Nine
“There’s no way we are getting out of this.” Noor’s shaking voice carved through the roar of battle in my ears.
“I’ve had worse odds,” I whispered back.
Noor gave me an incredulous look.“Have you?”
I hadn’t, but I didn’t want to tell her that. But now at least I had a blade pointing back at them.
Correction, I hadthreeblades.
“We just have to break their formation up,” I said, chewing on the bottom of my lip. We couldn’t go back the way we came, because we’d just encounter the guards from another angle. And we couldn’t climb over the wall behind the infirmary, because there was nothing on the other side but jagged rocks and rough sea.
We’d have to take them head-on.
“I can handle a couple of them at a time, as long as they aren’t coming at me at once.”
Memories in the training yard flashed through my mind, causing my hands to tighten around my hilt.
But these weren’t memories of training with Baba, but with Mazin.
We’d spent hours sparring, either with Baba’s other students or justeach other. Though Mazin’s swordsmanship had needed work, in the end he was the only one who could match me.
Until he’d bested me in our final battle, the one we’d had without swords.
The one where I’d ended up in prison and he had walked free.
“Dania,” Noor croaked, fear palpable through her words, “do you think I can take on six guards when I barely know how to hold this thing?”
I turned to her, the memories giving rise to what felt like ancient anger, fueling my movements and solidifying my resolve.
“Not to fight,” I admitted, thinking through our strategy, “but as a distraction.”
“Oh great. So, I’m the bait?”
“They don’t know there’s two of us. Just that you escaped from the infirmary, and Thohfsa is dead. Let’s use that to our advantage.”
“Okay.” She nodded, her mouth white. “Just don’t leave me to be skewered while you run off alone.” She stood, her sword in her hand, looking like she was walking to her execution.
“If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have come back for you.”
She gave me a small smile, but it didn’t meet her fearful eyes.
I wanted to reassure her, but I didn’t know what was about to happen. I knew what my skills were, I knew what I had been trained to do, but I’d never really gone into a fight when I had to worry about someone else—especially someone who didn’t have any fighting skills. The best thing I could do was make sure the odds were a little more even.
“I need them broken up. Lure them back here, that will give me a chance to thin them out.” If they didn’t know I was here, I wanted to use that.
She nodded and clutched the sword in front of her like it was a talisman instead of a weapon.
I took a deep breath, placed the flat of my hand on Noor’s rigid back, and pushed her into the awaiting guards.
Shouting ensued, and the scuffle of feet grew closer.
“We have her!” A voice was dangerously close, split off from the rest. Just what I wanted.
“Did you think you could escape?” a guard said, his voice a low growl. “Alone?”
Noor ran back behind the wall, her sword held oddly. A guard came running after her but I was ready. I flicked one end of the double-sided scimitar, slicing his throat in a clean motion.
