Free Blades of the Old Empire by Anna Kashina Page B

work.
    “Like you, I’m not free to choose my fate,” she said quietly. “My life belongs to my Guild. Whatever our feelings for each other, I can never be more than a bodyguard to you.”
    In the darkness he couldn’t see her eyes, but he could sense the tension in the set of her neck, in her guarded voice that hid the emotions inside.
    “Isn’t there another way?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “We must let it go, however hard it is. I can’t be with you, Kyth. I may look like a normal girl to you, but I’m not. You can’t even begin to imagine how different I am.”
    He longed to hold her again, to comfort her. He could sense that behind her composure she was aching inside, just like he was. But he stood still. He didn’t want to cause her more pain.
    She faced him a moment longer, then set off into the dark.
    When they finally emerged from the shade of the trees with piles of dry wood in their hands, Kyth sensed something was wrong even before Kara froze in front of him, her still shape melting into the shadows. A moment later a long, thin lash whizzed through the air, aimed at her face. It looked like an unfolding whip, except that in the moonlight it gave off a faint metal gleam.
    Kara dropped the pile of wood, keeping one thick branch, which she put up in the way of the advancing menace. There was a crack and the stick broke in two, a clean cut that didn’t seem possible for a whip-like weapon.
    The lash came back, but this time she had her sword in hand. The blade met the whip with a screech. She flicked her wrist, sending her sword forward in a snake-like movement, answered by a thud and a curse. The whip came free. She caught it at the base and pulled it free of the sword.
    “A shektal ,” she observed calmly. “Is there a reason for attacking me, Magister?”
    The bushes rustled and a cloaked shape emerged from behind the boulder.
    “Sorry, Aghat,” Magister Egey Bashi said. “I thought you were someone else.”
    “No problem.” Kara’s full lips twitched as she handed him back the weapon.
    Raishan and Alder rose out of the bushes on the other side and made their way toward them. Alder looked shaken. He held his axe, its crescent blade gleaming in the moonlight. A long oozing scratch crossed Raishan’s cheek.
    “What’s going on here?” Kara demanded.
    “What took you so long?” Raishan’s voice had a hidden edge.
    A snigger from the far end of the glade made them spin around. A hooded figure came into view.
    Nimos. Kyth’s skin crept.
    The flickers of the dying fire painted his black cloak with blood-red shades. His hood was pushed back, revealing the sharp, drawn features of the hollow face and the deep eye sockets that remained in shadow. Behind him, hooded figures emerged. Each had a weapon in hand, a spiked metal ball on a long chain.
    Kyth suppressed a gasp. Orbens! Just like the men who attacked us back at the castle.
    “An excellent question,” Nimos said, his voice echoing clearly in the night air. “Why should it take so long for two capable people to gather a simple bundle of firewood?” He stepped into the moonlit center of the glade. “A piece of advice, Aghat Raishan. Never send a boy and a girl together into a dark forest. They’d do more than just collect firewood.”
    Kara and Raishan closed around Kyth, swords in hand, watching Nimos cross the glade. He stopped in front of Kara, the lusty gleam in his eyes making Kyth’s guts wrench in revolt.
    “It brings joy to my heart, Aghat Kara,” Nimos said, “to finally see your weapon out in the open. You only bring it out to fight, don’t you? Are you going to fight me? It would be… oh, so sensual. It makes me excited just to think about it.”
    “What do you want?” Kyth demanded.
    Nimos’s lips stretched into a smile that didn’t touch the rest of his face.
    “All I want is to be your friend, Highness. We’re not that different, after all. There’s at least one passion we both share.” He glanced at