Page 38 of On a Barbarian World

“I can help⁠—”

“No.” He was already turning away and shouting orders at his warriors.

She grabbed his arm. “Kavon, you can’t order me around like one of your⁠—”

He spun so fast, she gasped. A second later, he grabbed her, and her world turned upside down. A hard shoulder dug into her belly and a big hand slapped over her butt.

Oh, my God. He’d tossed her over his shoulder.

“Colm, take the men to the village. I want Drog’s men dead or captured.”

“Yes, Kavon.”

As Kavon strode into the house, Aurina hammered at his back. “Kavon, I have a weapon. One that could defeat Drog’s men easily, with no loss of life⁠—”

“Be quiet.”

She smacked his back again. “I can help.”

“My warriors know what they are doing. It is our way. And I will keep you safe, even if you are determined to throw yourself into danger.”

Suddenly the world tilted again, and he set her on her feet. She blinked. They were back in Kavon’s rooms.

“Stay,” he ordered, his face looking scary.

She opened her mouth to blast him, but he strode out and slammed the door closed.

With a frustrated scream, she grabbed the door handle…just as she heard a loud click.

She rattled the handle. He’d locked her in.

“Kavon!”

But there was no response.

Fuming mad, she spun. The damn barbarian had it in his thick skull she was some damsel in need of protection. He wasn’t half the man she thought, if he refused to see her as anything but a pretty ornament to decorate his bed.

She strode to the balcony. Maybe she could see the village from there.

But as she pushed through the gauzy curtains and stared out, all she could see was a stunning view of the Wilds and the mountains in the distance.

Dammit. She thrust her hands on her hips, then her gaze fell on a narrow ledge leading from the balcony and running across the stone wall of the house until it met a set of outside steps leading down to the ground.

Aurina smiled. She hurried back inside to the large armchair and snatched up the cushion. She grabbed the laser stunner and her star crystal, tucked them into her pocket, and moved back to the balcony. She lifted one leg over the balcony railing and looked down. They weren’t too far up, but a fall would hurt.

It would probably be wise not to fall.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kavon ran his sword through one enemy warrior before stepping, turning, and swinging at another barreling toward him.

Drog’s men were big, dogged fighters, who fought at the edge of honor. They had no compunction about using sneaky tactics. Each one of them had a black snake tattoo twining around their left arm—Drog’s symbol.

Kavon’s men were slowly working through them. Nearby, Kavon spied a few bodies of villagers on the ground—covered in blood and not moving.

Damn Drog. This was all a ploy to draw Aurina out, and find out who she was, and what she looked like. The warlord was, of course, not with his men. No, he’d sent them here alone, so if Kavon complained to the king, Drog would disown them and claim no knowledge of their actions.

The man was a coward in every way.