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Embers and four of the Viceroy’s Guards. Two have crossbows.
    I’m more worried about the Embers.
    A warm wave once again rushed through me.
    Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them.
    I chuckled. Layen had the most difficult job—she had to overwhelm the sorceresses, to take away the protection they afforded the target. Not for long. Just for three, perhaps even four seconds. Just enough time for me to take the shot.
    Suddenly the falling snowflakes swirled. A moment later their speed and direction changed. The northwest wind had replaced the north wind. This was not good.
    The wind changed . Layen was also keeping track of the changing conditions. Northwest. Gusts. A quarter of a finger.
    A quarter of a finger. That’s even worse. I’d need to aim slightly off and pray to Melot that when I shot the fickle elements did not act up. It’s a good thing the bow wasn’t weak, and that the arrow was heavy.
    I see. I’m aware. Thanks.
    Twenty seconds. They’re near the treasurer’s house. Walking toward you.
    I tried to even out my breathing. Exhale, inhale. This is a normal shot. Nothing more. I’ve been shooting with a bow for as long as I can remember. I spent the war in Sandon. And in war everything is far more complicated. At least here no one would run at me with a sword. I just needed to sight, aim, and do what we had been paid for.
    Grabbing the arrow that had a white arrowhead made of some material I was unfamiliar with, I quickly examined the fletching. Was it crooked?
    The client’s man had given me the arrow along with the compensation. When Layen saw it she refused to pick it up. All she said was that such devices were created to kill the foundation of the Gift in people, to extinguish their spark and to destroy the very soul of the mage. I’d felt uneasy about this “present” from the beginning. But using the arrow was a nonnegotiable term of the contract. I had to clench my teeth and accept it. But I had no idea how it would behave in flight.
    We’ll meet in Haven (a neighborhood of Al’sgara next to the sea) , where we agreed. If I don’t come after an hour, leave without me.
    You know very well that I won’t go anywhere without you!
    We were intending to leave the city, but not in the way the client had planned. There was far too great a chance that he or she would decide to kill off the people who had done the dirty work. Layen had come up with her own plan and was now prepared to put it into motion. Only she and I knew where we were going after the task. For everyone else, Gray and Weasel would just disappear. They would die.
    I rested the arrow on the bowstring and did not take my eyes away from the snow-covered street. Twilight. The idiot lamplighters are late again. Damn it! I need light right now!
    The wind’s still moving to the northwest. Half a finger. After a minute it will change to the north.
    I’ll keep that in mind.
    Good luck. There they are!
    And then I saw them. A group of people walking quickly toward Sacrum Square. In the front were two Guardsmen, followed by a woman. Then two more people behind her. The procession was tailed by a pair of soldiers.
    The tip of the arrow suddenly gleamed with a purple light. I almost dropped it.
    Layen! The arrow is glowing!
    Don’t worry. It senses the spark of the target. One hundred and five yards.
    Don’t worry? If they got it into their heads to look over in my direction I could forget about luck.
    Which one of them? The first one?
    Ninety-five yards. No. The second to the left.
    Are you sure?
    Yes. Listen to me. The one in the sable coat. Ninety. As soon as I say.…
    I watched the small female form in the sable coat. They were approaching the minimum distance but I didn’t shoot. It was a bad angle. After a moment the second woman obstructed my view of the victim.
    Ninety-five … one hundred … one hundred and five …
    She was walking farther and farther away from me. Another twenty seconds and the nearby house would block my