Taris managed to lift his head at the voice.
“Taris, wake up!”
He realized that he recognized the voice, “Envy…?” Coughs racked his body and blood splattered the floor. “What are you doing here? Aera…”
Envy cut him off, “She was taken, Taris, by my people. I need your help to get her back before it’s too late.”
Taris coughed again and spat more blood, “Need to get out of here first, Envy. And I’m in no condition to accomplish that right now.” Footsteps echoed in the hallway and they froze. “Get out of here, Envy,” the assassin said hoarsely, as the sound of the rusty lock echoed in the room. Unable to see, he didn’t know if the Kartaian did as he said.

Taris struggled to listen. The footsteps were different than the torturer’s heavy plod. He calmed his rattling breath. There were two sets of footsteps that he could distinguish, one light and refined, the other firm and practiced. The footsteps reached the room and echoed even louder. “So here is my brother’s killer. Rather sad sight, I must say.”

Taris forced a grin, “Princess Risa, I’d say it was nice to see you, but unfortunately I do not have use of my eyes currently. And you’ll forgive me if I cannot prostrate myself before you properly.” He rattled the chains on his arms. He fought through another coughing fit, carefully spitting to the side, “And I assume the one with you is Haxfur? I’m curious, how long has he been fucking you?”

A fist caught him in the stomach, and he retched. Risa laughed lightly, “Your charm is slipping… Taris, right? I suppose I can forgive it this once, given the circumstances.”
Taris was tired of blood in his mouth by now, “Why are you here, Risa?”
She laughed again, “Why, to thank you, of course! With my idiot brother dead, I’m next for the throne. You’ve saved me the trouble of getting him disavowed later. And the whore is gone too, so I won’t need to dirty my hands having her killed.”

Taris growled at her, “If you want to thank me, then you can release me.”
She seemed even more amused, “Oh I can’t have you running loose. The city wants your head on a pike, elf. And I see no reason to deny them.”
Now Taris laughed. It was a horrible sound. He grinned in the direction of her voice, “Is that so? You seem to forget that I AM an assassin. I get paid to kill people. That means there’s a client out there that wanted Kentaro dead…” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Who’s to say the client won’t have you killed next? Unless you can find out who the client is and have them killed first.” The sudden silence amused him, “It seems you understand, good girl. I propose a trade. You get rid of these damn lights, unbind me. I’ll tell you who the client is, even kill them for you. We go our separate ways, and never see each other again.”

There was a moment more of silence. Then Haxfur spoke, “I thought you worked for money, assassin.”
The elf smiled, “Ah, so it is you. Yes, I do get paid to kill. However, I’m rather attached to my life, and would consider it a fair trade.”
“Name the client then,” Haxfur said.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Taris said, with a shake of his head, “First a show of good faith. The lights.”

In a second the room was darkened, the only light coming from the torches flanking the door. “Name, elf.”
“I don’t have one, I only know where he fell in line for the throne before I began my work. He was thirteenth. Give me the name and he’s dead.”

There was a moment, and the manacles on his ankles and wrist were removed. The elf fell to the floor in an undignified heap. Risa spoke, but her voice had lost its air of innocence. Instead it was like ice, “His name is Por, Marquis of Erris. Kill him and be gone from the city.” She strode from the room, Haxfur on her heels.

Taris levered himself to his elbow with difficulty. Every inch of him felt seared, “Envy, help me up, and let’s get out of here.”