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The onlythe use of the enchanted geic stone In truth, neither of the pair was very proficient with ge spent the bulk of their short years in St-Mere-Abelle in rig-orous physical training and in the mental incapacitation necessary for one to truly claione back to the east thatout of their robes to appear as coone south, to the Pal the first of its three daily journeys across the Masur Delaval at the break of dawn They were in the city byout to the north, over the wall and not through the gate By the time the sun was low on the western horizon, Youseff and Dan-delion had spotted their first prey, a band of fourcamp amidst a tumble of boulders less than ten miles frooblin was the slave here, for it was doing most of the work, and whenever it slowed in its ive it a sharp slap on the back of the head, spurring it to oblin had a rope, a leash, tied about its ankle

Youseff turned to Dandelion and nodded; they would be able to take advantage of this arrangeoblin exited the ca the other end of the rope In the forest, the goblin began foraging for firewood, while the powrie stood quietly nearby Youseff and Dandelion, silent as the lengthening shadows,up a tree, the heavier Dandelion slipping froround on the powrie

"Yach, hurry it up, ye fool thing!" the powrie scolded, kicking at the leaves and dirt "Me friends&039;ll eat all the coney, and there&039;ll be nothing but bones for lanced back briefly, then scooped another piece of kindling "Please, master," it whined "Me arms is full and me back is hurtin&039; so"

"Yach, shut yer ot all ye can carry, but it&039;s not enough for the night fire Ye&039;re wantingyer skin red, ye sht beside the startled powrie, plopping a heavy bag over its head in the blink of a surprised eye A moment later Dandelion, in full run, sla and taking it on a fast run, face first into the trunk of the nearest tree

Still the tough powrie struggled, throwing back an elbow into Dandelion&039;s throat The big monk hardly noticed, just pressed all the harder, and then, when he saw his companion&039;s approach, he hooked his arm under the powrie&039;s and lifted the dwarf&039;s ar ribs

Youseff&039;s dagger thrust was perfectly ai between two ribs to pierce the stubborn dwarf&039;s heart Dandelion, holding fast the thrashing powrie, ed to free one hand so he could wrap the wound, not wanting too much blood to spill

Not here

Youseff, oblin "Freedo his hand for the creature to run away

The goblin, on the verge of a scream, looked curiously at the hu froround, slipped the rope fro forest

"Dead?" Youseff asked as Dandelion let the li s on the wound It was i when the pair returned to Palmaris, and particularly not when they entered St Precious Youseff re serrated and hooked blade as long and thick as his forearm, and Dandelion put the dwarf in a heavy, lined sack With a glance about to ht on to the a hardly a burden to the powerful Dandelion

"Should we not have taken the goblin for Connor Bilde-borough?" Dandelion asked as they slowed their pace, nearing the city&039;s north wall

Youseff considered the question a h at the fact that his dim-witted friend had only oblin to run away "We need only one," Youseff assured him The Father Abbot had ainst Abbot Dobrinion had to either appear as simply an accident or lead suspi-cion in a direction far removed from Markwart; the implications within the Church should St-Mere-Abelle seerave Connor Bildeborough, though, was not such a problem If his uncle, the Baron of Palmaris, even suspected the Church in Connor&039;s denorance of the rivalries between the abbeys, would be as likely to blame St Precious as St-Mere-Abelle, and even if he did turn his atten-tion to the abbey on All Saints Bay, there would be little, very little, he could do

It was hardly an effort for the skilled assassins to get over the city wall and past the eyes of weary guardsue bands like the one the ht to be arrison strengthened in recent days by a full brigade of Kingsed back into their brown robes and, with heads huh the streets They were bothered only once, by a beggarso far as to threaten theive hiainst an alley wall

It was long after vespers and St Precious was quiet and dark, but thethat the ilant than the slothful city guards Again, though, the Father Abbot had prepared them prop-erly On the southern wall of the abbey, where the as in fact a part of theitself, there were no s and no visible doors

In truth, there was a single door, carefully concealed, froht out the scraps froarnet, using it to find the invisible doorway, for the portal, in addition to beingfrom the outside

The door was also conventionally locked - or should have been - but before the monks of St-Mere-Abelle had departed St Precious, Brother Youseff had gone to the kitchen, ostensibly for supplies, but in truth to destroy the integrity of the portal&039;s binding Apparently the Father Abbot had recognized that they ht need a quiet way into St Precious, he pondered now, and was indeed i the sunstone, Youseff defeated the ical lock and carefully pushed open the door Only one person was inside, a young wo water

Youseff was behind her al, taking pleasure in the evil irony of that lively tune

The wo the presence

Youseff basked in her fear for just a rabbed her by the hair and drove her face into the water She struggled and thrashed, but to no avail against the efficient assassin Youseff smiled as she slumped to the floor He was supposed to be a pas-sionless killer, a mechanical tool for the Father Abbot&039;s will, but in truth the , enjoyed the victi down at the dead young woranted a up to the death

Death, by co

St Precious was quiet that night, as if the whole of the place, the abbey itself, was relaxing after the trials of the Father Abbot&039;s visit Through the hallways stalked Youseff and Dandelion, the Brothers Justice, with powerful Dandelion carrying the sacked powrie over one shoulder They saw only one monk, and he didn&039;t see them, all the way to the door of Abbot Dobrinion&039;s private quarters

Youseff went down to one knee before the door, a ser lock, he scraped and scratched at the wood about it, whittling it down,it appear as if the door had been forced

Then they were in, and through another door, this one less sturdy and not locked, to Dobrinion&039;s bedside

The abbot aith a start He began to screaely silent when he considered the pair, when he saw the heavy serrated blade waving tantalizingly inches froht of the h the room&039;s lone

"You kneould come for you," Youseff teased

Dobrinion shook his head "I can speak with the Father Abbot," he pleaded "A er to pursed lips, s wickedly behind it, but Dobrinion pressed on

"The Chilichunks are criminals - that is obvious," the abbot spouted, and he hated the words as he spoke thereat battle then, his conscience vying against his most basic survival instinct

Youseff and Dandelion watched his tor the source of it, but with Youseff surely enjoying it

Then Dobrinion cal suddenly unafraid "Your Markwart is an evil man," he said "Never was he truly Father Abbot of the Abellican Church I call on you now, in the nanity, poverty - to turn against this evil course, to find again the light - "

His sentence ended as a gurgle, as Youseff, too far lost to even hear such conscience-tugging pleas, ripped the serrated edge across the abbot&039;s throat, opening it wide

The pair went to the powrie then, dropping it to the floor Dande-lion unwrapped and then picked at its wound, re, while Youseff searched about the abbot&039;s quarters He found at last a s seals froer, but the knife fit fairly snugly into the powrie&039;s mortal wound

"Take hi side, cutting a series of s it seele

Then the two killers were gone, silent death, two shadows flowing out froht

Word of the abbot&039;s , frantic cries sweeping along the fortified walls, teary-eyed soldiers bla a powrie to slip past them Whispers of doom crossed from tavern to tavern, street corner to street corner, each retelling the ruh, waking in a bed in the infamous brothel, House Battlebrow, heard the story, an army of powries was reputedly on the outskirts of Palhter all of the people in their ti as he went, Connor exited the house and flagged down a carriage, de that the driver take hiates were closed; a dozen are as the horse skidded to an abrupt stop, and both Connor and the poor frightened driver felt the eyes of uards relaxed and helped the noble-man down, then ordered the driver away in no uncertain teruards es-corted hiate

"Unnerved, Master Connor," one et through our defenses and slay Abbot Dobrinion! And all of this coht behind the troubles in the abbey! Oh, what dark days are upon us!"

Connor made no move to reply, but he listened carefully to the man&039;s words, and the unspoken, probably even unrealized, ih the uarded halls and into his uncle&039;s audience roouard beside Baron Rochefort Bildeborough&039;s desk was the burly ed, whose nose had been sical assault by none other than Father Abbot Dalebert Markwart himself

"My uncle knows of my arrival?" Connor asked the uard replied, his voice slurred, for his netite , Connor&039;s uncle entered the rooazed upon his nephew

"Thank God hienerously Connor had always been Rochefort Bildeborough&039;s favorite relative, and since the man had no children, it was a common belief in Palmaris that Connor would inherit the title

"Should I not be?" Connor asked in his typically casual ot in to kill Abbot Dobrinion," Rochefort replied, taking his seat opposite the desk from Connor

Connor did not miss the effort his uncle required for the siht and suffered from severe pains in the joints Until the previous summer, the man had ridden his fields every day, rain or shine, but this year he had been out only a couple of times, and never two days in succession Rochefort&039;s eyes, too, showed the sudden aging They had always been gray in hue, but they were dull now, filmed over

Connor had wanted the title of Baron of Pale and entitlement that ca near, he had discovered that he could wait - and many years He would rather that he kept his present position, and that his dear uncle, the man who had been as a father to him, remained alive and well

"Hoould the monsters even know to look for et for our enemies, but myself?"