Rene was waiting for him near the servants' entrance. Reed had planned to go straight to the captain to endure a scolding, some unpleasant duties, and an angry tirade, but she stopped him. Reed's irritation flared. It was as if she were trying to make everything worse on purpose.

  "Can whatever it is wait?" he snapped.

  Rene, acting as if nothing had happened, looked him over and replied, "Mine can, but yours can’t. You're late, and the captain was looking for you."

  "Then maybe don't make things worse for me?"

  "I won't. I told them you were helping me, and the matter was so urgent you simply couldn't get away. The moment you walked through that door, there I was, waiting for you. And I desperately needed your help. You couldn't refuse because you were helping me handle Master Salvat's business. I went to warn your commander, while you stayed to carry out the assignment. And the advisor's business is always important, right?"

  "What's the catch?" Reed narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

  "The only catch is that you are an idiot." She scowled with displeasure, crossing her arms over her chest. "Was it so hard to get your ass to the castle on time?"

  "Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Then why help an idiot like me?"

  Rene sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. Once the first act of her theatrical displeasure had passed, she replied, "Another idiot went in your place right after his shift and asked me to cover for you. Not for nothing, of course. Now he owes me, and you owe him."

  "And you are a snake."

  "Your life would be worse if I weren't a snake."

  "How could it be any worse?" Reed laughed. Rene's lips twitched, mimicking a smile. "Thank you for that, at least. Who went in my place?"

  "A bearded man, Adrian, I think."

  Reed scratched his chin thoughtfully and gave Rene a fleeting glance.

  "Fine." A sigh escaped his lips. "Do you need me?"

  "Not anymore. I just wanted you to know that today your irresponsibility created problems for people who shouldn't have to take the heat for you at all."

  "Come on, you won’t break. Don't get worked up." Reed waved a hand as Rene opened her mouth to throw another barb. "Thank you. I owe you one."

  And without waiting for her answer, he slipped through the door. The castle was almost empty. The guard had already changed, and Reed's presence in the corridor wouldn't arouse suspicion. Especially considering Rene's sudden surge of virtue. He sensed a catch in all this. Maybe there really was one, or maybe his imagination was just running wild.

  In the dim candlelight, Reed felt calmer. On the way to the common barracks, he could quietly think about Meredith, remembering her and everything that had happened between them. If this was not a gift from above, Reed didn't know what this was. For the first time in many years, he felt happy. Even now, when she was far from him again and another meeting felt more like a dream than a real future, it didn't matter. Absolutely nothing prevented him from being with her in that narrow room, even if only in his imagination. A smile crept across his face, and Reed caught himself thinking that it was one of those smiles that made life worth fighting for. If everything he had to go through led to Meredith, he regretted nothing.

  The barracks greeted him with noise, but it no longer irritated him. Adrian appeared almost the moment Reed crossed the threshold. Smiling broadly, he approached, shuffling a deck of cards from one hand to the other.

  "Thank you," Reed said barely audibly.

  "Oh, forget it," he chuckled. "Quite a job you have there. I'm not surprised you didn't want to come back."

  Reed clicked his tongue in annoyance and grumbled, "And the bosses are sweet as pie."

  Adrian barked a loud laugh and sat at the nearest free table. Reed sat next to him.

  "I owe you now."

  "Who said that?" Adrian's eyes widened comically.

  "I did."

  "Forget it. We've all been in your shoes. Today I cover for you, and tomorrow you'll cover for me. That's how we settle it."

  "Fine."

  "Want to play?"

  "I'll cheat," Reed warned, holding back a laugh.

  "Then we're not playing for money." He dealt eight cards each and, as usual, stared at Reed, waiting for an interesting story. "Well, was it worth it? Is she pretty?"

  He waggled his eyebrows conspiratorially and grinned brazenly.

  "None of your business," Reed replied, hiding behind the cards. "And anyway, what makes you think I was with a woman?"

  "The love bite on your neck told me," Adrian guffawed. Reed felt his face burning and tried to discreetly cover his neck, which amused Adrian even more.

  "Oh, fuck off," Reed replied irritably.

  "Come on, it's not like I haven't chased women before. But since you owe me and you don't want to talk about women..."

  "You said to forget it!"

  "And you said you owed me."

  "You realize you're an ass?"

  Adrian tossed a card onto the table, a nasty smirk still playing on his face.

  "And what exactly do I owe you?" Reed discarded his card.

  "The story of who 'decorated' your face." Noticing Reed's displeased look, Adrian grinned even wider. "Don't play coy, like a virgin who wandered into a brothel by mistake."

  "I think in that case, they wouldn't be coy at all."

  "I don't care, I want what I'm owed."

  "Are you always like this? Prying right into people's a..."

  "You said it yourself," Adrian interrupted. "I took advantage. Everyone has a story like that."

  Reed sighed, studying his cards. He didn't want to tell the truth, and a plausible lie eluded him. Adrian was waiting, and he'd be offended if Reed started to evade the question. It would be foolish to lose an ally. Granted, he wasn't much of an ally, but he was something. Who else among the guards would cover for Reed?

  "I was serving a master back then," Reed said. "Villon, heard of him? It was my first year, and I was still green. Well, we were heading back to the master's estate one time and got ambushed."

  "Bandits?"

  "Yeah, scum... so where was I? Oh, right! My master wasn't exactly rich, but he had a steady supply of gold. Someone went and whispered to a local gang that Villon's pockets were heavy and they could do with lightening the load. Plus, he'd only just hired some green guards. Perfect setup, right?"

  "And they're even more brazen now!" Adrian chimed in. "They'll rob you right in the street, and then you're stuck chasing after them."

  "Back then, I was just thinking about how not to go meet the Three," Reed pretended to recall the terrifying horrors of his non-existent service. "They attacked us right near the estate. They were waiting. When the fight broke out, I panicked. Two men were butchered right there in the middle of the road. It was the first time I'd seen anything like it, and the master, of course, was just getting in the way. I rushed to cover his old ass, but one of them knocked me to the ground and almost skewered me. The knife slipped and pierced my cheek. Not right away, of course. That bastard was pounding the hilt, like this," Reed demonstrated the motion, "and the blade slid across my face a couple of times."

  "Just a run-of-the-mill robbery, then?"

  "As common as it gets, but back then, I felt like a hero." Adrian laughed, and Reed smiled as well.

  They played cards, and a strange sort of camaraderie settled between them. Reed listened to Adrian's tall tales and cracked jokes. It seemed to him that this was exactly what friendship should look like. If only Reed didn't lie to everyone he met.

  ***

  "Remind her that she has a job. I expect the report as usual." Salvat stood up, adjusted his clothes, and gave Reed a stern look. "Tell her to come see me later."

  Rene was never late and never forgot Salvat’s instructions, but she had failed him today. Reed had waited for her at the Hall of Repose, but Rene did not appear after half an hour or even an hour. Salvat was angry but did not show it. Apparently, he considered it beneath an important kreyghar like himself. Reed nodded silently, turned on his heel, and headed for Rene's workshop. He was rarely there, but he remembered the way. He did not intend to scold her or express his dissatisfaction. He just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

  For a long time, Reed could not shake the memory of Meredith. It was not that he wanted to, but at times it could become a distraction, so he forced himself to focus on Salvat's task. The sooner he finished, the sooner he would return, and everyone would be better off. He was thinking about the matter even when the door to Rene's workshop loomed at the end of the corridor. The voices inside did not immediately attract his attention, but when he paused to listen, a genuine smile spread across his face.

  The reason for Rene's delay was right behind that door. What a stroke of luck. Trying not to make noise, he crept closer. The door was old and not particularly reliable. But then again, there was not a single kreyghar in the castle who would think of robbing Rene. At the very least, medicine could be obtained freely anyway. This was another unfair privilege for the residents of the castle.

  He recognized Rene's voice immediately. Yet, he had to rack his brain to place the owner of the second voice. Victoria Brogak, the wife of advisor Merit, had deigned to visit Rene. From the sound of it, this visit was hardly a welcome one. Reed froze just outside the door and listened. Both women were speaking quite loudly, Reed could hear their conversation with almost no effort.

  "...what are you even thinking, asking for this?" Rene hissed.

  "I'm asking you for help," Victoria cried, and Reed suddenly felt sorry for her. "Please, only you can help me."

  "Am I the only healer around here?"

  "The others know who I am. By evening, Merit will know where I went and why. And tomorrow my life will be ruined."

  "And you decided to drag me into this? If someone finds out I helped you, I'll be hanged." Rene was almost snarling, and Reed had never heard her voice take on such a venomous edge. "You ruined my life, and I don't even have to lift a finger to ruin yours."

  "I didn't want this marriage. Don’t you understand?"

  "Were you dragged to the altar in chains?" Rene spat. "You knew that Merit and I... and you still married him. You knew! And what did you do? You sent me a letter!" Rene laughed bitterly. "You sent me a letter, and I wasn't even worthy of seeing you that day! One letter robbed me of a friend and a lover, and you were ashamed to let your new rich friends know that your friend was a simple healer. I didn't hear a word from you, not a single one! Not until you needed my help."

  "I have no say in anything! If it were my choice, a different man would warm my heart and my bed," Victoria sobbed.

  "Well, clearly he already has."

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Reed’s eyes widened. Putting two and two together was not difficult, and the realization made him feel uneasy. Of course, the infidelity of noble women was nothing new, but Reed had not spent his whole life serving in royal chambers. Deep down, though, he rejoiced. The connection between Rene and Victoria was finally revealed.

  "If Merit finds out, they’ll send the child to another family. And he’ll be disgraced," Victoria said quickly.

  "I still can't understand who you care about more: yourself, the child, or him?"

  Victoria sobbed loudly, and the sound of her crying filled the room. Rene was silent for a while, and then her cold, murderous voice cut through the noise. She was no longer shouting but spoke evenly, which made it harder to hear.

  "I didn't marry you off to Merit, and I didn't force you to spread your legs for another man. I owe you nothing."

  "I'll be in your debt forever!" Victoria exclaimed. Something thumped dully against the floor, and she continued, "You don't have to help me, but I'm begging you! For the sake of our friendship, we grew up together..."

  "You're disgusting," Rene spat. "It makes me sick even to look at you. You're like a dockside whore, just dressed more expensively. You betrayed everyone you could, and now you're playing the victim? You betrayed me, Merit, and even your lover. Does he know you're here and what you're asking for?"

  Listening to Rene, Reed winced. She was no angel, but now she was clearly crossing a line. Even if Victoria was guilty of being married off against her will to Rene’s lover, all the rest remained a strictly personal matter. And was Rene even in a position to judge Victoria for affairs?

  "I beg you..." Victoria couldn't speak. Her words mixed with sobs, and her breath hitched.

  A long pause followed, and then Rene said more calmly, "Come tomorrow morning. Get out. I have enough to do without your sniveling."

  Reed flinched, turned abruptly, and trying to move just as quietly, retreated down the corridor so it would seem as if he had only just arrived when the door opened. The lock clicked quietly, just at the moment when he managed to feign a mask of saintly innocence. Stepping heavily so that his armor clanked as loudly as possible, he was already a couple of meters from the door when it opened. And then Victoria appeared, pale, exhausted, and humiliated.

  "My Lady." Reed bowed, but Victoria didn't answer. She silently brushed past him and soon disappeared around the corner, and it seemed her weeping still echoed through the empty corridors.

  Catching the door, he peered inside. Rene looked no better than Victoria. She noticed Reed and sneered.

  "And what do you want?"

  "You're a sunshine, of course, but Salvat asked me to remind you that you still have work to finish. Afterward, he wants to see you."

  Rene exhaled, barely restraining herself from rolling her eyes. It seemed like her favorite habit.

  "Let's go," she grumbled, snatching up her bag.

  Without another word, Reed followed her.

  ***

  The prospect of murdering Victoria brought Reed no joy. He spent some time in thought, and no matter how he looked at it, he could think of nothing better. Victoria had to die not because Reed wished for her death but because there was no other way.

  First, he couldn't afford to take risks. In the past, he had no one to worry about when getting involved in such schemes, but now he had Meredith. So, he couldn't die, and dying stupidly would be a damn shame. Second, Victoria's murder served two goals at once: it would divert suspicion from himself and hide his primary target. Everything was simple, but only on paper. The plan didn't come together at once, but as soon as the picture solidified in his head, Reed made a decision. He would kill the advisor, but he'd do it by the rules of the castle. He didn't intend to strike head-on. That was what he told Maró, and that was what he intended to do.

  Besides, there was no point in pitying anyone in the castle. None of them would pity Reed. If he had stood in someone's way, his bones would have been rotting in the Maple Garden long ago. So, he pushed aside his conscience, as he always did, and got to work. The job required caution and a certain measure of cruelty, but Reed was used to that. Serving in the guard couldn't wash away years of experience and the habits of a hired killer. He couldn't become someone else. Some things scar the soul forever. And that was something he just had to live with.

  The first step was choosing the method of assassination. His usual methods were far from ideal for the current circumstances, so Reed settled on poison. Preferably something simple and uncomplicated that worked slowly and went unnoticed. After learning about Victoria's pregnancy and her desire to get rid of the illegitimate child, Reed was ready to thank the gods until the end of his days. A draft capable of terminating a pregnancy could easily double as that very poison. He only needed to iron out the details. Reed was no healer, but he wasn't an idiot either. He roughly understood which medicines could be confused with poison and which proportions to alter to turn a cure into a lethal dose. He just needed to find out exactly which recipe Rene intended to use.

  Soon Reed came to the conclusion that he had to act immediately. It was tonight or never. Otherwise, the whole plan would collapse before it even began. Victoria had to receive the poison along with the medicine, no other way. If Rene had told her to come in the morning, it meant she'd be brewing the draft tonight. That meant he had even less time than he thought. He didn't keep a huge supply of poisons and dangerous drugs as it would draw too much attention. Besides, hiding them all was nearly impossible. He settled on three options. One was a failsafe against any unexpected complications, but it could become a problem in the future, so Reed wasn't particularly eager to resort to that backup plan.

  When the evening shift ended, Reed returned to the barracks, where he was met by Adrian, who was starting the night patrol. Reed exchanged a few words with him and waited. Shuffling Adrian's deck of cards, he lost himself in guesswork. There were too many variables, but only one right move. Finally, Reed stood up, looking full of determination, but deep inside, anxiety tightened its grip.

  It was simple: he sat down with his comrades, listened to what everyone was saying, drank, and agreed to play. Brawls were a dime a dozen when drunken conversations and gambling mixed. Reed didn't even resist when Ethan's fist slammed into his jaw. Something crunched faintly, and blood welled up over his lips. He couldn't remember why he laughed at that moment, but it angered Ethan even more. Reed allowed himself to be beaten until Gerard pulled Ethan away, who was shouting something. And then, he got a punch the teeth himself.

  Reed’s head was spinning, whether from the drink or from the blows. His nose throbbed with pain, and his teeth ached. Reed hadn't been hit in the face for a long time, so he found a certain pleasure in it, of a sick kind. It reminded him of the life he had before. A life he missed.

  Gerard shouted at Ethan while Reed spat blood onto the floor. Then someone grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the darkness. His head only started to clear when Gerard started climbing the stairs. For some reason, Reed didn't even recognize the part of the castle they were in.

  "Where to?" There was too much blood, and when Reed opened his mouth, it ran in streams down his chin.

  "To Rene," Gerard exhaled, breathing heavily. "If the captain sees you like this in the morning, we'll all catch hell."

  "I..." Reed held back a wave of nausea and continued, "I didn't do anything."

  "Ethan hates it when anyone cheats at cards. Especially when he's drunk."

  "I didn't know."

  "Yeah, like I'd believe that," Gerard grumbled something particularly foul. "And you got wasted too..."

  Gerard finally rapped on the door of Rene's room. Reed heard rustling, light footsteps, and then the door opened. A pale sliver of light cut across his eyes, and Reed squinted.

  "Can't it wait until morning?" came Rene's ‘sweet’ voice.

  "At least stop the bleeding. He'll get better till morning," Gerard explained. "The captain will have our hides in the morning if we leave him like this."

  "I see that causing trouble is becoming a habit of yours, isn't it?" Rene glanced at Reed, who only smiled insolently in response.

  "Please, Rene," Gerard lowered his voice.

  She rolled her eyes and stepped back.

  "Set him here." Reed felt himself being dumped onto a cot. "You can go. He'll find his own way back later. And if he doesn't, that's his own problem."

  The door slammed, and Reed was left in silence. The room was dimly lit. A heavy, sweetish smell filled the air. It was almost cloying and suffocating, with herbal notes. Reed knew this smell. This was the scent of karida, a medicinal herb healers used only in rare cases. It was easier to find a poison laced with karida than a medicine. In fact, it was a karida poison, aptly named "Sorcerer," that Reed had once used to send a guard from Bradenmain to meet the Three. The merchant had used spordge to mask the karida’s scent, which was too distinct and telling.

  Usually, healers used a safer substitute: golden midnight. Unlike karida, golden midnight caused no harm even if one messed up the proportions. The excess simply passed through the body naturally. Karida, on the other hand, was a very unforgiving and expensive plant. It had roughly the same properties, but one mistake in the measurements, and the cure became a poison. Reed knew that karida and golden midnight were highly illicit and were most often used in brews that the church would send one to hard labor for. It didn’t even matter where they were used, whether it was a poison or a special remedy for someone like Victoria.

  It was quite clear why Rene had chosen karida. First, to speed up the process. In Victoria's case, she would have had to drink golden midnight drafts for about three Moons, while karida could rid her of the burden in ten days. Rene apparently wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, and frankly, she had every reason to. The fact that she chose karida specifically pointed to one interesting fact: Rene was a master of her craft. Second, it provided a less painful outcome. That fact always amused Reed. For all its lethality and danger, the effect of karida in small doses was practically painless.

  The advantage was that Reed was no fool when it came to the work he'd done for most of his life. All that remained was to spoil the draft. Preferably, this would be done after its preparation, as noticing a mistake during the process was too easy. When boiled, karida foamed. Normally the foam should only lightly coat the water's surface and then settle. If the proportions were wrong, it would boil over in all directions, and the worse the mistake, the more foam would appear.

  Rene hurried over to Reed, soaking a clean cloth with something fragrant as she walked. It smelled of wood and freshness, which was nothing like the ointments Iris used to make.

  "What happened?" she asked, wiping the blood from his face almost too carefully.

  "Cards," he replied. His split lips stung, and his face was starting to swell.

  Rene hummed. "You men often take trivial things too seriously, and vice versa."

  "I didn't start the fight." Reed took the rag from her hands and pressed it to his face. A pleasant tingling sensation spread across his skin, and the pain receded. Rene began bustling about the rack of flasks and vials while Reed scanned the room, trying to memorize as much as possible.

  "At least you won't be playing cards anytime soon," she replied with a smile.

  Reed almost laughed, but his lips responded with a sharp sting of pain, and his mood soured instantly.

  "Try not to move your lips too much," Rene said, noticing his wince as she approached.

  "I already figured that out."

  Then she handed Reed a glass filled with a strange-looking sludge. Under her strict gaze, he drank every last drop and even suppressed a grimace of distaste. Mostly because wincing hurt.

  "When the pain subsides, use this," she said, tossing a small jar of translucent ointment onto his lap. "And if it hurts again, drink this."

  A vial followed. "It'll be better by morning. You'll be slightly swollen but not as bad as you could be. Now, get out."

  "You're a real treasure," Reed grumbled, standing up. He was shaky, but it was manageable.

  "Yes, what would you do without me?" She leaned over a small cauldron by the hearth and diligently stirred her brew.

  "Priceless, like I said," he joked back, but he didn't move from his spot.

  Noticing this, Rene gave him a pointed look and said, "You shouldn't be here anymore. I'm busy. You'll find your way to your bunk, and if you don't, that's your own fault."

  Reed raised his hands in mock surrender and backed toward the door. As soon as the door closed behind him, he probed his bruised face, trying to assess the damage and understand the scale of the trouble he was going to face in the morning. The captain wouldn't believe that Reed had just taken a tumble. Suddenly, he almost laughed at the thought that the captain was far from the biggest threat.

  Naturally, Reed had no intention of going to the barracks. He needed to wait until Rene finished. Her workshop was on the first floor near the passage to the South Wing, and Reed could easily wait until she went to sleep. Then he'd have to dust off the skills he'd been taught across the ocean. Reed knew how to pick locks, but he didn't like doing it. Mainly because there was always a risk of failure, and he didn't like failing. On the other hand, the door didn't look that formidable, mostly because it wouldn't occur to anyone to break in. No one except Reed, of course. That was precisely why he had to play the waiting game in the castle like some captive princess to blend in.

  Reed hadn't gotten into the fight for nothing. First, he had confirmed an important detail: Rene was brewing the draft for Victoria. This was logical, since storing such things promised trouble, and Rene avoided trouble like the plague. After all, it was exactly that kind of trouble that gave Salvat the leverage to use her. Second, if Reed were caught in the corridor at night, no one would be particularly surprised. He'd been drinking, gotten into a fight, gone to the healer, and failed to find his way back to the barracks. Reed would have caught hell for it, but that was a far more favorable outcome than what might have happened if he was caught prowling the castle at night for no reason at all. He had simply chosen the lesser of two evils.

  He waited in the shadows of the stairs that connected the cellars of the South and East wings. From here, he'd be able to see or hear her. To distract himself, Reed traced the outline of the lockpicks that had been hidden for nearly a year in the same narrow pocket on his left leg. The pocket looked like a long patch that was easy to conceal beneath his high guard boots. First, a sentry passed, then another, regular as clockwork. Reed grunted to himself as he thought about this, and then he caught the sound of footsteps. Through a small crack, he saw the door to Rene's room slam shut. Now, he just had to wait for the next sentry to pass. Reed was prepared for the possibility of getting caught, but it was the last thing he wanted.

  He had to hide on the way to the workshop. Reed would never have thought that sneaking around the castle was this difficult. And that was even with him knowing the patrol routes. If he had broken into the castle blind, he would have been hanged by morning. At that very moment, Reed became almost certain that Maró actually wished him dead. It would have been convenient. And how displeased he had been when Reed refused to enter the castle without a cover story! It was like taking a toy from a child.

  His hands trembled as he took out the lockpicks. He almost dropped one, catching it mid-air. Damned fiddly things! His face ached just as badly as before, and Reed suspected it would still be throbbing in the morning. Perhaps he might actually have to drink Rene's brew. Finally, the lock's pins gave way, and the door opened with a quiet click. Reed slipped inside, greeted by the now-familiar smell of karida. He didn't dare light any candles not to attract extra attention.

  A small cauldron was cooling on the table, the hearth still glowing faintly, and bundles, vials, and jars filled with various foul concoctions were scattered across the table. Reed cautiously approached the cauldron and sniffed. It smelled of karida, of course, of tarris, and of wild holly. He couldn't pick out the other scents, but he wasn't mistaken in his conclusion: this was exactly what he was looking for.

  Finding karida among the jars and bundles wasn't difficult. Reed only had to follow his nose. Soon enough, he held a thick bundle of coarse fabric in his hands. Unwrapping it, Reed held it toward the faint light of the hearth. Dried purple buds and leaves lay across his palms. A satisfied smile slid across his face. The buds held the most poison. Crushing several flowers in his palms, Reed sprinkled the dust into the still-hot draft and tossed in a few leaves. Almost immediately, a thick foam bloomed on the surface. If the liquid had been boiling, there would have been much more foam. Rene wouldn't boil it again just to check. She was too confident in her abilities, and that confidence wasn't exactly unearned. She simply didn't know that Reed was there to ruin her work.

  Finally, satisfied with his sabotage, Reed headed for the door and listened. Somewhere in the distance, the footsteps of guards could be heard. He decided to wait, twirling a lockpick between his fingers. When the lock finally clicked back into place, securing the door once again, Reed prayed he hadn't left any traces. He could have scratched the keyhole or damaged the tumblers. Then again, once everything went to Haderat, who the hell would be looking at the locks?