Free Of Shadows and Dragons by B. V. Larson Page A

made a broad gesture of dismissal, as if he had tired of the conversation. “I will let the matter pass. But there is another, greater thing I must ask of you.”
    “Speak,” Strad said.
    “I would ask you to release your physician from your service.”
    “Vosh is a guest, as I’ve said.”
    “Then expel him from your house.”
    “And why would I do that?” Strad asked.
    Therian looked surprised. “Is it not obvious? So I may slay him without breaking my pledge of peace.”
    “Why would you want to do that? He is a strange one, but there is no better master of the healing arts.”
    Therian laughed then, and the laughter had more than a hint of mockery in it. “Surely sir, you jest. Vosh is a monster. He cannot lodge with the living. He is an indescribable evil that needs to be erased from this world at all costs.”
    The men-at-arms standing around them looked uneasy at these words. They shuffled from foot-to-foot and traded dark, uncertain glances between themselves. Gruum felt they clearly agreed with Therian.
    The Duke took an angry step forward. His black boots were visible now in the gray light of the day. The bottom edge of his vermilion cloak swayed over the threshold and ruffled there in the cold breezes. Still, his body remained inside the doorway.
    “I will not release you from your pledge. I would rather ask you to leave my house this day. You have overstayed your welcome here.”
    Therian smiled. It was not a pleasant expression. “Very well. I swore not to harm your retainers or guests. However, I swore nothing concerning your own person. I would have satisfaction, Duke Strad of Kem. In fact, I demand it. Now.”
    It was the Duke’s turn to laugh. It was a deep, sonorous sound. “Duel me? A mortal cannot kill that which is already dead.”
    Gruum looked around at the retainers. Was the fiction finally unveiled? Surely, these men had to have known in their hearts that their lord was no longer a man. But to hear it said aloud in the cold light of day….
    The men registered shock. Some licked their lips. Others looked this way and that, including over their shoulders. They appeared to be looking for an exit. All of them, Gruum knew, had sworn to protect their lord, to serve him with their hearts and souls. But did that include such circumstances as these? At what point might an honorable man quit his lord and run?
    Therian continued smiling in the face of the Duke’s wrath. He utterly ignored everyone else. “Perhaps I cannot truly kill you. But I can relieve you of your vitality, and I can relieve this world of your foul presence. Twin deeds worthy of doing.”
    The Duke stopped laughing and eyed Therian appraisingly. “You do not fear me?”
    “Certainly not.”
    “I have never before met one of the living who could stand at my door with such unflagging self-confidence.”
    Therian stared at him flatly. “You have not yet answered my challenge.”
    “Well then, a duel it must be,” the Duke said thoughtfully. “As the challenged, I will choose the time, place and weaponry.”
    “As is your right,” said Therian.
    “I choose now. We will duel here, inside my Great Hall. For weapons, we will use our bare hands.”
    Therian stared at him for a moment. The Duke grinned. His flat, white teeth were like those of a nickering horse.
    “Accepted!” Therian boomed.
    Gruum watched the Duke’s eyes. They widened slightly. Had he perhaps expected Therian to quail upon hearing his terms?
    Therian removed the black leather belt from which hung his twin blades, Seeker and Succor. He handed the belt to Gruum and asked that he keep the weapons safe. Gruum nodded.
    When Therian handed his weapons to Gruum, the two exchanged glances. Therian tilted his head slightly, indicating the knot of retainers. Gruum dipped his head to inform his master he had gotten the message. After Gruum took Seeker and Succor into his hands, he went to stand among the retainers. At first, they looked at him in surprise, but