Abuud: the One-Eyed God by Richard S. Tuttle Read Free Book Online Page A

mat. He silently made his way out of the servants' sleeping quarters and climbed the stairs to the main residence level of the D'Ales mansion. He paused in the darkness and listened for sounds. Slowly he crept along the corridor until he could see the torch light near the front door. He slipped under the stairway leading to the upper floors and waited. He did not have long to wait.
    The D'Ales estate only had a handful of guards and only two of those were on duty at night. The rear guard approached the front door noisily, and Fabel listened to the conversation as the two guards met. It was the same banter that he had heard every night for the past week since he was hired as a servant. Every night the guards exchanged the same old jokes as they prepared to turn in for the night. The guards were old and too casual in their duties to offer any real deterrence to a determined assassin. Fabel shook his head as the front guard extinguished the torch and the two guards headed off for bed. Fabel listened to their banter until he heard the door to their room close.
    Fabel slid out from under the stairs and softly padded into the study and unlocked the window. Swiftly, but silently, Fabel returned to the stairs and ascended to the second floor. He crept along the hallway to the master's suite and silently entered the room. He crossed the greeting room and stood outside the sleeping chamber. He paused to listen, but only for a short period of time. Satisfied that the master was sleeping, Fabel eased the door open and slid over to the bed. He reached under his tunic and withdrew a slim dagger with the Engar crest on the handle. Without emotion, Fabel used the dagger to slit the throat of Duke D'Ales. He dropped the dagger in the spreading pool of blood and retreated from the suite.
    He raced quietly down the stairs and slid back under them and waited. Time seemed to stand still as the servant hid in the darkness waiting for the assassin to appear. He had studied the history of Herzel when he had learned who was supposed to perform the murder. He shook his head as he recalled the blunders Herzel had committed in the past. The man had nerve even calling himself an assassin, Fable thought. In truth, Herzel was nothing more than a common thief, and not a very good one at that. Even this simple job was beyond his abilities.
    Fabel heard the window in the study sliding open. He cringed involuntarily when he heard a loud thump as Herzel landed on the floor. Fabel shook his head in the darkness and waited to hear the passing of the thief. Herzel tried to be quiet, but if Duke D'Ales had even one decent guard, the thief would have been captured before he made the second floor. Fabel waited until he heard the thief ascending the stairs and then swiftly raced into the study. He slid the window closed and locked it. Reaching into his waistband, Fabel pulled out another dagger and jabbed it between the two windows. He rotated it until the lock was pried loose. He then grabbed the lower window and carried it to the hallway.
    He heard a door close overhead and he shook his head in dismay. The thief had entered the wrong room and had not even found the body yet. Fabel waited patiently as he listened to the footsteps of the thief in the quiet stillness of the night air. When he figured that the thief had entered the master's suite, Fabel hurled the window into the study. The glass shattered noisily as Fabel raced for the stairs to the servants' level. He padded silently down the stairs and slid back into his sleeping chamber. He lowered himself onto his mat and pulled the thin cover over himself as he heard the shouting begin upstairs.

Chapter 4
The Game Begins

    Jenneva and Tanya entered the dense fog and dismounted. Moans of the injured drifted eerily through the air. The sounds of people moving about appeared magnified and directionless. Hearing no sounds of continuing battle, Jenneva raised her arms and dispersed the fog. She inhaled audibly at the