Master of the Dance by T C Southwell Page B

persuade Dravis to leave the city and seek safety in a distant town, but Dravis scorned the idea. To him, that was the same as being banished, and he had no intention of leaving Jadaya. Jovan sighed and patted his ape.
    "Then what do you intend to do? Staying here only puts you in danger."
    Dravis smiled. "From what you have told me, this assassin is the cause of all your woes. Not only did he rescue that damned woman, now he has killed Chaymin and Trelath, and he will kill you if you do not do as Kerrion says. You need him dead, and her too, of course."
    Jovan shook his head. "You will not get close to her. Kerrion keeps her at his side all the time."
    "I would like to kill him as well. All of them. His whore, his half breed sons and daughter, and that damned assassin. I could, too. My familiar could kill him while he slept, and no one would even suspect me."
    Jovan glanced at the golden scorpion curled up on Dravis' chest, and shuddered. "Kerrion may be a fool, but killing him would not do you any good."
    "No? He is the reason for our father's death. His whore was the one who ordered it, and that neutered bastard killed him. Lerton should have succeeded when he accused Kerrion of high treason. They should all die. That would be justice, brother. And it would do me good, because you are next in line to the throne, if Kerrion's sons are slain."
    "That is crazy talk, Dravis. Even if you could kill all of them, I have no wish to be King, and have you plotting against me. I am beginning to see why he wanted you imprisoned."
    "It is not crazy, Jovan. With them gone, our lives would improve vastly. You would be King, and I would have Jashimari."
    "You would only start the war again."
    Dravis snorted. "They have disbanded most of their army. We would overrun them in a tenday."
    Jovan spread his hands. "I am not going to discuss this. It is not going to happen. I did not free you so you could kill Kerrion and his family."
    "You are just going to let him blackmail you?"
    "No. My spies are searching for this assassin, so is Marek. We just have to get rid of him, and everything will return to normal."
    "And charge Kerrion with treason."
    Jovan shook his head. "He never admitted to hiring the assassin, and there is no way to prove that he did."
    "Unless we capture this assassin and make him talk."
    "That has been tried before, and it has never worked. Assassins will not reveal their employer."
    "I will wager that I could make him talk," Dravis muttered, stroking his scorpion.
    "We will just get rid of him, that is all." Jovan rubbed his chin. "It will not be easy, though. From what I have heard, he is extremely dangerous. Even if Marek took his men past the guards, they may not succeed."
    "Send an assassin."
    "That would seem to be the only solution, but he would have to be very good."
    Dravis shrugged. "Send two."
    "Perhaps."
    Dravis sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. "What if we offered to pay him a fortune to kill the Jashimari woman?"
    Jovan shook his head. "He would not do it."
    "Maybe not, but if we send a message, it would lead our spies right to him."
    Jovan considered this, his eyes narrowed. "The only people who know where he is hidden are the King and his wife."
    "And at least one servant."
    "True. Who would the King trust that much?"
    "Ask your spies."
    "He may not be hidden in the palace," Jovan pointed out.
    "Then we could send our men to capture him, and hand him over to the judges for execution. Even if he does not admit to killing Trelath and Chaymin, he is condemned for Ronan's murder, and I would enjoy torturing him."
    Jovan turned away with a grimace of distaste, but nodded. For a man with such a handsome visage, his brother had an unhealthy lust for the suffering and blood of others. This, he knew, was a gift from their father, one that he was glad he had not inherited.
     
    To Blade's annoyance, the next morning when he left his rooms, a burly Cotti soldier who glared at him from under bushy blond brows shadowed