Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin 1)

"Exactly. ” His smile is smug, and rightfully so.

“And then what?” I ask, lightly punching his shoulder. “Did you secure the entire duchy while I thought you lay dying?”

“No,” he says, growing serious. “Crunard is still out there. ”

"What is his aim, can you guess?”

“I do not know. But I plan to find out. ” Our eyes meet again, and this time our own warm feelings give way before our desire to make Crunard pay. “But first, tell me of your news. what miracle have you wrought that you have saved me from this poison?”

“It is one of my gifts from Mortain. ” I grimace. “One the convent either does not know about or chose not to tell me of. ”

“And what of Beast and de Lornay?” he asks. The careful note in his voice indicates he expects the worst. I tell him of our battle before Rennes, of the falling of de Lornay and the taking of Beast. During the telling, his grief mounts and grows un

til it threatens to swallow us both. And then his mouth sets in a hard line. “I must get up. ”

when he rises to his feet, I am pleased to see that he does not sway, but he is not as steady as he once was. His body will need time to fully heal. “You cannot mean to storm into Crunard’s chambers and challenge him to combat,” I say.

“I cannot?”

“You are only just able to keep on your feet. ”

"Even so, I will face him, for I am sick of hiding in the dark while he destroys all that we have fought for. ”

we are silent as we make our way back through the tunnels to my chamber, both of us consumed by our own thoughts, for Crunard has cost each of us much. even though he is still weak, Duval leads the way, for he is more familiar with these tunnels than I. Once again, I marvel at how he has stood it all this time, for the close stone walls press down on me, stealing my breath and making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

At last I see a sliver of light ahead and I quicken my pace, nearly treading on Duval’s heels. He grunts, then stumbles forward. when he reaches the doorway, he freezes, then puts out his arm and shoves me back into the tunnel. “Crunard,” he says loudly, and every nerve in my body comes alert.

Chapter Fifty-three

“Ah, you are still alive. I thought as much. It was the only explanation that made sense. ”

Careful to stay well out of sight, I press my back against the stone wall, heart hammering in my chest as the chancellor’s cold, hard voice fills my ears.

“Come in, come in, don’t hover at the door. ” At first I think he is talking to me, then I see Duval move away from the tunnel and step into the room. “Besides, you and I have a game of chess we must finish,” he says coyly, and that’s when I know.

I know precisely where Duval picked up Arduinna’s snare. I want to bang my head against the wall in frustration.

“Is that what we have been doing, Crunard? Playing a game of chess? If so, I will confess that I did not realize it was you I was playing against, not until Ismae voiced her suspicions. ” Duval sounds strong and steady, and I do not know if this is because he has fully recovered or because he is simply determined not to show weakness in front of Crunard.

“The girl figured it out before you, did she? That must sting, but the convent is not known for raising fools. ”

“She also did not have a lifetime of memories and family loyalties to cloud her vision. I defended you against her accusations. ” Duval’s voice shakes now, but with the pain of Crunard’s duplicity rather than weakness. “I told her that one of our country’s greatest heroes and my father’s closest ally would never betray my sister in such a way. ”

Crunard says nothing for a long moment. when he speaks, his voice is so quiet I must inch closer in order to catch every word.

“Four sons, Gavriel. I have lost four sons to this never-ending war with the French. And for what? So they can turn around and invade our borders once again? In the end, do you really think it matters to the people who rules over them? Do you really think maintaining Brittany’s independence is more important to their lives and prosperity than ending the constant war?”

“How can you ignore everything we’ve fought for for the last twenty years? How can you dishonor your own sons’ memories this way?”

“You may not speak to me of my sons,” Crunard says, his voice tight with fury. “Not when you have lived and they have died. ” He grows quiet, and when he speaks again, he is calmer. “I do not expect you to understand how hard it is to watch your own sons die, struck down in battle for a cause that pales when it is set next to what you have lost. even more, I do not expect you to understand what it is like to learn that one of those sons still lives — ”

“Anton?” There is joy in Duval’s voice, and I remember that the chancellor’s youngest son and Duval were of an age. They were likely friends.

“Anton,” Crunard says. “I saw him struck down on the battlefield of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier. So you cannot begin to imagine my joy when I received word that he still lived. All I had to do was deliver Anne into the hands of the French regent — something that was clearly inevitable — and my son would be returned to me. ”

Suddenly everything is clear. every move Crunard has made, every person he has betrayed — all of it was done in the hope of ransoming his son.

“So you thought to trade my sister’s life for your son’s?”

“It seemed a fair exchange, since if it weren’t for the blood of my sons spilled on the battlefield, none of this would be hers. Besides, I wasn’t trading her life, merely her duchy. They are quite different things.

“At first it was easy. I worked quietly behind the scenes, gently bending the tides of war to France’s favor without harming a soul, and then you stepped in. You and your damned strategies and tactics and pigheaded stubbornness. If you had been content to let things happen, none of this would have come to pass. But you were not. You were determined to single-handedly deliver an independent duchy to your sister along with the means to keep it. You can be certain I did not value your life above my son’s, so you gave me no choice but to remove you. Now, sit down so we may finish this game. ”

“Do you always play chess with a loaded crossbow in your lap?” Duval asks, and at last I understand why he shoved me back into the tunnel.

“Only with particularly challenging opponents,” Crunard replies.

But that is easily enough fixed. I take my own crossbow from the chain at my waist. It may be smaller than Crunard’s, but it is just as deadly. I fit a bolt to it, and move silently toward the door.

“You shall move first, I think,” Crunard tells Duval.

“No!” I shout, stepping into the room and aiming the crossbow at Crunard’s forehead. “That is how he was poisoning you, by coating the chess pieces with Arduinna’s snare. ”