Page 39 of Lucie
He dashed toward the opening, sword raised, and aimed directly for the man carryingJohna. The twoMutahwhirled around in surprise. That couple of seconds gave him the opportunity to get closer, until the big man took off, leaving his companion behind to face Lucien. HoldingJohna’sunconscious body secure over his shoulder, the man raised his spear with his other hand and pointed it at him.
“Code Yellow!” Lucien yelled, warning the others who’d been roused by his initial shout. The codemeant there was a serious problem, but not life-threatening. At the same time, he swung his sword, hitting the spear behind the tip. The blade sliced through the wood, making the weapon useless.
TheMutahtossed the wood and pulledJohnafrom his shoulder, holding her up and out like a shield. Realizing he couldn’t use his sword again for fear of hitting her, Lucien did the one thing he’d beentaught never to do.
Pivoting around, he squatted and threw his sword at the man. TheMutahstepped away, believing Lucien was aiming for his legs. But he was totally unprepared for the battle prince to let go.
The razor-sharp blade winked in the moonlight as it twirled toward the big man. At the last second theMutahrealized he needed to jump, butJohna’sbody was an added weight his bodycouldn’t compensate for.
The sword struck the man below the knees, embedding itself sideways into both legs. The man screamed and dropped the young woman onto the rocks. Lucien glanced at her, then at the rapidly departing figure in the distance as the big man collapsed.
“Who?”Atty’svoice whispered beside him. Simultaneously, the tip of an arrow appeared at the corner of his eye.
Lucienpointed to the runner. “Him.”
She didn’t question why. The arrow softly sang as it whizzed through the air, and the figure pitched forward, face down, into the water.
Dropping to his knees, he reached forJohna, turning her over to find a large lump above her left eye. He started to call for Iain, when the physician hurried up, breathing heavily.
“What’s happened?”
“Take care of her,”he ordered, and rose to his feet. His father was already standing over the woundedMutahmoaning in pain.Yulengave his son a questioning look.
“I heard some unusual noise and discovered these two making off withJohnaafterthey’d cold-cocked her. I overheard them say something about drowning her and dumping her body downstream.”
“Why?”Yulendemanded of the man. The guy eyed him but didn’treply.
Hobronjoined them, as did several otherMutah. The battle lord’s soldiers stayed in the background, but Lucien noticed how they circled him and the others, in the event there was another attack. In which case, theMutahwouldn’t stand a chance.
“LomasMortigan, explain your actions,” the councilman commanded.
TheMutahremained silent as he glared at those around him. He didn’tdare move, not so much because of the armed guards surrounding him, but because the sword remained jammed into his lower legs. Blood soaked through his pants and was already pooling on the ground. From the pain crossing his face, Lucien knew the man was in agony.
“How is she?”Yulen’squestion alerted him to where Iain knelt beside the huntress.
“I can’t tell, and I won’t be able to giveyou any sort of answer until she awakens,ifshe awakens. There’s another sizeable swelling at the back of her head. My guess is someone tried to knock her out as she slept, but didn’t succeed, which was why he had to hit her again.” The physician pointed to the wounded man. “Want me to address his injuries?”
Hobrontook a step back and turned to the battle lord. “Since we are under your authority,and you are graciously allowing us to seek sanctuary under your banner, I concede to your judgment as to this man’s fate.”
To Lucien’s surprise,Yulenmotioned to his son. “What punishment should we give this man? I leave the decision to you.”
Personally, Lucien knew what his first impulse was. But he was being called on in his capacity of battle prince. His final word would either condemnor save the man. And his actions would reflect to the soldiers andMutahwatching him what kind of leader he could be.
“Remove my sword but don’t tend to his wounds,” he instructed. “He will not be taken back to NewBearingerwith the rest of the group, nor will he accompany us. He will be left here, alone and weaponless. It’s a better fate than what he’d planned forJohna. At least he has amarginal chance of survival.”
Yulennodded. “Very well. Follow through, Dr.MaGrath.” Sighing, the battle lord glanced around at those gathered. “And since we’re already up, we might as well strike camp and head out. Let’s go.”
