It was still dark, but things were stirring on the western edge of the city walls. This area was mostly thornwoods, which was why it still remained wild aside from the dueling grounds. Thornwood trees were covered in inches-long spikes, nearly too tough to saw, and too knotted to be any use for woodworking. A light mist hovered just above the ground, and Remant's eyes picked out figures waiting near the trees: one, two, three, four, five, six.
Sir Reville falls back on his favored tactics. He wondered just how much of the man's fame and fortune had been built on such methods. The knight himself wasn't here yet; he would need to make an entrance closer to dawn, so as not to arouse suspicion.
Remant sighed, and slipped between the trees. There were times when he wished... but no, that would have been too much, even for him. He was swift and silent enough to do this as he'd been taught, direct and personal and with as much honor as his would-be ambushers would offer him.
The first man died silently, and Remant eased the body down so that it lay in the leaves, behind the nearest of the thornwoods.
The second man died with an arrow through the throat, and Remant brought himself forward in time to catch him and make sure he hit the ground gently as well.
The third man was looking everywhere around him, and Remant would have thought that he'd heard something except that he hadn't called out a warning. After a long moment of observation, Remant concluded that the man was simply scared. He certainly was when Remant pushed the point of his dagger against the small of the man's back. "Say anything and you're dead. Make a noise and you're dead. You have one chance to slip away and go home, and this is it. Nod if you want to live."
There was a brief pause, and then the man nodded.
Remant tugged him gently around until they were facing each other, then nodded back towards the city. "Go silent. Go slow. And thank your gods for this blessing."
The man nodded, swallowed, then unbuckled his sword-belt and handed it to Remant. When he started away through the woods, well... it wasn't silent, but he chose his steps with care and it wasn't loud, either. Good enough.
The remaining three were waiting silently, and died equally silently. Remant looked around but didn't see a sign of any more. He circled back around to the far side of the field, opposite the narrow cart-track that led from the city to the dueling grounds -- duels were still legal here, it seemed, and sometimes they had an audience -- to wait.
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