“I don’t think he’d use a bow. The practitioner, I mean.”
Nik looked at me, head tilted. “Why?”
“He didn’t try to kill the prince. He was somewhere else, hiding from view and manipulating the Anima that possessed Innis. Innis and the others did the actual fighting.”
Nik nodded. “Good thought.”
He put the arrow aside and gave the man’s clothing a cursory search. Finding nothing, he rose. “Let’s get back. I’ll have soldiers search the woods when they come back for him.”
“You can’t be serious.”
He looked at me. “About going back? I know Galen snipes, but he’s just protective.”
“Galen snipes because he’s an arsehole. But that’s not what I meant. That wasn’t a very good search. He’s not going to stuff a clue into his pocket where someone can find it as easy as that.” A kingdom’s soldiers should at least be skilled in the basics of rummaging.
I crouched beside the man, ignoring the heavy scent of blood. I began feeling my way around the seams and the hems of the man’s tunic—two of my favorite hiding spots.
It wasn’t in the bottom hem but the left sleeve. I pried it out, found a semicircle of hardened wax. Part of a circle and a symbol—a few small lines—had been pressed into it.
“Did you find something?”
“Just like you might have if you’d been careful enough.” And now I sounded like my father. I rose and offered it to Nik. “Looks like part of a wax seal. Does it look familiar to you?”
He took it, flipped it over, then back again. “I don’t recognize the symbol. But I’ll ask around.” He put it into his jacket.
“Did the assassins who died last night have anything on them?”
He shook his head. “Only cheap weapons.”
I gave him a flat smile. “Did you look carefully?”
“The imperial physician searched them. If there was anything to be found, he’d have found it. Probably. I’ll check. Let’s get back. I don’t want to be out here any longer than necessary.” Then he frowned, pulled a folded cloth from his uniform—he must have dozens of them—and reached toward my face.
I took a step backward. “What are you doing?”
“There’s blood on your cheek,” he said quietly. He dropped his hand and opened his palm to offer me the linen. And looked a little disappointed, or maybe insulted, that I’d moved away. “Death is a messy business.”
“It’s messier for the dead,” I said, and scrubbed at my face, embarrassed I needed cleaning up. “Gone?”
“Gone.” But he shook his head when I offered the linen back to him. “Keep it. Just in case you need it again.”
I tucked it into my sleeve. Maybe I could get a few coins for a royal-adjacent handkerchief in the market.
Six
He carried the arrow and windblade as we took the path that meandered back to the abandoned house. We found Galen standing with the horses, scanning for threats. Nik told him what we’d found.
“Shooting at the assassin or you?” Galen wondered.
“Whichever he could manage,” Nik said, and gave him the weapon and arrow.
“We need to tell his family,” I said.
“We’ll handle that,” Nik said. “You’ve fulfilled your obligations.”
I shook my head. “It should come from someone they’re familiar with—at least a little. Not a stranger from the capital. Not soldiers with swords.”
He sighed, then looked at Galen. “Stay here with Tommen. I’ll send soldiers back to help and deal with the rest of it.”
