HAWK & SABLE | TWENTY-ONE

  THEY FOUND HER, a crumpled heap on the ground, attacker nowhere in sight.

When Ciri hadn't returned after an hour, they'd sent Io out to search for her. Io had found her here and fetched Ronan— that was the Crow, in a hurry. Between the two, they'd carried Ciri to a corner before the latter had headed off to find help.

Laurence stood next to her now, face grim, watching her limp body laid on a bed in Gui Yan Gong. Carrying her back to Zui Hua Gong would bring them to William's attention, and questions would be asked. The healer Iron Wolf they had brought in was inspecting her unconscious form.

"Head injury," he announced after a bit of prodding. "She'll be unconscious for a bit. Just moderate, I think, probably hit her head when she fell."

The Briar reached into her pocket and took out a knife, small and sharp. "She dropped this. It's hers, not the attacker's."

Only a few people were gathered in the bedroom. Danna Pang took the blade. "No blood. She took it out but didn't have a chance to use it, and Ciri's fast. This attacker is fast as the wind, then. Fuck."

'The attack wasn't to kill." The Wolf straightened. "Or they did a very poor job. Blunt damage. Don't even think a weapon was unsheathed. She was slammed against the wall— you could see the bruises on her left side."

Danna took that in and gave it some thought, tapping her chin. "They could have finished her off while she was unconscious. But they didn't. This couldn't have been an assassination attempt."

"Not a coincidence," Laurence said. "She's prodding too close. But why her?"

"If she was targeted because we went to the Du's, it makes sense," Rhys mused. "They wouldn't dare attack me. I'm wiccai. If it was just a general attack, Ciri walking alone in the dark would have made her vulnerable."

"Two attacks in one night. One fatal, one not. We're being played with." Danna placed the back of her hand on Ciri's forehead, still clutching the knife in the other. Laurence watched, trying to keep himself uninterested and cool, ignoring the searing panic rising in him second by second..

She was attacked. And he wasn't there to protect her. All the people who spoke of the legendary Little Sables never talked about how they were at their weakest. Laurence had seen Cassalyn Diao in a similar state mere weeks ago. He'd laughed, then, at Marcus' panicking and horror. He knew what that felt like now.

This was more than just friendly protectiveness. This was trouble. But he understood the appeal.

Not the first time he'd been in love. He liked to consider himself a bit of an expert.

Veronica had been like this, when consumption finally started finishing its job. He'd only caught a few glimpses of it, near the end, when he had finished his work in Kon Ria. He had rushed home, dropped off all his things at Borewood Street, and went straight to her home.

She died two days later.

The Wolf placed a glowing hand on her arm, shutting his eyes, concentrating. Healing her, probably. Laurence didn't dare ask. He turned to the women gathered in the room. "Any idea who it was?"

The Briar hesitated for a bit. "The attacks aren't lining up."

"What do you mean?" Danna removed her hand, taking a step back.

"The two former deaths were all knives under the sternums, right?" A nod from the other two in the room. "Huang guniang— that's the maid who was killed— was killed by a knife to the throat. And Ciri's attack wasn't even lethal."

"She's still unconscious and bruised," Laurence said testily. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the spy is either deliberately changing methods to fuck with us, or they've enlisted someone else's help." She scratched her neck. "Asteria and Io are searching right now, and the Wolves are hunting for a trail for the murder, since both attacks are very recent. It does clear anyone at the banquet, which doesn't leave us with a lot of options."

"It doesn't," Danna pointed out, "if someone else was enlisted. This change in methods could mean a different person committed them. Convenient way to get one person cleared first. Did they find the murder weapon?"

The girl shook her head, suddenly looking frail and tired. "We found nothing."

There was sound outside, the faint hum of a hushed conversation. A moment later, Princess Irina walked into the room, eyes immediately snapping to Ciri. "She'll be alright?" The princess demanded.

"Perfectly fine," the healer confirmed. "I'm just trying to help her wake up now. She will soon anyway, just hurrying the process."

Princess Irina gave a brash nod. "We found the paintings—" the room let out a breath of relief "—in a burning heap in the kitchens. No one was there. We fished out what we could, which wasn't much."

"Sa yen mi hou," Danna muttered. Laurence blinked. That wasn't the dialect of Saian most of them spoke. Then he remembered that the girl had probably grown up in Xiang Zhou, where her older sister held land, and would be more comfortable with her native dialect instead. Those words translated to... killing to keep mouths quiet. Something like that.

"So it's similar to Miss Ai's case, except this time they actually got their hands on the paintings?"

"Yes, her quarters were completely ransacked. We think we found where she had kept the paintings. In the ceiling rafters." Princess Irina hesitated. "This wasn't the same person."

"It wasn't," Ciri croaked. All attention in the room snapped to her. The Wolf, apparently satisfied, removed his hand and stood up, practically beaming.

"Ciri!" Before he could stop himself, Laurence took two strides forward, carefully helping her up. No point in trying to keep her lying down. His hand burned at the awareness that their skin was only separated by a cotton gown, but he ignored the sensation.

Danna let out a breath of relief. "Good grief, Diao. You gave us all a heart attack."

Ciri mustered a weak grin and continued, "It was the Panther."

The room went dead quiet. They all knew the Panther, of course. Laurence and Ciri had both had the misfortune of meeting him while under Hua Jueying's captivity. Apparently, Ciri had known something about the man that had made him turn against his employer and a blind eye as they had taken Hua Jueying. It was one of those things they didn't question.

"Didn't he help you?" He asked, incredulous.

"He's a mercenary," Ciri muttered, pressing her fingers against her temple. "He works for whoever he owes favours to, or whoever has more money. I've taken what he owed me. We're equal now, clean slate. Our mole seems to have hired him."

Danna frowned. "You shouldn't be sitting up."

Ciri waved her hand. "My head is pounding like the devil, but other than that I'm fine." Danna didn't seem convinced, but grudgingly helped keep her upright.

"The Panther makes sense." Irina narrowed her eyes. "That explains the other murder, then. But why now?"

"To seemingly clear everyone at the banquet, maybe? Or just to make their life a little bit easier. Constant murder isn't fun." Though the words were light, the Briar's expression was dark. "Guards aren't going to stop the Panther. He's one of, if not the best mercenaries you could get."

"He wasn't trying to kill me. I'd be dead if that was the case." Ciri extended her arm, and Danna swooped in with a cup of hot water. Laurence held her as she drank. "Either the Panther felt some sliver of mercy for me— improbable, or he wasn't hired to kill me, just to give me a scare. A warning for all of us."

"We're damned not stopping, the better the mole realises this the better," Irina growled, pacing the room. "The damned Panther of Joskum. I need to tell the Emperor. This is an actual security threat."

"Zhang daren needs to be informed as well. We'll have Wolves patrolling the Palace. The Panther's good, but we're better." The Briar stepped forward and placed Ciri's knife on her lap. She grabbed it, as if the small blade gave her comfort. Perhaps it did. Ciri wasn't too different from her older sister in that aspect.

"Rhys, go find Io and tell her to spread the news. The Panther's in town and he wants to play. You go and find Zhang daren before requesting a meeting with the Emperor on my behalf. The Duke of Shui Xiang too."

"Zun ming." The Briar curtsied and left, not leaving a second to spare. Seems like everyone got the urgency of the situation now that one of their own had been taken down.

The Princess turned to Ciri. "You, Miss, are staying here to recuperate. Lord Archsham, mind watching over our friend? Both of your reputations will be alright, no one would be walking in here. Danna, come with me."

"Of course."

Irina turned a critical eye to the healer awaiting orders, still as a statue, standing besides the ben. "Will she be alright?"

"Perfectly alright, Your Highness, not much else I could do for her."

"Then you go as well," she ordered. "Someone else might need you. You'll be alright, Cirinique?"

"I've gone through worse. Go. Laurence will watch over me."

With one final nod, Princess Irina's gown swept behind her as she left the warmly-lit bedchamber. Ciri let out a sigh and fell back into bed. Laurence was there to catch her fall, slowly putting her down.

"Go back to bed, Diao."

She grumbled something unintelligible but surprisingly obeyed his orders.

✢

CIRI WOKE UP to a dark room. She sucked in a breath, momentarily panicking before her body went limp again. She was in Gui Yan Gong, in one of the empty bedchambers Irina kept here for god knew what purpose. Something nefarious, probably, or to sleep in when she stayed here too late. A question for Io later. If anyone knew, she would.

"Ciri?" The sound of her name was a harsh whisper against the night's quiet. Ciri blinked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.

Groggily, she said, "Laurence?"

A few footsteps and moments later, the room was lit up by a small candle, revealing Laurence Dumont glancing down at her. She didn't have to ask her question. "It's three in the morning, go back to bed."

"Wish... it was that easy."

That made him chuckle. When he finally responded, his words were dry and sardonic. "Trust me, I'd know."

"Water... please."

"Oh damn." He placed the candle down, reaching for the jug of water someone had left there, pouring it into a small cup before helping her up to drink it. "Probably should have given you that the moment you woke up."

"Shows that you haven't nursed many invalids before, proving my confidence in the Arecian Secret Service was not ill-founded."

He didn't laugh like she had expected him to. When he spoke, he sounded almost sad. "I've nursed plenty of people before. It's just been a while."

His voice said he didn't want to discuss this, but Ciri couldn't help but ask. "Who?"

He was quiet for a while, as if he wouldn't answer. When she finished the water, she handed it to him and he placed it down on the table. She slipped back down into the blankets and shut her eyes. She felt him sit next to her.

"Her name was Veronica."

Her eyes opened. The way he spoke her name told her everything she needed to know. Suddenly, she felt a pang of fierce jealousy. Here was one girl who found her prince. But from the way he was acting, it hadn't been a happily ever after, had it?

"Who was she?"

He was stroking her hair now, strong fingers gliding between the strands of ash brown. "She was the younger daughter of the Earl of Corran."

Corran... Corran... "I know the older daughter. Married to an Eibenburen lord. Old name. A marquess, I think. Never met the younger."

"She was sickly. Consumption." And Ciri immediately saw how this story ended. Suddenly, a lot of things made sense. Her mind trickled down the memories she had of Laurence, pinpointing a few occasions.

"It was during Kon Ria, wasn't it?"

He sounded amused when he replied. "Was it that obvious? She was becoming very sick when I left for Kon Ria, but I couldn't stay. She died shortly after I returned."

"I thought you were distracted. I thought it was your father."

"It was, partially," he admitted. "I was grieving him and being angry, and there she was. She must have known even then how sickly she was, and how little time she had left, but she didn't care. She was a ray of sunshine in a dark place of my life."

"You loved her." The words were soft, breathed out.

"I was twenty-two, mad with grief that I couldn't show, and desperately lonely. Veronica felt like the only one in the world who could understand."

"You loved her and she died."

"Yes."

"You persevered."

"Yes."

He was bloody amazing. She'd heard what happened to Jack Dumont. It was a lesson old, wily spies loved to tell the younger generation. What happened when love consumed a man, and then he lost it? A legendary spy who lost the love of his life and his will to live with it. In circles like hers, it was a tragedy they murmured about next to quiet fireplaces. But it wasn't a story to Laurence. It was memory.

"That was strong of you. Braver men have crumbled when faced with such loss."

"I couldn't be my father. I'd lived in his shadow my entire life, I couldn't let him beat me there too." He twirled a lock of her hair around his fingers. She did her best to ignore the sensation, keeping calm.

"You lived to spite him?" She kept just enough humour in her voice to lighten the mood.

"In a way. And... it sounds bad, but I just... moved on, you know? Like, it happened. I've lost other friends before. It hurt more but..."

"You felt like it was supposed to uproot your entire world," she murmured. "But it didn't. I know what that feels like."

He cracked a smile. "I suppose you do."

She had been an orphan in one of the most powerful families in the country, then a child on the streets. When Cass had been recruited into the Arecian Secret Service, she'd been sent away from the one constant in her life to the care of Lady Kuroki. When her great-aunt, Vinelle, Duchess of Dai had finally found and came to collect them, Ciri had answered, "I want to stay." Her great-aunt had been disappointed, but she'd understood.

So Ciri stayed. She carved out a space for herself so that she'd never have to wander from place to place, unsure of her purpose ever again.

"Has there been any progress? On the case, I mean?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about that. Io came in once, but there's nothing important worth noting in her report."

"I hate lying here, useless. You should go help them. I'll be fine."

He shook his head. "Then they'd be busy watching me as well, instead of focusing on the case. They don't trust me."

"It's nothing personal," she felt the need to say.

He smiled. "I'm not offended. It's perfectly expected. But I'm better off waiting with you, really. I'd just be a distraction out there. Go back to bed, Ciri."

She yawned. "Fine. But you should get some sleep too."

"I will," he replied, patting her bed once. Twice. "Very soon. We want you best to be awake and well by tomorrow."

"I shall try." Then she shut her eyes and let sleep claim her.