Page 75 of Swordheart
The speaker stepped forward. He had been standing at the corner of a building that faced onto the courtyard outside the library. He was tall and pale, with a seamed face and a short shock of red hair. “Most recently of Rutger’s Howe?”
“Do I know you?”
“I’ve been sent with a message,” he said, beckoning to them.
“Oh!” Halla stepped forward. “Did the Temple send you?”
“Indeed. It’s a somewhat sensitive matter, so if we could… ah…” He glanced at the open courtyard, then back at Halla, raising his eyebrows.
Sarkis’s danger senses twinged. There was something suspicious about the situation, but Halla was already walking toward the redheaded man.
He seems respectably dressed, but what do I know of clothing in this land? And fine clothes may still conceal a blade.
“Is something wrong?” asked Halla.
The red-haired man took a few steps back. “Yes, but this isn’t the place to discuss it.”
The space between the buildings was barely more than a glorified alley. It was much darker. Sarkis put out a hand to catch Halla’s arm, while his eyes adjusted to the gloom.
That pause saved him a great deal of trouble.
When his eyes adjusted, he saw that there were two more men in the alley, including one that was trying to lurk behind achunk of the decorative façade. Unlike the redhead, these men did not look particularly respectable, and they also had weapons in their hands.
“… um,” said Halla, her eyes growing wide. “Whatexactlyis the problem?”
The redhead tried, Sarkis would give him that. “I’ll be happy to discuss it once we’re somewhere more private.”
“I think we’ll discuss it now,” said Sarkis, drawing his sword and pushing Halla behind him.
The redhead sighed. “Dammit,” he muttered, to no one in particular. And then, “Mistress Halla, please hand over the sword and you won’t be harmed.”
“Err… why don’t you leave instead?” said Halla. “And then neither of us will be harmed?”
“I’ve no desire to shed blood,” he said.
Sarkis rather suspected that the men with him did not feel the same way. There was a fourth coming from the end of the alleyway now.
“Oh good,” said Halla. “Because I don’t want bloodshed, either. So if you leave, we could both get what we want.”
That’s a novel negotiating tactic, I’ll give her that…
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Hand over the sword and we can be done here.”
Sarkis decided that negotiations had gone on long enough and simply threw himself at the redhead, shouting, “Halla,run!”
He was half-afraid that she’d stay to discuss the problem of running, where exactly to run, and perhaps relate an anecdote about a cousin who had run somewhere and dropped dead of running-related causes, but Halla bolted like a hare.Thank the great god for that.
The redhead cursed and backpedaled. His men started forward, then stopped, because there was a rather large quasi-immortal warrior in the way.
The narrowness of the alley worked to Sarkis’s advantage. None of the men could get past him without risking a foot of steel in the belly. None of them seemed particularly inclined to do so.
“Go after her, you idiots!” snapped the redhead. This order was robbed of some of its effectiveness because he was trying to get away from Sarkis as he said it.
One footpad backed away from Sarkis, then turned and ran. “On it, boss!” he called over his shoulder. Sarkis wondered idly if that was to prevent the redhead from thinking he was simply running from the fight.Not that it matters, since I’ll have to kill him anyway if he’s going after Halla…
Two footpads left was easier to deal with. Sarkis didn’t bother with finesse. Finesse was overrated. He simply swung forward, giving the men the option to block, duck, or get out the way.
The first one had a long knife, and sensibly chose to duck. The second one was not expecting his ally to duck, and was a bit too slow in reacting to the sword that was suddenly coming at him. He threw his forearm up to protect his head, and the blade sank into it with a wet, meaty sound, and quite a lot of screaming from the owner of the forearm.
