Page 99 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“Where—” Gurice started.
“Captain Yates was so kind as to lend them to me.” He flipped through the keys.
“Hurry up, reinforcements are coming.” Gurice angled her head. “More than ten…maybe twenty.”
Jayden held a bright silver key then unlocked the door. They rushed inside and relocked the door.
Gurice leaned on it. “It’s not going to stop them for long.”
“You’re correct,” the Water Prince said. He stood in the center of the room, holding a short sword in one hand and a long knife in the other. Behind him lurked four more guards all equally armed. The furniture and sleeping cushion had been pushed to the sides, leaving a big open area. Guess the prince expected a fight.
“You won’t be able to assassinate me in time.” He looked relaxed in his loose-fitting training uniform. Balancing on the balls of his feet, he was poised to defend himself. And he appeared…bigger. As if he’d been strengthening his muscles.
Shyla held out her hands. “We’re not here to kill you.”
“What possible other explanation can there be? You fought your way through ninety-six levels, and a number of my personal guard.”
She straightened a bit at his impressed tone—thatwasquite the feat—but she explained her reasoning to him. “…would you have believed me if I’d arrived as a prisoner?”
“You wouldn’t have arrived here, that’s for sure,” he said. Then he frowned. “No, I wouldn’t have believed that you intended to keep our bargain if you’d been escorted by my guards.” The prince glanced at her bodyguards. “I’m very concerned you and only four companions have made it this far. They must be monks. Am I to assume the monks have decided to get involved?”
“They’re not monks,” she said. “The Monks of Parzival are remaining neutral as always.”
A loud thump sounded from the door. Gurice grunted and Ximen joined her to keep it closed.
“If not monks, then who are they?” he asked.
“None of your business,” Jayden said.
“This ismycity. Therefore it ismybusiness.” He advanced.
Jayden tensed. “It won’t be your city for long.”
That sentence hit Shyla as hard as Captain Yates’ fist. Was this all a ruse to get them down to the prince so they could assassinate him?
Everyone stared at her as if she’d made a strange noise. Perhaps she had. She didn’t have enough information and she’d been doing nothing but running around in the dark for so long. At this point, all she had left were her instincts. And they sucked. So she focused on what she’d set out to do—save Banqui and the vagrants. If it all went to hell, then it was out of her hands.
Stepping between Jayden and the prince to keep them from fighting, she said, “They’re my friends.”
The prince raised an eyebrow. “I thought Banqui was your only friend.”
“I picked up a few more. A lot has happened since the last time we talked.”
“I can only imagine,” he said dryly, eyeing her shorn hair and stained clothing.
“Good, because I’m not going to explain it to you. This is what’s going to happen.” She dug into her pack and slowly removed the marble case. “I’ve reclaimed The Eyes for you.” Opening the case, she held up one of the Eyes. The jewels glinted in the bright trol lights. “Please tell your guards to stand down and ask the ones outside to stop their efforts to bust through the door.”
He hesitated.
“If we were going to kill you, you’d be dead by now,” Jayden said. “We fought through a dozen, we could handle you and your goons.”
“All right.” The prince gestured to one of the four guards behind him. “Go outside. Tell the others to wait for further orders.”
“Sire?”
“Do it.”
“Yes, sire.”
