“To the Heldeep with patience.” Thorda had trained him to be Thanet’s heroic murderer. Why were they starting with magistrates? Why undertake assassinations on lowly people without true power or influence? Why not make a kill that would mean something?

The bloated lips and swollen tongue of the corpse became Gordian Goldleaf’s.

“For two years you held me prisoner,” Cyrus whispered. “But I’m not that boy anymore.”

Two soldiers clad in gold armor patrolled the walled hill which the Vallessau castle was built upon. They held long halberds with the handles braced firmly against the sides of their hips so as not to interfere with their march. Fading sunlight sparkled off the curved metal of the halberds’ ax heads. Little red ribbons fluttered from the sharpened spear at the top. Cyrus hid on a nearby rooftop, his body wrapped in his deep gray cloak. He slid his skull mask over his face and drew his swords.

“Just two,” he whispered. “No one will miss them.”

Once he dragged their dead bodies safely into hiding, Cyrus dashed to the wall surrounding the castle. His destination was burned into his mind, and had been ever since Rayan had given its details to Thorda nearly two years ago. A nearby home directly adjacent to the wall had an outdoor cellar in its backyard. Nothing about it stood out, and as Cyrus crouched before it, he wondered if even the owners knew of its secret.

The cellar was locked, but said lock was old and simple, more meant to keep out kids and drunkards than someone with nimble fingers like Cyrus. Lockpicking had not been a particular emphasis of Thorda’s, but he’d spent a few weeks teaching Cyrus the basics during the off-hours while he recovered from the physical exertion of his training. Prepared for once, Cyrus withdrew two long, thin picks from a pocket and set to work. The lock clicked open, Cyrus tossed it to the grass, and then descended into the dark.

The twin shelves within were bare and cobwebbed. Had the owners even survived the tumultuous years of imperial invasion? Cyrus pinched his lip in thought. While the walls appeared stone, one of them was false, with the stone fastened to a wooden door on a hinge. But which one?