Assassin's Curse by Debra L Martin, David W Small Read Free Book Online Page B

compelling spell.   Whatever she had done to him had changed him intrinsically.   He rose up slowly, shaking his head to clear his mind and started for the door.   He wanted no more part of this.   His assignment was half complete.   All that was left was to notify the masters and let them ferry the children to the countess.  
    It took no more than a few steps for Jeda to realize that whatever he wanted no longer mattered.   An irrepressible image invaded his mind and his every thought was now consumed with those babies and their safety.   He knew what he had to do and immediately started making plans.   First, he needed to get the babies away from this place.   When he failed to bring them back to the guild or deliver them to the House of Berkshire, the masters would send someone to investigate.   Second, he needed to find food for the babies to eat, but they were totally alien to him.
    “What the hell do babies eat anyway?” he asked the dead witch.
    He was used to going for days with little to no substance, but he doubted they would go more than a few hours without raising hell.   Third, he had to find someone to help to raise the two girls.   He knew nothing about children; what they needed, what they wanted, or how to care for them.   He was an assassin not a nursemaid, or at least he used to be.   The more he thought of it, the more he realized his old life was over.   Everything he had strived and worked so hard to achieve in the guild was gone in an instant.   The witch had changed everything, cursing him with her last dying breath.
    Damn it!   Why didn’t I pay more attention to those warnings on the rooftop?
    Now he was no longer a brother of the guild, but a father to two infant girls.   This shouldn’t have happened.   He had been so careful.   He looked over at the slumped form of Miriam and swore silently at her.   He despised her for what she took from him, but concern for the girls’ safety overrode his feelings of loathing.  
    Jeda leaned against the crib, still a bit unsteady from his ordeal.   He probed the injury to his side from Miriam’s blast and found that it wasn’t as bad as it felt.   Being this close to the babies he had his first chance to study them closely.   He could easily see that they were identical and showed the signs of the witch: the telltale, gold-tinted eyes all witches had in common.   He found it a bit unnerving that while he studied them, they seemed to be studying him as well.   This was the first day of a new life for him.   What was so important about these two little girls?   He shook his head, wondering what the big deal was about identical female witches.   If anyone had told him that their births had been foretold in prophecy, he would have laughed in their face.  
    “You have names?” he asked.  
    The girls continued to hold onto the side of the crib and stare at him.   Being a man of few words, he quickly decided what he would call them.   There was no sentiment involved, but what was simple and easy for him to remember.
    “Kala,” he said pointing to the girl on the left and, “Kara,” pointing to her sister on the right.   Being identical, he needed something to tell them apart.   Finding a bit of ribbon on top of the chest of drawers, he tied a different color around their wrists: yellow for Kala and black for Kara.   Somehow, his instincts told him the colors were right.   The girls stared at him with scowling faces and he got the distinct feeling that neither liked the names nor the bits of cloth around their tiny wrists.   Kara tugged at hers with tiny fingers, but Jeda had tied the knot securely.
    “Hey, you don’t have to like the names, but you will live with them,” Jeda said, looking around the room for any supplies he could use.   Both girls simultaneously looked at each other and then grabbed one of Jeda’s fingers.   All pretenses of grumbling and discontent were gone and Jeda felt an eerie sensation