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kendaryl blades with orange.
Their intention had been to get him in the back by circling him and Todd had
neatly eliminated that possibility.
Leather armor, all that those arseholes could afford, was not made to
withstand kendaryl in the hands of a master. They spread out, trying again for
an encirclement.
"C'mon you bastards. Todd smiled at them, shifting into his hybrid form with
well-trained speed. The first one to move to his side was a yellow-bearded
fellow. Todd glided in his direction, beat his guard down, entangled his
sword, and shoved the other blade into his belly.
The remaining three charged in with yells of rage.
Todd let them come.
It was a slaughter.
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Parrying one mon's attack, Todd glided to the side and backhanded a blade into
the second one's face, blinding him. He shoved a blade into the third's
stomach, released it, and pulled a throwing axe from his belt, pivoting in
time to block the first one's attack. He brought his sword down in a hard
whack that forced his opponent's blade aside and popped the axe into the
guardsmon's chest.
Todd regarded the carnage with a distasteful sneer. Amateurs. Bloody
amateurs."
He executed the blinded one with a blade across his throat. Todd cleaned his
weapons and sheathed them before going through their pockets and pouches. None
of them had carried papers of any kind. They probably could not have read them
if they had. He claimed the money in their pockets, the rings from their
fingers, and everything else that had a bit of resale value. It could be sold
in Creeya and no one would be the wiser.
Then he loaded the bodies onto their horses, took them to the edge of the
cliffs, and dumped them over into the Eirlys River. The ice was still thin on
the river. They struck and plunged through. The bodies would probably not be
found before spring thaw.
Todd turned their horses loose, broke camp, and headed for home. Next time he
came to work on his bridge, he would bring others with him.
* * * *
Todd turned his horse over to the stablemon who worked for him and slipped
into the shop through the back door. The bell startled him. He stopped and
glared at it, hanging from the door at the end of a pink ribbon.
"Betrys. He shook his head.
He had only been gone four days, and already Betrys was making changes.
"Grandfather? Betrys peeked around the corner of the hallway.
"Speak of a devil..."
"What did I do?"
"Hung a bell on the back door so I couldn't sneak in."
"I did it because someone came in that way."
Betrys came out where he could see her clearly. Todd saw the bruises on her
face, and the mace clipped to her belt. His eyes narrowed. Who?"
"A guardsmon. Said his name was Gorgarty Burr. He was looking for you. To
leave a message ... and that I was it. Artair took after him with a cudgel and
drove him off."
"I like your husband more all the time."
That brought a smile from Betrys.
"He bounced Gorgarty off a wall twice and told him he was banned from this
place."
"I told him that myself last summer. Todd searched his granddaughter's face
for signs that she might have taken more than just a beating from Gorgarty. He
recalled the day that Kynyr and his friends had been ambushed. Kady came to
help and Gorgarty raped her. He sent me another message and it caught up to
me."
"What did it say?"
"I killed it. All five of them."
Betrys looked shaken, and then recovered. Have you been to the estate?"
Todd shook his head, his eyes half-closing as all expression faded from his
face. I wanted to come home before someone told me he was dead."
"Grandfather, he isn't. Betrys put her comforting arms around the big mon.
Kynyr is out of danger."
"But that much hedysmorte... Todd refused to let himself feel joy at Betrys
news until he could be certain that she was not mistaken.
"Dyna did it. She saved him. Betrys eyes softened in concern as she tried to
be reassuring. She knew how much Todd loved Kynyr. Their family was very close
knit. But the healers say he's crippled."
"I'll go see him, but first I need to speak with your husband. Where's
Artair?"
"Cahira's study. He's doing the books. Gram has fallen several weeks behind on
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them."
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