He froze the lock, inside and out, ignoring the raised voices inside as someone took notice. When it was thoroughly frozen, he removed his sword, sheath and all, and slammed the pommel into the lock.
It shattered like glass, and Leonine drew his sword, discarding the sheath, as he kicked the door open.
Six faces stared at him in a mixture of horror, shock, and anger.
Leonine brandished his sword, calling up flames in his left hand. "Ready for round two, assholes?"
Chapter Ten
Three of them rushed him, knives out, but they fell back immediately as they were suddenly confronted with a wall of scorching flame. Banishing the fire as he surged forward, Leonine stabbed one of them, stole his knife and lodged that in the throat of the next man, and threw the last into two more, sending the new trio into an awkward pile on the floor.
Ice kept them in place, and from there it was child's play to finish them off. One remaining.
"How the fuck are you still alive?" the man demanded. "We saw you die."
"Guess you saw wrong," Leonine replied.
Snarling, the man surged forward, knives out. Leonine brought up his sword to block the swings, but one sword against two knives in close quarters was a laughable comparison. Withdrawing, he abandoned his sword and called up his magic.
"How the fuck do you do that? That shit isn't real." The man withdrew, panting heavily. "You're a freaky little bitch, aren't you?"
"Yes," Leonine said, and threw out his hands as the man came at him again, turning the floor to ice, dodging left as the man slid, stumbled—and slammed face first into the wall. Leonine grabbed him up and snapped his neck, then let the body fall to the floor.
Six down. It was over.
All in all, nothing remotely like his first encounter with them. This time, though, he'd had the advantage, and he hadn't been distracted and acting like a dumbass.
Retrieving his sword, Leonine sheathed it and headed out, going downstairs to send a quick message and pay for the damages to the room and the cleaning that would be required. By the time he was done with that, Cole had arrived, and together they lugged the bodies one by one out into the snow.
"All right," Leonine said as he finished. "Which of these bastards was in charge?"
Cole toed the man at his feet, the one Leonine had killed last, the only one of the six who'd had any chance to put up an actual fight. "This one. Manfred. He took the job, hired all of us, coordinated with the people who were going to pay us." He laughed, though the sound was more tired than amused. "Guess the client got the job done for free. Are you going to track them down?"
"No, it's not worth it. Hardly a secret that literally everyone in this country wanted His Majesty gone. He was getting worse by the day—the hour, really. Someone just decided to speed things along. Her Majesty wanted the killers for form's sake, and that's what I've done." He drew his sword and removed Manfred's head in two brisk strokes, then knelt and used magic to freeze it solid. Taking Manfred's cloak, he wrapped the head up and bound it with belts taken from two other bodies. "This is all the proof I'll need for Her Majesty."
"And us, I assume?" Cole asked.
"No. Come on, let's get back to our rooms, and we'll finally talk."
Clearly still afraid of what his future held, Cole nevertheless nodded and followed him back to their inn.
Leonine stored the frozen head in the stable near his horse, then ordered mulled wine and food to be sent up to their room before leading the way to it.
Odilia burst out of her chair as she saw them. "You're back already!" She hurried across the room and threw her arms around Leonine's neck, kissing him fervently. "That was much faster than I expected. All this fuss and trouble, and it's over now?"
"It's over now," Leonine said, holding her close, still dizzy with the knowledge that he could do so again. He doubted he'd ever stop being amazed two such wonderful people, a long-established couple at that, wanted him. "I even have a head to prove it, if you want to see it."
That got him a good, solid smack on the chest. "Don't be an ass."
"What? It's true, there really is a head in the snow behind the stable."
Odilia rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "Keep your gory trinkets to yourself, sir knight." She moved to return to the table, but Leonine reeled her back in, pushed her up against the wall, and took a kiss that most definitely was not fit for an audience.
"You're such a brat," she said when they finally drew apart, flushed, lips swollen, eyes sparkling. "Behave now."
"Yes, milady." Leonine withdrew and headed for the table himself, pouring cups of mulled wine, sharing a smirk with Cole, who'd left Edger just as flushed as Odilia. "Where is Everard?"
Odilia smiled as she took a seat, sipping at her wine. "Out spending your money."
Leonine laughed. "Good thing I brought plenty of it. On what, though?"
"Supplies for the return journey. He's determined the returning will be more comfortable than the going."
"I like the sound of that," Leonine said, and drank deeply from his cup before finally turning his full attention to Edger and Cole. "So the only loose threads now are the person who hired you and the two of you. One of those is not solvable without months, even years, of effort. Whoever they are, I've no doubt they've covered their tracks well. More than likely, they're in the castle anyway. So I'm dropping that matter, unless Her Majesty decides otherwise."
"Which leaves us," Cole said miserably. "Executing us would make for a great spectacle and show of power. Even I know that, and I rarely understand anything about you lot."
Before Leonine could reply, the door opened, and he couldn't resist going to greet Everard as enthusiastically as he'd earlier greeted Odilia. "Welcome back."
Everard's eyes gleamed with want and promise. "Good thing I got two rooms, eh?"
"Very good," Leonine replied as he pulled away and put his attention back on the matter at hand. Reclaiming his seat, he said, "No, I'm not dragging the two of you back for execution. In fact, I think you should spend the rest of winter here, give Edger a chance to heal up properly. After that, you can do whatever you want. You're free to go."
They stared at him, mouths agape, and Cole looked near to tears again. "You… you're just going to let us go? Why would you do that?"
"Because it feels like the right thing to do," Leonine replied. "Her Majesty only wants closure, to be able to say she did something to avenge her father, to address the assassination. It would look horribly callous and disrespectful if she did nothing. Why do you think she gave me so much leeway? Alive, dead, or a good explanation. I have two of the three. The rest doesn't matter."
"But…" Cole did start crying then. "I was the one who actually did the killing. I fired the fatal arrows."
Leonine shrugged. "None but the five of us knows that. I'm going to tell one other person, because I want his advice before I turn over Manfred's head, but he can be trusted. So far as I'm concerned, I have the killer in the stable, and the matter is closed, lest Her Majesty bids me pursue it further, which is unlikely."