The race for coins devolved into a brawl, and most of the mob’s anger turned against me. Three men landed punches before I was able to free myself from the mass and press my back against a wall. I dodged another punch, then slammed my fist into the belly of a slender man wearing a crimson scarf.
I tried to slip out when the slender demon doubled over, but three more stood in my path.
“Got him!” one yelled.
Others rose and joined the trio blocking my way.
“Gods, where are the guards when you need them?” I muttered to myself.
Then I realized—palace guards would be worse than angry gamblers. If word reached Father that his third son had been found drunk and brawling in a pleasure house . . . again . . .
A loud whack turned everyone’s heads, and a burly member of the mob crumpled.
A second whack, then a third.
The ring surrounding me thinned.
“Go! That way!” The bronze lion materialized beside me, pointing toward a side door with one hand while the other gripped the broken and bloodied leg of a chair. “I’ll hold them off. Get out of here.”
The voice was younger than I had expected, cultured despite our surroundings.
I bolted through the hall and out the door.
Men avoiding the melee milled about, still drunk and dazed. None seemed to notice me as I slinked against the building and down a darkened alley to hide behind several casks.
The clamor inside the gambling house sounded like war had returned to the mainland.
I nearly jumped from behind the barrels as furniture slammed against the nearby wall. Twice, men emerged, angry and calling for others to help them find “the cheater in the rag.”
I thought my escape had sobered me up, but after thirty minutes of hiding, the sake won the battle with my waking mind, and I drifted into a fitful sleep.
“Gods, you stink,” I heard through a half-awake daze.
“Wha—? Jus let me sleep, a-right?” I stammered.
“Listen, most everyone’s gone, but the three who started the fight are still looking for you. We’ve got to get out of here.”
I shook my bleary head and dared a peek. It was dark in the alley, but moonlight caught the bronze gleam of the lion mask.
“What the—” I startled and shoved myself back against the wall.
“Easy,” the lion laughed through a whisper. “I’m going to get you out of here. Just—”
“I don’t know you. Where’s the guard?”
“Guard?” The lion’s head cocked. “The city watch isn’t here. They wouldn’t help us out of a fight in any case, but I will.”
Something in the man’s tone made me look closer. The stranger moved with the fluid grace of someone trained in combat. He positioned himself to watch both ends of the alley simultaneously.
“You’ve been watching me,” I said, some clarity cutting through the wine fog. “All night. Why?”
The lion went still. “Put your arm over my shoulder, and let’s go.”
“Answer me first. Are you palace guard? Or a spy?”
A laugh, genuine and surprised. “Nothing so dramatic. I followed you because—” The lion reached down and grabbed my wrist, pulling my limp body over his shoulder. “Because someone needed to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed in a place like this. Hells, did you drinkallthe wine they had? You reek.”
“I was t’irsty.” I belched.
