Amaskan's Blood, Raven Oak [read me a book .TXT] 📗

It was in this room that the Masters decided which jobs they would accept and which they turned away. The room where they deliberated and discussed the secrets of an Order stretching back many centuries, back before Boahim was torn asunder by war and back before it stood united. This was a room of Justice.

Not every job calls for an Amaskan—words repeated to her at an early age. “We pick our jobs carefully, for truth and justice for the people,” Master Bredych said to her six-year-old self. “Murder is against the Thirteen, but we accept this sin for the lives of others. Ours is a heavy burden, but we walk in the path of Justice, in the light of Anur.”

Looking at Master Bredych now, his raised shoulders and tense jaw betrayed his nervousness. He was not the relaxed man who had taught her of justice. Not today. Even at seventy he could whip her in a fight, yet he refused to meet her gaze.

“Master Bredych—” Speaking was a mistake, and she clamped her mouth shut when he rapped his knuckles on the table.

Do not engage unless invited to do so. His words rang in her ears, and she winced that she’d forgotten instructions ingrained since she was ten.

All around her sat men and women double and triple her age, Amaskans with long reach. While she could give their Amaskan names, their birth names remained hidden. Secrets upon secrets. Every one of them wore a mask, their pasts hidden beneath layers of lies she couldn’t begin to unravel. And yet she trusted them completely.

They knew her birth name and had held it safe for fifteen years. She had nothing to fear from the council. Adelei risked a slight smile. When she glanced at her mentor and adopted father, Bredych held no lopsided grin for her. He turned his tanned face to another member beside him.

A bird let loose in her stomach, twisting and turning while pecking holes in her confidence, and she frowned. Still she remained standing, all eyes on her. Was this about the job? Or something else?

“Iliana Poncett.”

She flinched at the name from his lips. “That name is dead, like the body that carried it,” she spoke, and the corner of his eye twitched. Despite her words, her mind reached back without bidding, and horses’ hoof beats trampled across her memory. Fuzzy and darkened, the images scattered in the confusion of people shouting and then silence.

Her life before the Amaskans. Before Master Bredych had adopted her and given her a new life. And along with it, a new name.

She kept her eyes forward until finally, the nod came. The chair scraped against the stone floor as she pulled it away from the end of the table. Bredych tapped a gnarled knuckle on the table. “Report.”

Adelei wiped her greasy hands on her pants. No windows gave light to the room, and while its sole door gave them protection and privacy, the dimness reminded her of her heavy limbs and eyelids. What she wouldn’t give for a bed. Outside the walls, the sun splashed hints of light across the horizon, and she stifled a yawn.

“The mark has been cleared.”

A rush of relief shot through the room. Whereas the others whispered their excitement and thanked her, Bredych remained still. A few wrinkle lines scattered unfamiliarly across his face. The corners of his mouth sagged a hint as he cleared his throat. “We are proud that this task has been dealt with.” The statement was an unusual compliment, and she froze, waiting for the stir of dark clouds. “Iliana—”

She shook her head, eyes widened as the bird in her stomach fought to escape. He never made mistakes like that. To use her birth name… again. A quick glance held the others still smiling. Either they hadn’t heard him, or they had ignored it. Neither of which was good.

He turned a blind eye to her concern. “You’ve been given a new job. One outKingdom.”

Jobs outside of Sadai weren’t unknown, though they were uncommon. He must be worried about the risks. Still, I haven’t met a challenge yet that I couldn’t tackle as easily as wading through a calm river.

“Your job calls you to the Kingdom of Alexander.”

Adelei broke protocol and stood, palms flat against the white table. “Alexander? What possible reason could this Order have for sending me there? It’s a death—”

Master Bredych silenced her with a raised hand. “You are ordered to guard her Royal Highness, Princess Margaret. You will work as a body double until your services are no longer needed.”

Her left temple throbbed. When she curled her fingers into fists, grease smudged the table. Adelei took one breath and then another before speaking. “Grand Master, the Order does not… usually accept positions such as this—any guardsman could complete such a task,” she said and ignored the gasps at her impertinence. “Body doubles are a lifelong task. You ordered me back at high risk and for what? This? Why would the Order accept this job? In Alexander no less?”

“There have been assassination attempts,” he said before he took a swallow from his cup of water. “Possibly Tribor. You will eliminate the problem.”

“Tribor are nothing new. That’s not the reason. Grand Master, Amaskans are not tolerated in Alexander. To enter that kingdom is a death sentence. Why would you send me there?” Her voice cracked, and she winced.

When the Bredych’s fist struck the table, fourteen sets of shoulders jumped. “Do you question the ability of the Masters?”

“No, Grand Master.”

“Do you doubt your own abilities?”

“No, Grand Master.”

“Then you will do the job before you as you are told.” His fingers were pale in the candlelight and a trickle of sweat beaded upon his brow. The bird in her stomach plummeted to its death in the bottom of the cage. She returned to her seat but wrapped her ankles around the chair’s legs in a defensive position. “You recall the Little War of Threes?” he asked.

“The Kingdoms of Alexander and Shad