Elaine Cunningham - Honor Bound

A chill shimmered down Rhendish'sspine. Years fell away, and he saw in his mind's eye a much youngerTymion, brave and foolish enough to face down a sorcerer withnothing but a crossbow.

"What are people saying about theattack?"

"They say the City Fox did for Tymion, justlike he did for Muldonny."

"The thief is dead," Volgosaid.

"Well, that might be so," the youngman said, "but it seems there's plenty willing to pick up where heleft off. Before dawn, some men sailed in from Hearthstone. Therewas maybe a score of them, all with hair as red as a bowl ofberries. I heard tell they all stayed in Nightport, strutting roundand drinking and singing and getting into small mischief of onesort or another, but that can't be so. One of them got intoTymion's keep and took down three of the guards. That one got awayclean, but there was another found on the shore by the keep,trussed up like a roasted goose."

"So the first man must have killedTymion before he escaped."

"That's what people will think, mylord, not knowing what we know."

Rhendish did not care for theconspiratorial gleam in the messenger's eyes. "And what, exactly,do 'we' know?"

"One of Tymion's own clockworkguards did for him."

Rhendish resisted the urge tomassage his aching temples. This was a most unwelcome development.The adept of Kronhus had been an astronomer, not an artificer, andhe had little interest in clockwork. His few clockwork guards hadcome from Rhendish's workshops.

"You sound very sure of that. Iwonder why."

In response, the young man held outa round metal box.

Rhendish snatched it from his handand held it up to the light. Yes, the device was his, designed toseize control of a clockwork device.

"Where did you get this?" hesnarled.

The youth shifted from one foot toanother, but he managed to hold Rhendish's gaze. "I was told toclean the room. This had rolled under the astrolabe table. Themetal's bright and new-looking, not like the rest of theguard."

"What makes you think it was part ofthe guard?"

"I never thought it was," he said."That's my whole point. I wouldn't have put the two together butfor the sap on the back of it. When I was hauling off the metalguard, I found more of that sap on one side of its helmet. That gotme to thinking. I pried open the box and found gears within. Small,fine work, the likes of which come only from Heartstone. So I hidit away, not wanting anyone to wonder where it came from. . orwhat it was meant to do."

Rhendish glanced at Volgo. Thecaptain gave an almost imperceptible nod and took several silentsteps toward the servant.

"And what did you hope to gain fromthis act of discretion?"

The youth squared his shoulders."For near on two years now, I've been your eyes and ears inTymion's keep. The money's good, but I'm a servant for all that. Ifa man's to move up in Sevrin, really move up, alchemy's the path totake. I'm willing to start as an apprentice."

Behind him, Volgo cast his eyesskyward and shook his head in disbelief.

"My apprentices are well schooledbefore they enter my employ. They must pass rigorous tests beforethey are even considered for acceptance." Rhendish lifted one brow."Then there's the not inconsiderable matter of an apprenticefee."

"I proved myself in different ways,"the servant said stubbornly, "and what I know has got to be worthan apprentice fee and more."

Rhendish nodded, but not to theservant.

Volgo reached over the youth'sshoulder and seized his chin. A quick twist, a crack of bone, andthe would-be blackmailer died before his smug little grin couldfade.

The captain let the body drop to thecarpet. "Too clever to live, that boy."

"Don't be an idiot," Rhendishsnapped. " Think ,man! How many times have you seen a clockwork warrior shoot acrossbow?"

"Not once. They're not built forit." His brow furrowed. "A crossbow? Why do you think it was acrossbow?"

"Never mind that. It was a man, nota machine, that shot Tymion. If he could breach the adept'sdefenses and get close enough to shoot, why bother turning aclockwork guard against him?"

"If you'd ever crossed swords withone of those things, you wouldn't ask," Volgo said. "I'd ratherfight beside one than against it."

Rhendish conceded the point with animpatient shrug. "There's more to it than that. The battalion ofimitation Foxes was a diversion. A deliberately clumsy diversiondesigned to make people look around for something more. The use ofclockwork was meant to incriminate me. Whoever killed Tymion meantto destroy not one adept, but two."

The captain gazed off into thedistance for a long moment. "If that's true, there may be otherattempts. I'll double the guard. It wouldn't hurt to round up thereds, either."

"Do it. The fools who invadedKronhus might have been used in ways they didn't expect, but thefact remains that they were willing to be used."

Volgo inclined his head in a shortbow and strode from the room, leaving Rhendish standing in awhirlwind of troubled thoughts.

He shook them off and reached for abook placed high on a shelf. Inside was a single metal page uponwhich was etched a map of Sevrinspire. He thumbed a tiny lever anda pinprick of blue light appeared along a street not far from wherehe stood.

The adept hurried from the room,beckoning for a pair of his human guards to follow.

He might not be able to control theelf as he once had, but he could damn well find her.

Honor lay on her belly on the winecellar's cold stone wall, using the green witch's knife to scratchrunes onto the stone wall. Dwarves left messages on the lowest partof a tunnel wall. If Delgar was still on Sevrin, he might find thismessage in time to save Fox's life. If he passed through this room on hisunderground travels. If he thought to check this particular wall formessages.

If, if, and if again.

She rolled into a sitting positionand tucked the knife between two dusty wine bottles. Rhendish's menwouldn't let her keep it, and if they saw the dulled blade theymight wonder what she'd been doing with it.

She pulled her knees up to herchest, wrapped her arms around them, and waited.

There was nothing else to do. Thedoor at the end of the tunnel leading from Keefin's cottage hadopened into this wine cellar. It had closed behind Honor socompletely that she couldn't find its outlines, much less open it.She'd examined every inch of the chamber, but the only apparentexit was a stout oak door, which unfortunately was bolted on theoutside.

She heard, with decidedly mixedfeelings, the thump of booted feet on the cellar stairs. The boltopened with a sharp crack that reminded her of ice-heavy branchesshattering in a winter wind. The door swung open, and she liftedone hand to shield her eyes from the sudden flare oftorchlight.

Rhendish stood in the doorway,flanked by armed guards. He lifted one eyebrow, like a parentwaiting for a misbehaving child to confess.

She rose to her feet. "After themetal is removed, I will work for you for a year and a day. That isour agreement. I'm bound by honor to fulfill it."

"And I've no reason whatsoever todoubt your honor," he said in a voice utterly devoid of expression."Even so, I don't suppose you'd care to explain why you are lockedin a tavern wine cellar?"

"Not really."

Rhendish waited.

"It's a sordid tale of debaucheryand betrayal," Honor said in a tone that, if possible, was evenflatter than his.

To her surprise, the adept's lipstwitched. "Perhaps another time. We should return to the manor andcontinue our work." His gaze skimmed over an empty wine rack."Unless, of course, you're still thirsty?"

His brand of humor felt familiar,almost elfin. So she did what she would have done among her ownkind: She picked up two bottles, handed them to the guards, andswept past them to the cellar stairs.