To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(70)

“Did you get any information from reading the thoughts of that last group?” Yavi asked while he fished in his pouch for a lockpick.

“Only a little. I saw Uman’s face again, and what looked like that same ceremony that Terijin was involved in.”

“Uman must have been connected to the son of Thakur and his rebellion.” Yavi used the lockpick in the keyhole. It broke. “Yajna’s better at this than I am,” he muttered as he dug in his pouch for another pick. The second try worked, and he carefully opened the door to peer inside. “It looks clear. Let’s go.”

They slipped inside and shut the door behind them, then hurried along in the shadows against the wall until they found a staircase leading up to the main sanctuary. He motioned to Jiandra to stay close behind while he ascended, wanting to gain the surprise advantage over any attackers inside the temple. At the top of the stairs, all was still. Yavi started down the main aisle, scanning under the benches for any sign of rebels hiding.

The front doors burst open, and a group of fighters rushed in. Yavi drew his swords and motioned Jiandra to stay back.

“Usurper!” the attacker in front screamed, and the eight or so others behind him started running down the wide aisle.

“You defile a temple of Tejeshwar!” Yavi thundered at them, brandishing his swords. “Have you no respect for what’s holy?”

Their leader threw back his head, a strange-sounding cackle erupting from his throat before he lunged at Yavi with his shortsword. Yavi cut him down easily with a cross-slice, then spun and killed two more who ran up from behind the leader. Yavi flipped his swords and cut down the next attacker, then leapt and spun to kill two more.

When they were all dead, Jiandra hurried to check on him. “Whew. None of them even came close to cutting you.”

“Let’s find the priests.”

“We are here, Mahaj,” a voice behind them called out.

Yavi turned to see the priest and his apprentice emerging from a cabinet near the altar at the front of the sanctuary. They rose to their full height and bowed their heads.

Yavi inclined his head to them as well. “I will send help to clean up these bodies as soon as we quell the rebellion.”

He and Jiandra rushed out the front doors. In the street below, another group of rebels was running toward the temple, but arrows were catching them left and right. Yavi leapt forward to finish off the last three of the group with his swords, then looked up at his brother. Yajna was leaning over the side of the bell tower with his bow. He slung it onto his back, jumped off the roof into a swan dive, tucked his knees, and landed in a roll on a thatched roof. He flipped himself off the overhang and landed on his feet in a crouch before joining them.

Yavi led the way toward the main market square. Manck’s soldiers had arrived and were fighting off a sizeable crowd of rebels. Yavi made eye contact with Yajna, then glanced up at the roof of the row of shops nearby. Yajna tossed up his grappling hook, then scaled the side of the building. From the roof, he began shooting arrows at the attackers below.

Yavi surveyed the crowd, looking for any sign of a leader, this supposed son of Thakur. “Manck!” he shouted at his general above the din. “Capture some prisoners!”

Manck nodded, then shouted something to Terthan, who was fighting on his right. Terthan seized the rebel nearest him, attempting to restrain his hands behind his back. Yavi watched as the man struggled viciously to pull away. As Terthan held on and tried to wrench his dagger out of his hand, the man suddenly stabbed himself in the neck with it.

Terthan let his body fall, then glanced back at Yavi, spreading his hands in confusion.

Yavi frowned. Exactly what sort of cult was this?

§

Once they had cleared the streets, homes, and shops of the remaining rebellion fighters and secured the city gates, Yavi and his brother met with Manck and Terthan in the main square.

“Have your men stand guard overnight in the city in case there is a second wave,” Yavi ordered. “My palace guards will retreat to the palace and stand watch there.”

“Yes, Sire.” General Manck and Captain Terthan bowed.

“Report to us in the morning before you retreat,” Yajna added.

“Yes, Sire.”

Yavi and his brother headed back toward the palace district on foot, stopping so Jiandra could heal several injured Darpanians along the way. As they approached the palace gate, Captain Harshad came forward to greet them.

“Mahaj, we were unable to take any prisoners. The few we caught alive killed themselves to avoid being taken captive.”

Yavi nodded. “The rebels we encountered did the same. Remain on high alert through the night, and report to us immediately if there is any sign of more attacks. We don’t know how large the rebellion army is, nor where their so-called leader may be hiding if he’s still alive.”

“Yes, Sire.”

The guards opened the gate for them to pass through, and Yavi hurried across the courtyard and up the steps to the main entrance of the palace. He was eager to see Graciella’s sweet face, let her know he was all right.

When he arrived at his wing and turned the corner, he stopped in his tracks at what he found. Tor and Shor lay slain on the floor outside her door. He hurried closer to inspect, and saw what looked like gruesome animal bites on their faces and torsos, large chunks of flesh missing, and blood pooling on the stone floor. He looked up at Graciella’s bedroom door. It was cracked open, and he rushed inside.