CHAPTER 31 Assassins Have Rights Too, You Know!

CHAPTER 31

Assassins Have Rights Too, You Know!

Rufus

Pjori leaned against the wall behind Lady Tate and stared at me with a hint of amusement mixed with shock.

“And then Mama told me I had to follow that woman around for an entire week and do whatever she said—no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Lady Tate was crying into a delicate pink kerchief with floral embroidery that she’d pulled from her décolletage.

“That’s terrible.” I nodded sympathetically. “What did she make you do?”

Lady Tate clenched the kerchief in a tight fist. “You don’t understand, Rufus! She made me stand in a corner for six hours after she told me to wait for her to come back from a meeting with Duke Lector. Six hours . I missed Lady Genevie’s sword fighting practice bout, and for what? To wait around for a summons. It was so embarrassing!”

“This was from ‘the boss’? How rude.” I reached out and poured a bit more tea into the young woman’s teacup.

She nodded, hiccupped, and then sipped her glass. “That’s what everyone calls her. It’s not even an interesting title.”

“Does she even look the part of a fearsome leader, or were you forced to cater to a nobody?” I raised an eyebrow. My inner thoughts were racing while my face remained calm. I even tilted my head slightly to appear more curious and less like what I’d just asked was highly coveted information.

Lady Tate scrunched up her nose in contempt. “She’s barely worth noticing. Plain brown hair. Even her eyes were brown.”

“She obviously doesn’t compare to you,” I said, ignoring the eye roll that garnered from Pjori .

“The boss is bent on attacking the duke.” Sniffle . “She said something about him closing in on something.”

“That’s what you told the duke when they escorted you here.” I smoothly leaned my elbow onto my armchair and stuck my chin onto my clenched hand. My other fist rested on my hips, elbow out. I tried to look pensive. “You know, I think that was why they brought you here instead of to a more civilized waiting room. Of course, you were just trying to warn them, and nobody even listened to you. They should feel ashamed.”

After walking into the room, I’d made a royal huff about the care of a noble and how uncivilized it was to leave the lovely Lady Tate without so much as tea. When the shock had worn off, the guards had jumped to attention and brought in everything I’d demanded: a table, two comfortable chairs, and a trolley. My [Detect Fake] perk had been critical in this instance.

Snacks were still on the way. I’d spent less time eating during the luncheon and more time petting . No regrets, but I was still hoping for some of that cream pudding.

“It was awful . I just threw a Greendeath potion at Duke Wyldon—approved by the Assassin’s Guild, no less. I don’t know why they locked me up like this.” Lady Tate glared at the guards. “Assassins have rights too, you know!”

Even without my abilities, I could tell she was telling the truth. She honestly had no idea she’d been carrying molten ash vane. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.

She didn’t see the sudden dark look overtake Pjori behind her. A good thing, because that would’ve detracted from my work so far. The man must have soothed something with [Soothfinder], because he was reading over a notification.

“This ‘boss’ has been pretty busy since she took over the Assassin’s Guild.” I nodded. “I’m sure the paperwork will be filed properly. But, as of this morning … I’m afraid it wasn’t.”

“Wait! What? No, I saw the order myself!” For the first time since I’d been coaxing Lady Tate, I gave her cause to worry. I prodded. It was open-ended, letting her come to her own conclusions. I knew she wasn’t high enough in level to gauge whether I was lying, and while I didn’t know for a fact if the Assassin’s Guild had properly registered their targets as was law—people needed to know who was and wasn’t eligible to inherit—I could guess that this particular report had probably gone unapproved.

Seeing as Duke Wyldon was currently in charge of processing those reports.

“Your assassination attempt wasn’t legally registered,” I repeated, shooting her a concerned look. “Maybe they were busy. Is there something we could use to defend you? A reason it could be late?”

Lady Tate was not an idiot. I could tell she’d only gone through with everything was because she would be protected by an assassination order and the boss of the Servalt Assassin’s Guild … but without that order, she’d just attacked one of the most powerful people in the kingdom without cause.

“I-I … Well.” She stumbled for a second, and her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. Finally, she gave us exactly what we’d been hoping for. “Oh! I overheard her say that she was going out to meet with an international agent when I last saw her. I haven’t actually seen her since. Another guild member handed over the potion.”

“That must be it. When did she leave?” I nodded, convinced.

“Day before last.” Lady Tate smiled in relief. She dabbed her eyes one final time then stuffed the kerchief back where it’d come from. I wondered absentmindedly if Brownie also kept things tucked away in … unorthodox places.

Suddenly, Lady Tate was smiling knowingly. I cursed; my tail was giving away my thoughts again.

Sigh.

“Thank you, Lady Tate.” I stood quickly. “I’m sure after the duke hears about my findings, he’ll do the right thing.”

I didn’t know what “the right thing” was in Servalt. In Nilheim, she would be stripped of her rank and forced to spend a year serving in the Dark Horde while myself or one of my agents counseled her. She could do with a habitual rehabilitation plan and narcissistic thought pattern recognition therapy. Since she had no idea that she’d had a permadeath weapon, Nilheim would provide education and source material for that, too.

“Soothfinder Pjori.” A new guard stood outside the door, peering through the bars.

Pjori opened the door to a crowd. His voice sharp, he ordered, “Report.”

“We’ve got another suspect.” The guard stepped aside, and Brownie stood there, looking confused and embarrassed, one arm held behind her back by the guard.

She waved at us with her unrestrained arm. “Hello.”