1.12

The assassin had been very well trained.
He rolled with Cord's strikes, partially deflecting the blows and preventing them from having the desired knockout effect. As they landed on the floor, Cord felt an attempt to break his grip on the assassin's weapon hand. He quickly pushed the hand to the ground and struck out at the outline of the assassin's head with his palm. Cord had kept his eyes mostly closed when he was in the light of the passage, and it had given him partial night-vision, but that was a significant advantage in the current situation.
The assassin fell onto his back pulling both of his knees up, and aimed a vicious double-footed kick at Cord, obviously hoping to gain some space to restablish his balance and use his weapon. Cord swayed sideways so that the kick struck only air, and as the assassins head came up in an attempt to locate a new target, Cord struck back. The assassin's head met The Ship's Boom, and he was knocked unconscious by Cord's shin.
"I have a crossbow, and I can see you." said a voice from a few metres to Cord's right.
Cord thought it strange that there was a person speaking to him so calmly, when quite clearly he was someone who was not meant to be there. No cry of alarm had been raised, no call for aid. And it was definitely a feminine voice, thought Cord. Strange.
"I followed this assassin from the city. I am certain he meant to kill whoever occupies this room." There was enough truth in the statement to make it credible.
"You followed an assassin into the King's Palace, rather than simply notifying the guards?" asked the voice. It had a very pleasant lilt that Cord liked. There seemed to be no anger in it.
"A man can get into trouble telling tales. Sometimes it's better to take matters into one's own hands." said Cord.
"That's true, but not always wise. After all, you may have killed an assassin, but now you're all alone in a Palace filled with guards, hoping that someone will believe your story?"
"Well, at least you believe that I'm not the assassin, otherwise you would have killed me. So maybe I might make at least one friend here?"
"Hmm. We'll have to see about that..." said the voice.