“I’ve made a study of you, Master Blint,” the lord general said. “Though information about you is difficult to find. Everyone knows that the Sa’kagé holds an enormous amount of power here. People outside the country know it. Khalidor knows it.

“The king needs you for more than a dozen jobs, spanning years. Some will involve simple assassination, some will involve information planting, and some will not involve killing at all, but simply being seen. Godking Ursuul must believe the Sa’kagé and its assets have an alliance with us.”

“You want me to become a government agent.”

“Not . . . exactly.”

“And I suppose you’d give me a pardon for all I’ve done?” Master Blint asked.

“I’ve been authorized to offer that.”

Master Blint stood, laughing. “No, Lord General. Good day.”

“I’m afraid I can’t take no for an answer. The king has forbidden it.”

“I do hope you’re not planning on threatening my life,” Master Blint said.

“First,” the lord general said, looking at Azoth for the first time, “we’ll kill the boy.”

Chapter 19

19

M aster Blint shrugged. “So?”

“And we’ll kill your lover. I believe her name’s Vonda?”

“You can kill the bitch. But that might give you some trouble, considering she’s four months dead.”

The lord general didn’t even pause. “And we’ll kill this ‘Momma’ Kirena who seems to be your only friend. Then we’ll come after you. I don’t want it to be this way, but this is what the king offers.”

“You’re making two mistakes,” Master Blint said. “First, you’re assuming that I value other people’s lives more than my own. How can you know what I do and believe such a thing? Second, you’re assuming that I value my own life.”

“Please understand. I’m under orders. Personally, I’d rather have nothing to do with you,” the lord general said. “I think it’s beneath the dignity of a king to hire criminals. I think it’s immoral and foolish for him to put money in your purse rather than chains on your wrists. I find you abhorrent. A wreck of a human being barely resembling what once must have been a man. But the king has decided we need a sellsword like you. I’m a soldier. I’ve been sent to get you, and I won’t fail.”

“And you’re making a tactical blunder,” Master Blint said. “The king might kill my apprentice, my friend, and even me, but at the least, he will have lost his lord general. A poor trade.”

“I don’t think he would find my death to be such a very great loss,” the lord general said.

“Ah, figured that out, have you?” Blint asked. “This may be the first time you’ve seen me, Brant Agon, but it isn’t the first time I’ve seen you.”