Tournament of Shadows by S.A. Meade

Author:S.A. Meade [Meade, S.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Erotic Romance Fiction
Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
Published: 2014-11-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Valentin reined his horse to a stuttering halt and stared ahead. “We’re not far now, by my reckoning.”

I gazed at the flat, featureless landscape. “How can you possibly tell?” Thirty-three days travelling had made me testy and Valentin waking me every night with his screams of terror left me exhausted.

“That little clump of trees over there, that’s a landmark I recognise.”

“So how far?”

“About a day’s ride.”

“Thank Christ for that.” I fancied the breeze that blew from the west carried the scent of the sea with it, a flat, salty tang. I could almost hear the gulls.

He smiled. “Anyone would think you were anxious to be away from here.”

I glared at him.

“Don’t worry. Life will soon get a lot easier.”

“Good. As long as I never have to eat another bowl of rice, I’ll be fine.”

Valentin nudged his horse forward and mine fell in alongside while the camel trotted serenely behind us. It had finally decided we were worthy of its company and no longer needed to be led. I sat deeply in the saddle and let my mind drift. It was the only way to forget the monotony. Four months on a steamboat slowly churning its way up the Volga would be paradise.

“Merde!” Valentin pulled his horse up once more and reached for his rifle.

“What?” I snapped out of my meandering in time to see a cloud of dust to the west of us.

“Christ, I wish people would just leave us alone. How many times is this now?”

“I think this is the third or fourth.” I glanced around, searching for cover. We were getting adept at fighting off the bandits. I tried not to think of the trail of dead men we’d left behind us—all foolish enough to think we were an easy target.

“Over there, that little depression in the ground. That’ll have to do.” Valentin urged his horse forward then jumped off. “It’s bloody useless.”

“We’d better shoot the bastards before they start shooting at us then.” I jumped down from my horse. “I don’t want to lose our animals after all this time.”

Valentin had already dropped to his stomach in the shallow ditch. “We won’t.”

The camel dropped to its knees with a bubbling roar of protest. I grabbed my rifle and scrambled into the hollow, scraping my bare elbows on the rocky ground as I settled in beside Valentin. “Can you see how many?”

“Looks like three to me. All waving their guns in the air. Fools.” He spat into the dust and glared down the barrel of his gun.

I followed the direction of his gaze and watched them approach, riding scrappy, half-starved horses, yelling their threats and insults. I’d lost all patience with the place and the people. I loaded the rifle and prepared to fire.

“Should be easy pickings.” Valentin observed. “They’re almost too stupid to shoot.”

“They’re annoying me.” I took aim at the first one, conspicuous in his light robes. He held his pistol out before him, ready to take a shot. The trigger yielded to the pressure of my finger.

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