one who screwed up and let you get captured.”
“I’m so weak,” she sobbed. “I should have been strong, like you or
Cerise, but I just gave up. I was ready to do anything if he’d just stop beating
me.”
I soothed away her pain in a wash of magic, and held her close.
“Shhh, it’s alright, Avilla. It’s ok. You thought I was dead, and
everything was hopeless. Didn’t you?”
She nodded, her face buried against my chest.
“Where were you? I thought… did I do something…?”
She sounded so lost.
“One of this asshole’s men stabbed me in the back and left me under a
burning troll.”
“What?!” She pulled away, suddenly furious. “They betrayed you?”
I nodded. “Some knight who was a relative of that tax farmer. I don’t
know if the Baron put him up to it or not, and right now I don’t really care.”
There was a muffled thump at the doorway, and the stone shook
slightly. Avilla glanced at it, and back to me.
“You’re really not mad at me?” She asked meekly.
I shook my head. “Of course not. I’ll never abandon you, Avilla.
You’re safe with me.”
“Hah!” Baron Stein barked. “Uppity book-sniffer. The might of the
gods is more than your unnatural magic can match. We’ll see how high and
mighty you are when Holger sends your other bitch to kill you.”
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“Will we, now?”
I plucked the dagger from his belt and pulled it across the room to slap
into my palm. Then I handed it to Avilla.
“Here’s your chance at payback, if you want it.”
A louder thump shook my improvised barricade. They’d found
something solid to use as a battering ram.
“But you’d better hurry,” I went on.
Avilla looked down at the dagger in her hand, and up at the Baron. For
a moment she hesitated, and I thought she was going to pass. But then her eyes
went dark, and her grip tightened.
“Beat me, will you? You think you can steal me and break me and
make me yours? I don’t belong to you, you bastard.”
She stepped close, and ran the blade along his cheek.
“My love binds demons and eats their hearts, Baron. You’re lucky she
isn’t here, or she’d sacrifice you to one. All I can do is this.”
She brought the knife down his other cheek, leaving another shallow
cut.
“Oh, and I’m not some stupid assassin golem. The most powerful
hearth witch in the north created me, and she wanted me to seduce a prince.
She made me soft and sweet and beautiful, so I could win his heart and bind it
with true love. Then she was going to take over my body, and enjoy an endless
life of luxury.”
She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “All you had to do was make me
think Daniel was dead, and treat me decently. I was made to fall in love. But
instead you tried to beat me into submission.”
She lowered the knife, and stabbed him in the belly. He grunted.
“Gut wounds are nasty, aren’t they?” She said conversationally.
“Sometimes they’re clean, but sometimes they fester. Especially when a hearth
witch wants them too. Nasty things gather, burrow and breed. So mote it be.”
She stepped back and smiled at him. “There now. You could take
weeks to die, but it’ll get you in the end. Should I leave him like this, Daniel?”
193
“Wait!” Stein gasped. “I… I can pay you! Thirty crowns, and weapons
for your men.”
I rolled my eyes. “Never leave an enemy alive. That one’s on the Evil
Overlord list.”
“You keep a list, Daniel?” She turned back to her victim with gleaming
eyes. “That’s my man. That’s who I belong to. Not some ignorant noble who
thinks he can steal me away with treachery and pain.”
“Forty crowns!” He pleaded. “Please! You won’t get far without
money.”
She stabbed him again, lower this time. He groaned, and struggled
uselessly against his bonds.
“Keep your money, pig. You’ll never touch me again.”
The knife fell again, this time into his thigh. A red stain began to spread
rapidly down his leg. She stepped back.
“I just wish I had more time to pay you back. But this will have to do.”
She plunged the dagger into his eye. He screamed, thrashing and
twitching for a long moment, and then went still.
A crack appeared in my barricade, but I repaired it with a wave of my
hand. I dissolved the stone manacles, letting the Baron’s body fall to the floor,
and hugged Avilla from behind.
“Better?”
She sagged against me. “I think so. Can we go now?”
“Sure. One last thing.”
I pulled out a heavy chest of iron-bound wood I’d noticed in the corner,
and cut the lock off with my new weapon. Avilla huddled behind me and stared
at it.
“What is that thing?” She asked. “I’ve never seen such a powerful
weapon.”
“I haven’t decided what to call it yet,” I told her. “I just finished
making it an hour ago.”
194
“An implement like that deserves a proper name. Storm-Biter?
Thunder-tooth? No, those are too fancy. He wants something simple and brutal.
Grinder. That’s it.”
I chuckled. “Grinder, huh? Sounds about right. Oh, good.”
Sure enough, the chest was full of little bags of money. I grabbed a
sheet from the bed to make an improvised sack, and dumped it all in. Then I
handed it to Avilla.
“Here, you keep track of that.”
“Alright,” she agreed. “Um, I don’t suppose you brought me clothes?”
“Nope. Couldn’t get my hands on a backpack in time, and the way I got
in I didn’t have a free hand to carry anything. Hold still.”
I pulled the blanket off the bed, and wrapped it around her. Then I
swept her up in a bridal carry.
“There. Milady witch need not walk to her wardrobe, for I shall
gallantly carry her to safety.”
Avilla blushed prettily.
“Why thank you, my noble lord. Please, let us away.”
“At once, milady.”
I gathered a burst of magic, and blew out the side of the tower.
The hole was only seven or eight feet across, but the stone and timber
around us groaned ominously. Before anything could decide to collapse I
stepped to the opening and leaped out into empty space.
Avilla shrieked and buried her face against me. But I’d reworked my
amulet’s force shield to handle falls more intelligently, and it cushioned our
impact easily before shrinking back to let my feet touch the pavement. A
moment later I was off and running.
Sure enough, several arrows landed around us as I crossed the plaza.
One even hit, smacking into my shield with far more force than the little goblin
arrows I was used to dealing with. But one arrow was nowhere near enough to
penetrate, and in moments I was out of the plaza and pelting down a dark
street.
195
“That was terrifying,” Avilla complained.
“I’ve got you, sweetie,” I reassured her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to
let anything happen to you.”
She rested her cheek against my shoulder. “I know. I’m just not good
with heights. But thank you for the rescue.”
She was silent for a moment, watching as I bounded down the street. I
was pushing myself with force magic, turning every step into a six-foot leap.
The snow was coming down harder now, and I couldn’t afford to get snowed
in somewhere.
“Where’s Cerise?” She asked quietly.