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I wanted a moment alone with him to determine if he was worthy of her or not before she arrived. But as soon as we entered the corridor, I didn’t get a chance to ask him shit. He reared his head back, cracking me in the face, which immediately made blood stream from my nose.
“Fuck!” Seeing stars, I wasn’t as prepared as I otherwise would’ve been when he whirled around to confront me, attacking with the chains that banded his wrists together.
Growling out a curse, I fought him off, kicking his knee until he buckled. Then I spun him away from me and shoved him face-first into the wall, pinning him there with my body.
“Behave,” I growled. “I’m not going to kill you.”
He shoved back, almost freeing himself, but I gritted my teeth and more aggressively pressed him forward, which caused him to smack his face into the stone wall, leaving him momentarily dazed.
“Now,” I panted out of breath. “We’re going to have a little chat.”
But Nicolette had already found us, dammit.
“Urban?” her worried voice came from behind me.
Shaking my head, I glanced at her and grinned through my bloody, fat lip and busted nose. “I believe you found yourself a handful with this one, kiddo.”
She darted forward, her eyes wide with fear. “What’re you going to do with him?”
“I’m not going to do anything.” Digging into my pocket, I came up with the key the guard had given me to unlock all the chains. Then, with a wink, I tossed it to Nicolette. “You said he was yours, right? You deal with him.”
She scrambled to catch the key. When she had it securely in hand, I stepped back, releasing my hold on the prisoner, even as I inconspicuously pulled my sword from its scabbard, ready for anything.
The boy whirled, instantly crouching into a fighter’s stance, his eyes full of anger and fear but the tenacity to keep fighting.
When blood trickled from the cut he’d gotten on his forehead after I’d cracked his face into the wall, Nicolette gasped in outrage and rushed forward. “He’s bleeding! You made him bleed, you big brute.”
I shrugged, unrepentant, and leaned back against a wall to fold my arms over my chest as I watched her deal with him.
When she reached for his cut, he hissed out a warning breath and shifted his face away from her seeking fingers.
She clucked her tongue soothingly. “No, it’s okay. I swear.” Murmuring softly, she reached out with more hesitation. “I won’t let anyone else hurt you.”
When the prisoner glanced skeptically toward me, she scowled my way and added, “Not even him.”
I sniffed my amusement, but said nothing.
Nicolette gently pressed her fingertips against the cut, and the boy’s gaze went weary, but he at least let her touch him this time.
“Oh, you poor thing,” she murmured. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
The prisoner only blinked at her.
She glanced at me. “Does he understand me? Which language do they speak in Far Shore?”
I grinned, highly entertained. “Oh, he understands you just fine.”
“Good.” She turned back to the boy. “Are you okay?”
The kid shook his head slowly before saying, “Who are you?”
“My name’s Nicolette,” she said, smiling widely as if trying to charm him. “I’m the king’s sister, and I’m not going to let him kill you. Okay? I’ll get you out of here. You’ll be just fine. I swear it.”
“Princess,” I growled in a warning voice. “Are you sure you want to tell him all that just yet?”
She hissed a scowl my way. “What do you think he’s going to do? Hurt me?” With a disbelieving snort, she turned back to the boy. “Ridiculous. He would never hurt me.”
I sighed. “He and his buddies just attacked us, kidnapped Anniston, and tried to overtake our kingdom. You have no idea what he’s capable of, what he might do to you if I weren’t standing here right now.”
