Shiranan, leader of the Red Shadow cadre of Assassins, scrambled up the sheer rock face, the weight of the Seeing Box swinging from the cord around her waist. Behind her, the two members of cadre crashed into each other and cursed out loud.

"Quiet! By the Discipline! You will keep silence," she hissed. "We are on mission." In these mountains, sound could reflect oddly. They might be heard for miles.

The two men, much subdued, resumed climbing with professional stealth. Shiranan turned her attention back to the problem at hand, to reconnoiter and concoct a plan.

She climbed two more body lengths and braced her knees so she could peer over the sharp wedge of rock that topped the jutting spire they had climbed. To either side of her, the two men assumed positions where they could study the scene below.

From here, she could see down into the walled compound of the Blue Caves Sanctuary, the abode of the most famous Healers in the kingdom. And her heart sank.

It seemed that every single Healer in the Sanctuary, every apprentice and apprentice's helper was in the courtyard, formally robed, awake and alert. They could never reach their quarry through that throng.

"Well, which one is he?" asked Rollenby, the older of her Cadre's two members.

How should I know! she was about to snap when she remembered the Seeing Box. She hadn't lugged it all this way for nothing. Silently, she drew it up by its rope and set the side of the cube with the white crystal toward the courtyard. Pulling off her glove, she placed her splayed hand against the side of the cube toward her and spoke the Word the magus had given her.

When she took her hand away, the blank side of the cube revealed a perfect replication of the courtyard scene. Only it was so close now she could count the stones in the walls of the interior buildings, and even see people leaning out of the windows of the second and third stories of the dormitories where convalescents stayed. She knew that if she liked, she could see inside the mouths of the dark caves that lined the mountain side of the court. Inside those caves were the blue pools where the Healers did their magic. But that did not interest her now.

"Lewin Eldone," she told the Box.

With dizzying speed, the display swept in on a single figure standing on a dais before the Healers' Quarters, robed in fiery orange and bright blue, the Chief Healer of Blue Caves Sanctuary addressed his Healers.

". . . and so I commend to you on this propitious day, as my successor in office, the last person among you who would expect this appointment, Nathan Norby!"

A deafening roar of approval rose both from the Box and from below, echoing off the peaks. Norby was apparently much loved. Good. Then they won't really miss Eldone, and a dangerous traitor will have been eliminated without damaging the Sanctuary.

Even while this practical thought was floating through her mind, her eyes riveted to the Box's image of Norby as he stepped up beside Eldone. He was robed in the same flame-blue as all the others, but edged in white, not orange like Eldone. His face was swarthy, with a neatly cropped black beard framing his jaw. In the dense shadow of the cowl of his robe, his searing blue eyes seemed to glow with the same fiery color of his robe.

The expression on his face as his peers rendered unending approval cycled from astonishment to embarrassment to a tentative indignation, and then settled into a kind of awed apprehension as he accepted his new status.

Subliminally, she noticed something else. Norby was short, wiry, and moved with the oiled smoothness of perfect athletic training. It made him stand out in sharp contrast to the other Healers.

As the uproar began to die down, Eldone continued his speech, and the magic of the Box informed Shiranan that the ceremony would go on for some time, ending with a formal Consecration of the new successor. But suddenly, a plan began to form in her mind.

"Show the onlookers," commanded Shiranan and the Box's image scanned over the faces in the windows - patients, she knew from the magic of the Box's link with her own mind. "Indicate which are loyal to King Hardin."

Colored halos sprang up around all the listeners. Then every time Eldone, in his rhetoric, mentioned King Hardin, the colored halos around the onlookers shifted, revealing their antipathy.

Many of the patients were Kings' fighting men, loyal to King Hardin, but the Box highlighted dozens whose loyalty still lay with Vennard, the King that Hardin had deposed.

Thoughtfully, Shiranan had the box scan the crowd of Healers. Eldone was known to have Healed King Vennard when he retreated to Blue Caves suffering from a nearly fatal wound inflicted by Hardin. Since then, Blue Caves Sanctuary had been a hotbed of treason, encouraged by Eldone. And the magic box showed clearly that the insidious rot of treason now extended deep into the ranks of the Healers.

Norby has his work cut out for him, she thought, and studied his halo. It was colorless. Well, Norby's politics were the King's problem, not hers. She was just a hired Assassin with a job to do.

"I've got a plan," she announced.

"I didn't sign on for suicide," warned Rollenby.

"Neither did I," she replied grimly as she secured the Box by its rope and began to back down the granite pinnacle.

Grumbling, her two men followed her. When the reached the horses, Shiranan pulled at the pack horse's bundles. "We will wear King's uniform," she announced.

"Into that!" protested Rollenby.

She dropped her hands to her sides and turned to face the larger man. He was nearly middle aged, with a stout thickening at the waist that was, she knew, solid muscle. But he did not intimidate her. "Are you Red Shadow, Rollenby, or are you still Silent Breath cadre?"

She made the name of their former cadre a sneer.

"The High and Mighty Shiranan! Last of the Red Shadow trained Assassins! Well, where is your precious Red Shadow cadre now? Dead to a man and a woman, that's where! And why? For going up against that jinxed Healer, that's why! And you're just lucky you were in Silent Breath at the time."

The two men were shoulder to shoulder facing her, chins jutting out, eyes narrowed. She could take them if she had to, but that was no way to run a cadre.

Pitching her voice low, she replied, "And right now, we are Red Shadow; the three of us." Over ten years ago, when her parents had been killed on a Red Shadow mission, Shiranan had been orphaned. Shortly after that, Red Shadow had been wiped out trying to kill Eldone, but by then Shiranan, barely adolescent, had been taken in by Silent Breath. But she'd had more than five years of field training in Red Shadow's pride and precision.

She met their eyes with the full measure of that pride now. "Do you want to hear a Red Shadow plan, or do you want to be drummed out of the cadre?" She turned her gaze to the youngster's eyes black eyes. "Dibert? How do you say?"

"I want to be Red Shadow."

"Rollenby?"

"I want to be Red Shadow, but I also want to live. Let's hear your plan."

"Dibert will knife him."

The youth gasped.

"And he'll live through it," she added, looking at Rollenby. "Getting in will not be difficult, taking Eldone will be easy - but getting out will be tricky. So listen carefully."

She squatted and drew the outline of the courtyard in a patch of snow, showing the huge double gates where they would enter. "We unload the packhorse and cache the gear. We rig a litter between the pack horse and Dibert's horse. We smear burn ointment all over Dibert's face, neck, and torso, and wrap him in bandages and blankets. We put him on the litter, and you and I lead the litter bearing horses up to the Sanctuary gates. And you and I, Rollenby, are wearing Hardin's livery, looking and sounding official and important, as well as in a frantic hurry.

"They let us in, and we ride the horses no further in than this." She placed an X just inside the gates, so close that they couldn't swing shut behind them.

"We demand the Chief Healer and none other treat our prisoner. We stand still and make Eldone come down to us. And Dibert, the moment Eldone unwraps you, you take him out. In the confusion, we make our escape. And that's the tricky part. If there's time, we have to cut Dibert's horse loose from the litter. If not, we have to double up. Dibert is light and could double with either of us."

"It'll never work," said Rollenby.

"With real Red Shadow men to back me, I'd have no trouble making it work. Are you telling me that Silent Breath is a shoddy outfit?"

"That's the attitude that got you in trouble," accused Rollenby.

"No it isn't. The attitude that got me in trouble was that all Assassin cadres have to obey the law, even Silent Breath."

"Are we going to rehash this old argument?" asked Dibert. "Maybe Silent Breath shouldn't have accepted that one commission, but you can't tell me that a Healer like Eldone actually deserves to die - except that the King wants him dead."

"I'm leading Red Shadow now," said Shiranan, "and I say the world will be better off without Eldone stirring up treason. Not because the King says so - because I say so. He'll be no loss to the world." And that was the law. From King to peasant, anyone who wanted to buy an Assassination had to accept the judgement of an Assassin's cadre on whether the quarry deserved to die. Shiranan heaved the pack off the horse. "Now, do either of you know how to rig a break-away litter, and be sure it will come apart when we want it to?"

"No problem," said Dibert. "Leave it to me."

"Good, because your life may depend on it working. Rollenby, cut some poles for the litter."

Grudgingly, Rollenby took the camp ax and trudged off to the scrubby tree line.

Meanwhile, Shiranan stowed her most precious possession, the Seeing Box, with the camp gear that couldn't be plausibly carried on their mounts, and shook out the uniforms she'd demanded from Hardin. The King had been so astonished at the re-activation of Red Shadow, and the renewed possibility of getting rid of Eldone, that he had outfitted them lavishly, and even offered a big bonus when they completed the job - a bonus large enough to set them up in business in fine style.

After Red Shadow had been wiped out trying to kill Eldone, the King had no legal way to stop Eldone. The law provided that any quarry that stood against the entire cadre and survived had bought his life and his safety. No other cadre could accept that commission. But it also provided that anyone who wished to revive a cadre so destroyed had to complete its final mission to regain honor.

At last, they had the litter rigged and Dibert bandaged. As the youngster stood testing the swing of his arms, his best dagger gripped in his hand, Rollenby declared, "This isn't going to work. Eldone is jinxed."

"Rollenby, that's nonsense!" snapped Shiranan, alarmed by the spark of fear in Dibert's eyes. "Red Shadow never reached Eldone. He never really defended himself. He got off on a legal technicality when a blizzard wiped out Red Shadow."

"How do you know?" asked Rollenby. "You weren't there. You'd already been taken into Silent Breath."

At the time, she'd had an uncle in Silent Breath, and sending her to her family had seemed the best thing to do. Later, she'd been glad she hadn't died with Red Shadow. Now, she wasn't so sure any more. "Red Shadow's death was an accident. There was no hint of magic around the bodies that were located. There was no sign of violence other than the wolves making a meal on them."

"And who brought down the snow? Who sent the starving wolves?" Rollenby taunted her, but he moved briskly to position the horses and mount.

"It was just an accident. Hardin's best magicians investigated, and I saw the report." She didn't say that she'd had to steal into the King's castle in the dead of night to peek at that report.

She'd grieved for a week, and then realized that her life's ambition had been to get back into Red Shadow. It was impossible now. So she had dedicated herself to making Silent Breath as tight an outfit as Red Shadow had been. And that was when she'd discovered the Silent Breath leader, Rissel, had been corrupt, not just lazy. He'd taken commissions for double, and even triple the normal price, to kill people he knew should not die. He'd sold out for money.

The fourth time she caught him at it, and had proof, she'd called him out on the matter. And she'd killed him. But only Rollenby and Dibert had sided with her afterwards. The three of them had been expelled from Silent Breath, and no other cadre would have them.

Unexpectedly, Dibert said, voice muffled by bandages, "It doesn't matter whether Eldone won fair last time or not. Even if he used a magician last time, he doesn't have that advantage now because he doesn't know we're coming. Let's go before some magician does spot what we're up to."

"We really don't have any choice, do we?" commented Rollenby, gathering his reigns to mount. "Ever since you killed Rissel, Rissel himself has left us no choice." His eyes went significantly to the Shade over her head. It had been there since the moment she killed Rissel in violation of her cadre oath not to turn her skills against her fellows. The Shade was Rissel, waiting for her to die so he could exact full vengeance on her.

Inwardly, she flinched, but she met Rollenby's eyes steadily. "You can't see it. You're no magician."

"But I can feel it. That's probably why I'm scared."

"If you think my being Shadowed is going to throw your timing off in a fight, then now's a good time to leave."

"I can't leave, and you know it. Who else but a cadre would have an Assassin around, and what cadre would take me now? Just like you two, I have no choice but to retrieve the honor of Red Shadow. What I do after that - well, we'll see."

"I'm glad to know where you stand." She swung into her saddle and grabbed up the lead reins of the horse near her.

Without missing a beat, Rollenby matched her moves, and together they drove the horses into a dangerous gallop down the mountain to join the trail up to the Sanctuary.

On the last scramble down virgin hillside, the pack horse slid and stumbled, jerking the litter and Dibert's horse off balance. "Hey!" yelled Dibert from the litter. "What are you trying to do, dump me?"

"Relax," called Rollenby, "you can't fall off. I tied you down myself."

"Shut up, Rollenby," ordered Shiranan. "The boy's just scared. He can't see." She dropped back a couple paces and called over to Dibert, "We have to get the horses into a realistic lather by the time we get up there, or they'll never buy our story. We're on the trail now, so it should be smoother going. Hang onto your knife and stay loose. Everything depends on you, and I know you can do it."

With that, she resumed her lead position beside Rollenby, and firmly set aside all criticism of her cadre mates. Later there would be time to train them.

She fixed her gaze on the Blue Ramparts, the uncrossable mountain range that rose behind the Sanctuary, looming ultra crisp and clear in the mountain air. The trail twisted and wound between sheer stone walls. She noted the narrow places which must fill completely with snow during the winter. Her mind automatically identified the ambush points, good defensive positions, and climbable routes out of the canyon.

As she steadied down to the job in hand, her perceptions sharpened, and she was aware of every scraggly bush clinging to the bare stone, every dark shadow that could be a cave, every scurrying movement of bird or rodent. The sharp clatter of their horse's hooves, the creak of leather and harsh breathing reminded her of other attack runs, other times, other places - and of her parents. There had been a time when she had ridden that litter, blind and terrified, knowing everything in the plan depended on her.

She'd been but seven years old, and she'd taken her first kill - with just such a knife as Dibert now clutched. A sense of poetic rightness gripped her, carrying her high on a soaring charge of energy. It's going to work. It really is.

And then they were nearing the gates, and she could see the lookout's back as he stood on the parapet above the gate and watched the proceedings within. "Rollenby. Now!"

He drew a deep breath, raked her with a burning glance that said, The results of this are on your head, cupped his hands around his mouth and called, "Open in the name of King Hardin! Open, I say!"

They kept their gallop steady as they approached, clearly expecting the gates to be open by the time they arrived. "Again!" she urged.

Rollenby bellowed, "In the name of the King, I command you, open the gates!"

At last the lookout gave a startled jump and turned to see them bearing down full tilt on the gates. He bent forward at the waist, squinting, then leaped aside and began working levers and yelling over his shoulder at those below.

Shiranan kept her face straight, but inside she was chuckling as she visualized the scene within. The dense packed Healers would be pushing and shoving away from the now moving gates. In their haste, they would be close to violating their oaths of non-violence as they scrambled to avoid the massive wood and metal gates. And that would clear just the space she wanted cleared, and not one foot more.

Gauging the size of the gates, she adjusted their speed so they'd come to a halt at the edge of the crowd, but still blocking the gates open. The lookout was wearing a blue Healer's robe, so no matter what happened, he wouldn't close the gates and risk hurting the intruders.

They pulled to a skidding halt exactly at the edge of the crowd, people all over eyeing the intruders' King's uniforms and muttering. The undertone of distrust was clear to Shiranan's heightened senses, but she ignored it and signaled Rollenby. He was wearing the ranking insignia, and she only a scout's uniform because he had the voice that would carry best.

"Chief Healer, in the name of King Hardin, attend!" called Rollenby.

His words were relayed up to the dais, and Eldone and Norby moved slowly down into the crowd.

As they got close enough to hear Rollenby, he ordered, "Quickly, man, in the name of the King! This man is a spy, and he must be healed so we can question him!"

Eldone moved faster, and Shiranan could almost feel him squirming. Here in public like this, he dared not seem disloyal. And that would be his downfall.

Eldone finally reached the edge of the crowd, Norby at his heels. Shiranan swung down off her mount and positioned the two litter-bearing horses so the Healer could step between them where he'd be securely trapped. "Come quickly, Chief Healer. The man has been badly burned. He might die at any moment."

But despite her orders, Eldone pushed Norby forward. "This man is my best burn specialist."

Norby came toward the horses, swinging the loose sleeves of his formal robe and cloak back up on his shoulders. "Step aside, and let me take a look."

Dibert would not know Norby's voice from Eldone's. Loudly, Shiranan said, "Not you, the Chief Healer."

"He doesn't take this sort of case any more. Step aside." He pushed past her and stepped over the rope holding the litter to he pack horse and immediately bent over Dibert, nose wrinkling at the ointment as he released the lashings over the blankets so he could get at the patient. "Hold the horses steady, please," he ordered absently. "I sense no pain, so the man must be unconscious. Have you given him any medication?" His hands continued their swift movements.

He was already unwrapping the bandages when Shiranan protested again, "The King will hear of this. You're violating a direct order of -"

In a soothing, low voice, Norby muttered, "If the King wants this man to live, then the King will -"

The last layer of bandage came away and Dibert's unblemished face appeared under Norby's hands. He was blinded by the sudden light, squinting up into Norby's face, very aware of Norby's utter astonishment. Automatically, Norby's hands continued to unwrap the blanket binding the patient, and Shiranan saw astonishment turn to comprehension as Dibert's Assassin's cadre insignia came to light.

The moment he was free, Dibert swept into attack, his knife arcing toward Norby's chest.

Shiranan didn't see what Norby did, for at that moment she knew they had only one chance left. She drew her short sword and went for Eldone, who was still observing from the edge of the crowd.

Behind her, Rollenby's horse reared, and she heard the dull smack of Rollenby's body hitting the paving stones.

And then, out of nowhere, Norby was between her and Eldone, shouting, "Lewin, run!"

In sheer reflex, her arm drove her sword at the enemy. She saw it happening, but had already committed the fatal error of underestimating her opponent. Momentum drove her forward as, with lightning moves, Norby spun in place, his foot coming up to connect with her sword, and then the sword was flying through the air in a glittering arc.

It had been the perfect execution of a Red Shadow move she had not faced in practice in over ten years. Still, the old reflexes asserted themselves, and she shifted her balance, tumbled head over heels and came up in a crouch to her opponent's right, beginning to maneuver toward Eldone - who had not moved.

Behind her, the sword clattered to the stone.

Then she saw the telltale dirt scuffs on Norby's shoulder, and the tears where his cloak and robe had parted, leaving him standing in his white shift. Obviously, he had escaped Dibert by rolling under the pack horse and under Rollenby's horse, goosing Rollenby's horse as he passed.

The man was no Healer - he was Red Shadow cadre if she'd ever met one. And she was Red Shadow's leader. I can't fight him. I can't. She circled warily, and noticed over her shoulder that Rollenby was on his feet again, helping Dibert release his horse. At least that.

She took one more careful step sideways, and Norby feinted, spun and came in for a serious exchange. Ready, this time, she tilted her body sideways and let the intended blow slide by. Only then, did she realize he had forced her back away from Eldone - who still had not moved. And worse yet, he had never intended to land that blow. She could have stood her ground.

"You're Red Shadow!" she accused.

"Not any more, I'm not. I'm Norby, a Healer of the Blue Caves. You're not Red Shadow. Red Shadow is dead."

Rollenby and Dibert had come up behind her now, and Norby's careful shift in position kept the three of them from reaching Eldone.

"The Red Shadow lives! In us!" Shiranan corrected. "We can't fight you. You must honor your first oath and join us to cleanse our name."

"Let's get out of here," said Rollenby.

"In a moment," replied Shiranan. Some of the patients who could wield a sword had descended from the dormitory and were forcing their way through the densely packed crowd of Healers, apprentices, and assistants. They had to leave before they were outnumbered.

She began dancing a pattern around Norby, hoping to get through his guard, hoping Rollenby and Dibert would stay out of this, for they weren't trained in Red Shadow's style.

"Lewin!" called Norby again. "Get back!"

At last the Chief Healer found his voice. Choked with emotions Shiranan couldn't name, he replied, "Nathan, what do you think you're doing?"

There was an answering mutter from the crowd, at last shock turning to reaction in the sworn non-combatants. She caught snatches of comments. ". . . your Oath, Nathan . . ." ". . . you realize!" ". . . blood on your hands . . . ." ". . . an Assassin, and he fooled all of us!" ". . . just hope they kill him, then . . . ."

"They don't want you, Norby. Come with us. Help us! And Red Shadow's Honor will be redeemed."

She saw it all then. Norby, the only survivor of Red Shadow, too young to finish the job alone, had sold himself into the Sanctuary in order to gain Eldone's confidence. "Norby, this is what you've been waiting for!" she urged.

Behind her, Rollenby's feet scuffed as he began a move toward Eldone, and she thought, No, not yet, Stupid!

Norby's face contorted as if he'd bitten into something rotten, and then he moved too fast to see. First he was coming at her, full out to kill, and she set to meet him, then suddenly Rollenby was flying through the air, screaming, and Dibert's squirming body flew across the four feet separating them and crashed into her, as he blurted, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Shiranan!"

She caved in with the impact, and was pleased when Dibert rolled with her, minimizing the damage, and they both came to their feet facing Norby. Can train that boy. Meanwhile, though, she heard a sickening crack when Rollenby hit the ground. She knew that sound too well. His neck or back is broken.

A general movement among the Healers surged toward Rollenby, and for a moment, she thought Norby was going to abandon the fight to Heal the man. Then Eldone dashed forward and grabbed Norby's shift, pulling at him. "Nathan! If you've killed -"

"I didn't mean to hurt him!" grunted Norby, dancing away from Eldone. "Red Shadow's the best! Lewin, you haven't got a chance. Get out of here!" All the while, his attention was riveted on Shiranan, for now he realized that Rollenby and Dibert were no threat.

Eldone spat, "Didn't mean - ! Your Oath, Nathan! Did you or did you not just consecrate your hands -"

Shiranan saw the blood drain from Norby's face, and in that instant she struck, using one of Silent Breath's best moves, one Norby wasn't expecting for she hadn't broken Red Shadow style once since she'd stupidly let him disarm her.

She almost reached Eldone. She had a perfect shot with the heel of her hand to the point of his jaw, and would have broken his neck, had Dibert not tried to help. He chose that moment to dive through and knock Eldone off his feet.

As Shiranan followed through into recovery, and rolled clear, she saw the convalescent soldiers boiling through the edge of the crowd. No one loyal to King Hardin would be defending Eldone, so she had no compunctions about killing them. They were in night dresses and slippers, not battle gear. She could probably take out five or six before they got her.

"Forget Eldone," she muttered to Dibert who had ended up near her. "We've got to take Norby hostage. Come on!"

She dragged the boy with her toward the horses, and only then noticed Dibert's knife sticking into the pack horse's neck - more of Norby's handiwork. The animal had collapsed, still kicking out its life on the paving stones. The whole action had taken only moments.

But she found Norby's torn cloak on the stones under Rollenby's horse and swept it up as she turned to face Norby, who had followed her. They faced off again.

"You'll never touch him while I live," said Norby, and the words had the power of an oath behind them. "Get out of here."

Suppressing a shiver, she fingered the cloak and said, to give Dibert time to turn the horses, "I intend to. And if I have to, I'll kill him without touching him. I am Red Shadow."

"I believe you are. I don't know how it's possible, but I believe you are."

An armed mercenary charged up behind Norby and went for Shiranan, sword extended. She moved a fraction to her left, and the sword cut air. Then a knife was sticking out of the man's chest and he collapsed. Dibert, she surmised, had grabbed his knife from the horse's neck and thrown true. Good boy.

She grinned at Norby as if conceding the field. "Nevertheless, Red Shadow lives, as you can see." Then she flung the cloak over his head, gave an expert twist, and wound him up in it. One chop with the side of her hand to Norby's neck and he was unconscious; a quick assist from the mounted Dibert, and Norby was slung, head down, over his saddlebow; two steps and a leap, and she was mounted on her own horse.

From that height she could see Rollenby's motionless form, and the Healers bending over him, doing nothing but watching her. He's dead.

She gave a shout and spurred her horse into a full gallop straight ahead out the gates. It was downhill, and though the horses had looked hard ridden, they were strong mounts who were not nearly spent yet.

The throng closed in behind them, bewildered and paralyzed with shock, as noncombatants generally were when things happened fast.

Away free. We've made it. We've broken the jinx. Next time, we'll get him. She grinned over at Dibert, who gave her a high sign.

Then her horse stumbled and went down under her. She screamed, but somehow she took the forward roll in a neat tuck, and though she struck sharp rocks and saw stars, she lived through it.

Dazed, her world going black around the edges, she saw Dibert pull his horse up hard, and begin to turn. An arrow came out of nowhere and struck Dibert through the neck.

Her head snapped around and she spotted the archer atop one of the still open gates. He was balanced precariously, but shooting down at them. An arrow stuck out of her horse's flank, and another out of its side.

Dibert sagged sideways off his horse, his eyes rolling up. The spurts of blood tapered off quickly. She forced her feet under her, made desperate by the weakness in her knees, and pulled Dibert's body down, scrambling to keep Norby's limp form from following. Then she mounted Dibert's horse and forced its head around. "Hyah!" she yelled, whipping the beast's flank. "Hyah!"

END CHAPTER ONE