Page 58 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“But they won’t be tortured anymore. And the guards are going to make a lot of trouble for you until they find me.”
“They make trouble for us regardless. Are you spying for the Water Prince? Is that why they’re so keen to find you?”
“No. Not spying. Hehiredme to do a job.” She held up her hand to stop him. “It doesn’t haveanythingat all to do with your people. I need the…black water to get information from the monks to help me finishthatjob. That’s the only reason why he’s concerned that I went missing. So once I get word to him I’m fine, his guards will stop harassing your people.”
“So you want me to believe the Water Prince hired a sun-kissed to do a job? Do you have any proof?”
Shyla pulled back the sleeve on her left arm, revealing a bandage. Seven hells, she’d forgotten the deacons had stolen it. Jayden waited. Did she have anything else? No.
“I had his sigil, but the deacons cut it off,” she tried.
“How convenient.”
“Look, I’m trying to help.”
“Yeah, help the Water Prince.” He moved closer. “I gotta admit your quest to find the black water for the monks was a pretty good ruse in order to locate our communities.”
Shyla searched for some way to convince him, but realized it was hopeless. “Believe what you want, but I’m going to find the guards before more ofyourpeople die.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” The menace in his voice was clear.
“You’re acting like you’re in charge, but you’re not.” She gathered the dregs of her strength just in case she needed to flee or fight. Then she stepped away from him.
He lunged.
She ducked and spun, avoiding getting trapped in his arms. But he was quick to recover and she scrambled to block his attacks. Her pack and the druk hindered her movements. Jayden, however was unimpeded, uninjured, and hadn’t just climbed up twenty levels.
Still, she held her own. For a while. Unwilling to injure him, she fended him off, but as her energy lagged she knew she’d have to resort to a few dirty tricks. With a surge of speed, she swept his feet out from under him and followed him down with an elbow strike to his temple. Hard enough to disorient him, but not enough to knock him unconscious. It worked. All fight gone, Jayden lay there, pressing a hand to his head.
“Sorry,” she said, backing away. By the time he was able to stand, she’d be long gone.
He pushed up to an unsteady elbow. “Mojag, stop her.”
Annoyed, she spun to face the boy. Except he wasn’t alone.
CHAPTER
10
Mojag stood with four other vagrants. Huh. Jayden brought back-up?
“You’re outnumbered,” Mojag said.
“I guess I should be flattered you brought so many.” She assessed the group. Not as skinny or malnourished as one would think. The men appeared downright healthy and strong. “Why did you bring them?”
“Sinceyourprince raided one of our communes and arrested everyone, we’ve been ordered to travel in packs for our safety. Good thing, too, or a traitor like you might have gotten away.”
So Mojag heard their conversation and Shyla hadn’t known they were just out of sight. She must be more exhausted than she thought. Too bad it was a horrible time to figure that out.
“Just give up already,” Mojag said when the silence lengthened. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
Mojag was a terrible liar. “Really? Did you bring your knife?”
He squinted at her as his fingers grazed his right pocket. “I always have it.”
“Good.” She pounced on the boy.
Mojag squawked as she yanked his weapon free, spun him around, and rested the blade on his neck. He stilled in an instant, but it took his companions a few heartbeats to realize the situation.
