The Queen's Blade Prequel II - God Touched (25 page)

“
Good.” He averted his eyes. “You're mistaken if you think I
fear it.”

“
And yet you seek me out when you're hurt. Why is that
then?”

“
It's painful.”

“
Ah. So it's the pain you fear?”

“
I'm not fond of it, no.”

Lilu gripped
his chin and forced him to look at her. “Don't you dare throw your
life away. It's more precious than you know, especially to me.”

“
Because I've helped you a little in the past? Don't count on
any more, it may not be forthcoming.”

“
You hate anyone knowing that you're a good man, but I already
do, so there's not need to try to hide it from me any
longer.”

Blade raised a
hand to take hers in a soft hold that made her glance down at it in
surprise. His fingers tightened on her middle finger, and he yanked
back on it. Lilu recoiled with a yelp, sliding off to land on the
floor with a grunt. He sat up and frowned at her.

“
Now my patience has ended. You should've let me go earlier,
instead of forcing me to hurt you.”

She levered
herself up, nursing her finger. “It's not a slit throat,
though.”

He swung his
legs off the bed. “You're not dead only because of my trade, not
because I have any fondness for you.”

“
Rubbish.” She quailed a little when he glared at her. “All
right, have it your way. What about Tromar?”

“
What about him?”

“
You know he's going to come here and try to kill
me.”

Blade yawned
and stretched. “I hope he succeeds.”

She sighed and
struggled to her feet, then sat beside him. “I know what you're
going to do.”

“
Do you now?”

“
Yes. When he comes, you'll make him attack you, then you'll be
able to kill him in self-defence.”

“
If you annoy me any further, I'll let him give you a good
beating first.”

Lilu smiled
and tried to slip her arm through his, but he jumped up and headed
for the taproom, slamming the door behind him.

The following
night, Blade glanced up when a commotion started at the brothel's
door, where a brawny man shoved patrons aside, his scarred face
twisted in a murderous scowl. The assassin recognised Tromar's
battered countenance and tensed, glancing at Lilu, who met his eyes
with wide, frightened ones. He allowed a slight smile to curl his
lips, raising his wine cup, as if to wish her luck. It would serve
her right if she thought he would allow the drover to beat her to
death. She was becoming far too impertinent.

Tromar's
beady, bloodshot eyes roamed the room and came to rest on Lilu, who
jumped up and headed for the back rooms. Blade sighed and shook his
head at her stupidity. If she had stayed in the taproom, the
brothel's bounder boys might have come to her rescue, but in the
back room she was on her own unless she screamed loudly enough to
force Rendal to do something. Tromar roared and stomped after her,
shoving men and whores alike from his path. Lilu slipped through
the curtain with a shriek of terror, the drover in hot pursuit.

Blade cocked
his head and listened to the door slam, closely followed by a crash
as it was kicked down. Many of the patrons turned to stare in the
direction of the sounds, some glancing at Blade, who resented their
obvious assumption that he would help the harlot. A muffled scream
came from the back room, and Rendal turned his head to look at
Blade. The assassin slugged back the last of his wine, rose to his
feet and wandered towards the ruckus.

The door of
Lilu's room lay on the floor, ripped from its hinges by the
powerful kick that had left a boot-shaped impression in it. Blade
shuddered to think what a kick like that could do to his ribs, or
worse still, his face. He had no intention of tangling with the
brute. Leaning on the frame, he watched the pair struggling on the
bed. Tromar straddled Lilu, his hands gripping her throat, and her
face was turning blue.

“
Where ith he, you bitch? What have you done with my thon?” he
bellowed, spittle flying from his lips.

“
She can't tell you if she can't breathe,” Blade drawled when
Tromar drew breath.

The drover
glared at him. “Bugger off, you little dandy!”

Lilu clawed at
Tromar's eyes, making him grunt and raise his head, tightening his
grip. She coughed and writhed.

Blade raised a
hand and inspected his fingernails. He would have to speed this up,
or Tromar would strangle her. “Have you ever wondered who bashed
your face in, Tromar?”

The drover
turned to gape at him, and his grip loosened, allowing the whore to
draw a wheezing breath. “Who?”

“
You never saw me, did you?”

“
You? You're a runt!”

“
Ah well, even a runt can bring a big man down when armed with
a sturdy plank.”

Tromar's eyes
bulged, and Blade got the impression that the drover had been
trying to find out who had smashed his face ever since it had
happened. His lust for vengeance overcame his wish to find his son,
which, Blade supposed, he thought he could still do once he had
dealt with the assassin, and he released Lilu and climbed off the
bed.

“
I'm going to rip your armth off and thtomp your fathe into the
street,” the drover rumbled, closing the gap.

Blade pushed
himself away from the doorframe and headed for the back door,
Tromar in pursuit. Out in the street, Blade turned to face his
aggressor, noting the big brown bear that waited there for its
friend, rooting in the garbage. Such a dangerous familiar made the
situation more complicated, and he had no doubt the animal would
outlive its friend. Blade wondered why the bear waited outside the
back door when Tromar had come in the front, and deduced that it
was probably because the drover had planned to kill Lilu once he
had the information he wanted, and then leave through the back
door. Tromar cracked his knuckles, a disgusting mannerism all
bullies seemed to share, his face twisted with hatred. Blade
circled away from his foe.

“
You're no uglier now than you were before,” he said. “If
anything, it's something of an improvement.”

“
You're a dead man.”

“
Am I now? That sounds like a threat.”

“
It'th a promith.” Tromar lunged at him, fists
swinging.

Blade skipped
back out of reach. “It's not a good idea to threaten the Master of
the Dance.”

Tromar paused,
his eyes glinting. “Ith that what you are? I thought you were a
bugger-boy from the brothel.”

“
No such luck, I'm afraid.”

The drover
raked him with a disparaging glance. “You may be good at thneaking
into bedrooms and thlitting men'th throats while they thleep, but
you've got no chanth againth me.”

“
You think I'm going to fight you?”

“
You have no choith, becauth I'm going to beat you to a bloody
pulp, whether you do or not.” Tromar stepped towards
him.

Blade
retreated. He had hoped the drover would draw the ugly knife in his
belt, but evidently he was not that stupid. Although there were no
witnesses to the fracas, Blade had no intention of letting the big
man lay a finger on him. He was tired of injuries and the pain that
accompanied them. A glance at the door found Lilu in it, her face
pale, her eyes fixed on him. She was not much of a witness, but she
would have to do. He should have led Tromar through the common
room, he realised, but it was too late now. The drover lunged at
him, his beefy fists skimming past the assassin's chest as he
jumped back, releasing the daggers from their wrist sheaths. They
slid into his hands, warm and smooth, and he raised them. Tromar's
eyes widened.

The first
dagger hit him in the eye, the second impaled his throat. The
drover stumbled to a halt, his mouth working, and his hands rose to
grip the hilts. Blood ran down his chest, soaking his shirt in a
crimson tide. He teetered, gurgling, and plucked the dagger from
his eye. His knees buckled, and he sank onto them, making horrible
gargling sounds. The bear swung around with a growl and charged.
Blade sprinted for the nearest drainpipe, and Lilu stepped back,
slamming the door. The assassin shinnied up the pipe with
remarkable speed, even for him, which was not surprising
considering the shaggy behemoth that raked the wall below him with
six-inch claws.

Blade pulled
himself onto the roof, which creaked ominously, and flattened
himself on it to spread his weight. The bear growled and scrabbled
at the wall, ripping the drainpipe off in its zeal. It gave the
peculiar grunting roar that bears made, a sound filled with grief
and rage. Blade peered over the edge when it fell silent. The
animal shambled over to its friend and licked the drover's face.
Tromar lay on his back and still shuddered and twitched, blood
pooling under his neck. The bear snuffled and nudged him, moaning,
then lay down beside him and rested a huge paw on his chest. Blade
almost pitied the beast, but not quite. Tromar would be dead in a
few more minutes, but it would be a while before the animal left,
and until then Blade would not be able to retrieve his daggers.

The assassin
crawled over the roof and dropped to the street in front of the
brothel, pushing open the door to saunter inside. Many of the
patrons turned to stare at him, probably wondering how he had got
to the front door so fast when he had left through the back mere
minutes ago. The brothel stood in a row of buildings that ran the
length of the street, so there was no way to run around to the
front door that quickly. Rendal eyed him, polishing a cup. Blade
brushed dirt from his jacket and headed for the back room, sweeping
aside the curtain.

Lilu sat on
her bed, weeping, and looked up with swollen, red-rimmed eyes when
he strolled in. She rose with a glad cry and came at him, her arms
spread. Blade tried to evade her, cursing, but she flung her arms
around him and clung to him.

“
Bugger it, Lilu, let me go,” he said.

“
That was horrible.”

“
Did you expect it to be entertaining?”

“
I... No, but gods, he stood no chance, did he?”

He snorted,
trying to extricate his arms from her grip. “No.”

“
Why didn't he use his knife?”

“
Whose side were you on?”

“
Yours, of course.” She looked up at him. “I just didn't think
it would be so easy for you.”

“
Oh, you thought I'd let him beat me up first?”

“
I thought he might hurt you.”

“
But that didn't stop you from asking me to kill
him.”

“
I didn't want you to be hurt,” she said. “If you had taken the
silvers and assassinated him, you wouldn't have been, but you
wouldn't. All because of your pride!”

Blade jerked
his arms free and shoved her away. “You're an ungrateful
trollop.”

“
I only meant...” She held out her hands in a pleading gesture.
“I don't want you to be hurt. I couldn't bear it.”

“
I've earned the right to be proud of what I do.” He spread his
arms. “You think becoming the Dance Master is easy? You think I
should sell my services for a few damned silvers? That
I
gave you!” He kicked
the chair across the room with a shriek of tortured wood. “I should
change my haunt, and then we'll see what happens to
you.”

“
No, please. I just... I was afraid for you!”

“
Killing is what I do, you stupid whore. It's my trade! Once I
decided to kill him, he was a dead man, no matter how I did it. You
don't understand that, do you?”

“
You've been hurt before.”

“
Only when set upon by a gang of louts in a dark alley when I
was so drunk I could barely walk. And then, when I was cornered by
a dozen armed men, most of whom I killed. One stupid drover was
never a threat.”

“
And the last time?”

“
What last time? Oh, that.” He sank down on the bed, running a
hand over his hair. “That was different.”

“
How?” She sat on the chair, gazing at him.

“
He was a rogue assassin, and I had to confront him in the
street, since I didn't know his name or where he lived.”

“
I'm glad you're all right.” She hesitated. “Will you have
trouble with the Watch?”

“
No. He attacked me. Many people saw him follow me outside, and
what happened after that isn't hard to guess.” He flopped back,
rubbing his face. “I would have gone out the front, but I thought
the damned bear would be out there. Instead it was at the back, so
he was planning to kill you whether or not you told him where his
son was.”

She nodded,
bowing her head. “I thought he would.”

“
You'd better not birth any more bastards whose fathers I have
to kill.”

Lilu turned
and leant over him, reaching out to stroke his brow. “Thank
you.”

Blade sighed
and closed his eyes, tolerating her touch for a change. Her soft
hand soothed his aching head, and, while he resented her assumption
that she could paw him, he found that he did not mind so much
anymore.

Chapter Fourteen

Blade sipped
his wine and gazed across the seedy taproom with bored eyes. Two
years had passed since the birth of Lilu's fourth child, a
strapping, bellowing girl who had come into the world without his
aid, to his relief. The midwife had visited the broken-nosed whore
in her room, and three time-glasses later had emerged with a wet,
wriggling infant and attempted to hand it to him, assuming him to
be the father, since he had been hanging around outside. Blade had
fled, which had enraged the midwife and amused Lilu. She had been
delighted with her second daughter, despite the child's bright red
hair and freckles, which had confirmed her sire as the blacksmith,
Oxan.