The Gift

Chapter Sixteen

The ride to the Eighth Isle was uneventful.  We rode during the day, stopped only for breaks and at night to sleep.  It only took us four days to get there.  Upon arriving in the Province, Jeremiah showed me where Victor lived.  I shook my head in disgust at it.  It was like a mini castle.  After surveying it, we went to an inn and got two rooms.  I left my bag in the room and went back to Victor’s house.

I spent the next week observing him.  For being a Lord, he didn’t have very much security. It was easy for me to sneak in or watch and listen at windows.  Jeremiah talked to his sources in the town about him.  During this time, I also worked on a new poison, especially for killing Victor.

At the end of that week, I had enough information to move in for the kill.  I had found that, in the early afternoon, he retreated into his office and, for two hours, nobody bothered him.  He locked the door and had his quiet time.  Nobody ever even knocked on the door.  I assumed that they knew not to bother him during that time.

When we went, Jeremiah stayed with our horses in a grove not far from Victor’s home.   Alone, I went and slipped into his mini castle and made my way to his office while he was having lunch.  I perched on the desk and waited for him to return to the office.

I was not disappointed.  At his usual time, he made his way into his office.  He didn’t even notice me until I spoke.

“So you’re the one who’s trying to get me killed,” I said

“You’re Freyla?” he asked calmly, sitting in the chair in front of the desk I was sitting on.

“I am.”

“Is it true that you cannot lie?”

“Yes; it is.  I have not told a lie since I became a Seeress.”

“How very interesting.  I expect you want to know why I’ve sent so many assassins after you.”

“Yes.  Before I kill you, I want to know why you are trying to get me killed.”

“Surely you have heard by now that Vincent was my brother.”

“The leader at Fort?  Sure, I heard that,” I shrugged.

“He was my younger twin.  At Fort, you could have stopped that attack and you didn’t.”

“That is why you sent assassins after me?  Because I didn’t stop a dozen men who broke into Fort and killed your brother?  I didn’t kill him myself.”

“You might as well have.”

“I know that tales of my skills have been greatly exaggerated, but do you really think that I can take out a dozen skilled fighters?” I asked.  He shrugged.

“Half of me wants to kill you and the other half wants to contract with you as a bodyguard.”

“Surely you jest,” I laughed.

“I do not.  The assassins were to see the extent of your skills.  Even when one stole a poison of yours and hit your man with it, you did not weaken.”

“A test?” I repeated, infuriated.  “One of those poisoned him and you sent people to kill me all for a test?”

“How else am I to know your skills?”

“My skills are mine alone.  I align myself only with people of my choosing.  I work for people only for short bursts.  I am not a bodyguard.”

“You won’t change your mind?”

“I don’t change my mind.”

“Then what of Fort?  You changed your mind there.  You even betrayed them.  With your skills it would have been simple and quite easy to stop them.”