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easily in the bodies of dead girls. Particularly by somebody with the craft
and resources of Klerus. He certainly would not balk at a murder if it would
sow more trouble between Blade and Harima. Certainly not the murder of
somebody like Curana.
But Harima was jealous of Curana. That had been obvious that day in the
garden. Fiercely jealous, and perhaps not only of Curana. There was the
blonde girl who had been tortured and branded.
Harima's jealousy was not one of Klerus' tricks. It was real, perhaps
murderously real. Harima might have done it. Blade couldn't put that
possibility out of his mind.
And because he couldn't put aside the possibility, he knew he couldn't wait
until morning to settle the affair. He owed Curana that much. He would indeed
make his way to Harima's chambers, carrying a dagger, but he would not put it
to her throat. Not at once, at any rate, and he hoped not at all. He would ask
her some very pointed questions first.
His rage had cooled down now into a deadly grimness that did not keep him from
thinking clearly and fast. The princess' quarters were heavily guarded.
Entering them by night would in itself be a neat
trick, and a warning to Harima. But doing it through the wholesale slaughter
of her guards would not help matters. He would have to reach the princess
without killing anyone. That meant using his unarmed combat skills, although
he would take sword and dagger just in case. Klerus' men might intervene, and
"accidentally" kill the Pendarnoth before they recognized him. No doubt Klerus
would have the men who made the "mistake" killed in their turn. But that would
do little for Pendar and nothing for Blade.
Blade picked up Curana's hood. A moment's work with his knife and it had two
satisfactory eye holes. It was a tight fit, but it would conceal his face well
enough. Then he went to the chests and picked out the plainest robe in them, a
long gray affair. With mask and robe it would be hard to recognize him as the
Pendarnoth. And there were enough men and women in the palace who prowled the
darkened corridors in disguise so that one more would not attract much
attention. Another clandestine love affair, those who met him would think.
He checked sword and dagger and turned to Guroth. "I am going to the Princess
Harima's quarters.
There are some questions I must ask her."
Guroth nodded. "I thought as much. But I am certain this murder is Klerus'
work."
"I am not. Harima is a jealous woman, jealous as only one so young can be."
The captain nodded reluctantly. "You are right, oh Pendarnoth. But I cannot
let you go and slay the princess. My oath and my honor and my soul forbid it."
His hand moved toward his sword.
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"All may rest in peace," said Blade. "I swear by the Holy Guardian of Pendar
that I shall do the
Princess Harima no harm in her body. And her soul I shall leave to the
vengeance of the gods if vengeance is called for. That is all I will
swear, Guroth."
Guroth realized that there was no alternative to accepting Blade's words
except fighting him on the spot. And the second was out of the question. He
bowed his head and sighed wearily as Blade strode out the door.
Blade moved swiftly toward Harima's chambers. Although the oil lamps were
mostly out now and the corridors sunk in gloom, they were not yet deserted.
Several times he flattened himself into alcoves as servants or others on
private business passed him. Once he rounded a corner and came face to face
with two servants carrying a freshly varnished sedan chair. But his disguise
held. The servants merely bobbed their heads in a casual gesture of deference
and passed on without stopping or slowing.
It did not take him long to get within sight of the door to Harima's chambers.
But the two eunuchs with swords were on guard as usual, and there was no cover
in the corridor except the dim light. In that dim light both eunuchs looked
about eight feet tall. Blade waited until he had made sure that one of there
was carrying a set of keys. Beyond that he would have to gamble that one of
those keys would open the chamber door. Then he shrugged off his cloak to free
his limbs for fighting and slipped around the corner.
In the dimness his silent, stalking approach brought him halfway to the door
before the eunuchs saw him. As their heads swung toward him and their eyes
widened, Blade leaped forward, his snapping fists up into striking position.
He struck low to take the first man in the stomach, then smashed him across
the jaw as he folded. The guard went down with his sword only halfway out of
its scabbard.
But in the time it took Blade to polish off the first guard, the second one
succeeded in drawing his sword. He came at Blade, the sword whistling around
in a deadly arc that would have taken off Blade's head if he hadn't ducked. He
kept on ducking, then rammed both fists upward. One connected squarely with
the elbow of the man's sword arm. Blade felt bone smash under his fist and saw
the sword falter and sag. His other fist came up squarely under the man's
chin, so fast and hard that if it had been a spear point, it would have gone
straight up into the man's brain. The guard crumpled and went down so fast
that Blade had to jump aside to keep from being knocked down by the falling
body.
As the second guard sank to the floor, Blade flattened himself against the
wall, listening intently. He had been as fast and as silent as he could, but
had he been fast and silent enough? Apparently he had. As far as he could see
or hear, nobody moved, nobody spoke. He took the gilded keys from the guard's
belt and began trying them on the jeweled lock of the gold and ivory-inlaid
door. The third one worked.
Blade slipped through the door and closed it behind him. Inside was another
corridor, darker than the one outside and just as deserted. But here the stone
floor was covered ankle-deep in a soft rug and the walls were hung with
pastel-colored tapestries. An unmistakable scent of perfume hung in the air.
His footsteps utterly silent on the thick rug, Blade moved down the hall,
keeping as close to the wall as possible. Each time he came to a door, he
would pause and put his ear against it, listening for some sound to indicate
what lay within. More silence greeted him. Apparently everybody in
Harima's household except the guards on duty had gone to bed.
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