Page 24 of The King's Sword
She turned his words over, trying to see if she was missing anything.
“So?” Evander said. “What do you think?”
“I think you’ve got yourself a deal on one condition.”
“And that is?”
He was going to laugh at her. Steeling her resolve, she said, “I want you to train me. Not self-defense necessarily, but more along the lines of helping me stay alive. I want to learn how to be stealthy, spot someone following me, lose a tail, and know the best places to hide. Things of that nature.” She hoped he didn’t think her request was too outrageous.
“Given who your husband is, I think that is a wise idea. I’d be happy to train you.”
Sabine relaxed her shoulders. “I think this is a good plan so long as it doesn’t take me too long to return to Lynk.”
“Anton knows you’re with me. Maybe we can send word to him that you’ll be away another week or so?”
She was glad she’d written that letter to Rainer so he knew she was safe.
“Since we’re not taking the ship, I don’t need to repair it. Let me go to the kitchen and get us something to eat. You can change while I’m gone. You look like a fish out of water.” He stood and went to the door, the corners of his lips pulling into a wicked smile, lighting up his piercing green eyes. “We can have our first lesson tonight.” He winked before leaving the room.
Sabine grabbed her bag and found dry pants and a shirt. After she changed, she felt warm and safe. As if wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. Contentment filled her.
A few minutes later, Evander returned carrying a tray loaded with food and tea.
The two of them sat on the floor, facing one another, the tray between them.
The bread had a wonderful rosemary flavor to it, the salted fish she found a little bland, but the tea was perfect.
“First rule,” Evander said around a mouthful of food, “is to never eat food someone gives you.”
She nodded, thinking back to what her mother had said about that as well. “I’m eating the food you gave me,” she said, suddenly not hungry.
He glared at her. “I didn’t poison you.”
“I thought maybe you were going to make a point. You know, teach me a lesson.”
He shook his head. “Me, you can trust. Everyone else, you don’t trust.”
“Okay.” She wondered if there was anyone Evander trusted. “What else?”
“Assassins love to use methods that physically keep them away from their targets if possible.”
“Like poison?” she asked, thinking of Alina.
“Exactly. It allows an assassin to place a lethal dose somewhere and then watch from a distance. It gives them the opportunity to get away quickly once the death occurs.”
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Bugs.”
“What?” Her eyes widened in horror.
“Did you notice the towel I placed under the door?”
She hadn’t seen him put it there. “I take it there isn’t a draft from the hallway?”
“No. It’s so no one can slip a venomous scorpion, snake, or spider under the door.”
“I’m never going to be able to sleep again.” She shivered. The thought of a spider crawling onto her arm or face and biting her was horrid enough. But to have it bite and kill her was another level of torture she didn’t want to think about, much less consider.
