Partner to Trouble by Roz P. Garrett

Author:Roz P. Garrett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic fantasy, fantasy romance, sword and sorcery romance, sword and sorcery, romance, fantasy
Publisher: Bellicose Books
Published: 2019-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

27 | she faces a snag in their plans

Conference ended and destination decided, the three of them left the granary, headed back down the inner hall, and slipped across the courtyard to the gate passage. Or at least, that was the intent.

The courtyard was not well-lit, with only a few torches near the doors. As they went, skirting through the darkness between the torches around the courtyard, they kept close to the walls. As they passed the door of the southeastern tower, the same stairs they had descended to get to the lower floor, the door whipsawed open, hitting the stone frame with a loud bang that echoed across the darkened courtyard.

Uliette had been leading the way across, but Belisare snatched her backwards as quickly as she could. The vicious thrust of a sword through the door was enough to prove her that her instinct had been correct. Uliette gave a grunt as Belisare pushed her back toward her brother, drawing the short sword from her waist as she moved forward.

A tense moment passed as the three of them stood back from the torch in its sconce by the tower door, waiting.

“Di’ I miss?”

That voice. Belisare tensed as she recognized that it belonged to the man who had been with Tovan and the Crimson Steel captain in the lord’s room. Behind her, Lir made a noise.

The merc stepped through the door, and Belisare got her first look at the man who had claimed her as his fee for this job. Dark, lanky hair hung back from the man’s scarred, angular face. His thin lips pulled back from his teeth. “Been lookin’ for you,” he sneered.

“I heard something like that,” Belisare replied.

“Yoar mine,” the spade-faced man said, lifting his sword and pointing it at her.

“The two of you go on ahead,” Belisare said over her shoulder, careful to keep an eye on the man before her.

“But—” Lir started to say.

“I’ll catch up,” she assured him.

Uliette took him by the arm, and Lir’s protest died on his lips. He fixed Belisare with a look that was more serious than anything she had seen him favor her with since that night in the cave. His eyes flashed in the torchlight. “Be careful.”

She nodded, taking her own advice back from him and drawing one of the daggers from her belt with her free hand. She turned her attention back to the mercenary before her, staring him down as Uliette and Lir made their way across the courtyard.

Dark eyes followed the two siblings as they headed off into the darkness. Though the man’s very presence left a foul taste in the back of her mouth, Belisare wanted his attention on her rather than them.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him as he turned back to her. “I’d rather keep this between the two of us.”

An insolent laugh answered her, but the swing of his sword as he launched himself toward her was all the answer that he gave.

She met his attack, blocking with her short sword.

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