Free The Bloodsworn by Erin Lindsey Page A

there was nomistaking the leer that crossed the officer’s face. He turned and said something to his comrades, and this time the laughter had a predatory edge to it. Alix’s Oridian was poor, but she distinctly heard the word
treat
.
    She tensed, fingers tightening around the hilt of her blade. “Ide.”
    An arrow hissed over her shoulder and caught the officer between the eyes; he was dead before he hit the ground. Dain’s arm whipped out from under his cloak and a second rider fell with a dagger in his throat. The horses scattered amid shouts and the steel song of blades being drawn.
    A rider charged at Alix. She got her sword out just in time to turn aside the blow, but the force of it knocked her off balance, sending her tumbling to the dirt. She barely managed to regain her feet before the rider was on her again. Alix threw herself back to the ground, swinging out at the horse’s fetlocks as she fell, but she wasn’t fast enough; the animal loped past and out of reach.
    Rolling to her feet, Alix readied herself for another pass. So focused was she on one soldier that she nearly died on the blade of another; she spun just as a flash of steel came at her flank. Her sword was moving before her mind had fully registered the attack, meeting her opponent’s blade with a clumsy
clang
that sent her stumbling back. The Oridian was on foot, his horse lying dead a few feet away, but that only made him more nimble; he threw himself at Alix in a flurry of blows. Caught off balance, she would have struggled to parry had she not wielded a bloodblade. As it was, even a sword enchanted to obey her every instinct was barely enough to keep her alive. Her foe was skilled, and if he was drunk like the others, it didn’t seem to bother him. If anything, it lent him courage; his attacks were bold, furious, unpredictable. Alix gave ground quickly, without any idea what lay behind her. She couldn’t even spare a glance for her comrades; a moment’s distraction would be the end of her.
    If her enemy hadn’t stumbled on the uneven ground, she might have been overcome. But he did, and Alix didn’t hesitate, driving her blade into his gut and twisting just enough to be sure of finishing the job.
    She whirled in time to see a rider grab a fistful of Vel’s longhair and drag her against his horse. A dagger flashed. Dain cried out in alarm.
    â€œEnough!”
The soldier holding Vel brandished his dagger menacingly. “No moving!”
    Alix glanced around, breath harsh in her ears. Ide had thrown down her bow as soon as the battle began—it made her too vulnerable in a close fight—but her blade had seen action, judging from the smear of crimson on its edge. Dain and his foe faced each other warily, both of them bloodied, but neither seriously. That left one Oridian on horseback—the one with his dagger pressed against Vel’s throat.
    Alix’s mind whirred. They could take the one on foot easily enough, but it would cost them Vel. That, in turn, might well cost them the Resistance. Swearing, she lowered her sword. “What now?”
    â€œWeapons down,” the rider growled. “All.” His Erromanian wasn’t as good as the dead officer’s had been, but he made himself understood.
    â€œNot much for maths, are you, mate?” Ide pointed with her sword. “There’s three of us and two of you.”
    â€œYou want this one dead?” He yanked Vel’s hair, hard enough to draw a yelp of pain.
    Just now, I might not mind so much.
A fleeting thought, unfair. But there was no denying the anger that set Alix’s cheeks aflame. The priestess had been careless, and now they might all pay the price. Aloud, she said, “How do we know you won’t kill us the moment we lay down our weapons?”
    He sneered down at the priestess in his grip. “You pray!”
    Alix hesitated. A breeze sighed through the field, caressing it into rolling