A knock at the door.

  ‘Enter,’ Ashlyn called. She looked out the window, keeping her back to the door.

  It swung open. She listened for footsteps, before turning around.

  ‘Wait,’ said Rylan. ‘You’re not Maeve.’ He looked her up and down. ‘But I’m sure we could have some fun.’

  Izil loomed behind the door, sword already drawn. The Alinko was no good with knives, so it was swords that would do for Rylan Blair.

  Ashlyn gave Blair a smile, and he took another step towards her.

  ACTION ROUND

  Izil got the drop on Rylan they needed.

  But as Ashlyn watched his strikes fail, an empty feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. Blair wore chainmail beneath his cloak. Had he known they’d be here? How?

  With relief, she saw Izil’s final sword strike land with crunching force on Rylan’s arm. The blow dealt 9 points of damage, and took away an action point.

  Ashlyn reached for Greenblade that she’d placed ready under a blanket on the bed.

  But Rylan was a fraction quicker. He was forced to use an action to draw Blueblade and make space, then he launched a flurry of blows on Izil. The very first got past Izil’s defences, taking 15 hit points. Izil managed to avoid the second, but not the third. A brutal sword strike to the midriff left him dead.

  Rylan spun around. He saw Greenblade in Ashlyn’s hand and grinned. He made up the space between them frighteningly fast, then swung a low blow.

  Ashlyn reacted on instinct, parrying. Sparks flew as the blades met. But she wasn’t quick enough to react to his next move, as he moved wide and slashed at chest height. It was a hit powerful enough to have killed with one strike. Yet it didn’t take a single hit point, her Armour of Resilience saving her.

  Rylan’s expression turned to concern. Ashlyn had all 5 actions left.

  She tried to back up to give herself room for her first strike, but she came up against the bed and it was a weak blow that failed to do any damage. She made to repeat it, but squatted down at the last moment, rewarded with a terrible strike across his knees that floored her opponent, leaving him on a mere 5 points.

  Somehow, Rylan rolled away from her third blow. But he couldn’t escape the next, Greenblade lodging in his back. He spasmed, in a brief moment of pain, then he was dead.

  Rylan was dead. Izil was dead. And I didn’t even take a scratch.

  She knelt beside Izil, searching for a pulse. There was none. Stupid, she berated herself. Now her trews were soaked in blood. Something made her check on Rylan as well, even though she knew she’d killed him. She went to the window, worrying that someone had accompanied Rylan here, like Rake had done the other night.

  There was no one there. I need to get out of here, she told herself.

  She turned on Rylan’s corpse, angry. ‘Why did you wear chain mail to visit with a whore?’ she demanded of him.

  The idiocy of her behaviour dawned on her. ‘You’re in shock,’ she muttered to herself, and the realisation helped her snap out of it. Izil had been prepared to die. They both had. She shouldn’t be surprised about the outcome. She wasn’t a child.

  With shaking hands, she undid Rylan’s belt and took the scabbard. She organised herself until she had both magic swords at her belt, one on each hip.

  She couldn’t help giving Izil’s body a last look. He’d told her, if it came to it, to leave his body. He wanted everyone to know he’d avenged his brother. She wondered if he’d known this would be the outcome.

  She exited the house, into the street—half expecting to find someone waiting in the shadows for her. But she was free. She’d got away with murder.

  She walked the streets of Avolo in a daze, finding herself inside The Smashed Marbles before she knew it. She sank into a chair, her legs shaking. ‘Drink!’ She called out. ‘Something strong.’

  ‘Mada.’ Murder arrived with a cup and bottle. She took both, pouring herself a drink, necking it, and then pouring a second. She placed them onto the table, unable to hold them without shaking.

  Suzie approached. ‘Izil?’

  ‘Didn’t make it.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘Not a scratch. Hardly fair, is it?’ She took another swig. ‘I’ve been imagining this moment,’ she told them, ‘for a long time. In all my fantasies, I never felt this shit afterwards.’

  ‘Mada,’ Murder said mournfully.

  ‘It was murder,’ Ashlyn agreed. She downed her drink. ‘Christoph is better off without a murderer by his side. Even though no one can say Rylan didn’t have it coming. Thing is, I feel just as empty as the day I was told my father was dead.’ She caught Suzie’s frown. ‘What? I said the wrong thing?’

  ‘Murder isn’t actually saying “murder”, you know. He’s saying “mother”.’

  It was the saddest thing Ashlyn had ever heard. Her defences broke. She sobbed, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

  MISSION COMPLETE

  SUCCESS: Rylan Blair was killed

  Some of your mercs improved their stats:

  Greenblade:

  Grit +1

  Hit Points +1

  No mercs levelled up

  Fallen Apples:

  Izildra ‘Izil’ Bizra