Page 156 of The King's Menagerie

"Yes," Nadir replied, smiling in amusement at Ramsay. "Quite special. You should be grateful someone so special saved you and found us, and now will be taking you home to Papa. Are you ready to go?"

Kajan nodded. "Yes, I want to go home and see Papa."

"Then I say we leave in a couple of hours," Ramsay said. "Give us time to eat and rest, let the horses refresh. Though, really, you have no further need of me. I could just stay he—"

"Don't even think about it," Nadir said firmly, glaring at him. "Shafiq will want to thank you personally, and I am certainKajan here would like to show you around the palace. Wouldn't you, Kajan?"

Kajan began to all but vibrate in place as this idea was put into his head, and he fled back eagerly to Ramsay's side. Ramsay shot Nadir a suspicious look, not entirely certain why he was suspicious, but then dutifully turned his attention to Kajan, who was talking faster than he could actually manage, perhaps correctly speaking one word in ten.

Tousling the boy's hair again, smiling fondly, he guided him toward the door, nodding absently as Mazin finally stepped inside, but alert as to why Mazin would have been outside so long. "Come and keep me company while I tend the horses, Kaj. How many horses does your father have, hmm?" He laughed as that started the rapid-fire chattering up again and led Kajan outside.

He should have been surprised to see the line of seven men arrayed outside, but mostly he was just irritated with himself for not anticipating them arriving sooner. He had thought such an attack would wait until they were on the road. He should not have let Mazin stay outside by himself for so long. "Kajan, run to the stables."

Kajan immediately obeyed, bless him, and a man bolted after him. Ramsay drew a dagger and let it fly, taking the man out in his neck. He did not wait to see the man drop, only drew his sword and went for the others. He managed to throw one more dagger before he was forced to contend with the remaining five.

Unfortunately for them, they made the same timeless mistake as everyone upon seeing him and did not realize until they had gone from seven to five in a matter of seconds that looks could be very deceiving. By the time they could sufficiently act on it, he had reduced them to four.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, he had managed to kill them all. He wiped blood and sweat from his face and strode to the stables, but he was not even halfway there when Mazin came out of the stables with the prince in his arms and a knife to his throat. Kajan was crying. Damn it. Mazin must have gotten the better of Nadir and heard him order Kajan to the stables.

"You won't get far," Ramsay said quietly. "Why would you do this?"

"The king is trying to hurt my family, all for money. Why should I not hurt his for the same?" Mazin hissed. "Let us go, or I will kill the boy here and now."

Ramsay kept his face expressionless. "If you do that, you will have no protection left, and I will kill you."

Mazin sneered. "You might think you are a tough littlekitten, but as Nadir said, I am better with a knife by far. Before they were nobles, my family was a band of robbers. Through the generations, we have been careful not to forget the valuable skills with which our ancestors rose through the ranks."

"Like kidnapping and murdering harmless young boys?" Ramsay asked coolly.

"Drop your sword," Mazin said. "Lay down upon the ground, hands where I can see them. Do not move from that spot."

"It will be all right, Kaj. You have my ring, right? Then everything—"

"Shut up and get on the ground!" Mazin snarled.

Winking at Kajan, Ramsay obeyed.

He waited silently as they moved past him, then mounted the only horse remaining in the yard—Feather. In the noise and blood of battle, the other horses had all fled. Only Feather, trained as a Holy Protector's horse, had stood as he had been ordered.

With some very vocal difficulty, Mazin managed to get the prince and himself mounted. Then he began to swear loudly and colorfully. "What is wrong with this damned horse?"

Ramsay said nothing, merely lay quietly.

"Tell me what is wrong with your fool horse, you damned foreign bastard," Mazin snarled.

"He will not move for anyone but me," Ramsay finally said. "It is the way he was trained. If I am not on him, or at least with him, he shall not move."

"Make him move, or it will be the prince's life."

"You dare not kill Kajan until you have what you want from the king," Ramsay replied calmly. "If you want me to make that horse move, you shall have to try other tactics. Harming Kajan will not change the simple facts of my horse's training—he will only move when I am physically with him."

Snarling and cursing in frustration, Mazin tied Kajan to the 0, then slid off the horse and stalked back toward Ramsay. He stopped well out of harm's way. "Get up."

Ramsay obeyed—and whistled sharply as he did so. Immediately obedient, Feather raced off, vanishing down the path and into the forest before Ramsay had even completely risen to his feet.

Mazin bellowed in anger and charged him.

The fight was brutal and bitter. Mazin had not lied—he knew how to use the knives he carried. The problem with a knife fight was that no one came out unscathed. It was a good fight if anyone managed to survive at all.

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