Chapter 63
Teia was walking through the evening crowds to clear her head after the afternoon Blackguard practice. Kip had skipped again. That was happening more and more often. Despite that, he wasn’t falling behind. Between his private training sessions with Karris Guile and sparring with the squad under Tremblefist’s personal instruction—and they’d all taken Kip under their wings, giving him pointers at every opportunity—Kip was actually worth his spot on Squad Aleph now. And not just for his mind.
Fine, primarily for his mind.
People were bumping into Teia. She didn’t have a purse on her belt, so she wasn’t terribly alert, but it was irritating. For all the good that being small did her sometimes, when she moved through a crowd, if she wanted go faster than a crawl, she had to really move, ducking and dodging in a way that had become second nature to her, but doing that didn’t exactly engender the meditative thoughtfulness she was seeking. No one bumped into Commander Ironfist. Not on accident, anyway.
Teia remembered an instance of a young woman stepping into the commander’s path just in time to be bowled over. The commander’s reflexes were quick enough that he’d practically snatched the woman out of the air. She’d purred, melting into his arms. The Blackguards had laughed.
The commander hadn’t been amused. As always, he was on his way somewhere more important. He lifted the woman in front of him—and it’s not easy to look seductive when a man lifts you by the armpits—stared her hard in the eye until she nearly wet herself, and dropped her off to the side without a word.
It had kept that woman from ever trying it again, but had backfired where others were concerned.
Teia grinned at the memory and finally emerged from the market. She wasn’t even sure where she was now. Not that it was possible to get truly lost on Big Jasper. She put her hands in her pockets—Blackguard trousers had pockets. She loved them.
There was a note there.
She pulled it out, and a hollow formed in her stomach. Fine flash paper, of course. If she tried to simply open it—or anyone else tampered with it—it would burn up in an instant. She wondered if Karris had been good enough to pass her the orders herself, or if she had people to do that now.
She tore into the bottom right corner, edged the tear around the left side like she’d been taught, and finally opened the note: “Kip is going to be assassinated on a raid, today. Most likely by a Blackguard. Several, possibly. They’ll be at the docks before noon. Save him.” It was in Karris’s hand.
Teia’s breath caught. The docks. The squad’s current safe house was on the way. She ran.
In minutes, she arrived at the safe house. She knocked the code rapidly on the wood, and then opened the door. Cruxer was alone inside, seating a new flint in the cockjaw of his pistol. He looked up. He frowned as soon as he saw the expression on her face. “What’s going on, Teia?”
“Kip. It’s Kip. He’s going to be murdered. We have to go help!” Teia said.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Now, Crux!”