by Frost Kay
As the rebel passed, he stepped behind him, wrapping his right arm around the rebel’s neck and pulling upward in warning. His other wrapped around the boy’s ribs and pressed the tip of his dagger against the rebel as he whispered, “You will come calm and quietly or things will not be looking good for you.”
“My coins are hanging from my belt on the right side,” the rebel replied in a higher register. “Take them and leave.”
The boy’s reply surprised him, for the child’s voice never trembled or wavered. He must be brave or stupid to not have any fear with a blade involved.
“I do not want your coins, son. What I need is information. You can help me with that. After what I observed, I think you may be the one to get me what I need. What do you know of the rebellion?”
The rebel stiffened, shaking his head in an emphatic no. “Don’t involve me in your treasonous affairs with talks of rebellion. People are hung for less, and I’d rather not be found guilty by association. I want no trouble.” Conviction rang in his voice.
Had Tehl not seen the exchange himself moments before, he was sure he would’ve been inclined to believe the boy. His lips thinned. “Lying to a new friend makes a horrible first impression.” Tehl pushed aside the boy’s cloak with his own dagger, revealing a shiny blade. “I doubt you’ll be needing this. I would hate for you to hurt yourself…or me,” he said, relieving the boy of the dagger.
“I’m not your friend,” the rebel hissed.
The boy was angry. No one enjoyed being powerless.
“Release me,” growled the rebel.
At that inopportune moment, little whiskers poked the back of his neck. With all the excitement, Tehl had forgotten about that fuzzy tyrant taking up residence in the hood of his cloak. Momentarily surprised, he loosened his grip around the rebel’s ribs, and that was all opening the boy needed. He thrust his hips backward, knocking Tehl off balance, and ducked his chin, escaping Tehl’s hold.
For a second, Tehl only gaped at his empty arms. How had that happened? The boy attempted to flee, slipping and sliding along the cobbles. Tehl scrambled after the boy. “Oh no you don’t!”
The rebel was quick, but Tehl had longer legs. He reached out, grabbing a handful of his cloak and yanked the boy back. All the frantic movements were enough to dislodge the rat from his cloak and send it sailing through the air, after which it landed in a dank puddle of sludge with a splat.
Serves the menace right, he thought.
The boy twisted and tugged on his own cloak as he tried to dislodge it from Tehl’s fingers. A chuckle slipped out. Like he’d make it that easy for him. The boy growled and stopped tugging.
The blow came before he could block it. A foot clipped him hard enough on the chin that his teeth clacked together. Copper flooded his mouth. Damn it, he had bitten his cheek. Tehl spat blood on to the ground and wiped the back of his arm across his mouth, appraising the boy. He grudgingly admitted that it was a perfect round-house kick and said so.
“Are you hungry for more?” was the arrogant reply.
Tehl managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. With a mouth like that, he wondered how many fights the boy got himself into. He watched as the rebel shifted sideways to defend himself. Tehl eyed the boy’s form and adjusted his stance even while he sighed. He didn’t want to play this game with a child. He tried to stamp down his frustration with the boy and imagined what Sam would say in his position. “Cease and there will be no repercussions. I will not harm you.”
A disbelieving laugh burst out of the lad. “You held me at knife point, so excuse me if I don’t believe the words spewing from your lying trap.”
“If you don’t come willingly things will get rough. I promise you, I won’t be the only one bleeding.” He bared his bloody teeth. The hood of the young rebel’s cloak slipped, revealing part of a smirk. Tehl narrowed his eyes at the cocky boy in front of him. He was much too confident for his own good and someone needed to knock him down a peg or two…though for a lad he sure had odd-shaped lips.
The boy’s smirk grew into a full-blown smile, showing all his straight white teeth. “I would love to see you try,” he taunted, launching into a sweeping kick.
Tehl stepped to the side, avoiding the kick and onto the lad’s cloak as it brushed past him. The boy turned around trapping himself in his own cloak. Tehl seized him by the shirt and pulled him up onto his toes. “Listen here you little cur! Stop this before you get hurt. What would your father say if he saw you?”
The child’s smile turned into a sneer, “I wouldn’t know. He left my mum before I was born.”
Pity pricked Tehl—until a fist drove into his ribs. He tightened his grip on the boy as his breath whooshed out of him. Fine. If the lad was hankering for a fight, then he’d get one. Tehl jammed a knee into the boy’s lower stomach. The young rebel bent toward him, letting out a groan of pain, and a sliver of guilt bubbled up at the sound. It faded though as the boy jerked his head up and knocked him in the face. Pain exploded from his nose, his eyes watering. He glimpsed thinned lips before small forearms wedged in between his and smashed outwards breaking his grip.
The young rebel ducked out of his range to assess him, and Tehl knew the exact moment the boy decided to go on the offensive starting with a swift jab. Instinctively, Tehl lifted his forearm to block the blow though he noted for someone so small the lad had a lot of power. He could give it no more thought though as the rebel continued his assault by twisting his hips and throwing a cross punch followed by an uppercut. He blocked each blow with ease, his training paying off. The rebel then hesitated a second, and it was all the opening he needed.
Tehl threw two hooks, putting his body weight into them, yet the lad deftly blocked both blows. And when he jerked his knee upward, the boy curled forward, avoiding his knee, dancing out of his reach. He was impressed; few men his own weight could hold their own against him. He was quicker than Tehl, and he knew how to use that to his advantage. The rebel lashed out with a couple kicks that he swatted away. It took a moment, but Tehl detected a pattern in the boy’s movements. He’d first dance in to trade a few blows, before slipping out of his reach and attacking with a few kicks, and it was a good strategy. The fluid way the boy moved suggested that he had training. He needed a good grip on him. But for some odd reason he was enjoying himself.
He followed the boy’s movements, expecting his next kick. Sure enough, the rebel attempted to sidekick him. Tehl caught the lad’s leg, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pushed him backward into the stone wall, pinning him there.
“You had enough yet, son?”
The answer he received was a snarl and a head to the face, followed by a sickening crack, and pain blasted through his face. Warm liquid gushed down his lips and chin, dripping onto his chest. His nose was broken!
Through his blurry eyes, he could see the boy’s mouth grinning at him, smug.
“You sure you had enough?” the young rebel mocked. He didn’t know when to stop. The boy tried to head-butt him again, but his elbow blocked the boy’s head. The young rebel’s head snapped back into the stone wall behind him with a sharp cry.
Damn, he was a little too rough with the child. He spun the dazed boy around to face the wall, so he could inspect the wound and bind the boy’s hands. He couldn’t analyze it because of the hood, but although blood seeped through it, it was not at an alarming rate. Messy but not too bad. The lad would live.
Blinking his eyes to rid himself of the tears his injury brought, he searched for a length of rope to bind the boy.
When that was done, Tehl then cautiously ran his hands inside the boy’s cloak, looking for weapons; he didn’t feel like getting stabbed. One dagger at the waist.
The boy slumped against the wall. He didn’t want the boy concussed. Tehl jostled the boy. “Stay awake, you will need to be examined by a healer. You hit your head pretty hard.” He turned the boy back around and used the wall to help hold the youth up.
“I didn’t hit my head. You
pushed my head into a stone wall,” the boy slurred but somehow still managed a dry tone.
Tehl still hadn’t seen the lad’s face. It was disrespectful to wear your hood up when someone was talking to you. He reached over and grasped the boy’s hood. The boy struggled weakly against him.
“Hold still,” he admonished, “I only want to see your face.”
At first nothing made sense. What was going on? He expected the round face of a young boy, but an angel stood before him instead. Big emerald eyes glared up at him, framed by long black lashes.
A woman.
Five
TEHL
He stared and gaped like an idiot.
The boy was a woman.
Tehl leaned closer.
Yep, still a woman.
Wait. The rebellion was using women?
“Get off me!” she yelled, startling him.
He was so close to her, he felt the woman vibrate with anger, yet despite all the blood and yowling, he was entranced. He stared, mapping out high cheekbones, a heart-shaped face, and creamy skin. Somehow one of his hands reached out to touch her smooth skin only to have her teeth snap at him, trying to remove one of his fingers. Tehl looked aghast at the offending appendage. When had it moved?
“Don’t touch me!” she screeched.
He focused back on the wriggling woman he was pressed against; his brain finally caught up with his eyes. “You’re a woman?” Tehl asked, stupidly.
“Last time I checked,” she retorted, hotly. A mocking smile spread across her face. “Not so quick, are you? Let me repeat it for you. I am a woman,” she drew out, lengthening the word, so it sounded like woooomaaan. “How is that broken nose treating you?” she taunted.
“About as well as yours,” he baited, tweaking her button nose.
Her big green eyes immediately welled up. Crystal tears glistened on her black lashes. Tehl frowned feeling like a beast. Why did he do that? An apology was on the tip of his tongue, until saliva exploded across his face. There was nothing more disrespectful than being spat upon. It was not only disgusting but degrading. As Tehl had already been bitten by a rat and his nose broken why not add being spit on to the list?
Meticulously, he wiped the blood and spit from his chin, all the while keeping her pinned, and by the time he finished he had calmed down.
“I have never met anyone stupid enough to spit on me,” he said, appraising her. “You don’t realize the danger you put yourself in. Lawfully, I have every right to kill you.”
Tehl met her green eyes and lifted his hand, wrapping it firmly around her delicate neck. He squeezed once for emphasis. Her face never wavered from the bland, bored expression she was wearing, but the swift staccato of her pulse under his thumb told another story. She pretended she wasn’t afraid but her pulse announced her a liar.
She took shallow breaths, her gaze never wavering from his. “You don’t want to hurt me. You held yourself back. Several times you could have hurt me but you blocked instead of striking. Also, you pulled your punches. That leads me to the conclusion you need me. I will bet my mum’s ruby necklace you won’t kill me.” She looked up at him with a calculating glint in her eyes. “Your threats don’t scare me.”
What an interesting female—so unlike the women of his court. “Everyone fears something,” he reasoned. “Are you sure death doesn’t scare you? What if I squeezed my hand, cutting off your air?”
She didn’t so much as twitch.
“Pain for long periods of time?”
Her impassive mask still didn’t alter.
“The death or torture of a loved one?”
Still nothing.
Tehl was impressed; most men would have panicked by now. He moved his thumb across her pulse, causing her to jolt. He did it again, and she hissed at him. Why did she react to that? She didn’t like him touching her at all, but it wasn’t just because of the skin on skin contact. It was the type of contact.
A plan formed in his mind but he wasn’t sure he could pull it off as he had never been much of a womanizer.
“You sure are a pretty little thing. So much beauty hidden under that cloak.” He locked eyes with her before raking his eyes down her generous curves. Her attire surprised him. She was wearing brown leather trousers, a linen shirt, and a leather vest. He lazily stared at her leather trousers. No wonder women weren’t allowed to wear trousers. The way they hugged her hips and thighs was indecent. She was gorgeous. Too bad she was a traitor.
Tehl had to fight his scowl, he needed to maintain his persona, but it was unfair she was so beautiful. It was just wrong. She should instead have had the common decency to have some gross imperfection. He swallowed the lump in his throat and made a show of ogling her body. Humiliation, anger, and a touch of fear bled through her impenetrable mask.
“Tsk tsk, a woman wearing trousers… So naughty,” Tehl drawled. “It sends the wrong message to men around you, my dear. It gives them ideas.”
In increments, he closed the remaining distance between the two of them, invading her space. He lifted one finger and skimmed it lightly around the shell of her ear and down her neck, touching the v of her cleavage—all the while looking into her eyes. Her’s widened, and her heart picked up speed as she panicked.
“GET OFF ME, YOU PIG! DON’T TOUCH ME! HELP! HELP! HELP!” she yelled, her green eyes wild.
He craned his neck toward the entrance of the alley. People scurried by, but no one stopped. Cowards. Tehl looked back to the frantic woman struggling in his arms. He needed her information. She could lie all she wanted, but he had seen the exchange with his own eyes. She hadn’t reacted to any of his other forms of intimidation. He would have to scare her into giving it up.
He’d never forced a woman and he never would. Just the idea made him sick to his stomach. But she didn’t know him. Tehl’s heart was heavy with the knowledge of what he had to do. He morphed his face into a leer and flashed her a lascivious grin. Tehl tightened his grip on her neck and pressed his large body harder into her, sandwiching her between the wall and himself.
He planted his lips softly along the column of her neck, allowing a low hum to escape. A small whimper escaped her lips. Tehl clenched his jaw, disgusted with himself, and forced out the words lodged in his throat. “I could have you here, and now, no one would look twice,” he crooned, into her ear.
Her breath quickened, and her heart raced against his chest. He felt like a total lecher and a creep. At that moment, he was. Tehl turned his head and skimmed her jaw with the tip of his nose. She smelled like cinnamon. Why did she smell like cinnamon?
He shook himself out of his stupor and focused on the task at hand. “This is what you will do.” He nuzzled her once more, and then leaned back, placing a finger beneath her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. Her glassy green eyes brimmed with tears almost crumbling his resolve. Tehl hardened his heart against her and gazed at her evenly. “You will come along like a good little girl, quiet and docile. No more kicking, screaming, or head-butting. If you do that, then I won’t leave you damaged and broken in this hellhole.”
She jerked her chin out of his grasp and looked away. Why did acting like a monster get things done? The world should not be like this. Sometimes, like now, he felt so dirty and low.
“Do you accept?” He purred in her ear, hoping she didn’t call his bluff.
She trembled in his grasp and dipped her chin once. That was what he was looking for. Tehl released her face and moved his beaten body back a hair, just enough for her to take deep breaths without their chests touching.
She shivered, but fire still glinted in her eyes. She would cause him more trouble, despite what she’d told him. He grabbed her biceps and pulled her from the wall to the center of the alley.
“How can I trust you won’t hurt me if I do as you ask?” she demanded, eyes filled with hate.
She deserved reassurance, and he could give her that much. Tehl looked down at her, “I give you my word you won’t be hurt when I take you to th
e palace.”
She barked out a laugh while a tear trekked a path down her dirty cheek. “You’re a liar and a lecher.” She looked at him, disgusted. “If you take me, you won’t like the outcome. Someone will miss me; you can bet on that. I promise you will regret the day you were born because my brothers, crooked as they may be, will hunt you down.”
He forced a chuckle since, even tied up and helpless, she was making threats. Raising his eyebrows, he smiled. “You’re not in a position to be making threats. Threatening your future king is hazardous for your health.”
Her reaction did not disappoint. She stilled, and what color she had, drained from her face. He slipped his hands up her arms and settled them on her shoulders. “I imagine you are quite attached to your neck, and so am I, if I am honest.” She shuddered at his comment. “So pipe down,” he added.
“You disgust me,” she spat and wrinkled her nose at him, like he smelled offensive. Thinking about it, he probably did. This whole situation had him sweating like a pig.
“Your father has left us all to starve. I had hoped his son would make a better king but here the crown prince stands, threatening to rape me if I don’t give him information on something that I am not part of.” She leaned toward him, anger sparkling in her eyes. “Your mother was an amazing woman. If she saw you today, she would be appalled!”
She flinched back, closing her eyes, when he lifted his hand toward her. He watched as she swallowed thickly. Did she think he would hit her? He frowned. He would never hit a woman. She was right though. His mother would be ashamed if she could see him frightening the poor girl.
“You know nothing about my m-mother—” he stuttered as her lips parted on a breath, capturing his attention. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. He grabbed her face and gently brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. They were so smooth and soft.
What was wrong with him?
Tehl went to withdraw his thumb when she lunged at him, biting his finger. He cursed and ripped his thumb out of her mouth, shaking his hand. “Gods, woman, why would you do that?” Tehl inspected the small wound. There were actually teeth marks.