Chapter 12 #2
“She’s not just some woman,” Kelvar growled in response.
Their words distracted me enough that I didn’t notice Lord Deryn letting go of his saber with one hand and sneaking it into his boot. Kelvar was able to push aside his sword, with only one hand holding the guard. But Lord Deryn already had what he needed.
His wrist snapped forward and he threw a lethal silver blade straight at my face. Time seemed to slow as it flew toward me. I tried to dive out of the way, but the rider who had grabbed me still held me in place.
Kelvar spun toward me and threw out his hand. Magic crackled as he reached out, grabbing the thrown knife with his power. It stopped in midair, quivering, but my moment of relief was short lived.
Pain bloomed in my mind and Kelvar howled. The knife thudded to the ground harmlessly, but in his moment of distraction, Deryn had struck Kelvar’s outstretched arm. Blood bloomed from a gash on the inside of his elbow, deep enough to have cut through his muscles and tendons.
His sword arm hung uselessly at his side.
The fire of victory lit in Lord Deryn’s eyes, but Kelvar’s fury shattered.
He grabbed his dirk from his belt with his off hand.
Lord Deryn struck, but with Kelvar’s full rage unleashed, he was too slow.
Kelvar caught the blade in the handguard of his dirk and twisted it out of the way.
In the same movement, he lunged forward, driving the blade deep into Lord Deryn’s eye.
Blood sprayed, covering his arm and wrist as he drove the dirk into the hilt and twisted savagely. Lord Deryn’s breath left him with a shuddered gasp as he went limp, and Kelvar wrenched his blade free.
The corpse toppled to the ground, and silence descended over the clearing, the only sound Kelvar’s ragged breathing.
In the extended moment of shocked stillness, I managed to wrench myself away from the grasp of the rider who held me.
I scrabbled through the sand to get to Kelvar, who swayed where he stood.
I needed to check the extent of his injuries.
I needed to throw myself into his arms and breathe in his scent—tangle in the threads of his magic to assure myself he had survived.
Finally, I stood before him and cupped his face in my hands, looking into the deep pools of his eyes. I found sparks dancing in their depths.
A smile quirked the edge of his lips, and despite the way my fingers itched to reach for his wound and knit it back together, I smiled back at him. We had survived.
His dirk fell from his good hand, forgotten in the dust, and he interlaced his fingers with my own. Turning me toward the onlookers, he raised our interlaced hands high.
“Would anybody else like to challenge my right to be Lord of Clan Katal and marry this woman?”
The assembled clan and riders raised their hands and tapped their knuckles to their foreheads in respect. I sighed in relief, but it quickly turned into a frown.
Kelvar heard it the same second I did, his hand tightening in mine. Hoofbeats, enough for dozens of horses. Then the screams started.
“A raid!” Kelvar shouted. “Find cover!”
Horses crashed into the encampment, their riders swinging their sabers and screaming out bloodcurdling war cries. The people of Clan Katal scattered, riders drawing weapons as those who weren’t warriors ran for shelter.
Kelvar dragged me behind him with his uninjured arm and tried to lift his sword before him with the other. It trembled, and the point only raised a few degrees from the ground, even as he grunted in effort. His tendons must be severed, not allowing the limb to respond to his commands.
“You can’t fight!” I insisted.
“It will take more than this scratch to keep me from protecting you,” he said gravely.
I tried to drag him out of the fray, but he planted his feet. Kelvar growled savagely at the incoming onslaught, pinning me between him and the Lord’s tent at my back. Against the mountain as it was, we wouldn’t be able to retreat that way.
Then, icy dread spread through my veins as two familiar horses crashed into the open circle: My father and his Warlord.
Savagely, they cut down Clan Katal’s riders, who by now had managed to draw weapons and mount a resistance.
With the thick knot of riders that had gathered in the center of the encampment to watch the duel, the attacking warriors of Clan Padra were considerably slowed.
“Stop!” I shouted, but my voice couldn’t be heard over the cacophony of clanging steal and angry shouts.
Bile rose into my throat as my father swung his saber in a downward slash, catching a woman who wielded a pair of sickle blades against him across the shoulder. Her scream of pain pierced my heart as she fell to her knees in the sand, already wet with blood.
Kelvar must have shared my distress at the bloodshed of his people, and a pulse of rage traveled through me, although I could not tell if it was my own or from the magical tether running between us.
He let go of me with his good hand and threw it out.
His magical slash caught one of Clan Padra’s attacking riders across the chest, and he fell from his horse with a shriek.
The crunch of him hitting the ground cut through the sound of battle, and I felt it in my own bones.
Both of these Clans were my people.
I didn’t have time to dwell on it, as Kelvar’s actions had drawn my father’s attention. Catching sight of Kelvar, and me behind him, he spurred his horse toward us with a roar.
“Give back my daughter, you snake!” he shouted, voice booming over the din of battle. He raised his blade as he charged through the mayhem, ready to slash down in a blow that would cleave Kelvar’s skull in two if it landed.
Kelvar tried to raise his saber to block, but he wouldn’t be able to with his injured arm. His uninjured hand raised, and the earthy smell of magic filled the air around me.
One thought filled my head as I leaped into motion: I could not let more blood be spilled on my account.