“Challenge is governed by warrior laws, laws enforced by every warrior. As I said, there is no avoidance of the outcome of a challenge.”
“All right, I can see how a warrior thing like this would be backed up by all warriors. So what kind of service are we talking about, and how long does it last?”
“The kind of service is also the choice of the victor, but it can be only one service. Does he need a new stable for hishataari,the defeated one can be told to build it, and as this is a specific task, the service will last until it is finished. Most service, however, is usually simple labor, on a farm, or a mine, or even in a household. This type of service is generally demanded for only a month’s time.”
“And it can be only one thing? You can’t assign him to household duty, then change your mind if you need another farm worker?”
“That is correct.”
She thought it over for a minute. It sounded too easy, a little menial labor for just a short time. What had made him so delighted with her challenge?
And then her eyes narrowed on him suspiciously. “One of those services to choose from wouldn’t happen to be labor in the bedchamber, would it?”
“It has never been demanded because only men challenge—but it can indeed be considered a service.”
So that was what he had up his bare sleeve. He had correctly foreseen nothing but trouble in the claiming of her, but with this challenge thing, he could have exactly what he wanted of her without the trouble.
Tight-lipped, infuriated at how he wouldn’t even have mentioned that particular service if she hadn’t asked, Tedra said, “And if I win, warrior?”
“The same choice will be yours, death or service.”
“Very well, I figure it will take me about a month to conclude my business here. You’ll make a nice guide or assistant.”
“You truly expect to defeat me, woman?”
The amusement in his voice was natural, she supposed, but still annoying. “You don’t know me, babe. I’m as arrogant in my skills as you are in yours.”
“Arrogance in a woman is not allowed.”
“Why don’t you see if it’s deserved first before you disallow it?” she fairly purred, hoping to rile him, but she was finding to her further annoyance that it was impossible to tell with him.
He simply nodded, allowing her point. “You will abide by the outcome of the challenge?”
“I hate to put a damper on your confidence, warrior, but fighting is what I do, and where I come from, a fighter is not without honor. You insult me by questioning mine.”
He couldn’t have cared less. “Swear it by—by your Martha,” he insisted.
“Oh, for Stars’ sake.” She sighed. “Swearing by Martha wouldn’t mean a thing, since she isn’t a God, just a pile of scrap metal who’s got too big for her circuits, and whom I happen todespiseat the moment. I’ll swear by the Stars in Heaven, which is binding for me. But I don’t expect to lose this challenge, babe, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. You might be as big as all farden hell, but big doesn’t matter in what I can do. Doyouswear to abide by the outcome?” She got a flush out of him, which made her chuckle that he could react to her barbs after all, and she rubbed it in. “Fair’s fair, babe. You mademeswear.”
“Then I swear by Droda,” he growled. “But I also swear you will regret your taunting of me, woman.”
“That remains to be seen,” she replied, unruffled. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“There is nothing that could stop me now,tyra.”
He’d called her witch. My, she really had got him riled, which was all the better for her. One of the first rules of fighting was to stay cool.
“So what are you waiting for? I’m ready.”
Chapter Nine
The strategy was not to let him get his hands on her. Tedra quickly discovered that blocking did little good against those meaty arms, so any frontal attack was out of the question. She got her blows in from the sides, from behind, but that took some fancy footwork to maneuver around him; the barbarian might be big, but unfortunately, he wasn’t clumsy or slow. In fact, he could move nearly as fast as she could, which didn’t help to get the fight over with quickly, as she had hoped to do.
Finding out early in the game that he was reluctant to actually hurt her was a good thing, because there had been several opportunities where he could have ended it, but she would have had some broken bones to show for it. She didn’t harbor any such reluctance herself, not that she thought she could actually damage the brute with the limited blows that distance allowed her. Those kicks she did get in were designed to bring him down; they just didn’t. He might be sore later, but as far as she could tell now, he wasn’t feeling anything, all that thick muscle cushioning her every blow. She’d either have to go for a running jump kick, wagering all that she could reach his throat as high up as it was, or else wait for an opening to take him from behind with her Frimera technique.
After two successive lateral kicks that he was just short of blocking, Tedra got in a third kick that staggered him somewhat. Elated, she wasted no time in leaping on his back and going for the pressure point on his neck. She could have broken his back in that position, or his neck, by bringing up her feet for leverage and yanking back on his head. Something would have snapped before her added weight toppled them over. But she couldn’t bring herself to kill the barbarian. She applied the Frimera technique instead and held her breath, counting those four extra seconds it took to work on someone his size. But four passed, then six, and Tedra broke out in a sweat when eight seconds had come and gone and he was still standing. His neck muscles were justtoothick, and when she heard his deep, rumbling chuckle, she realized that he could have stopped her at any point, that he hadlether give it her best shot!
Her only thought at that point was to abandon ship, but she’d known if she got that close to him it’d be all over, and even as she let go of her hold on his back, his hand was there to keep her from dropping free of him. In another second she was dragged around to the front of him by a fistful of her tunic, had only a moment to see the gloating pleasure in his expression, then was tossed upward into the air.
