A black gown trailed across the slightly damp garden path. When Talia landed, she looked toward the lushest patch of green, but Pamela was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on? Didn't we agree to meet in the garden?" she muttered in slight confusion as she headed out of the garden.
But just then, her nose twitched. A breeze blowing from the southern corner of the garden carried a faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood.
Talia's first thought was that someone in the kitchen might be preparing ingredients. Though she was a battle-hardened female Assassin, her sense of smell was not sharp enough to distinguish human blood from pig blood.
Contrary to what many imagined, even high-society banquets were not filled entirely with pleasant aromas. All kinds of food smells drifted from the kitchen, with blood and the stench of offal usually being the strongest. Women on their periods also carried the scent of blood; it was hardly unusual.
But when Talia turned to look, the manor buildings lay to the north, while the manor's back gate was to the south. Aside from the large garden, there was nothing there. Clearly, no one could be processing fresh ingredients in that area.
After waiting in place for several dozen seconds without seeing Pamela, Talia knew she must have been held up by something else. But the worse possibility was that the bloody smell was coming from her.
Though Talia's understanding of Pamela suggested that was unlikely, she still decided to take a look. After all, their plan could not be completed without Pamela's help.
Talia followed the direction of the wind, passing the Tool Room beside the eastern wall of the great tree at the center of the garden, until she reached the garden's southwestern corner.
The place looked somewhat barren,