Chapter 10

10

Enemies are gathered more easily than seashells.

~ Dainbridge III, the playwright

Near the mouth of the alley, Vlerion pressed Kaylina against the brick wall of Nakeron Inn, ensuring she obeyed his order to protect her back. Then he charged to meet the approaching swordsmen. Three of them. She caught him humming as he went.

She reached for her sword but, after so few lessons, didn't trust that she had learned enough to hold her own in a fight. Instead, she pulled out her sling and loaded a round.

Metal clashed as Vlerion met the swordsman in the lead. Instead of putting his back to the wall, he kept it to Kaylina and the street, positioning himself in the middle of the alley so the attackers couldn't get by—couldn't get to her .

She fired at a man far enough to the side of Vlerion that she wouldn't risk hitting him. All three attackers were focused on him, no doubt deeming him the greater threat, so her target didn't see the blow coming. The lead round struck him in the temple, and he reeled back, almost dropping his sword.

The man snarled, clutching the wound, then shouted something in a foreign language and pointed at her.

Watch the girl, Kaylina wagered was the translation.

The other two fighters engaged with Vlerion, angling themselves to try to flank him. His feet blurred as he darted about, keeping them from their goal as he returned the attack.

But his opponents were surprisingly fast. Even with her limited sword-fighting experience, Kaylina could tell they were good. Not only did their blades whip about with rapid and precise combinations that Vlerion was hard-pressed to defend against, but they must have practiced together often. They simultaneously launched attacks and never got in each other's way.

Shifting to the defensive, Vlerion drew a dagger and used it to help parry the blows raining down on him.

Afraid Vlerion would be outmatched if the third attacker joined the fight—he already would have if not for the width of the alley limiting space—Kaylina fired the sling again.

This time, her target had an eye toward her and saw it coming. The man ducked, and the round clacked off a brick wall.

"Stay out of this, girl," he snarled in accented Zaldorian as blades continued to clash, the noise echoing in the alley.

More than once, Vlerion glanced back at Kaylina as he fought. Worried a kidnapper would sneak up and get her from the other direction?

She hoped not. If he believed she was in trouble, he could change into the beast. That might help him against the capable swordsmen, but with dozens, if not hundreds of people nearby, their skirmish could turn into a massacre of innocent citizens.

"Where are the taybarri?" Vlerion called.

Another boom came from the street, another explosive smashing into a wall. Kaylina was glad there didn't seem to be any children at the nursery that afternoon.

Crenoch roared. Someone ran into view at the mouth of the ally, and Kaylina spun in that direction. But the person—another swordsman in white and tan—kept running. Levitke was chasing him.

"They're busy," Kaylina replied.

A cry of pain followed by a curse made her turn back to Vlerion's battle. One of his attackers staggered back, blood weeping from a long gash in his arm.

Vlerion had done the first damage. Unfortunately, the third man had recovered from her attack and was ready to take the other's place.

Kaylina loosed another round at him. Once more, her blow struck him on the side of the head. He'd been slashing toward Vlerion, but he flinched, fumbling his sword, and Vlerion knocked it out of his grip.

A victory, but the movement left Vlerion open to his other foe. The man's blade whipped in, clipping Vlerion's jaw.

Cursed craters, that one was fast. Unnaturally so. Usually, Vlerion was the one with the superior speed, but they were an even match.

The man she'd struck pointed at Kaylina and ordered something in his tongue. Probably a command for someone to take her sling—or kill her.

The injured attacker glanced at his comrade, then focused on Kaylina. The blood dripping from his arm didn't keep him from charging at her with his sword raised.

After seeing him fight, Kaylina knew she wasn't his match, and fear almost made her run. But she couldn't abandon Vlerion—even if he might have preferred her to get out of trouble.

She jammed her sling into her pocket and drew the sword. Barely in time. Her attacker stabbed his blade straight for her heart.

She leaped sideways, scarcely parrying the blow. Had he launched a second attack, she might not have managed to deflect it, but he seemed surprised when she avoided the first. He must not have expected to need much finesse to defeat her—to kill her.

"You're more than his pretty lay, huh?" the man asked in a clipped accent.

"Who are you?" Kaylina didn't long for a conversation with the guy, but if she kept him busy, it might give Vlerion time to finish off the other two. Assuming he could.

Her attacker didn't answer, instead advancing on her with testing probes, quick strikes that she struggled to read. Were they feints or real attacks? Neither his eyes nor his chest—per Sergeant Zhani's advice—seemed to hold the answer, and she hastened to parry each one, just in case. More than once, she swung at empty air.

When another boom shook the street, her assailant swept in with deadly intent, launching a stab at her chest. She parried it, but he followed up with a swift sweep toward her head. She ducked and tried to back up again, but her shoulder bumped against the wall. She stumbled, and he shifted his grip, raising his sword to brain her.

Help me! she called silently to her blood—to whatever druid power ran through it.

Warmth surged from the brand on her hand, and the man gasped, his head whipping back as if a beam had smashed into his face. What would have been a deadly blow clipped Kaylina's ear instead of killing her. Pain burst from the wound, and warm blood flowed down the side of her face and neck. She hurried to return to a defensive stance, her blade up. But the man was stumbling back, his sword wavering, his face contorted in pain.

"What did you do ?" he demanded.

A roar from behind Kaylina startled her. Levitke surged past, brushing her shoulder, and barreled into the attacker.

"In the alley!" someone shouted from the smoky street. "Lord Vlerion is in there!"

More taybarri rushed past Kaylina, these with ranger riders, and she backed to the wall, as worried about being trampled by allies as slain by foes. She kept her sword up, not trusting that her attacker had given up. But he turned and sprinted away.

One of Vlerion's opponents lay dead in the alley, but the better fighter remained. He saw the odds shifting and threw something at the ground. A crack echoed from the walls, and a cloud of black smoke filled the alley. In it, Kaylina lost sight of the men until she glimpsed Vlerion's attacker climbing the brick wall like one of the monkeys back home.

"Up there," one of the rangers called, then loosed an arrow.

But the man was too fast, catching the lip of the roof and pulling himself over and out of sight. The arrow struck the gutter and was deflected away.

The taybarri managed to catch up to the injured man who'd attacked Kaylina. He whirled, fighting instead of letting himself be captured.

"Subdue him without killing him," Vlerion ordered.

He didn't turn away from the skirmish, but he did back toward Kaylina, glancing at her as the rangers surrounded the remaining attacker.

Blood dripped from Vlerion's jaw, and a rip in his sleeve promised at least one other wound, but his humming had kept him from turning into the beast. Kaylina nodded to him, assuming the danger of that was past, but his glance turned into a stare when he saw the blood running down the side of her neck.

Fury leaped into his eyes, her wound charging him with more dangerous emotion than threats to himself ever did.

Afraid he might yet turn, Kaylina rushed to him. "I'm fine."

She rested her hand on Vlerion's hip and gazed into his eyes so he would see the sincerity in hers. The wildness of the beast in their blue depths made her feel like she was sticking her fingers into the maw of a rabid wolverine.

"It barely hurts," she added. "It's just my ear." Just the tip of it, she hoped, but it was bleeding a lot so she wasn't sure. "Don't worry. If it falls off, I've got another ear, so I'll still be able to eavesdrop." She winked and shifted her hand to his chest. "Are you okay? That guy looked good." She patted him, hoping her inane chatter—or at least her calmness—would allow him to more easily wrangle his emotions.

Her palm tingled, and magic seemed to flow from her hand, as it had in ranger headquarters when he'd confronted Spymaster Sabor. Soothing warmth trickled into Vlerion.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Everything is fine," Kaylina said softly, aware of the sounds of fighting dwindling and another taybarri approaching them. "Thank you for your concern and for protecting me."

"Always." His voice was gruff, but he slid a gentle arm around her waist. When he opened his eyes again, his full humanity was there. He'd tamped down the beast.

Or she had.

Vlerion looked at her hand, straight at the leaf-shaped brand, and she knew he'd felt the magic, its influence over him.

She swallowed. Before, he'd said it was all right, but was it? He was so used to being fully in charge, as a ranger and an aristocrat—having power over others. Now, she, whether she wanted to or not, had power over him. Would he come to resent that?

"I'll take you to headquarters and have Doc Penderbrock treat that." Vlerion pointed his chin toward her ear.

"And maybe your wounds too?" Kaylina lifted a hand toward his face but refrained from touching his bleeding jaw.

"Maybe." He managed a quick smile. "That man was good. Even without his allies, I would have struggled to best him. I have no idea who these people were. Their fighting techniques weren't based on any of the styles typically taught in the kingdom, and it took me time to get used to it—to them." Vlerion looked toward the end of the alley where the rangers had dismounted.

Their opponent, the one Kaylina had tangled with, was on his knees, several swords pointed at his throat. Instead of looking at the rangers, he glared down the alley toward Kaylina with loathing burning in his dark brown eyes. Fortunately, the rangers removed his weapons, so glaring was all he could do.

"That man wanted to kill me," she murmured, realizing that this attack probably hadn't had anything to do with the kidnapping attempt.

Vlerion followed her gaze to him and growled.

Since he might not have seen all of her fight—and how close she'd been to dying—she wished she hadn't said that. Especially when his eyes hardened again, and fresh tension tightened his muscles.

"It's all right," Kaylina said, patting him again. "I'm just pointing out that I don't think they wanted to kidnap me. I was an afterthought for them. They were after you."

"It is not all right ," he said. "They attacked you as well as me."

"Yeah, but only because I hurled lead rounds at them. Men get inordinately crabby about that."

"True. You should have stayed out of it."

"Of course. I should have picked up a snack from the market, taken a seat, and watched while they killed you."

Vlerion squinted at her. Fortunately, the dangerous glint had faded again.

"Am I not being properly reverent with my tone, my lord?" She smiled, relieved the moment had passed.

"You are not."

"I'll try to do better."

"Good." Vlerion noticed a couple of the rangers looking toward them and released her, stepping back. "It would be unfortunate if I had to flog you after you assisted me in a battle."

"Or at any time ever."

"Indeed." Vlerion opened his mouth to say more, but a blue-furred snout leaned between them.

Crenoch had arrived. He carried something in his fanged mouth and seemed to be offering it.

"What is that?" Vlerion held out his hand.

Crenoch carefully released one of the ceramic jars that held explosive material, this one not yet detonated, and Vlerion caught it. Crenoch also released—less carefully—a hand that had been gorily removed from the rest of its body by taybarri fangs. It flopped to the ground at Vlerion's feet.

Kaylina cursed and leaped back, as distressed by that as anything else that had happened.

"Good work, Crenoch," Vlerion said, unfazed.

The taybarri lifted his head and swished his tail.

"Extra protein pellets for you tonight," Vlerion promised him.

One of Crenoch's ears twitched, and he looked to Kaylina.

"Uhm, yes." She pulled her gaze from the hand. "And honey drops."

That prompted more vigorous tail swishing, from Levitke as well as Crenoch.

"Lord Vlerion?" A scarred ranger about ten years older than Vlerion stepped up, speaking deferentially though he wore more rank on his sleeve. "We've bound that one, and we've got the wagon coming for the bodies. Do you have any orders?"

"Let me know what you learn by questioning him." Vlerion pointed at the man who'd been tied and tossed over the back of a taybarri, face down in fur. "Use kafdari root. Find out who sent them and from where. These weren't random thugs." He looked toward the rooftop where the other combatant had disappeared. "I believe they're trained assassins."

"Yes, my lord. They were. That one has the sagebrush tattoo on his forearm."

"Ah." Vlerion's eyes sharpened. "Interesting."

"Sagebrush?" Kaylina only vaguely knew the plant from books.

"You've heard of the sandsteaders who have settlements in the drylands east of the mountains?" Vlerion asked her.

"Yes."

"There are also nomadic wild tribes over there who aren't interested in obeying the rules of civilization and settling in one place. They roam the deserts, surviving in hostile land with little water, and they have some of the best fighters in the world. It's said they eat a certain altered plant that gives them greater speed and strength than a normal human being. I always thought that a myth, but…" Vlerion touched his wounded jaw. "Perhaps there's something to it."

"Because one managed to cut you?" Kaylina asked. "You were outnumbered."

"I was," he agreed, lowering his hand.

"Hardly anyone ever touches Lord Vlerion with a blade," the ranger told her. "Even when he is outnumbered."

True. Kaylina had seen that for herself. As the beast, he was almost unstoppable, but some of that power conveyed to him as a man too, making Vlerion faster and stronger than his opponents.

"Find out if they were all sage assassins and who hired them. Also, find out if I was the target or…" Vlerion extended a hand toward Kaylina.

"Oh, they wanted you," she said, certain of her assessment.

"If that's true, we've both earned new enemies of late."

"At least my enemies only want to kidnap me." Kaylina looked toward Nakeron Inn, though nobody had come out, as far as she'd seen, to observe the fight. Since explosions had been taking place in the street, that was understandable. A few of the curtains in second-story windows were stirring.

"They could have been kidnapping you to deliver to someone who wants to kill you," Vlerion said.

"A cheery thought."

"Yes." As the rangers took the prisoner and the bodies away, Vlerion gazed thoughtfully at Kaylina. "I wonder if your plant is capable of influencing people who don't have druid blood."

"Can we not call it my plant, please? Just because we're housemates now doesn't mean I claim any ownership over it." She glanced at her hand. If anything, the plant had an ownership claim on her . "As to the rest, it's given Frayvar bad dreams and visions, the same as it has me."

"Hm."

It took Kaylina a moment to realize what he was suggesting. "I don't think it hired the assassins."

"I said influence, not hire. Though, at this point, I wouldn't be that shocked to see it using its vines to wave bags of coins at people through its window."

She shook her head. "It still wants you dead—I'm positive—but I doubt it had anything to do with this. You have a new enemy."

"Not surprising. The Virts may be behind it, but their schemes thus far haven't suggested that they have a lot of money to spend. Hiring sage assassins isn't cheap. They wouldn't have been lured here by promises of access to their holy catacombs." Vlerion pointed at the cobblestones under their feet.

"Maybe the Virts have gotten some monied backers." Kaylina looked at the inn again.

"We'll talk to her, but let's get your ear fixed up first."

"How gory does it look?"

Vlerion pointed at the dismembered hand full of taybarri teeth marks.

"It can't be that bad. My sister is coming to visit."

Not visit. Judge. And report back to the family.

Grimacing, Kaylina probed her ear carefully, relieved to find only a cut, not the entire top half missing.

Warmth came from the back of her hand, and she jerked it down. The brand—the druid power—had saved her. She couldn't deny that, but that didn't make her comfortable with it.

"I was joking," Vlerion said. "It's not that bad. Ears always bleed a lot. Come." He pointed to their mounts.

The rest of the rangers and their taybarri had left with their prisoner, but Crenoch and Levitke waited. Vlerion winced as he mounted. Maybe her ear wasn't the only reason he wanted to see the doctor.

As they rode away, he leveled a long look back toward the rooftop of the inn, but the assassin was long gone. That didn't mean that he and however many of his allies had survived wouldn't try again. And next time, they wouldn't assume Kaylina was a frill only with Vlerion for a lay . The assassins would be better prepared.