Imperial Assassin Read Free Page A

signs of spring around him as they marched back to the tents. The air was crisp, but had lost much of the bite of winter. The hedgerows were beginning to show the first
buds of green whilst the sun rode a shade higher in the sky. But the only elements of the change in season that made any impact were the negative ones. The sticky mud, churned by thousands of boots
on their daily march to and from the training grounds, was no longer stiffened by the frost. Instead, it sucked and squelched underfoot like a live thing, clutching and dragging at him, draining
his energy still further with every step.
    Far from the fresh-looking, positive young man who had returned from his travels to join his colleagues a mere two hours beforehand, it was a battered, weary and mud-stained one who stumbled
back into his tent after the morning’s training. He was sure it had not been this hard before he left, but maybe something of what Nelek had been intimating was right. He was out of shape. He
knew it. Despite trying to maintain his fitness levels whilst he had been away, he had not done so with the same iron discipline inflicted by the Legion’s training staff.
    ‘Well, if I ever need a reason to keep in shape in future, today will give me one,’ he mumbled as he collapsed into his bed space in the tent.
    There was not much time. He knew he would have to clean his boots and make his uniform more presentable before lunch. He allowed his body a moment or two of respite before getting cleaned up. It
was a mistake. His muscles, stiff from the discipline of the intense drill and the long march to and from the training area, protested by flooding his limbs and torso with cramping pains. The
bruising from his battering at the hands of Nelek served to intensify the discomfort.
    ‘Shand’s teeth!’ he swore, groaning as he rose.
    Tymm laughed from where he was sitting nearby. ‘You sound like a man three times your age! What’s wrong with you? A little light exercise and you fall apart. I thought you were made
of sterner stuff.’
    ‘Yes, well you thought wrong,’ Reynik replied grinning. ‘I feel greener and more sore than I did after my first week as a recruit. Nelek made sure of that. I guess it’s
going to take a few days to get back into the training rhythm. It’ll come back to me soon enough, and when it does . . .’
    Reynik left the phrase hanging and Tymm laughed again. ‘I hear you landed a week of restrictions within minutes. Good going, Reynik! I think that must be a new record.’
    ‘You know how it goes,’ Reynik said with a shrug. ‘These things happen. File Leader Sidis has never liked me. Our trip to Thrandor together did little to improve our
relationship. I must have annoyed him somehow, though I’m not sure what I did to earn his dislike. I think today was his way of reminding me that we’re back in Shandrim where the rank
gradient between us is more applicable. Sort of a welcome home present really.’
    ‘Nice present! What are you going to give him in return? You remember what we gave Sevarian when he was out of order?’ Tymm asked, his face sly.
    ‘Oh, no! I’m not going down that road. It would be too obvious. Who else would have a reason to set him up with something unpleasant? It would make matters worse, Tymm. I need to
keep my head down and my nose clean.’
    ‘What if it were to happen to Sidis whilst you were being monitored on your restriction duties? He couldn’t blame you then. I’m game for a good stunt, but it would have to be
spectacular.’
    ‘No! Definitely not! It wouldn’t matter if the Emperor himself were my alibi right now. Sidis would find a way to nail it on me regardless. Please don’t do anything stupid,
Tymm. I appreciate the sentiment, but it wouldn’t be a good idea.’
    Tymm sighed. ‘You’re right, of course, but it would have been fun.’
    ‘For you, maybe. You wouldn’t have to endure the repercussions. Thanks for the idea, but I think that this time it