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“The isle of pirates?” she exclaimed. The small island to the southeast had been a thorn when Daerva used to trade with Verlora. Once the continent turned deadly to those who tried to brave its shores, the number of ships sailing that ocean dropped, and so did the attacks.

“It is a place of lawlessness, so not surprising that someone wishing to do such a dirty deed would seek them out.”

Avera noticed something by the first assassin’s ear and tilted his head before pointing. “He has a tattoo of a dagger.”

“That’s the assassin’s guild symbol.” Gustav crouched and checked the others. “They all have it.”

“Meaning someone hired them.”

“Aye and I hadn’t the slightest clue.” His lips turned down.

“In your defense, this type of thing never happens.”

“Your mother knew it was coming. I should have known something was amiss when she began carrying a dagger,” he grumbled. “She told me some lie about it being because she’d seen some rats.”

“Perhaps she wanted proof before worrying you.”

“It’s my job to worry.”

“Hiring that many assassins would be expensive,” she mused aloud, trying to distract him from his guilt.

“Very. Whoever planned this must have deep pockets.”

“Or several people conspired as a group. How many lords and ladies would be rich enough to afford such a team of killers?”

“Not many.”

“How would they have been contacted? We don’t send ships to Saarpira.”

“No, but it wouldn’t be that hard for someone to get word to them. As to how the killers got to Daerva, I would assume they smuggled themselves in via one of our trading ships.” Gustav offered the most likely scenario.

“Meaning either our port authorities were lax in their duty, or were paid off,” she murmured as her mind ran through possibilities.

“Could be they anchored offshore somewhere along the coast and took a skiff in.”

“The cliffs aren’t easy to scale,” she pointed out. The Daerva continent was primarily above sea level with only the two ports being accessible to vessels. It usually kept them safe as an invasion of any kind would not only have to first get past the port defenses, but then suffer a steep trek upward. A long-ago invasion attempt had failed as the Daervian army simply rained down hot pitch and arrows on them, decimating the invading force.

“Not easy for most folks, but assassins are specially trained to get into difficult places.”

“What else do they have on them? Perhaps they have instructions or a token to indicate who hired them.”

Gustav frowned as she rummaged at the assassin’s belt. “You shouldn’t be touching them.”

“Whyever not?”

“Because we don’t know if they had traps on their persons. I’ve heard stories of assassins putting poison on their possessions.”

“Wouldn’t that make it difficult for them to use?” She plucked a few gold coins from a pouch and pursed her lips. “These are from three different countries.” There was the tree-embossed round disk that Okkilam produced, then a symbol on a thin coin which indicated Pequilh, and finally a blank coin. That could have been from anywhere.

Gustav searched the other bodies and they made a pile of coins, some from each continent, with the unstamped ones outnumbering the rest.

She sat back on her haunches. “Well, that didn’t reveal anything.” Nor did they find a note, which would have been helpful. “At least we know that the killers weren’t from Daerva.”

“But whoever hired them most likely is. They must be wondering if there’s anything on the bodies that will tie them to the crime.”

She glanced at him. “You think they’ll do something.”

“I’d say it’s possible. I’ll have some people stationed to watch and see if anyone attempts to get close to the bodies.”