Page 25 of Rune Assassin

Lusio whipped his head about and glared at him. “You miserable coward! Take some of the others if you want, but get her here now!”

The color drained from Miles’ face but he bowed and scurried away. Lusio stumbled over to one of the high-backed chairs in front of the crackling fire and slumped onto the cushion. He cupped his forehead in one hand and closed his eyes.

“Who is your servant fetching?” Tegan questioned our host.

Lusio didn’t have time to respond before footsteps pattered down the winding steps. Cordelia and the others made their appearance in the doorway with even Morrigan at the rear along with her entourage.

“What’s all this yelling about?” Cordelia demanded to know as she sauntered into the room. “A woman can’t get her beauty sleep with such raised voices.”

Lusio gathered himself and dropped his limb onto the arm of the chair. He straightened and smiled up at the group. “My sincerest apologies. We were having a lively discussion and I forgot myself.”

Morrigan lifted an eyebrow at Tegan and me. “A discussion about what?”

Lusio stood and shook his head. “Nothing important. Were any of you in need of more food? I believe the fires are still lit in the kitchen if you require anything there.”

Cordelia cast a curious look at us as she sashayed away. “No. I’ll help myself later.”

She sauntered through the others who reluctantly followed her. Morrigan was the last and she gave us a nasty parting look before she followed the others upstairs.

The moment the house fell silent, Lusiou whipped his head about and gave us a sharp look. “Speak nothing of this to the others. Do you understand? I don’t want any of them leaving before the end of the trials.”

Tegan nodded. “Very well, but do we now have your permission to act as your guards?”

Lusio slumped back into the chair and grasped the front of the arms. “We’ll see after she comes.”

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

Lusio’s lipswere so tight that Tegan gave me a look that told me not to bother the tense man with questions. I took up the other high-backed seat on the opposite side of the hearth while Tegan positioned himself at the fire. He draped his arm over the mantel and an uneasy silence fell over us.

The minutes ticked by in such tense quiet until a faint noise came from somewhere deep in the house. All of us tensed and Tegan pushed off from the mantel. I heard footsteps on the carpet of the main hall and twisted around to face the doorway.

Miles made his appearance and at his side was the most shriveled woman I had ever beheld. She was below five feet in height and her being hunched didn’t help her altitude. By my guess, the woman appeared to be well past ninety with such a mess of wrinkles on her face that she could have been much older. Her shocking silver hair trailed down her back in a long simple braid that wrapped around her waist like a belt. The woman’s gnarled hands grasped a stick even gnarlier than them and she wore a long black dress with a shawl draped over her thin frame. I dared not breathe hard for fear of blowing her away.

Miles kept as polite a distance as he could manage from her as he bowed at the waist to his master. “Sir, I have brought her.”

“Shut the door behind her,” Lusio commanded him as he stood.

The old woman shuffled into the room with ample use of her cane and Miles gladly obeyed the order to shut us in. The stranger’s dark eyes darted over each of us and lingered longest on Tegan.

Lusio strode up to her with his arms open. “Good evening, Clara. Won’t you sit down?”

She scowled at him. “I will sit down when it pleases me, Lusio, so shut your yap unless you intend to tell me why I’ve been dragged here at this hour.”

Lusio stiffened and pursed his lips but managed to keep his voice even. “I believe someone made an attempt on my life but I would like to know the weapon.”

She looked him up and down and a crooked toothless smile slipped onto her lips. “Have you tried searching yourself? That would have been faster than having your servant fetch me.”

“He wants you to take a look at this,” Tegan spoke up as he strolled over to her.

Clara looked him up and down. “A handsome dragon man. I haven’t seen your kind for quite a while.”

Tegan stopped before the strange woman and smiled at her. “I’d be interested to hear more about the others you’ve met but there’s the matter of saving Lusio’s life.”

She cast a wary glance at him and scoffed. “Why should anyone worry about that?”

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in horror. “I should worry about that! It’s my life that’s being threatened!”

“With what?” she wondered.

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