Aeolus' mood became more somber. He put down his cup. "You have not visited here for more than a year," he said. "Then you suddenly appear in your combat garb, and clandestinely enter my school through the rooftop. It is apparent that you want your visit to be kept secret. Why are you here? And why do you seem so burdened?"

She took a deep breath. "I have come to tell you some things," she began. "And I need to ask for your help."

Aeolus shifted his weight and stared at her. Realizing he was not going to respond, Satine chose her next words carefully.

"After the successful completion of the sanctions I have recently accepted, I will be retiring from this life," she announced.

Looking into Aeolus' eyes, she expected to see joy at her news. She was well acquainted with how much he disapproved of her profession. Instead, she was surprised to see a look of increased concern cross her master's face.

"I would prefer that you retire now," he said quietly. "This very day, in fact. My opinion on this issue had not changed. But you also know that as long as I draw breath, you will always have a home here."

"Thank you," she responded. "But this last mission is far more dangerous than any I have ever accepted. The sum I demanded reflects that. With this money I can finally retire, and spend the rest of my life pursuing my other goal."

Aeolus' face darkened. "This personal vendetta of yours will never bring your father back," he said to her. "Even if you find the man who killed him. I loved Jacob as though he was my own son. You know that. He was not only my finest instructor, but also my best friend. But he's been gone ten years. You must let it go, if you are to have any semblance of a normal life. I would have thought that your years here at the Serpent and the Sword would have taught you that."

Satine looked down at the floor. "Apparently I was never destined for a normal life," she answered. "Surely you, above all people, can see that. I simply cannot rest until I find Father's killer-even if you have somehow made your personal peace with it."

Memories of her childhood flooded her mind. Her mother had died giving birth to her, but her father had worked tirelessly to make up for the loss.

Jacob had been Aeolus' head instructor at the martial school known as the Discipline of the Serpent and the Sword. The serpent represented the various skills of hand-to-hand combat, and the sword stood for the arts of armed combat. Satine was a master of both. As a widower, Jacob had been forced to bring his young daughter to the school with him every day. The school had quickly become her second home.

When Satine was twelve, Aeolus asked her and Jacob to move in with him full-time-a common practice in Eutracian martial arts circles. At that point, Satine began her formal training. It had even been discussed that one day her father would inherit the school from the childless Aeolus, and Satine would then become her father's head instructor. Sadly, none of that had come to pass.

In a fit of jealous rage, one of the lesser students who had been passed over for the title of head instructor killed her father in his own bed. At the time it was rumored that the murderer had been under the influence of a mind-altering drug designed to enhance one's enlightenment. He had then run away, using his considerable skills to become one with the night. Satine had given chase, but to no avail.

Satine had been twenty-five years old at the time, and her father's murder had forged within her an intense need both to find his assailant and to make the man suffer mightily before she finally killed him.

She knew that to find her father's killer she would need money, and lots of it. To acquire money, she would need a trade. The only skills she possessed that might generate such sums were her combat arts. When she made the decision to defy Aeolus' teachings of peace and serenity, she reluctantly left the school and she began selling her skills to the highest bidder.

And so she wandered Eutracia, searching for both her next sanction, and the vile monster who had killed her father. Her reputation grew quickly. Soon, rather than having to search for work, she was being sought out. In between commissions she used up every kisa of the money she had earned. She knew her quarry's name; once she had missed him at a local tavern by only a day. Since then she had not been so fortunate, and it often seemed to her that the vermin she chased had somehow disappeared from the face of the earth. But her determination had not flagged.

She looked back at Aeolus. "There is something else you need to understand," she said haltingly, unsure quite how to tell him.

"And that is?" her master asked.

"My new sanctions are to be political killings," she said. "Given how much you always supported both the monarchy of Nicholas I and the Directorate of Wizards, I thought this was something you should be aware of. You know that I have no such political leanings. But I would like to ask that, should it become necessary, I can come here to hide. Now that you have been told, if you wish to dismiss me from your life forever, I will understand." Her gaze went to the floor.

"It's true that I once favored the monarchy, and the wizards who helped to guide it," Aeolus answered. He rolled his teacup between his palms. "But times have changed. It is widely known that the prince killed his father, and that he is in league with the very winged demons that butchered so many. It is also rumored that he has caused some manifestation of magic to go about Eutracia, destroying everything in its path, and that the surviving wizards gladly serve his purposes." He raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "You have no doubt seen the bodies in the streets?" he asked. Satine nodded.

"Whether these rumors have merit is not for me to say," Aeolus stated. Then his demeanor stiffened, and he leaned forward a bit.

"The path you have chosen will be dangerous," he said seriously. "You are about to go to war with those who command the craft of magic. They are far more proficient in death-dealing than you or I could imagine. I cannot condone what you are about to do. But if you need a place to hide in order to save your own life, you will be welcome here."

Aeolus thought for a moment. "Given what you have just told me, I assume you will be visiting the community of partial adepts?" he asked.

Satine nodded.

Aeolus sighed. "Such a vile place," he said. "Are you sure that you must go there?"

"Yes," she answered. "These new sanctions will surely be the most difficult of my career."

"Will you be dealing with the rogue herbmaster, Reznik?"

"Yes," she said. "There is no other choice."

Realizing that she had accomplished everything she had come to do, Satine knew it was time to leave. She reclaimed her sword from the floor and stood. Aeolus came to his feet with her. She had almost forgotten how tall and imposing he was.

"Goodbye, my child," he said softly. "May the Afterlife watch over you."

She took both of his gnarled hands into hers. "And you," she said softly, then turned, walked out the door, and didn't look back.

The master instructor sat back down upon the floor mat and took another sip of tea. Distantly, he heard the almost inaudible sound of the skylight hinges creaking shut, telling him that his greatest student had just departed. Then the muffled sound of thunder signaled the return of the storm.

Typically, Satine had been purposefully coy about the identities of her targets. He knew that had he asked her their names, she would not have told him-and he appreciated her desire to protect him by keeping him in the dark. But he could guess. And if he was right, and her targets were those of the royal house or the wizards they commanded, he wasn't sure he could accept that.