Rory followed Jamison to the window. He glanced at the building but primarily studied the yard and the street, seeing no sign of any of the guards, though he suspected someone would still be watching the front of the building.
"Fire. She's right," Jamison said with a growl. "Damn. No one is coming out!"
"I need over there, but not through the front door." He looked back at Jamison. "I assume there is a back door here."
"I'll show you." Jamison put a hand on his wife's shoulder, and she nodded.
Rory heard no yells about the fire. Everyone remained focused on the bells, but it wouldn't be long before the local people would see the flickering flames.
Rory wasn't surprised when Jamison went out into the yard with him. Rory looked at the man with a shake of his head, but it was clear Jamison would follow him. Arguing now would not help.
They stayed close to the building and out of sight for anyone in the upper windows. Voices called out sometimes, barely heard above the bell. Nothing moved in the yard.
A brick fence, seven feet tall, ran the line between the two buildings, and flowering bushes lined it on both sides. Rory scanned the top and looked up at the building beyond. Still too dark, though hints of flickering light danced at the edges of a couple windows.
No one in any of the suites made a sign of noticing. None of them. Rory scrambled up the fence and dropped the other side. Jamison followed with ease, a man not in the least out of shape despite his office job.
Rory could smell smoke now and heard more people out on the street. He wasn't sure how long the bells would ring, but he took advantage of it by knocking out the small pane of glass at the back door and unlocking it to let them in.
He could smell blood, even here in the back hall. A slight crackling sound came from elsewhere. Jamison quietly closed the door behind him.
"I don't doubt everyone is dead," Rory said, his voice soft despite no one being around. "I need to check my people and grab things if they aren't already gone. I'll check the others on the way down if there is time. You can come with me or check elsewhere if you like."
"We should stay together. There might still be some of Kellic's people here."
"Yes. Of course." Rory knew that his voice sounded dull and without emotion. That came from both shock and training. Anger that he had failed in his job came close behind, though he remembered the Queen telling him to save them if he could. The Ambassador himself knew there were dangers here. Why did he bring his wife and daughter? They didn't deserve --
They were climbing the stairs. Rory had been aware of bodies in the entry area. Jamison had checked them and caught up with him. A few lamps flickered at the landings. He could see bloody footprints at the first landing and didn't look down again.
The door to the Ambassador's suite was the only one open. Someone hung from the chandelier, a small figure in a flowing dress. Alis, the daughter.
"Oh, the Gods curse them," Jamison snarled. "Damn them and the prince --"
"Alis," Rory said aloud as though he expected her to answer. "She was to serve as one of the Queen's Ladies after they went home in the spring. The thought terrified her, poor child."
Jamison had already crossed to cut her down and gently lay her on the sofa. Bodies lay all across the floor, the Ambassador recognizable by his size. The other bodies were clerks, maids, his wife ...
Rory went past them and into the office. No light showed here, but he would not light a lamp or a candle. His night sight was adequate for a room he knew so well.
Drawers had been dumped out, making it impossible to know if they had taken any paperwork. It didn't matter. Rory pulled up the cushion to the Ambassador's chair by the window and pulled out his private journal, shoving it inside his jacket.
Then to the closet, where he pulled up a few boards and took out a wooden box, small enough to carry in one hand but heavy with coin.
"The fire is spreading downstairs," Jamison warned.
"There is nothing here left to salvage. We have to assume the other two embassies were also attacked and killed. Small places -- Vinchana and Tritinia. They are in no position to ask questions about whatever Kellic tells them happened. But they don't have me, Lord Jamison, and I need to get to the Queen."
"Then we go now."
Rory agreed and started for the door out, but he paused again to look around the room, lingering on poor Alis.
"We didn't expect the king to die," Rory admitted. "This was supposed to be nothing more than a mission to find out what to expect in the future. Kellic applying for the Princesses hand in marriage threw everything out of order."
"We have to go unless you don't intend to survive."
He forced himself to turn away, whispering a quick northern prayer for the souls of everyone in this building. By the time they were down to the lower floor, the flames had leapt everywhere, and the smoke grew so thick that Rory could barely breathe. Even Rory, who knew this building so well, had trouble finding the hall that led toward the back. He could hear people attempting to get in the front by then, but that area erupted in flames.
Rory took a step out before he realized someone stood to the side of the door. A blade slashed at his neck, missed, and caught his shoulder instead. Rory triggered the harness on his right wrist and had a dagger ready.
And in the flickering light, Rory realized he faced Prince Kellic.
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