Assassin 3 - Royal Assassin by Hobb Robin Read Free Book Online Page A

plodding
stolidly along through wind-banked snow. I thought I had been
riding long. Hands the stable boy was riding before me. He turned
in his saddle and shouted something back to me.
    Sooty stopped, not abruptly, but I was not
expecting it, and I nearly slid from the saddle. I caught at her
mane and steadied myself. Steadily falling flakes veiled the forest
around us. The spruce trees were heavy with accumulated snow, while
the interspersed birches were bare black silhouettes in the clouded
winter moonlight. There was no sign of a trail. The woods were
thick around us. Hands had reined in his black gelding in front of
us, and that was why Sooty halted. Behind me Burrich sat his roan
mare with the practiced ease of the lifelong horseman.
    I was cold, and shaky with weakness. I looked
around dully, wondering why we had stopped. The wind gusted
sharply, snapping my damp cloak against Sooty's flank. Hands
pointed suddenly. There! He looked back at me. Surely you saw
that?
    I leaned forward to peer through snow that fell
like fluttering lace curtains. I think so, I said, the wind and
falling snow swallowing my words. For an instant I had glimpsed
tiny lights. They had been yellow and stationary, unlike the pale
blue will o' the wisps that still occasionally plagued my
vision.
    Do you think it's Buckkeep? Hands shouted
through the rising wind.
    It is, Burrich asserted quietly, his deep voice
carrying effortlessly. I know where we are now. This is where
Prince Verity killed that big doe about six years ago. I remember
because she leaped when the arrow went in, and tumbled down that
gully. It took us the rest of the day to get down there and pack
the meat out.
    The gully he gestured to was no more than a line
of brush glimpsed through the falling snow. But suddenly it all
snapped into place for me. The lay of this hillside, the types of
trees, the gully there, and so Buckkeep was that way, just a brief
ride before we could clearly see the fortress on the sea cliffs
overlooking the bay and Buckkeep Town below. For the first time in
days, I knew with absolute certainty where we were. The heavy
overcast had kept us from checking our course by the stars, and the
unusually deep snowfall had altered the lay of the land until even
Burrich had seemed unsure. But now I knew that home was but a brief
ride away. In summer. But I picked up what was left of my
determination.
    Not much farther, I told Burrich.
    Hands had already started his horse. The stocky
little gelding surged ahead bravely, breaking trail through the
banked snow. I nudged Sooty and the tall mare reluctantly stepped
out. As she leaned into the hill I slid to one side. As I scrabbled
futilely at my saddle Burrich nudged his horse abreast of mine. He
reached out, seized me by the back of my collar, and dragged me
upright again. It's not much farther, he agreed. You'll make
it.
    I managed a nod. It was only the second time
he'd had to steady me in the last hour or so. One of my better
evenings, I told myself bitterly. I pulled myself up straighter in
the saddle, resolutely squared my shoulders. Nearly
home.
    The journey had been long and arduous. The
weather had been foul, and the constant hardships had not improved
my health. Much of it I remembered like a dark dream; days of
jolting along in the saddle, barely cognizant of our path, nights
when I lay between Hands and Burrich in our small tent and trembled
with a weariness so great I could not even sleep. As we had drawn
closer to Buck Duchy I had thought our travel would become easier.
I had not reckoned on Burrich's caution.
    At Turlake, we had stopped a night at an inn. I
had thought that we'd take passage on a river barge the next day,
for though ice might line the banks of the Buck River, its strong
current kept a channel clear year-round. I went straight to our
room, for I had not much stamina. Burrich and Hands were both
anticipating hot food and companionship, to say nothing of ale. I
had not expected them to come soon