Yarif noted how the captain favored one leg, how he flexed the fingers of the opposite hand. How he matched Yarif’s intense assessment. Of all the soldiers in his hall, the captain didn’t discount Yarif’s fighting abilities.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” The captain took another step forward, hands still raised. “We just need to talk.” Gentle words, as spoken from an adult to a child. This man scarcely beat Yarif’s age.
Yarif didn’t believe a word and poured every ounce of disdain he could muster into his reply. “Nothing said by a mere captain can be trusted once the emperor starts making demands. If you really don’t want to hurt me, you’d leave me be.” A few minutes, just a few minutes more…
Clattering footsteps echoed upon the stone stairs, followed by a breathless soldier. He kept a wary eye on Yarif, still armed with an heirloom rapier. “His Highness sent word,” the man said, handing over a note, then stepping back.
What? Was the emperor here?
“Don’t call him that if you want to keep your rank,” the captain growled. How odd. Surely the emperor demanded to be addressed by his title. Then again, an emperor should be addressed as Majesty, not Highness. The captain read the note, heaving out a sigh. He lifted his chin, meeting Yarif’s gaze. Hard to lie while making eye contact, though some managed. “Your brother and sister have been captured, along with a servant, and are being detained. If you’ll put down the… Is that some kind of sword?”
No! Yarif brandished his rapier in response. Oh gods! Emile and Adrina. They had the twins! What now?
“Whatever the hell you’re holding, put it down. I’ll take you to them,” the captain said, in tones Yarif often used to calm a spooked horse.
Please no. Let the children not have been captured. “You lie.”
“I do not.”
“Prove it.” Yarif even managed a steady hand while pointing the business end of his rapier toward the captain.
The captain pulled a scrap of cloth from the note. The blue bow Adrina had worn in her hair earlier.
No, no, no! Yarif released hold of the hope he’d stubbornly clung to.
A prisoner. He had no choice but to be taken prisoner if he wanted to see the twins. His life was already forfeit. If he could convince the emperor to spare Adrina and Emile, his death wouldn’t be in vain. Those poor children. They must be terrified.
Or rather, Emile must be terrified while Adrina plotted revenge. Yarif’s wager would be on Adrina. “Do you promise that my brother and sister are unharmed?”
“They are, though I believe the girl may be nursing sore toes after kicking an armored soldier in the greaves.”
Sounded like Adrina. Ever defiant. “Why should I believe you?”
The captain lifted his chin to a stubborn angle, bringing Baro briefly to mind. Yarif’s heart ached anew. “Because the commander would have our heads if we harmed a child.”
“And myself?” Without Yarif, who would see to the twins? Certainly not their frivolous mother. He filed away the comment about the commander for later use. Yarif had learned to horde bits of information, piecing them together to use as weapons.
Especially the comment about “don’t call him ‘Your Highness.’”
“If you come quietly, I give you my word that you won’t be harmed,” the captain said.Not in the next few minutes, anyway,went unsaid.
Yarif understood the unspoken sentiment. Time to admit defeat—at least for now. He placed his slender rapier on a side table. “Take me to them.”
A soldier immediately picked up the blade with his bare hand, hissed and drew back, a gash now bleeding from his palm.
Served him right.
The captain tsked. “Just because it looks like a toy to you heavily armed soldiers doesn’t mean it’s not every bit as lethal as your broadsword.”
Ah, the beauty of being underestimated. Yarif had gotten a few good cuts in when the soldiers saw a novice holding a blade. Now they compounded the misplaced trust by allowing him to keep his knives. Even his rather innocuous-looking hairpin doubled as a blade. A small one, but a small knife expertly wielded could cause much damage.
Especially at close range.
Yarif stepped closer, waiting for the right moment to thrust the pin into the captain’s neck.
Then run.
No. Yarif couldn’t endanger the children. All bets were off once they were free, though.
