The Queen's Blade Prequel II - God Touched (15 page)

Eight men lay
on the ground, either groaning or motionless, several familiars
sharing their fate. Two rats, a scorpion and a small snake, that
Blade could see. Three thugs hesitated, beyond Blade's reach but
wary all the same. The assassin jerked up his injured right hand,
and a dagger thudded into one man's chest, sending him reeling to
fall with a groan. The remaining two turned and fled.

Blade swayed,
lights sparkling in his eyes. Staggering forward, he retrieved the
dagger he had thrown and sliced the man's throat, then did the same
for the five others who still twitched and groaned. The last
crawled away, raised his hands in a pleading gesture and cried out
for mercy. Blade kicked him in the throat, ending his pleas, and
found another of his weapons on the cobblestones beside the fallen
man. His mind was like ice and his feet dragged as he reeled away
from the knot of bodies.

Sheathing his
bloody weapons, he hobbled up the street, not thinking about where
he was going. His neck wound bled profusely, and his strength
leaked out with it. Aware that he was somewhere in the slums, he
chose a road and followed it. He was not cognisant of where he was
going until he stood before a peeling brown door and recognised it
as the one on Lilu's new lodgings. Blade had found the shack for
her a tenday ago, when he had kicked her out of his rooms. It was
little more than a converted storeroom, which the owner of the
larger shack attached to it rented out for a copper a tenday. Blade
stared at it.

Lilu would
surely spurn him. He had treated her abominably. There seemed no
point to knocking on the door. She was more likely to finish off
what the thugs had started, and he had no strength left to seek his
rooms or a doctor's dwelling, neither of which would do him any
good. He was in no condition to care for himself, and a healer
would turn him away. He was also aware that two shadows had
followed him from the fight. As he stepped towards the door, the
darkness that had been threatening to engulf him closed in on a
cold wave.

Chapter Eight

Lilu jerked
awake when a great crash came from her door, and sat up
disorientated and frightened. A quick glance at Endel assured her
that he slept in his cot, and she listened to the sounds outside
her door. Deep voices muttered and boots clumped, making her
shiver. All her instincts and common sense told her to stay in her
bed and keep the door barred, but there was someone out there on
the moon-silvered streets whom she worried about constantly. She
had to find out what was going on outside her door. Rising, she
pulled on a robe and crept over to press her ear to it. Heavy
breathing and grunts came through it, mingled with mutters and
curses. Her hair stood on end, but she pulled aside the corner of
the tatty curtain that covered the three panes of glass that served
as a window and peeped out.

Two men bent
over a dark heap on her doorstep. Some unfortunate seemed to have
collapsed on it, but the men looked like ruffians or worse,
although it was too dark to make out their faces. One bent and
gripped the unfortunate's hair, raising his head to expose his
neck. In his other hand he held a knife. As he lowered it to cut
his victim's throat, the man writhed and a silver dagger flashed,
making the ruffian recoil with a yell. Lilu looked around and spied
her broom in the corner, a stout implement with a heavy, bristled
head. Grabbing it, she lifted the latch and yanked the door open,
raising the broom.

The man, in
the act of bending over his victim again, swore and stepped back.
Lilu brought the broom down on his head with all her strength. He
reeled, almost falling, and his cohort stepped forward. Lilu raised
the broom again and advanced, her teeth gritted. The man shot her a
disbelieving glance and grabbed his friend, dragging him out of
harm's way. Lilu followed, ignoring the knives they held, and swung
the broom in a roundhouse sweep that almost made her lose her
footing. She spun right around, the broom catching one thug in the
ribs. He staggered with a grunt, cursing.

“
Get away!” she shouted, raising the broom again. “Go on!
Bugger off!”

The ruffians
hesitated, glancing at their intended victim, then the one she had
hit growled and reeled away. The other helped him, and they
shambled up the street. Lilu watched until they turned the corner,
and then looked down at the man sprawled on her doorstep. His sable
clothes and slender form made her throat close with dread, and she
dropped the broom to kneel beside him. Gripping his shoulder, she
rolled him onto his back. Her eyes widened and her heart grew
leaden.

“
Blade...”

Lilu swallowed
a sob of horror and dread. Blood oozed from his throat, pooling on
her step. A trail of it led away down the street, and she wondered
how far he had walked, bleeding to death. Sliding her arms under
him, she picked him up with a groan and staggered inside, dumping
him on her bed. He writhed and raised a hand in which a dagger
glinted. Lilu gasped and caught his wrist, wrenching the weapon
from his grip. Blood slimed his arm, and her concern grew. Lighting
two lamps, she placed them on the bedside table and sat beside him
to examine him.

The blood that
ran from his throat stained her sheet, and she tore a strip off it
to bind his neck. Memories rushed back thick and fast while she
tugged off his jacket and the soft linen shirt beneath it,
struggling with the leather vest. When he was bare to the waist,
she examined his wounds and brought her sewing kit to stitch them,
glad he was unconscious.

As she tugged
the last stitch tight, his eyes opened and he lashed out. Lilu
barely jumped back in time, her heart in her throat. Blade swept
the room with a glance, then stared at her as if he did not
recognise her. She raised her hands.

“
It's all right, it's me... Lilu. You're safe. I'm not going to
hurt you.”

Blade sagged,
the dagger she had not seen him draw falling to the floor with a
tinkle. He wheezed, raising his hands to paw at the bandage around
his neck.

“
Leave it,” she said. “You're bleeding.”

He flopped
back, his eyes unfocussed, then they closed. Lilu crept closer,
halting when he opened them again to impale her with their icy
intensity.

He swallowed,
wincing, and wheezed, “You should... throw me out into... the
street.”

“
Why?”

“
I... don't deserve... I'm...” His voice was husky, almost a
whisper.

“
Oh, Blade.” She shook her head, closing the gap to sit beside
him. “You saved me too.”

“
I should die. It's the best... thing.”

“
No.” She blinked as tears filled her eyes. “I'm so glad you
came to me. You knew I'd help you. I'll always help you, no matter
how much you dislike me or chase me away.”

He closed his
eyes, a frown tugging at his brows. “Gods, Lilu, I'm a worthless
bastard.”

“
I don't think so. In fact, I know you're not.”

“
You don't know... what I am.”

“
I don't care. But actually I do, probably better than
you.”

He swallowed
again. “I'm a fool.”

“
Why? What happened? Who were those men?”

“
The ones who... tried to kill me.” He coughed. “I confronted
Jobal and he led me to the rest of them.”

“
All of them? What happened? How did you escape?”

A wry smile
twisted his lips. “I killed most of them. Those were the only ones
left.”

“
Nine? You... How did you kill nine men?”

“
Not easily. Almost got killed myself.”

Lilu stared at
him, amazed and a little daunted. His pallor was due to blood loss,
she surmised. The true extent of his deadly skills hit home with
thrilling, horrifying intensity. Much as she loved him, she hated
that he was a killer. That she had come so close to losing him
frightened her, and she wished his trade was not death, yet at the
same time his abilities had saved her. She did not blame him for
evicting her from his rooms. It was her fault for teasing him. Who
would want an ugly whore and her bastard living with him, anyway?
Especially when she was no use to him. She had bruised his fragile
ego, and most men would have beaten her for it.

He opened his
eyes, and Lilu forced a wan smile. “I'm glad you didn't.”

He fingered
the cloth around his neck again. “Did you stitch this?”

“
No, it was bleeding too much.”

“
I think it will need... stitches.”

“
Yes, it does. Maybe it's stopped bleeding now.”

Lilu leant
forward and untied the cloth, hoping she was right. The wound still
oozed, but not too badly, and she picked up her darning needle and
thread again, hesitating.

“
This will hurt.”

“
Have you any wine?”

“
Only the rat's piss variety.”

He sighed,
wheezing. “Best get it over with then.”

Lilu shifted
closer and bent to push the needle through his skin. He hissed and
grimaced, and she chewed her lip, jumping when he yelped as she
pierced his skin again.

“
Don't be such a baby,” she admonished.

“
Lilu...”

She paused,
expecting a threat or jibe.

“
Thank you. For taking care of me. This time... and the last.
No one else would.”

Lilu blinked
and nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat.

“
You must have thought I was an ungrateful - ow! -
bastard.”

She swallowed.
“You didn't ask for help. I chose to help you, and I was glad to do
it.”

“
I don't deserve it.”

“
Why the sudden melancholy? This isn't like you.”

He sighed.
“It's more regret than melancholy. I shouldn't have put you - ah! -
in danger.”

She shook her
head. “It wasn't your fault.”

“
It was. I –”

“
Hush now. I'm just glad you're still alive, and my
friend.”

“
I'm...” He paused, frowning. “Don't be so quick to claim me as
a friend. I'm not much of one.”

“
That's for me to decide, isn't it? You could make an effort to
be nicer, though. Like you're being now. I like it.”

Blade snorted,
his lips curving, and his eyes drifted closed. She put her needle
away and bound his neck again. Drops of blood speckled his face in
little patterns, as if sprayed there, and she shuddered. Clearly it
was not his, but had come from the men he had killed. He looked
exhausted, and she removed his boots, careful not to cut herself on
the razor-sharp blades, then pulled the blanket over him.

Lilu wondered
if his odd friendliness would last, and what had brought it on,
apart from his injuries. This time, he had sought her help, so
perhaps that made him feel more beholden. She had won his trust,
and he had not denied his friendship. That, she knew, was
extraordinary, and it filled her heart with joy.

In the
morning, Lilu left Endel with the sleeping assassin while she went
to the market to buy more food with the last of her money. The
place was abuzz with the latest gossip, which told of a terrible
battle in the slums between a band of thugs and an assassin.
According to them, the dead men had paid the price for attacking a
killer, and the Watch was not interested in pursuing the matter
since the thugs were well-known criminals. Lilu smiled while she
filled her basket with bread and vegetables, splashing out on a
haunch of smoked meat and a bottle of wine that she hoped the
assassin would like.

As she paid
for the last items at a barrow-hag's stall, she leant closer to
murmur, “I know who the assassin was.”

The hag became
intent, her wrinkled face brightening. To be the source of new
information would give her status amongst her fellow stall owners.
“Who?”

“
It was the Master of the Dance, Blade.”

“
Was it now? 'Ow do ye know that, lass?”

Lilu almost
blurted that he was her friend, but caught herself. “I know him a
little.”

“
Well I'll be... Was 'e 'urt?”

“
Only a little.”

“
'Ow do you know 'im?”

Lilu
straightened, shaking her head. “I can't say. I just do.”

The hag's eyes
narrowed. “Aye, that would be the truth, I'll wager. If ye was
spinnin' me a yarn, ye'd 'ave claimed to be 'is friend, and
everyone knows them killers don't 'ave friends.”

Lilu nodded.
“That's right.”

The hag turned
away to impart her newfound knowledge to her nearest neighbour, and
Lilu skipped home with a light heart. Endel's crying was audible as
she turned into her lane, and she ran to her door to unlock it and
dash within. Dumping the basket, she scooped up the infant and
rocked him, casting an anxious glance at the bed. Blade lay with
his back to her, his head stuffed under the pillow. When the baby
quieted, he removed the pillow and turned to scowl at her, his hair
rumpled.

“
You could have comforted him,” she said.

“
I'm not a damned wet-nurse. I don't have the teats for the
job.”

“
If you had just rocked him a little –”

“
You should have taken him with you. Next time I'll slit his
damned throat.”

“
No you won't.”

He rubbed his
brow. “Don't be so sure. Now I have a splitting headache.”

“
If I thought for one moment that you'd do something that
horrible, I wouldn't have left him here. What's more, I'd throw you
out on the street.” She held Endel to her breast, and Blade rolled
onto his side with a grunt of disgust, facing the wall. Lilu smiled
and added, “Which is exactly why you said that, isn't it? So I
wouldn't leave him with you again.”