he could use his feet, but he did not want his feet entangled in climbing gear once he cleared the top of the wall, so he could do no more than wedge the toe of his boot into one or two of the wider cracks he came across. Slowly, methodically he was approaching the top of the wall. He paused after every stone now and listened for guard movements, any sign that his presence had been detected. He was about to reach for a parapet when he heard a faint scrape of leather on stone. That was followed by the instantly identifiable sound of bone grating on bone. Cord was positive that the guard had just been killed, and it had been done quickly and silently. If Cord had not been within a few feet of the guards position he would never have heard it. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of an assassin peering over the parapet and seeing him hanging defenseless so far above the ground. Cord waited, breathing very slowly, and very quietly, staring at the gap in the wall above him.
After a minute of waiting, Cord decided that the assassin must have moved on, and reached up to the parapet. Quietly and carefully he pulled himself up so that he could look beyond. At first he did not see the guard, but then he made out the outline of a man in the deeper shadow against the wall. There was no sign of anyone else along the length of the walkway. Cord slipped through the parapet and dropped down to the walkway, squatting down in the darkest of the shadows. Cord crept over to the outline to confirm his suspicions. The guard was definitly dead, and judging by the angle of his head in relation to his body, the sound Cord heard had been that of a neck being broken. What worried Cord more was that the guard had not seen the assassin approach, and then had had no chance to defend himself when attacked. The assassin was obviously extremely skilled.
Cord had come to the palace with the intent of leaving a message for the King. He had wanted to make it clear that he should be left alone. Now he was in the palace grounds at the same time as a trained assassin, probably heading towards the same target, but with very different goals in mind. He did not favour the King, but he had no desire to see him killed either. The current political climate was very much like dry tinder in the heat of Summer. One spark would send everything up in flames. Civil war would only harm the Kingdom even more. That meant he could not sit idly by while the assassin went to work. He had to try prevent the worst, and he had to do it without being caught by the palace guard. They would think him an assassin the moment they laid eyes on him. Cord shrugged off the small bag he had on his back, and undid the climbing gear on his hands. The climbing gear went into the bag. He pulled his 'zhibo' from the bag. A 'zhibo' resembled hundreds of circular wooden blocks threaded onto a leather cord. Each individual block had a hollow lower section and a narrow upper section so that they would fit into one another. Cord pulled on the leather strip and the pieces slotted into one another until he was holding a cudgel the length of his arm. He pulled the leather tight and then wound it around the bottom block which had a groove in it for that very purpose. A 'zhibo' was only as strong as the wood it was made from and the strip that held it. Cord's was made from steelwood, and held by a copper reinforced strip. It was virtually as strong as a cudgel completely made from steelwood.
Cord breathed in deeply, and let out a slow sigh. Sometimes he wished he did not have such an over-developed sense of right and wrong. It was sure to be his cause of death. Hopefully that would not be this night. He rose from his crouch and tossed his bag through the parapet. Then he quietly made his way along the walkway in search of the assassin...

1.05

Cord waited until he was out of sight of the gatehouse before he entered the darker side-streets again. His encounter with the guards had gone well. He had considered using the whiskey to help convince them to let him through, but knew that would have backfired if he had tried it on the guard captain. That guard was an honest man, and attempting to bribe him would have landed Cord in a jail-cell. He had no intention of relying on his fake merchant's pass and nonexistent notes of debt again, so he moved carefully through the darkness, heading towards the palace.
The main roads in the Inner City were well-lit, but very little of that light reached the side-streets and alleys that Cord navigated. He was careful not to make any noise. The last thing he needed was for someone to hear him and report it to the Watch for them to investigate.

Cord estimated that with his winding route he had taken three hours to reach the fortified wall surrounding the palace. It was almost time for the palace guards to be changed. He was squatting in the shadow of a coach that had been left outside by one of the noblemen living in the exclusive area of the city. He was waiting for the new guards to take their station. The ones that were currently on duty were no doubt tired, but their eyes were accustomed to the dark. The new guards would take several minutes to properly adjust to the darkness, and Cord needed that time to make his way across the open area that lay between him and the palace wall. He kept his eyes focused on the sentry post on top of the wall, waiting for the new guard to arrive.
It seemed that an age had passed before the new sentries started relieving their comrades, but at last the sentry at the nearest post left and was replaced by another. Cord waited a few breaths more to be sure that the previous sentry was gone, and then he moved out of the concealing shadow of the coach. It felt like his heart was beating loud enough to be heard as he moved quickly and silently across the ground. He took a path that veered to the left and right as he approached the wall. He had plotted a course that would keep him in the tallest and darkest grass, and hoped that he would be difficult to see from the sentry-posts. After what felt like several minutes he reached the wall, thankful that there had been no sound of alarm. He waited a few breaths and studied the wall.
The palace wall was was made of huge slabs of smooth stone cut and placed in such a manner that there were almost no gaps between the slabs. If you wanted to keep determined enemies out, almost was never good enough.
Cord had been trained to climb far more difficult obstacles with the climbing gauntlets he now wore. The blades he had fitted to the finely crafted steel and leather framework that fit over his hand like a glove were specifically developed for scaling castle walls. Cord made sure that the blades were secure and started his ascent...