Page 60 of The Warrior Priest
Voices drifted along the corridor as two guards stopped for a chat. I listened, waiting for them to continue on their way. More people entered the corridor, however, their footsteps heavy with exhaustion. The dullclunkof brooms and mops knocking against full buckets signaled the departure of the cleaners. I needed to leave with them.
I tucked the book into the waistband of my trousers and covered it with my shirt and jerkin, then I cracked open the door and peered out. As the cleaners passed, I stepped in beside them. The two guards at the end of the corridor weren’t paying attention and continued to chat as we headed in their direction. They were interrupted by another guard, however. He beckoned them with a crook of his finger. They ceased their chatter and followed him.
I relaxed a little more. It had been an easy morning’s work.
The book’s hard cover dug into my stomach, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to draw attention to it while I was in the open. The punishment for theft was still imprisonment, although my uncle had never got his way and seen to it that thieves were hanged.
I was certain no one followed me after I peeled away from the other cleaners, or when I walked back through streets touched by dawn’s light to the Cat and Mouse. That self-assured certainty was my downfall.
A mere street from the tavern, two men blocked my way. I recognized them. I’d seen them a short while ago in the corridor outside my uncle’s office. They still wore their guards’ livery. I turned and ran, but another two blocked the exit. As with Giselle’s final test in Upway, they were all armed with swords, and all looked capable of using their fists. They were also bigger than me.
But I’d been taught to use my size to my advantage. I had no sword, but I did have a knife. I withdrew it and crouched, ready to spring. They closed in, smiling at the prospect of capturing their quarry.
Heart pounding, I held the knife between my teeth and jumped. I used a nearby barrel to push off and spring higher, somersaulting over the men, then grabbed the edge of the tiled roof. The book fell out of its hiding place as I did so, and one of the men kicked it aside. As two of them came close, I swung my legs and kicked one in the head, sending him toppling against his companion.
Hanging one-handed, I lashed out with my knife and feet at the other two, keeping them at bay. I wouldn’t have time to haul myself onto the roof. I had to battle through. With just a knife, I would be no match for skilled swordsmen, but if I could steal one of their swords, I’d be in with a better chance. I quickly studied them all, wanting to choose the slowest as my target. But there wasn’t a slow one among them. They held their swords like experts.
There was no more time to waste. I had to act. I swung my body and used the momentum to land some distance from the closest of my attackers. I kicked up a soggy flyer in the gutter and aimed it at him. It was a pathetic projectile and he simply batted it away.
He came at me again, his three companions alongside him. I couldn’t fight off all of them at once.
I sank into a recessed doorway and tried the handle at my back. Locked. There was no time to pick it. If safety waited for me beyond the door, I couldn’t get to it. I had to take my chances outside.
I changed plans. I would surrender. Tactical surrender, Giselle had called it. Lull them into a false sense of security and use my second hidden weapon to catch them off guard.
The men, however, stopped as a fifth one arrived. Despite being elderly and unarmed, seeing him sent a chill down my spine.
“Good morning, niece.” Uncle Roderic’s twisted smile contrasted sharply with his casual greeting. “I’m so pleased to see you alive and well, Jacqueline. I’m sure you must be keen to go home. Please. Come with me. We have so much to talk about.”
The four guards all pointed their swords at my chest. I dropped my knife and put my hands in the air.
Chapter13
Uncle Roderic moved closer. He’d changed little since I’d last seen him. He was still the same small and somewhat nondescript man with slightly stooped shoulders. What set him apart from other elderly men was his sharp gaze as he regarded me.
“You’re filthy, Jacqueline. Is that soot?”
My second knife was hidden in my boot. If I could remove it without anyone noticing, I might be able to injure one of the guards and take his sword. Armed with a good weapon, I might be in with a chance of fighting off the other three.
“Come home and have a nice bath,” Uncle Roderic went on. “I’ll have my cook make you something delicious for breakfast. What do you like?”
“You wouldn’t need to ask me that if you’d taken the time to find out when I first went to live with you, instead of locking me in a room and leaving me to die.”
He scoffed. “That’s a rather dramatic memory you have.”
“My memory is faultless.”
“True, but that doesn’t mean you’re not prone to exaggeration. Girls often are.”
I tensed. “You can’t arrest me without just cause.”
“This isn’t an arrest. I’m merely a concerned uncle bringing his wayward niece home. As your male relative, I’m within my rights to do so.”
“Women can’t be forced to stay with their abuser.”
“Me? An abuser? No one will believe that. I’m a firm leader, but I don’t use force.”
“Not in public.”
