Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Zofie considered the insect. “How do I contact you?”

  The voice from the firefly laughed. “Have Fumiko use her myst. We will know. And should you accept, please allow her to come with you. She will be a valuable guide. Plus, it will allow her to see her father.”

  “I won’t do it!” Fumiko yelled.

  The firefly began to circle toward the floor—its motions becoming erratic. “Such a temper. Don’t forget your mother and your sister are still in the emperor’s court. Your failure to appear may displease him and put their lives in danger. Don’t be a fool.”

  Fumiko shook with rage.

  The firefly landed on the floor. “We will await your answer Princess Zophia Xernow.”

  It gave one last flicker of glow and then went out.

  Fumiko went to where the bug had fallen. She glared down at it for a moment before stomping on it, bringing her foot down again and again. “I... will... not... go...!” punctuating each word with a blow of her foot.

  Zofie and I watched our normally calm as ice Fumiko take out her fury on the bug. She looked up at us with tears in her eyes. “I can’t.”

  She ran out of the room, leaving Zofie and I to look at each other in puzzlement.

  What the hell just happened?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Fumiko’s

  Charm

  Late that evening, the door to Zofie’s study opened unexpectedly. I jumped to my feet and immediately drew my sword. The princess jerked up from her writing desk, the small knife she kept on its surface, suddenly appearing in her hand.

  Spraggel shuffled in the door bleary-eyed, and his hair mussed. Quite the contrast from his morning exuberance. He eyed the blades pointed at him and then looked up at us in surprise. “What?”

  “Spraggel!” I scolded. “Knock before entering. One of these days, I’m going to strike before I see it’s you.”

  He gave me a tired eye. “If you ever get that good, then I’ll knock.” He turned to Zofie. “Forgive me for the late hour, Princess, but I have completed looking through my old friend’s notes. I thought you might want to hear the results before retiring.”

  Zofie, ever composed, took a deep breath and returned her knife to her desk. “What did you find?”

  “Well, I was able to confirm that the Griffin’s Key is indeed some kind of key.” Spraggel suddenly yawned. “Sorry, Princess. It’s been a busy day.”

  He moved to a thickly padded chair before the fire and settled comfortably into it. It was Zofie’s. He was oblivious that he had just taken the favorite chair of the kingdom’s ruling monarch. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

  “Spraggel,” I scolded. “Don’t sit there. That’s Zofie’s....”

  She laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right.” She gave me a weak smile. “I’m too wound up to sit anyway.”

  She went over to the fireplace and poked at the embers before throwing another log on the fire. She looked tired. For that matter, we all did.

  “How’s Fumiko?” Zofie asked as she paused a moment to warm her hands.

  My old master didn’t answer.

  She looked over her shoulder at him. “Spraggel?”

  The elder’s eyes shot open. “I wasn’t asleep. I was just resting my eyes.” He looked puzzled for a moment. “What were you saying?”

  I frowned. “Zofie asked how Fumiko was. She was with you, wasn’t she?”

  He nodded. “The young miss did join me for a bit but left earlier. She’s still upset over our visitor this evening.”

  Zofie sighed. “I wish she would talk to us? She must be carrying a huge burden.” She looked at me sadly. “We might be able to help.”

  Spraggel laid his head back. “Fumiko will tell us when she’s ready.”

  I nodded. “So what about the Griffin’s Key?”

  My old master didn’t answer. Zofie and I looked to him, and his eyes were once more closed. “Spraggel?” I asked.

  He jerked upright. “I was not asleep.”

  Zofie went to stand beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right. Just give us a quick rundown on the artifacts, and then you can go to bed. That’s an order.”

  Spraggel looked at her sheepishly. He reached into his myst pocket and pulled out a book. It never ceased to amaze me when he did that. His pocket seemed to have an infinite capacity. I’d seen him pull out everything from books, clothes, and half-eaten meals. He claimed his sword was in there somewhere, but he’d never been able to find it.

  Spraggel opened the book and took out some hand-written notes. “There is little information on the Griffin’s Key and absolutely none on where it might be. Not even a speculation. But what I did discover is consistent with what our visitor from the empire said. Apparently, it is the only way to open this vault he mentioned. It’s called the Crystal Vault, by the way.”

  I nodded. “Sounds like the ancients hiding information again.”

  Spraggel looked back at his notes. “As our guest alluded to, this key was supposedly held in this kingdom, and its whereabouts entrusted to the Xernow family with the location passed down through the royal line. However, I think there was a break in this chain when the princess’s grandparents died unexpectedly.” Spraggel rubbed his eyes. “The fastest way to find it would be to use the Wayward’s Finder, just like we did for the Mirror of Bygone Tears. I’m sure Lord Dewi Merrick would let us borrow it. Especially since you didn’t throw him in prison after regaining your throne.”

  Zofie moved to stand beside me. She slipped an arm around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder. “What about the artifact inside the vault?”

  Spraggel shook his head. “There are references, but none currently at my disposal. The books seem to have disappeared. All I can tell you is that it’s called the Forever Nexus Shadow.”

  She frowned. “My brother likely removed those books.” She thought for a moment. “Do you think this Advisor Yonge is telling the truth? That they don’t know the purpose of this Nexus thing?”

  Spraggel shrugged. “Hard to say. They’ve been guarding it for a thousand years, and there have been a lot of changes since they got it.” He closed his book and tucked his notes away. “You see, at the time the vault was built, the east was a loose collective of twelve kingdoms.” He looked up. “But about three hundred years ago, Shun the Great consolidated them into what we know today as the Kuiojia Empire.”

  Zofie put a finger to her lips in thought. “I’ll send Lord Merrick a letter in the morning. I’m confident he will let us use it.” She sighed heavily. While she said nothing more about it, I knew what that meant. She would have to deal with Galvyn. He had been her other primary suitor and been infatuated with her for some time now. He very nearly displaced me as her fiancé. However, Zofie saw through to his true nature.

  I personally didn’t like the bastard. The fact he had punched me on two different occasions had nothing to do with it. (All right, maybe a little.)

  “Anything else we should know about it?” I asked.

  Spraggel looked down at his notes. “Well, apparently the Griffin’s Key can be used to unlock things other than the vault. But for the Crystal Vault, the princess has to be the one to use it.”

  Zofie nodded. “We best get the key as soon as we can, whether we accept the Emperor’s offer or not.”

  I looked at her. “Do you intend to accept it? His offer, I mean.”

  The princess gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t want to, but I need to feed my people.”

  I decided there was no time like the present to address the dragon in the room. “Don’t you think it’s an odd coincidence that the offer came from Fumiko’s homeland? And it was through her that the Empire found out about the Dark Avenyts. Can we really trust her? She has that tracking charm on her.”

  Zofie took her time considering. “I’m not sure. She did save our lives this morning. And before that, she resisted the Dark Avenyts controlling her to pass on a hint about unlocking Abhulengulus.” She paused. �
��Without that, I’d be dead.” Zofie looked off into the distance. “It is a strange coincidence though. Then again, where your curse is concerned, coincidences seem to happen a lot.”

  Zofie was referring to the ability of my curse to affect luck. Maybe even fate itself. The curse did it to protect me, but it could have tragic consequences for those not under its protection. My father had been one of those victims.

  She straightened and gave me a weak smile. “For now, I intend to trust her. Fumiko will be a valuable guide should we decide to accept the emperor’s offer.”

  “But what about the tracking curse?”

  She sighed. “We’ll have Master Rourke examine her in the morning. Hopefully, he can figure out how to take it off.”

  Suddenly Spraggel’s book and papers fell to the floor. We jerked in his direction and saw that he was fast asleep.

  And snoring.

  I smiled. “I guess I better get Spraggel to his room before he drools all over your chair.”

  “Here, I’ll help.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ve got this. It’s late, and you have a letter to finish before bed. You need your sleep too.”

  She looked at me sheepishly. “I am tired. I’ll leave Spraggel to you then.”

  While Zofie went to her writing desk, I woke my old master and led him to his room. He was asleep before I got him covered with a blanket. I shook my head. We’d all been pushing so hard to get things right in the kingdom.

  As I headed back, I happened to see a light under the door to Fumiko’s bed-chamber. It was only two rooms down from Zofie’s. Fumiko had insisted she be close to the princess should she be needed.

  I stopped in front of her door. I couldn’t help but wonder what Fumiko knew about this Advisor Yonge, and why hadn’t she mentioned it before? Then again, she had also been deeply troubled by the visit.

  I thought about knocking. I had considered Fumiko a friend when I first met her. I had found her easy to speak with and marveled at her depth of perception. But she had been under the control of a Dark Avenyts and betrayed us. I knew the woman I had come to know, and the one now, were different. However, I couldn’t shake this nagging doubt—had she betrayed us again?

  Suddenly Fumiko’s door flung open, startling me. She stood on the threshold with a dagger held ready. Seeing it was me, she relaxed and lowered the weapon.

  “Coren, what are you doing out so late?” She leaned into the corridor and looked both ways to make sure no one else was there. “Is something wrong?”

  I shook my head. “I was walking by and noticed your light was still on.”

  Fumiko leaned against the doorframe. “There is no way I can sleep now.” She looked down at the dagger in her hand. “Too much has happened today.”

  My eyes were drawn to her dagger, which was of a type I had not seen before, finely made and looking extremely sharp. But its finish was unusual—a dark gray that almost seemed to absorb the light. I wondered where she had gotten it. Since coming into Zofie’s service, I couldn’t recall a time she had even touched a weapon.

  “The dreams again?” I asked.

  She nodded, still examining her weapon. She was silent for a moment before speaking. “You’d think I would be used to them by now. Bad dreams visit so frequently.” She turned the blade over in her hand and said more softly. “But now my worst nightmare has come for me.” She seemed to catch herself and looked up at me in panic. She straightened and bowed her head. “I’m sorry to cause you worry. Our visitor today took me by surprise. And the fact he’s been watching me...” She shivered.

  Despite my fears of being betrayed again, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She was either an excellent actress or had truly been through something terrible.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  She gave me a considering look. “I was going to ask you in the morning, but since you’re here, would you look at something for me? With Abhulengulus’s new abilities, you might be able to help me.”

  She turned and went deeper into her room. But I stood frozen at the threshold. Stepping into a young woman’s room late at night might not be the best thing to do. The staff were forever watching. Rumors could start.

  She saw my hesitation and blushed. “I’m sorry. I guess it is improper for one of your station.”

  I stepped inside. “We’ll just leave the door open.”

  She nodded and turned to face me. She took a deep breath. “Somewhere on me I have a concealed charm. I was hoping you could find it and remove it like you did when the princess was dying from an Abeyance charm.”

  Removing Zofie’s charm had been the first thing I had done after unlocking Abe’s hidden abilities. It had been a desperate act to save my beloved princess. I didn’t understand what I had done and hadn’t had a chance to practice my new skills yet.

  “You could just go to Master Rourke in the morning. He’s more experienced with this than I am.”

  Fumiko looked down and blushed. “I’d rather not. He makes me uncomfortable.”

  “You know he likes you. He probably wouldn’t even mind if you went to see him tonight.”

  Fumiko looked up. “Like I said, he makes me uncomfortable.”

  We considered each other for a moment and then I sighed. “All right. I’ll try.” I cleared my throat. “Abe? Can you help me?”

  The response was immediate—loud and booming in my head. I winced.

  Oh, so he’s asking nicely now. He must want something.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I want to find out if Fumiko has a charm on her. Can you help me see it?”

  She might have more than one.

  “All right, can you help me see them?”

  So, you want to see her charms? Abe asked, with a touch of amusement.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Fumiko looked at me expectantly. “What do you need me to do?” She couldn’t hear Abe’s side of the conversation but knew things were progressing.

  Abe continued. The process is simple. Before we can begin, ask her to take off all her clothes.

  “Take off her clothes?” I shook my head. “Why? I didn’t have to remove Zofie’s clothes when I took off her charm.”

  Fumiko looked unsure. She grabbed the bottom of her dress to pull it over her head. “I guess I can do that. I’ll do anything to get this thing off me.”

  Abe continued, Of course, she has to. You want to see ALL her charms, don’t you? Especially, her female charms.

  “What?”

  Suddenly Zofie skidded to a stop in front of Fumiko’s door. “Coren, what in the Creator’s hell are you doing?” She was wearing her nightgown, so she must have jumped straight out of bed.

  I looked at her in surprise while Fumiko blushed and let her dress drop back in place.

  Abe howled with laughter.

  Then it hit me. Zofie had been hearing Abe’s side of the conversation. Just as the troublemaker had intended.

  I looked at Zofie and pointed to Fumiko. “I was going to examine her charms... I mean her hidden charms...” I shook my head. “She wanted me to take them off.”

  This was not helping.

  Zofie held up a halting hand. “I think I understand. Abe’s been up to his old tricks again.”

  I sighed in resignation. “It would appear so.”

  Zofie shook her head. “Abhulengulus, you shouldn’t tease Coren like that.”

  Sorry, Princess. He’s just so... teasable!

  Zofie grinned. “He is, isn’t he.” She sighed and shook her head. “Now, what exactly were you two up to?”

  Fumiko seemed to regain her composure. “I asked Coren to look for the tracking charm concealed on my body. I want the thing off.”

  Zofie grew serious. “Be careful. It’s generally best for the person who invoked the charm to remove it. Theoretically, someone stronger than the original caster can do it. However, there can sometimes be complications depending on how the charm was put together.”

  Fumiko shook h
er head. “I don’t care. I’ve got to get this thing off me. You won’t... no, you can’t trust me while I still have it. I will be a liability. In fact, it could be listening to this very conversation.”

  Zofie turned toward me. “Do you know what a charm looks like?”

  “Well, I used it on the firefly, and it looked green with a line stretching off into the distance. Also, when I took that Abeyance charm off you, it was a greenish thing.”

  Zofie shook her head. “Charms aren’t green. The colors you’re seeing is the color of the person’s myst. Everyone’s color is unique, like a signature or crest. Most myst users can’t see them, only myst seers can.”

  Zofie looked to Fumiko. “Can you see them?”

  Fumiko shook her head. “No, I can’t. I was told I was only an average myst user. I can only use it for a few minor charms.”

  Zofie turned back to me. “Coren, I think it’s time you have your first myst lesson. Look at Fumiko and tell me what color her myst is?”

  “Abe,” I said. “Show me.”

  He was still chuckling. Of course. I’ll be happy to let you see her charms.

  I sighed and shook my head. “Please, Abe, just show me the myst lines.”

  As before, my vision changed. I saw a glowing web of multicolored lines running everywhere, moving and churning. I looked in Zofie’s direction and saw her familiar blue lines. Hers were a vibrant, almost pure blue. Even the curse mark on her chest was the same shade of blue. Which made sense, considering curses took their myst from the host.

  When I turned to examine Fumiko, I saw a web of green lines surrounding her. Not nearly as many as Zofie, nor as complex. And nothing seemed amiss in them. I was hoping I would see a thread leading off somewhere as I had with the firefly, but no such luck.

  “Fumiko has a bunch of lines surrounding her. They’re a pale green, with a touch of yellow. But I can’t see any sign of an irregularity in them.” I thought for a moment. “Abe, how about you?”

  I don’t see anything either. He gave an almost human sigh. I guess it’s time I broke the news to you. Now, stay with me. This is a complex topic which might challenge your monkey brain. He made a sound like he was clearing his throat. I can’t see what you see. I’m blind to myst. Charms don’t even register.