Page 4 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
Talemir
With her cutlass to his throat, the beautiful young ranger actuallyswung her sword at him. Talemir leapt back in surprise, unsure how he’d managed to offend her so soon. Usually it took a good while for him to get a woman this riled up, but within moments he realised that the fury on her face was not born of a simple slight, but of a hurt so deep it raged white-hot.
He unsheathed his sword in an instant, a thrill surging through him at the new challenge, the pair of them moving so fast that his former apprentice still wore an expression of shock.
Steel met steel, ringing out across the empty lands as he blocked the woman’s second strike. He didn’t intend to attack, but merely —
Feathers and talons came out of nowhere with a blood-curdling screech, claws as sharp as daggers dragging down his face.
‘What the fuck?’ He tried to bat back what he realised was an enormous hawk.
‘Away, Terrence. He’s mine,’ the woman commanded, and in a second the bird was gone and she was advancing once more. ‘You’re one of them,’ she spat, whirling on her toes and delivering a surprisingly powerful thrust of her blade.
Her words sent instant dread coiling in his gut, and that strange cuff around her wrist seemed to hum as she pushed forward, but he deflected her attack easily. ‘You mean a Warsword?’ he asked with mock politeness, sidestepping another lunge. ‘I thought that much was obvious.’
She parried, determination and hatred blazing in her ice-blue, kohl-lined gaze. ‘A monster.’ She feinted right and then struck, but with a downward cut, he knocked her blade aside.
‘Talemir?’ Wilder’s voice sounded a few feet away, more curious than alarmed.
Talemir glanced over his attacker to see his protégé looking bored as he leant against a boulder, the tip of his sword poised at the Naarvian man’s throat. ‘I thought we were headed to Ciraun?’
‘This won’t take a minute. I’ve got it handled,’ Talemir called back, returning his attention to the woman just in time for her to deliver a vicious slice to his bicep. Blood trickled, but he barely felt it.
‘Do you?’ she snarled, forcing him backward, drawing their fight away from the others. ‘I know what you are.’
Plastering on his most charming grin, Talemir stepped out of striking range and sketched a bow. ‘As I said, Talemir Starling, Warsword of Thezmarr, at your service, lady. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?’ He winked. ‘What should I call you, Wildfire?’
The word slipped from his lips before he’d even thought it, for that was what the woman was – a living flame, both in her violent actions and the streaks of red through her burnt-umber hair.
‘Not that,’ she said through gritted teeth, surging towards him again.
This time, their swords met close between their bodies.
‘I have to call you something, Wildfire.’
She let out a cry of fury and attacked with renewed rage, her blades blurs of silver in the air before him. It was adorable, really, that she thought she could gain the upper hand against a Warsword. He certainly hadn’t survived the Great Rite to be smote by a girl, however pretty, upon the ruins of Naarva. But she clearly sensed something within him, something that, until this point, no one else had… So he let her drive the fight backward, towards the rocky outcrop of the cliffs, so they were out of earshot. He let her hold her blade to his neck, just for a moment.
There was little space between them, and her body heaved with effort as she pressed her weapon to his throat again.
‘You’re a skilled fighter, I’ll give you that,’ he told her, utterly calm despite the trickle of blood he felt trailing down his skin. ‘Though, you’re breaking the laws of the midrealms by wielding that blade.’
Her lip curled into a snarl. ‘Women of Naarva learnt long ago to abide by their own laws if they wanted to survive.’
‘I can respect that,’ Talemir replied. ‘If they allowed women warriors at Thezmarr, you’d make a fine —’
‘Enough,’ she commanded. But her gaze had changed, as had her breathing. She pressed against him, her thigh forced between his, her eyes dipping to his mouth. ‘Stop that,’ she said.
He frowned. ‘Stop what?’
‘You’re using your dark magic on me, bewitching me with shadows.’
A laugh escaped him. ‘What?’
But she’d drawn his attention to it as well, to every part of them that touched. Her body was like a brand on his, awakening something that slumbered deep within.
‘You’re trying to seduce me into the darkness,’ she breathed. ‘I can feel it…’
He nearly snorted, but instead he leant in. ‘Perhaps you just find me attractive. You wouldn’t be the first.’
