Page 59 of Straw and Gold
Pretty little bird.
His breath reeked of ale and I kicked him right in his teeth, fumbling to my feet and breaking into a run. I passed the tavern and the closed shops, my footfall slapping against the hard bricks, breaking open my skin.
“Cidech mi!” I screamed, pleading for anyone to help as I was toppled by one of them, falling onto the cold stone of a bridge over a rushing river. His hand covered my mouth next as he pinned me. I gagged and kicked, flailing my fists in all the soft places on his body, earning a hard grunt and curse as he fell off me.
My brother had taught me hand-to-hand combat and I’d taught him how to knit. One of these skills was more valuable to a lone woman in Revelry.
I kicked his face while he was down, bracing myself for the next one as he launched at me, attempting to grab my arms. I ducked, earning another curse as I punched at the bend of his knees, causing him to topple forward. Already drunk and stumbling, he landed on the stone wall of the bridge and I helped him right over.
His scream lit the night air before there was a splash and the third man rushed to the railing, screaming his name.
“Chan ur ha sàm!”
He can’t swim!
I laughed, manically, wiping my hair off my face. “Am chrò dhuinn ficainn an ur dhut?”
Should we see if you can?
He cursed in a word I’d not yet learned, but assumed was something foul, and lunged, fingers curled and face mad with rage.
He dropped dead before I could ready a stance to toss him over the side as well. A knife protruded from his spine, glinting in the moonlight.
I gasped, stepping back and tripping over the first one still sobbing on the ground with a broken nose, blood gushing onto the stone. Another knife flew through the air, slicing into his neck in the cleanest throw I’d ever seen.
I blinked in confusion as Killian raced across the bridge, two more knives already in hand, his eyes piercing mine as he reached the bodies. Fedir was only a few steps behind, dragging the fourth, pathetic whimpers coming from the last of the men who’d assaulted me, planning for worse.
“Are you hurt?” Killian asked, his eyes roaming over my body in assessment.
“Not really,” I replied, ignoring the sting of cuts on my feet.
He nodded in silence, taking the knife from the man’s back and tossing him over the side of the bridge. As if the corpse wasno more than a pillow, he picked up the next, flinging it into the river as well. We stared at each other as we heard the splash of the third Changelingfae we’d killed tonight.
“One more,” Fedir called, tossing forward the last of my attackers. He hit the stones in a scream of pain, his shoulder popped out of its socket.
Killian lifted him with ease, tossing him over the side to join the others in a watery grave. He held his hand out to me in silence and I took it, the night suddenly too quiet. He led me to a wooden lamppost at the end of the bridge, Fedir following just close enough to touch Killian’s shoulder before we shifted through the wood.
A tavern booth.
A stack of logs.
A grove of trees and then we were back, shifting out of our bedroom door, warm and familiar.
I took a few weak steps, inhaling sharply on my cut feet before I fell to the floor.
“Your Majesty!” Fedir cried, instantly at my feet, surveying the damage. “You’ll need these washed and bandaged. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
I shook my head.
“Leave, Fedir.” Killian slid out of his jacket, surprisingly free of blood.
The captain ignored him, continuing. “You might be sore in the morning. We arrived just as you tossed that piece of shit into the river. Once Killian found me, we followed you through the fields beneath the trees. You were easy enough to spot with your golden feathers. When you fell from the sky, it took us a minute to figure out exactly where you landed. But we followed your shouts.” He lifted my foot, dabbing at the blood with a handkerchief. “Glad to see our queen can hold her own in a fight.”
I hissed as he pulled a rock from the cut.
He grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Fedir, go,” Killian ordered, rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves and jerking his head toward the door.
