Lord Warwick raised his hand, and the crowd stopped chantingimmediately.I could feel hundreds of people holding their breath with me.
He lifted his thumb and gave a decisive nod to Torgrin.
I was elated and probably smiling like a loon as the people of Murus exploded into thunderous applause.
CHAPTER 8
Torgrin’s eyes roamed over my smiling face.Did he see anything familiar in my adult features now that we stood so close?Even without his scars, I would know him anywhere.
‘The master swordmaker is also a master swordsman,’ he murmured.
‘Swordswoman!’corrected Atlas with a massive grin.He stood on Torgrin’s left, watching us closely.
Ugly Giant bent down, his sour breath hot against my ear as he spoke, his voice low and grating.‘I’m still going to rip you apart, little girly, but I’ll make sure that sweet pussy of yours stays intact so I can visit you tonight and wreck it with my sword.’
My smile faded.I couldn’t tell how much Torgrin and Atlas had heard, but they weren’t smiling anymore.Not that Torgrin ever smiled.
‘That’s going to be difficult to do when I cut off your tiny sword,’ I hissed back, annoyed that he had ruined a glorious moment.
Atlas roared with laughter, and I swear I saw the corner of Torgrin’s mouth lift.
He leaned close and whispered, ‘Don’t die.’
My eyes flicked to his in surprise.‘Is that a command, Captain?’
‘Yes,’ he growled, his eyes narrowing and lips twitching.He strolled away, leaving me standing alone with his ugliest and biggest soldier.
I felt elated that I was not being taken to a dungeon somewhere for being a woman in armour or for being one of the Cursed.The exhaustion I had felt moments ago was gone, anticipation coursing through my body.
As I faced Ugly Giant, I noted where Torgrin and Atlas had placed the weapons.They had observed my strengths and had placed my preferred weapons behind my opponent.
Behind Ugly Giant was a bow and spear, and furthest away was a sword.Behind me were two knives and a shield.Furthest away from the ugly giant was a mace.It didn’t surprise me that a brutal weapon like the mace was his weapon of choice.
Trying to get past his hulking form to get the sword or bow was pointless.Could I count on what I knew so far about his fighting style?I doubted he would use the weapons behind him.Instead, he would go straight to the most brutal weapon in the arena: the mace.
The shield and knives behind me were my closest option.I needed to be fast because if I was wrong and he ran for the bow behind him, I could end up with an arrow in my back.
Torgrin’s deep tones rang across the arena.‘Engage!’
Running, hopeful that I would be faster than Ugly Giant, I sprinted towards the item closest to me, the shield.The sound of pounding feet was soon right behind me.I glanced over my shoulder to see his long legs eating up the distance between us.
I was wrong about him going for the mace.A solid wall crashed into my back and I hit the dirt with a painful grunt.
‘I’ve got you, girly.’
He made the mistake of putting his face close to the back of my head.My hands went under me, and I pushed up with all my might,slamming my head into his sneering face.His nose met the back of my head, and I heard the sound of crunching bone.He rolled off me and cackled as his mangled nose spurted blood down his face.Pushing to my feet, I braced myself for his retaliation.
‘I like it when they fight back,’ he said before charging me.
My attempt to sidestep him failed, and he caught me in a headlock.He had my head tucked tightly under his putrid armpit, forcing me to look down at our feet.I didn’t wait for him to get a death hold – I pushed my arm through his locked arms before he could strangle me.The heel of my palm now under his chin, I pushed his face away, creating space for myself and putting him off balance.
I knew this wouldn’t break his hold, but I made sure he couldn’t squeeze my neck any tighter.Staying calm, I shuffled around until Ugly Giant’s enormous back was pressed to my armoured front.
Iain had trained me to escape common hand-to-hand combat holds.He taught me that a headlock was difficult to break, but not impossible.The key was to use your opponent’s weight against them, and the best way to do that was to get them off balance and take their legs out from beneath them.The bigger they were, the harder they fell.
In one quick movement, I hooked my leg around his, sending him to the ground with me.His arms broke their hold around my neck, and before he could recover, I got out from under him and grabbed his meaty arm in my powerful grip.I twisted it, forcing him to turn to save the joint.He was now stomach down on the ground with me standing above him, holding his twisted arm behind him.My hold would keep him immobilised.
‘You bitch!’he screamed into the dirt.
