Page 124 of Blade of the Nightking

I stopped opposite him. His gaze drifted slowly downward, all the way to my boots, before sliding back up my body to my face with unsettling deliberation. “You’re angry.”

I ground my teeth together hard.

Nadja. The servants. Their missing tongues.

He’d done that to them.

“Yes,” I answered coldly.

His eyes narrowed slightly at whatever he saw on my face.

“Good.” He replied. “Use it.”

And then he moved.

No warning. No explanation. One moment he stood motionless across from me, and the next he was suddenly—there. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs.

My back slammed hard against the mat, and before I could even process what had happened, he was on top of me. His legs locked around my hips, trapping me completely, while his forearm pressed tight across my throat. His face hovered only inches from mine.

“Do you yield?” His breath mingled warm against my mouth.

I snarled and fought against him, kicking, shoving, desperately trying to wrench myself free, but it was useless. He barely seemed to notice.

His arm pushed down harder. “Do you yield?” In the half-darkness, his eyes were black pits.

“Yes,” I gasped.

Immediately, the pressure vanished.

He rose fluidly to his feet while I scrambled upright, furious and breathless. He simply gestured for me to take my position across the mat again. Still gasping for air, I obeyed.

Unlike Segolayne, he waited calmly for my breathing to settle before moving again. And, unlike Segolayne, he offered absolutely no instruction before attacking.

Again he lunged.

Again the world flipped violently beneath me.

Again my back struck the mat as he pinned me in the exact same position.

“Do you yield?” he demanded again.

Rage flared through me as I fought against his hold, trying to free even one limb enough to strike back. But every movement only tightened the trap he’d locked me into. Resentfully, I nodded.

“Say it.”

The command scraped across my nerves. “Yes,” I snarled.

He released me at once.

Again I pushed myself shakily upright. Again he waited until my breathing steadied.

And then he came for me a third time.

This time when he released me, fury was vibrating through me so violently I was almost feral with it. Every inch of my body ached. I could feel the bruises forming beneath my skin.

Rìan waited calmly, still as a great hunting cat poised to spring.

“I thought this was a lesson,” I spat.