The shadows inside were deeper, drinking in what little moonlight filtered through the narrow windows. My feet found the gaps between the hardwood floorboards that wouldn't creak – until a sharp gasp froze me mid-step.

A young maid stood at the end of the corridor, a bundle of cleaned animal hides clutched to her chest. Her eyes widened, mouth opening. I crossed the distance in two silent strides, one hand covering her mouth while the other gently but firmly gripped her shoulder.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," I whispered, feeling her trembling. "I need to see Nkili. Take me to her room, quietly, and you'll be fine." I slowly removed my hand from her mouth.

"Please," she breathed, barely audible. "The y will have my head if—"

"I'd kill you before they do."

She nodded, her face pale in the darkness. The hides shook in her arms as she led me through the sleeping house. Each footstep felt like a thunderclap, each shadow a potential guard. We passed doorways that leaked soft snoring, turned down corridors marked with elaborate wall carvings, and climbed elaborate wooden stairs.

The maid stopped suddenly, pressing us both into an alcove as heavy footsteps approached. A guard passed, his torch casting wild shadows. I felt the maid's heart racing where my hand still gripped her shoulder. Only when the footsteps faded did we continue.

Three more turns brought us to an ornate door, carved with protective symbols. The maid's hands shook as she reached for the door. I caught her wrist.

"After you," I whispered. If this was a trap, she wouldn't get the chance to raise an alarm.

Inside, moonlight poured through the latticed windows, casting intricate shadows across the spacious chamber, transforming it into a realm of contrasts and secrets. Before the maid could turn, I found the pressure point at the base of her skull. She slumped silently into my arms. I laid her gently on a pile of cushions – she'd wake with nothing worse than a headache.

Nkili lay on a raised mat bed, her breathing deep and even. The room's heavy scent of night-blooming flowers almost masked another scent – subtle, metallic. My muscles tensed.

I was already moving when the blade whispered through the air where my head had been. Moonlight caught the machete's edge as it arced toward my throat. I ducked, rolling across the floor as my attacker emerged from the shadows like a spirit made flesh – a woman, tall and lean, her movements speaking of years of training.

The machete struck a wooden post, biting deep.

Nkili shot up, her eyes wide with shock, instinctively reaching for the ceremonial dagger hidden beneath her pillow, fully awake in an instant. The warrior woman wrenched her blade free, dark eyes locked on mine as we circled each other in the moonlight.

"You chose the wrong room to creep into, assassin," she said, her voice like steel on silk.

Nkili's scream pierced the night like a spear. The warrior woman moved like flowing mercury, her machete singing through the air in deadly arcs. I leaped backward, my spine arching over her low sweep before pushing off my hands into a flip that carried me over a carved table. She matched my movement with frightening grace, vaulting the same table with one hand while her blade sought my throat with the other.

"Ehime, end this snake!" Nkili's voice cut through the chaos, cold and sharp, as footsteps pounded up the stairwell.

Our dance grew desperate. I spun away from three rapid strikes, the machete passing so close I felt the wind of its passage. My counter-kick met only air as Ehime flowed around it like water. She was good – royal guard good. The kind of warrior who spent their life preparing for exactly this moment.

The doors burst open. Guards poured in with raised spears, but Ehime barked, "Stay back! This one's mine."

I needed answers. Without the antidote, Rimi would die, and Nkili was my only lead. But Ehime pressed her advantage, driving me back with a combination of strikes that proved she'd trained in the same fighting arts I had. Each attack flowed seamlessly into the next, leaving no opening for me to speak or even think beyond the next dodge.

My back hit the latticed window. Moonlight streamed around us as Ehime's blade swept toward my midsection. I jumped, twisting in the air as the machete sheared through the wooden lattice where I'd stood. Landing in a crouch on the window's edge, her eyes widened, and for a moment, her fierce concentration faltered. Recognition flickered there, mingling with confusion, as if she knew exactly who I was but couldn't believe it.

"Who are yo—" she started, but I was already rolling beneath her guard.

My elbow struck her wrist, finally loosening her grip on the machete. But even as it clattered away, her knee found my ribs with stunning force. We grappled in the moonlight, two shadows becoming one, each joint lock met with a counter, each throw reversed before it could land.

More footsteps pounded up the stairs. The window behind me offered escape, but leaving meant condemning Rimi to death. Ehime saw my hesitation and pressed harder, her attacks becoming a blur of precise strikes at pressure points and vital areas. She'd recognized my style – she knew exactly how to counter it.

A spearpoint pressed against my back. The guards had flanked me while I focused on Ehime. Her dark eyes held mine as she stepped back, chest heaving slightly from our exchange.

"Bind him," Nkili commanded, her voice trembling with rage. "I want to know who sent him."

I looked between her and Ehime, my mind racing. Maybe getting caught had been inevitable. But now, at least, I had a chance to get close to Nkili – assuming I survived the interrogation to come.

The first guard reached for my arms. Time to find out if my backup plan was worth the risk it had taken to prepare it.

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