The Shadow's Heir (The Risen Sun) by K. J. Taylor Read Free Book Online

being.
    They led her away up the street, keeping uncomfortably close. Laela had the feeling that they were ready to grab her arms if she tried to run. Her heart beat fast. But she didn’t want to risk making them angry—they were obviously drunk, and besides, maybe they were just being overfriendly.
    She walked as quickly as she could, hoping to outpace them. They sped up, too, not moving away.
    “Could yeh move back a bit?” she said at last. “Yer kinda crowdin’ me.”
    “Oh, we’re sorry,” said one. “We din’t mean t’scare ye, girl. We’re just makin’ sure ye keep safe, like. Wouldn’t want anythin’ t’happen to ye.”
    His friend sniggered.
    The instant Laela heard it, she snapped. Without a sound, she twisted away from them and ran.
    After her first mad dash, she began to look at where she was going, hoping to find somewhere she could lose them. But the crowds had thinned out by now.
    And they were chasing her. She could hear their pounding footsteps behind her. Her heart pounded, too, as if it were trying to keep pace with the sound.
    She sped up and darted away in a random direction, searching now for a place to hide. But the two men were fit and strong, and she was exhausted after days of long travel and too little sleep. They were gaining on her.
    Finally, unable to run any further, she ducked into an alleyway and huddled into a shadow, hoping they would miss her.
    She kept as still as she could, scarcely breathing, offering up a silent prayer to Gryphus that he would keep her safe, stop them from seeing her . . .
    For a few moments, nothing happened, and she began to think that maybe she had escaped.
    “Where are ye, miss?”
    The voice came drifting down the alley toward her, full of hateful confidence. Laela felt her stomach twist. She started to edge her way toward the end of the alley, but it was too late.
    The two men stepped toward her, leering. They had her cornered now, and the sight of them sent cold despair through her whole body.
    But not for long. Laela’s eyes narrowed, and she reached behind her and drew the sword.
    “Stay away from me!” she snarled.
    They backed off a little at that.
    “Well, damn me!” said one. “A lady with a sword.”
    The other looked unperturbed. “I’d put that down if I were ye, girl,” he drawled. “Ye don’t want t’get hurt, do ye?”
    “I want
you
to get away from me,” Laela said. “I know how t’use this sword, see? So move away before I show yeh.”
    The first one pulled a knife out of his belt. “Reckon we’re gonna have t’deal with this one together, Aled.”
    The second, Aled, drew his own knife. “I reckon so, too. C’mon girl,” he added, almost gently. “Ye don’t want us t’have t’hurt ye, do ye?”
    Laela felt her arm beginning to tremble, but she didn’t lower the sword. “I don’t want to kill yeh,” she said. “An’ I will if I have to.”
    “All right, that’s enough,” said Aled.
    He moved forward, along with his friend, and Laela panicked. They were too close,
too close
; she didn’t know how to fight like this—
    She tried to make a thrust with the sword, but Aled sidestepped the blow and grabbed her by the forearm. He twisted, and pain rifled through her arm. She screamed.
    Immediately, a hot, foul-tasting hand closed over her mouth.
    “Just shut up,” Aled rasped in her ear. “An’ it’ll all be over soon, see?”
    Laela struggled while the other man pulled her belongings off her back and rummaged through them. There was a rattle of oblong.
    “By the shadows, look at this!” he said. He opened the bag. “There’s got t’be at least two hundred in here!”
    Aled, holding Laela with his knife to her throat, grinned disbelievingly. “This is our lucky night! Quick, hide it away in case anyone sees us.”
    Laela squirmed and bit his hand. He pulled it away for an instant, and she took her chance and screamed for help.
    Aled hit her, hard, in the face. “Try that again, an’