“Well, it wasn’t in the first life—people had to look it up. It had been a hundred years since demons were even seen, so the knowledge wasn’t passed down except through books.”
“In that case, I insist we go back in and talk to them.” Edwin turned and hauled me toward the door again. “I do not want to leave this up to chance—”
Instincts honed on a desperate battlefield had me reacting before I could even register what was flying toward us. I used the hold Edwin had on me to yank him against my chest, then twisted sideways, using my own body to shield him. The thrown dagger barely passed over his head instead of hitting him.
“Wha—” he garbled out in surprise.
I had no room to do anything more than shove him toward the doors. “Inside, inside!”
Edwin got his feet under him and sprinted for the temple. I didn’t try to follow—those attacking didn’t give me a chance. I whirled, pulling my sword from its sheath as I moved, and barely blocked the attack coming in my direction. The sword striking mine wasn’t anything fancy, the man wielding it so covered in a black head wrap, all I could see were his eyes.
I sensed more than saw another hooded figure darting after Edwin, and panic tore through my heart. Not Edwin, you’re not going after Edwin,not my Edwin—
I lunged sideways in a move that would probably get me injured, but in that split second, I didn’t care. Bleeding waspreferable to losing Edwin. I extended as far as I could, and it was just enough—just enough to rake the edge of my sword against the bastard’s throat, slitting the side. He gasped a breath that sounded wet and gurgley, and fell to the side, slumping as he clamped a hand over the blood gushing from his throat. I’d hit an artery, to my vicious satisfaction.
That was what you got when you touched Edwin—death.
Edwin glanced back, saw how close to death he was, and fear flashed over his face. He didn’t pause, just ran faster, clearing the front garden as quickly as he could, which was what I needed him to do. The carriage was too far away and not defensible anyway, better for him to be in the temple.
I quickly tried to right myself, getting back into a guard position. The death of a comrade had made the other attacker falter for a moment, more cautious now in how they approached me, as I’d demonstrated the sword on my hip wasn’t just an intimidation tactic. The real intimidation tactic would have been my knights, and I spent half a breath spewing curses at myself. I should have brought them, no matter my desire for inconspicuousness.
If anything happened to Edwin, I’d never forgive myself.
Two other attackers joined, trying to flank me, but that was a tactic I knew how to counter. I kicked out with my left leg, hitting the man squarely in the chest and sending him flying. He landed against a fourth compatriot of his, knocking them both to the ground and buying myself some breathing room.
The man on my right tried to attack while I dealt with those two, but I ducked, rolling straight backward, my head tucked in. It wasn’t as neat of a roll as I’d planned—damn steps—but I still fetched up on my feet, sword in hand, so it wasn’t the worst decision I’d ever made.
I could hear Edwin inside screaming, “Get the knights out there now!”
Edwin was clearly terrified. I grimaced, hating the fear in his voice. I’d never live this down, assuming we lived through it.
Glad he was calling for backup, though. I did need it. Bit rough facing down four armed opponents at once.
The two I’d rolled to evade attacked immediately. I had to kick out and use my sword in an arc to create distance. Both were almost eerily silent as they attacked, no calls or anything; they didn’t even really glance at each other to see what the other was doing. Just blindly attacked like animals.
I parried their attacks, throwing them off me time and again, all while trying to keep an eye on the other two, who were back on their feet. Shit, where were those knights—
From the corner of my eye, I saw two men rush up with swords in hand and just about cried in relief. “Vuheia to me!”
“At your side!” one of the knights called back, quickly taking a protective stance on my left.
I appreciated the warning, as I didn’t want to hurt an ally, and trusted that side to him. The other knight came up on my right, dealing quick and brutal damage to the man trying to flank me.
It left me one opponent to deal with, which was so much easier. Now that I had the ability to focus on just this man in front of me, it quickly became apparent he wasn’t very skilled. Within three strikes, I dominated him, and despite his attempt to parry and retreat a step, I gave him no quarter. I drove my sword straight into his chest, made sure he was dead before he hit the ground, then whirled to see how the rest were doing.
The knights had quickly dispatched the other attackers. All lay deathly still upon the ground, the knights barely breathing hard. Temple knights of Vuheia were exceptionally well trained. It was, in fact, where most of my personal knights came from. Despite that, I was still surprised this fight had ended in a minute flat. Did these four men attack me as a group because they knew they were outclassed as fighters?
Who even were these fools?
I set the thought aside for a second and offered a hand to the nearest knight. “Sir, I owe you thanks.”
He clasped my forearm, his grip strong. “Rather, we owe you our apologies. I cannot believe someone would so brazenly attack you on our very doorstep, Your Highness. You can rest assured it will not happen again.”
“Ha, well, I cannot blame you for being pissed. I certainly am.” I thanked each knight in turn, but the jittery feeling of the battle left me paranoid about Edwin. He hadn’t come out, which I approved of, but he was fine, correct? The worry propelled me to look for him, and when I poked my head inside the temple doorway to find Edwin standing just inside, looking very scared, I felt both bad and relieved. “It’s all right, dearest, they’re all dead.”
Edwin hugged me, his embrace firm, breath shaking a little. I threw another mental kick at the dead enemy outside. How fucking dare they scare my Edwin. Where was a necromancer so I could revive them and take my time killing them?
“We need to figure out who they are.” Edwin stepped back and visibly pulled himself together. “And you’re going nowhere without your knights from now on.”
