The room was absolutely identical to the room he'd had below. Dar was there, busily putting up his art back on the walls, and the young man gave Tarrin a look of profound relief as he entered. Tarrin put his paws on the Novice's shoulders wordlessly. "Are you alright? Did you kill her? What happened?"
"I'm fine, no, she's not dead, and we fought for a while before I got in a lucky kick," he said with a gentle smile. "I also have a name, Dar. That man gave me a name before the Wraith killed him. That may be why the Wraith killed him."
"What name?"
"Kravon."
Dar gasped slightly. "The Kravon?" he said in shock.
"Who is he?"
"He's a renegade," he said as Tarrin let go of him and took of the too-small robe that had been found for him. His belongings were in the chest-they'd done nothing but move the whole chest. "I heard about him from my parents. He's a Wizard, and he supposedly leads a group of other Wizards who go around stealing magical artifacts. My father said there's more to it than that, though. He said that they're trying to do something."
"Why would he want to kill me?" Tarrin asked himself. "I'm nobody."
"Maybe it's not who you are," Dar said. "Maybe it's what you are."
"No, why kill me because I'm a Were-cat when he sent the Were-cat that changed me?" he countered. "He was at it before that happened anyway." He pulled on a new pair of trousers and pulled out a shirt. The door opened abruptly, and Tarrin and Dar were staring the Keeper right in the face. They both stood and bowed awkwardly, Tarrin hastily throwing his shirt on afterward.
"I see you're alright," she said.
"Well enough, Keeper," he said.
"What happened?"
"Two men tried to kill me in my sleep, then Jesmind took advantage of the confusion and attacked me when I went to the baths to clean up," he told her plainly. "One of the men gave me a name before he died," he told her triumphantly. "He said he works for Kravon."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing about it. Tarrin seemed to understand in that instant that there was an awful lot that the Keeper knew, things that would answer all of the questions that he had, and that she simply was not going to tell him. She knew why they were trying to kill him. She knew who was trying to kill him too, he was certain of it. He also came to understand in that instant that she wanted something from him. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. He was here specifically because they wanted something. And that made him nervous.
"I'll have someone look into it," she said shortly. "We can't find Jesmind, but that won't be like that for long."
"You'll never catch her, Keeper," he told her.
Her eyes seem to flash momentarily. "You have a low opinion of us, boy," she said in a steely tone.
"No ma'am, I just know Jesmind. She could hide in plain sight so well you'd step on her. She hid from all of us from the day after she bit me to the day we met in the forest, and that was no mean feat. Trust me, Keeper, you won't find her. Don't even bother."
"I'll have it done anyway," she said. "It amuses me."
"As you will, Keeper."
"Well, things will get back to normal around here now," she said. "I've put men at the entrance to this hallway to prevent any more midnight guests, so it shouldn't happen again."
"Thank you, Keeper," he said politely.
"You two try to get some sleep," she said, then she turned and walked out without another word.
"That was strange," Dar said.
Tarrin looked at the door with his eyes narrowed. The first stirrings of mistrust were coming to life inside him. Things were not as they appeared here in the Tower. And he meant to find out what was going on.
The next attempt on his life came the very next day, and his wariness from the previous night had been what saved his life. Tarrin and Allia were out on the field, practicing, when the fur on the back of his ears stood up. In that absolute instant, he knew something was wrong. He lunged forward and drove Allia to the ground, even as something buzzed spitefully over his head. There was a cry of pain seconds after than, and the sound of someone falling. Then it was chaos. Tarrin looked up, and saw that one of the students, laying on the ground near them, had a crossbow quarrel through his neck. His eyes were already vacant and glazed. Had that bolt hit him, it would have hit him right between the shoulder blades.
"Spread out and capture anyone with a crossbow!" Valden, one of the Knight instructors, bellowed instantly. One of the attending Sorcerers rushed forward, but he could see that he was too late. So he closed the boy's eyes, then pulled out the quarrel.
It was tipped with silver.
"That was meant for you," Allia said grimly.
"I know," Tarrin replied quietly. This young man was totally innocent, a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That was one more thing he was going to flay from the hide of whoever ordered the attack. His eyes went flat, and his ears laid back. "And I'm going to find who shot it."
"I'll come with you," she said, and they got up and darted away.
It took a bit of doing to get them to let Tarrin have the crossbow. It was found between two buildings, in a narrow alley, and Tarrin more or less threatened to maim anyone that wouldn't let him hold it. Tarrin put the stock near his nose, ignoring the scents all around him as he locked in on the scent of the man that had held it, and had shot it at him. Once he had it, he checked in the alley and found the scent trail. Five Knights, including Valden and Faalken, hurried along after Tarrin and Allia as Tarrin followed the man's trail. It played out, though, when it got onto the road that led to the main gate of the compound, and then outside.
"You there!" Faalken boomed at the gate guards. "Who's gone through here in the last hour?"
"Two wagons, five troops of guards, and ten visitors, sir," the gate sentry replied immediately.
"Anyone looking like they were nervous about something?"
"No sir," he replied.
"It had to be someone walking," Tarrin said. "I can still smell his scent. He walked through the gate."
"Who's walked out of here?"
"Just two troops of guards and one visitor," the man said. "It was a woman and her two bodyguards."
They looked at Tarrin, who shrugged. "Don't look at me," he said. "I just know it was a human man."
"It could have been any of them," Allia said. "Even one of the guards, or perhaps a man in a guard's uniform."
"Maybe," Faalken grunted.
"This isn't the place to discuss it," Valden said. "This place is in crossbow range of any of those buildings across the street."
Tarrin swept his eyes across the area beyond the fence. "Good point," Faalken agreed. "Let's get Tarrin back to the barracks."
Valden was one of the older knights, a gruff, no-nonsense kind of man that seemed to have absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever. He was held in very high regard among the Knights, though, because he was extraordinarily good at the small details that made a successful campaign, and he was a fearsome fighter. He was the most practical, sober man Tarrin had ever seen. Valden led them as the five Knights formed a defenseive perimeter around Tarrin, putting their steel armor in the way of another quarrel. Tarrin watched with an alert wariness, taking in and analyzing every sight and sound and smell for possible threat. They reached the barracks that served as the cadets' quarters. "We've got to tell the Keeper about this," Faalken said. "Someone is going to an awful lot of trouble to kill you, Tarrin. They've been trying since the day we left Aldreth, and they're not afraid to come into the Tower to do it, either."
"What can she do?" one of the other Knights, a hulking man named Umber, asked.