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And
then I saw her.
Around the side of the
melee, a tiny figure moved: a girl with hair the color of wheat and the
purest green eyes. She held a dagger in each hand, and walked like a
warrior, stepping lightly and in perfect balance.
And then she saw me.
Twenty yards separated
us, but I felt as if we were standing face to face. Her expression was
as cold as the storm her teeth gritted, and her jaw set.
Joen crossed the deck
at a run, leaping the rail in a single, graceful leap, landing but a few
yards in front of me. The wind picked up again, drowning out the sounds
of combat. The snow came down faster, obscuring the battle still raging
around us.
I held up my arms,
sword out wide, trying to indicate that I meant no harm. Joen rushed
toward me, her arms tight to her body. For a moment I thought she was
going to embrace me.
Instead, she punched
out with the pommel of the dagger. It slammed me in the forehead and
sent me reeling. I fell and skidded halfway across the deck.
I lifted my sword and
looked up, expecting her to be right atop me. I rose unsteadily to my
feet, my weapon at the ready.
"Never drop your guard
in a fight, eh?" she said, stalking toward me. "That's a free lesson for
you. The next one's gonna cost you, got it?"
I brought my sword up,
touching the blade to my forehead right where her blow had landed, then
snapped it back down in a mock salute. "So you have more lessons for me,
then?" I quipped, settling into the stance Waterdeep swordmasters had
taught me.
"Many more, kid," she
promised, spitting the last word like an insult.
I knew she was angry at
me so I decided to allow her the first attacks until her rage played
itself out.
Left, right, left, she
slashed with her daggers, aiming not for me but for my blade. She meant
to knock my sword out of line--her eight-inch daggers would not reach me
if she could not move her body past my sword.
With a simple twist of
my wrist, I kept my sword in line with her through each contact. The
numbness in my left side was almost a memory. The quality of my
swordplay surprised even me.
"Feeling better yet?" I
asked sarcastically.
"You're still
standing."
"So that's a yes?"
She snarled and
repeated her attack. If she meant to kill me, she surely could have in
that initial stroke. But neither was she dropping her weapons or her
guard. My pulse quickened. Perhaps she did mean to kill me after all. |
