Agent of the Dragon
Chapter 36

It took several hours for Rhysa to give Ekrania all the details of her first assignment. Ekrania asked a few clarifying questions, but for the most part listened attentively. When Rhysa finished, Ekrania remained silent for several minutes. “Why do you suspect a Royal Agent is part of The Primacy?”

“In a nutshell, the death of Tamos and the flagged pins in the Map Room.”

“Hmm. You’ll need to be a little clearer than that.”

“Let’s start with Tamos’ death. There was no sign of struggle, so he trusted the person who killed him. He’d been a contact for many years, so whatever prompted the murder was probably fairly recent. As a contact of long standing, he’d made a practice of staying away from potentially dangerous situations. That means the most likely cause for his murder would have something to do with his function rather than his position. As a contact, his primary function was to facilitate the transfer of information from the field agents to you and Hallyk, and sometimes the other way ’round. He would trust anyone identifying themselves as a Royal Agent and presenting him with appropriate proofs.”

“That’s hardly a solid piece of evidence.”

“I know. But consider what had changed in the area recently. The only thing in the area that had changed, according to the map, was my presence. In fact I was employed in the household of one of the leaders. Tamos knew, which means the Royal Agents knew. If The Primacy was aware we had an operative near one of their leaders, they would take steps to neutralize the operative.”

“So why not just kill you?”

“First, because killing an active agent would almost certainly attract the attentions of the Royal Agents as a whole. They wouldn’t want that. Second, I suspect they assumed killing the contact would buy them enough time to make their move; especially if it were known this was my first assignment. I’ll bet they thought killing the contact would paralyze me since I couldn’t receive orders. The only people who knew an agent had been assigned to The Primacy, and knew it was that agent’s first assignment, were Royal Agents.”

“There are a lot of ifs and assumptions in that theory.”

“I know.”

Ekrania gazed at Rhysa for some time. “It’s hardly an ironclad case, but it is sound enough to warrant suspicion. I’ll look into it.”

Rhysa sighed with relief. “Thank you.”

“You did a good job, Rhysa, and I commend you on your subtlety upon your return. Would you rather have payment or hold it for favor?”

“I’d like to hold it for favor.”

Ekrania nodded, pulled out a file, and made a notation. “Take the rest of today and tomorrow off. The day after, we’ll see about finishing your training in seduction.”

Rhysa stood. “Yes, ma’am.”

Early the next morning, Rhysa went to replace Kiinzhal. The smell of sweat mixed with the scent of sawdust lingered in the air. Kiinzhal stepped from his office when he heard someone enter, and his face brightened when he saw who it was.

“Good morning, young Lady Kasteryn. I was hoping you’d drop by.”

“Good morning to you, too, master Armsmaster.” Rhysa grinned at him. “And why were you hoping I’d stop by?”

Kiinzhal’s face took on a mock-mournful expression. “Prince Hallyk managed a couple of touches on me yesterday. I needed someone to pick on.”

“Oh? Did you think I’d volunteer?”

He shook his head. “You wouldn’t volunteer to be picked on, but you’ll volunteer to go a few rounds.” He grinned wickedly. “Which amounts to the same thing.”

Rhysa laughed and removed her sword and belt daggers before coaxing her muscles into life with warm-up exercises. “What do you want to do? Sword? Dagger?”

The armsmaster gave her a serious look. “I think we’d better do full out, all weapons, anything goes.”

Rhysa paused and removed all joking from her voice. “Are you anticipating something?”

“I don’t know. I can’t point to anything, but it feels like my skin is too tight. Last time I felt it was shortly before I found myself fighting for my life. These next few rounds are as much for me as for you.”

Rhysa nodded. “Very well. All weapons, anything goes.” She finished her warm-ups and removed her remaining daggers. She put training daggers in the various sheaths. A sword belt went around her waist, and she chose a blade of similar weight and balance to her own. Armed, she turned and went to meet Kiinzhal on the floor.

To Rhysa’s dismay, she’d lost some of her edge while she was in the field. The first round lasted only a couple of minutes before Kiinzhal bound Rhysa’s sword and planted a kick in her solar plexus that emptied her lungs of air. The second round was only slightly better: she managed to disarm his sword but missed the dagger he’d pulled while she was busy knocking his sword from his hand.

It wasn’t until their sixth round when she managed to regain her edge. They were both a little tired by this point, though hardly out of breath. Rhysa’s sword had been disarmed and she was fighting with her two belt daggers. Kiinzhal was using a two-handed fighting style with his sword. Rhysa managed to slip past an overhead cut and slashed his left forearm. “Tendon!” she called, and his hand obediently went limp. His elbow, however, caught her across the temple and dazed her a bit, but not enough to slow her. She spun with the force and carefully tapped his knee with her foot. He immediately shifted his weight to his right foot, and before he could turn to place his blade between them, she tapped him three times with the point of her daggers.

Kiinzhal grinned and stepped back. “Better. I was afraid you’d gone soft.”

Rhysa picked up her sword. “Me, too. I only had one fight on assignment, and that was magical in nature, not physical.”

“Is that so? Well. We’ll have to correct that. Ready for another?”

“Always.”

Rhysa opened the door to her bedroom by leaning on it. She was too exhausted to do much else. She’d half expected to see Elise when she’d fumbled her way past the outer door, but the apartments were silent. Now as she stumbled her way into her bedroom, the realization Elise was missing came crashing down. It was the small things that weren’t there: the offer to put up her gear, the half-joke about enjoying getting beat up, the rustle of turning pages as Elise read in the sitting room.

She was too tired to fight the tears. She let them fall as she stripped and drew a hot bath. She climbed in and settled down to soak. If this was how things were going to be, she wished Ekrania hadn’t given her the extra day off. Other than training, what else was she to do? She’d done her part, and now someone else would be assigned to The Primacy.

A knock on the outer door brought Rhysa back from her musings. The water was cool and she wondered how long she’d been soaking. Another knock reminded her what had pulled her from her reverie. She stepped, quickly dried off, and put on a dressing gown before going to open the door. A palace page proffered a small salver on which lay an invitation envelope. She took it and thanked the page, who bowed and went about his other duties.

Rhysa opened the envelope and slid the card into view. It was an invitation to dine with Bryn and Jayse that evening. It wasn’t even noon, yet, but she suddenly felt as if she had a direction to go. Several hours before she needed to even think about what to wear; nevertheless, her day seemed much less empty. With renewed energy, she finished drying her hair, and got dressed.

The city was as busy as it ever was; though after so long away, seeing elves and orcs and dwarves roaming the streets was a slight thrill. Rhysa made her way through the open market to the district with specialty shops, then wandered around until she found an unassuming sign: Aryn Cavass, Custom Formal Attire. Rhysa walked up the brick stairs, opened the heavy wood door, and walked in.

The welcoming room was brightly lit, and softened by carpet and couches with many pillows piled high. A polished young man appeared in front of her. “May I help you?” Even his voice sounded polished.

“I replace myself in need of a Presentation gown.”

“Ah. And when is this Presentation to be?”

“I’m not sure. The date hasn’t been set, yet.”

The young man began to look doubtful. “I’m not sure if we can help you. We have to have a specific time to work with, you see.”

“Do you? Hmm.”

Aryn appeared from an inner door. “Rhysa! I thought I heard your voice.” She strode to Rhysa and embraced her. The young man looked slightly dumbfounded.

“Aryn! Good to see you.” Rhysa didn’t bother trying to keep the cheer in her voice to decorous standards.

“Come in. Come on through.” Aryn took Rhysa’s arm and guided her to the back of the shop past a now completely nonplussed young man.

“Did I hear you wanted a Presentation gown?”

“Yes.”

“Yours?”

Rhysa grinned. “The Royals told me a while ago I would be expected to hold a Presentation to be publicly recognized as the new head of House Kasteryn. Then they sent me off on some task, and I just got back yesterday. Hallyk hasn’t said anything, but I’m sure they’re wondering when or if I’m going to name a date.”

“Hmm. And have you decided?”

“No. I wanted to check to see when you could fit me in.”

Aryn laughed. “Fair enough. Since this isn’t a rush order, I could have it by....” She paused as she did some mental calculations. “I could have it by the middle of next month.”

“Good. I’ll see if I can’t have the date set for sometime late next month.”

“Perfect.” Aryn glanced at the door and cocked her head as if listening to something, then she became Hathorina. “How are you doing?”

Rhysa took a deep breath. “It’s a bit rough right now. You heard Elise disappeared? Well, I still expect to see her every time I enter my apartments.”

“Time will take care of that.”

Rhysa nodded, her face glum. She pulled herself away from depression and said, “So what’s the fashion this year?”

Rhysa left Aryn’s shop mid-afternoon and made her way to her apartments. She laid out a dress for this evening, and matching shoes, belt, and jewelry. This time, she took only a short bath to wash the dust of the city off her skin. When she finished, she still had an hour or so before she had to leave. She put on her undergarments and a bodysuit that supported her daggers. Having finished her base layer, she decided to look through Elise’s room for any clue to where Elise might be.

By the time Rhysa had to finish dressing, she had found only a letter from Bryn asking Elise to replace his wife. Rhysa thought about that letter as she finished getting dressed. She tried to think of anything suspicious about it, but the handwriting, the style, the vocabulary, everything pointed to the letter’s genuineness. And now she was going to have dinner with the husband of one of the leaders of The Primacy. Rhysa wondered if Bryn had been told, yet.

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