Her Mercenary Harem by Savannah Skye

Author:Savannah Skye [Skye, Savannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“They’re coming.”

Taka stood up sharply as Luca hurried up to him. “When? How many?”

“They’re on our heels. Ten.”

Taka nodded. “Raiding party, perhaps.” He turned to Ryne, who was standing nearby, looking worried. “Do they often come down like this?”

Ryne’s head bobbed up and down. “When we’re due to pay them, they send down an advance party a few days before to let us know they’re on their way, tell us what they want and give us time to get it together.”

Taka nodded calmly. “I’ll speak to them.”

Ryne didn’t look any happier as Taka, followed by the other guys, strode towards the village square. The rest of the villagers, myself included, trailed after them, curiosity trumping fear. I found a good spot next to Bren, who looked up at me with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

“You think this is going to work?”

“I think they’re going to kick some bandit ass.”

Bren grinned. “I’d like to see that. Hey, do you want to sit down?”

Polite as always, he offered me the barrel on which he was perched. I started to take it but then thought better of it. “Actually, I think I’d rather stand.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah.” My ass was throbbing, and sitting down would not be an option for a little while yet, but I didn’t have to share that with Bren.

Seconds later, the bandits rode into the square. Ten of them, as Luca had counted, all heavily armed – more so than necessary, really, they could never have used all the weapons they were carrying. It was for the look of them…a statement of threat.

The mercenaries carried a single weapon apiece, aside from Kai, who wore a short sword to complement his bow and arrow. I could not help wondering why he had not already fired that bow and arrow – surely that gave him a distinct advantage and he could have taken a couple of them out.

“Who are you?” asked the leader of the ten as Taka strolled forward.

“I’m new here,” smiled Taka.

“You the headman?”

“No.”

“We deal with the headman.”

“From now on, you deal with me.”

The bandit was now noticing the weapons. “Looks like Stenheim hired itself some help. Just the four of you?”

Taka nodded.

“And you think that’ll be enough?”

Taka nodded.

“You’re wrong.”

Taka shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Now, what can we do for you?”

The bandit hurled a scroll to the ground. “That’s a list of what we want. It’s been a hard year so your village will have to dig deep.”

Taka stepped forward to pick up the scroll, dusted it off, and handed it back to the rider. “No.”

“No? No, what?”

“No, thank you?” suggested Taka.

“There is no negotiation,” the rider said.

Taka nodded in satisfaction. “Good, that’ll save wasting a lot of time. The people of Stenheim no longer pay tribute to you. Not a single grain of wheat.”

“Then the people of Stenheim will pay in blood.”

Taka shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“Stenheim is under our protection. If you try to exact some petty vengeance on them, then you will be facing us, and I assure you, that is not something you wish to do.

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