I stared at the flaps as they swung back in place behind her.
Okay, now my instincts, instincts I didn’t know until then I had were saying something wasn’t right.
I felt my body get tight as I gazed around the tent. The gold fabric I bought that day was laying folded on one of the trunks. My eyes moved and scanned as they did but nothing seemed different.
Until I saw the table.
And when I did, I stared at it.
Then, woodenly, I walked to it.
On it was the gleaming wooden box Bohtan had given me, opened, the dagger brilliant even in the muted light of the cham. At its side, a fold of blue fabric and on top of that, the blue bangle I gave Teetru. The money pouch was not there nor were any of the other bolts of fabric or bangles I’d bought the other girls. Teetru, I noticed, had carried the fabric out. The pouch she did not have but I reckoned she’d locked it away in its trunk.
I stared at the table and what was on it as a tingle slithered up my spine.
Then without thinking, my hand snaked out, I grabbed the dagger and screeched, “Zahnin!”
But it was too late.
From all around, I heard the sounds of ripping fabric and I looked to the side of the cham to see a dagger had been planted in it and was tearing through.
I whirled and took them in.
There were daggers all around!
Shit! I was surrounded!
My arm shot out and I grabbed a heavy candleholder in my left hand as I heard steel clash with steel at the front of the cham. The candle toppled off my holder as huge men with skin the color of Teetru’s pushed through the slashes in the cham.
“No!” I shrieked as they came at me.
Then, out of nowhere, something came over me and whatever it was was coming from inside me. In a weird way I saw but did not see. In a weird way my body was not at my command. It just moved of its own accord.
I bashed out with the candleholder with all my strength and caught the first man who got to me upside his head. His eyes rolled back into his head and he careened to the side as arms closed around me from behind, picking me up.
I kicked out with my feet with all my might as I turned the dagger in my hand and tried to strike at his head behind mine with the candleholder, and missed. But my tactic worked, he was having trouble defending himself at the same time containing me.
Then I kicked out with my feet again as I plunged the dagger back and connected its blade with the flesh at his side. He howled, his arms loosened and I was dropped to my feet. My fist still wrapped around the hilt, I yanked out the dagger, whirled and, even as I felt more hands start to close on my waist, quickly, before his hand could make it to the knife on his belt, I sunk my blade into his chest, aiming at his heart, then pulling it out.
My aim was true.
Blood spurted out and he dropped like a stone but another one had me.
For a second.
Then I heard a ferocious growl I’d never heard before in my life and I was suddenly free.
This was because my sweet, little tigress cub came out of nowhere and jumped him. Surprised by the attack, he stumbled to the side and her not-quite-so-baby-anymore tiger teeth went right for his jugular.
I had no time to watch, I was again captured from behind and this one came smart. The blade was nearing my throat before I tossed my dagger up, caught its handle and again thrust back, finding flesh. At the same time, I jerked my head back and it collided with his chin. He went back and I again moved the dagger in my hand, whirled and slashed out, opening skin at his chest.
I felt the presence of more bodies in the cham, heard the clash of steel and the sound of men’s grunts and my guess was Zahnin and/or Bain had entered the tent. I didn’t look as I slashed another slice through my attacker’s chest. On my third go, he caught my wrist and twisted it, pain shot up my arm so strong, it took me to my knees. His other arm came back to my throat with the knife but I moved quickly. Dropping the candleholder, I grasped his wrist, jerked it with all my might and leaned forward, using the only weapon I had at my command. My teeth.
I bit hard, so hard blood spurted into my mouth and he yelped. Then he let me go, I turned swiftly on my knees and plunged my blade into his belly, my other hand going to cover the one on the hilt, I jerked it up, slicing him open, blood spurting out and flowing down.
He stumbled back then fell to his knees.
I gained my feet, lifted one and kicked him as hard as I could across his face. As he fell to the side, I was shoved out of the way and then I watched Bain heave his sword in an arc, separating head from body, blood spraying out as his body dropped to the rugs and his head flew away, fell and rolled behind the bed.
Bain’s arm hooked me at the waist and he pulled my back tight to his front as he shouted, “Lock down the Daxshee! Every warrior on alert! Search parties sent out to see if there are more Maroo!”
My eyes lifted to the tent flaps and I saw a warrior I didn’t know nod then exit immediately.
Then my eyes moved round the tent, searching for new threats and automatically counting the bodies on the ground, bodies (or, disgustingly, body parts) that seemed to fill all the available space. One, two, three, four, five… I got up to what might amount (if put back together) to ten, taking in the blood that was splattered throughout Lahn and my cham before I froze.
Zahnin was at the back of the tent, his body heaving with the deep breaths mine was sucking in and I felt Bain’s pulling in against me. Zahnin held his bloody sword in one hand, pointed down, an equally bloody knife held in the other. Ghost was sitting at his feet, jaws bloody, tongue lolling, blinking like she was bored and ready for a nap.
And I also saw a jagged slash of opened flesh scored down Zahnin’s chest and through his abs.
“No,” I whispered as I watched the blood drip down his hides. “No!” I shrieked and Bain’s hold tightened around me.
“It is fine, he is fine, my golden queen, it is a flesh wound,” Bain whispered.
These f**king savage brute warrior guys.
A flesh wound!
His blood was dripping down his hides.
With a heave I tore from Bain’s hold and ran across the cham on a direct route to my protector. That was to say, I ran over the bed. Ghost jumped to all fours and crept back, clearly reading her Loolah’s mood and wanting nothing to do with it.
When I got to him, I put a gentle hand on him and tilted my head way back to look at him.
“We need to get you down. We need to cleanse this. We need –”
He cut in to grunt, “Queen Circe, I am fine.”
I stepped back and screeched, “You are not fine!” Then I turned to the tent flaps and screamed, “Jacanda! Get in here!”