“Listen—”
“Gods,” she hissed, the sword beginning to shake. She wiped at the tears falling with her free hand.
He didn’t know what to say.
How to make it better.
He dropped his head. He couldn’t look at her beautiful eyes, couldn’t face her pain.
Coward.
“Did you kill Lerek?”
Daris’s head shot up at the hard edge in her voice. His heart squeezed at the sight of that flat, icy stare, as if she had gone far away.
He took a step toward her. Her hand stiffened.
Her face…
“I can explain,” he answered softly.
Her face crumpled and she almost fell. Then she lunged forward so fast he knew if he hadn’t been wary of her, she would have struck him in the gut.
At the last moment, Daris dodged and grabbed her arm as she thrust at him, twisting her arm to disarm her. Terena twisted as well, sweeping a leg out and catching him behind his ankle and he let go as he fell. His men jumped back, weapons at the ready, watching in disbelief as Daris and Terena squared off.
Daris sprang up, crouched in a fighting stance as he watched her. His balance was still off. Sounds erupted all around, the rest of their party moving closer but on clearly opposite sides.
“Daris! What the fuck are you doing?” Croak roared behind Terena, his arms stretched out toward both of them, his face ashen.
Terena snatched the other short sword from its sheath at her hip and sprang at him again, her face a mask of pain and pure rage, lips pressed tight as she swung one sword a split second before she lashed out with the other at his left side. He moved right and under her left arm and paced backwards as he braced for another assault. She snarled, stepping forward, first right then left, moving so fast with the Twins he barely had time to move.
Behind her, Sonah screamed nonsensically at them, her face streaked with tears as Gabriol struggled to hold her while she writhed against him. Michael tossed his sword to Daris, and he caught it by reflex, twirling the sword once, deflecting another blow from Terena.
“Jason, make them stop! Please!” Sonah begged, screaming at Jason as he stood behind Daris, sword drawn. He made a move to go to her but Rydon stepped in front of her.
“Don’t you dare move, Liodari!” Rydon roared at Jason, his gaze whipping over to him before going back to the fight between Terena and Daris.
“You said you’d never hurt me,” Terena hissed at Daris, swinging first her left sword then the right at him. He parried, his face tight. “You said you’d ratherdiethan hurt me,” she continued, her voice pure venom, eyes wild with pain and rage. He deflected her next thrust.
“So die! Die likehedid!” Terena raged, then spun, whipping out her left arm as she whirled, her right arm right behind it ready to open his stomach.
“What are you doing, Terena?” Daris roared as he fell back a few steps. “You can’t kill me. You know this!”
“A girl can dream,” she snarled with another nasty swipe at his chest.
He jumped back, panting. “Please listen!” he yelled, blocking another blow. “We need to talk, Terena!” Another thrust, low on his right side he blocked with some difficulty. “But I need you to stop! Will you please stop!”
She was a whirlwind, ducking, thrusting, snarling and cutting with the Twins. He parried—barely—meeting blow after blow as she dropped to a knee and spun, her hand flung out as he met the flash of steel again.
Daris fell back step after step after step, blocking and parrying. He had to do something to get her to stop and listen.
He jumped back as she thrust forward again, her momentum causing her to slip. She dropped to her knee, hard—a rare mistake—her left sword loosed from her grip. Quick as an asp, she swiped her hand along the ground, tossing dirt in his eye.
He swore, blinded, blinking furiously. Tears streamed and blurred his vision but he saw Terena pounce, his eye clearing barely enough to show him where to block her renewed offensive. Cold sweatbroke out on the back of his neck. He was in trouble. One eye gone and the other almost useless now.
Around them, the others shouted at them, at each other, Sonah’s screams piercing as she yelled at Daris; she yelled at Jason and the others to do something.
He had to get through to Terena somehow. No matter what, he had to try to get a hold of her, pin her long enough to listen to him. He had no time to think as he tried to anticipate her movements, tried to disarm her without hurting her.
