The only difference between mother and daughter was skin color. The dark chestnut associated with Lasha’s people, mixed with my pale skin gave Myra a coppery hue.
Myra and I stared uncomfortably at each other as Zadok yammered on. I saw she could also stand to gain a few pounds to her wiry frame. Myra shook her head, turned to Zadok, and shushed him. “That’s enough.”
The boy stopped.
Myra’s eyes narrowed in a way that Lasha’s never had. I knew where she had inherited that look from. It had worked wonders for me in the army.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” she said. Her tone was flat and even, not shaky in the least.
“So, I’ve heard. The letter you got was wrong.”
“Obviously.”
This wasn’t going as I hoped.
“I know this is a big surprise, but I’ve been discharged. I’ll explain everything later. Right now, I just want to take you and Zadok home.”
“We don’t have a home anymore,” she snapped.
“We can find a new one.”
She pulled Zadok to her. “Zadok and I already found a new home. What makes you think we want to leave with you?”
“Because I told him we do,” said Zadok. “Why are you acting like this? You hate it here more than I do, especially with Jareb-”
“Zadok,” she hissed. The boy clamped his mouth down.
I frowned. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” she snapped.
“All right. Look, I know you’ve both been through a lot. Zadok’s told me only some of it. I can never make that pain go away. And I can never make up those years I was gone. But, I still want to try anyway.” I held out my hand. “Please, let me try.”
Her face softened, but not completely. She stared at my hand and I could see her struggling with what to do-slap it away or take it.
Gods, they had been through so much.
“What’s taking so long, Myra? I asked you to get the door some time ago,” said a voice I recognized.
Jareb stepped into view. Other than a poor attempt at a mustache, he hadn’t changed much in my time away. Brown hair, green eyes, defined jaw.
He recognized me immediately, the surprise hindering his ability to speak for only a moment. He cleared his throat, stepped out of the doorway, pushing himself in front of Myra and Zadok.
“Tyrus? By the gods, I thought you were dead,” he said. He looked over my shoulder, a bit nervous. “Ava with you?”
I held back a smile. A decade later and he still hadn’t forgotten that thrashing. “No. She’s in Hol studying with Turine’s High Mages.”
Jareb relaxed. His eyes went down to my boots then rose until they met mine. “You look like hell.”
“I feel like it.” I nodded at his clothes-clean and wrinkle-free. You would have thought a tailor had made them that day. “I see you’re doing well for yourself.”
A thin smile tugged at his face. “I certainly try to make it seem so. People have a way of not showing you the respect you desire if you don’t look like you deserve it.” He paused, looking down at the children who hadn’t said a word since he’d shown up. “I’d ask what brings you here, but I guess that’s rather obvious. They are doing well as you can see. Clothed and well-fed.”
I wanted to refute that claim based on Zadok’s appearance and my own assumptions from Myra’s weight, but honestly, I didn’t have the time or inclination to argue. I just wanted to get my children and leave.
“I’m ready to take them home. Now that I’m back, there’s no need for them to work for you. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the chance you gave them,” I said, doing my best to keep the peace.
Jareb clicked his tongue. “They have contracts with me.”
I reached for my money pouch. “I know. I’ll buy them out. Zadok told me the amounts.”
“The buyout in their contract isn’t an option for another five years.”
My voice went low. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I can’t just let them leave at that price. It would set a bad precedent. If I allow this for Myra and Zadok, who’s to say one of my other servants might not try the same thing.”
“What is it going to take for me to buy out their contracts, Jareb?”
He appeared thoughtful, then sighed. “The best I can do is give you Zadok for double his buyout amount. But Myra will need to stay. She’s too important for me to part with.”
My jaw clenched. “Are you crazy? You want me to pay twice the amount of Zadok’s buyout and then leave Myra here?” I opened my money pouch, counted out the amount of their original buyouts, added ten percent, and shoved it into his hand. “This is more than fair.” I held my hand out to Myra and Zadok. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“No!” Jareb snapped. “Myra stay where you are.”
Neither she nor Zadok moved. Both looked confused.
“I’m not leaving here without both of my children.”
“Kush. Amalek.” Jareb called over his shoulder.
I cursed inwardly recalling the names of Jareb’s childhood friends.
The two men stepped out of the house where they had obviously been hiding on the other side of the entranceway. In the last ten years, they had put on quite a bit of size. Some fat. Some muscle. Either way, they occupied a lot of space. Swords hung at their waists.
At our last run-in, they had both held me down while Jareb worked me over. That was when Ava’s powers first manifested. Both Kush and Amalek still bore the faint scars on their arms and neck from my little sister’s wrath.
I fought off a snicker.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Tyrus. Your sister isn’t here to watch over you this time.”
Was that supposed to scare me? I was pretty good fighter before I joined the army. I more than knew what I was doing now. I had faced both people and things scarier than the three of them. The three of them put together didn’t elicit the response the sight a single D’engiti brought.
“A good thing she isn’t,” I said. “Her temper has only gotten worse over the years. You’d probably be dead if she was here watching you prevent me from taking her niece and nephew away.”
“Take your son and leave.”
“Why is it so important that Myra stays?”
Jareb eyed each of his friends who had moved up beside him, hands on the hilts of their swords. A dumb move since there now wasn’t space to easily draw the weapons. The thin smile from Jareb grew wider.
“Well, it’s because she reminds me so much of her mother. I still think about Lasha, you know. Best piece of tail the Soiled Dove had. But I’m sure you know that already. Gods, I never saw a whore who enjoyed what she did as much as her.” He chuckled, gesturing to Myra. “I’m hoping what they say about the apple not falling far from the tree holds true.”
My right fist came up so fast, it snapped Jareb’s head back, mid-laugh. He fell backward into the open doorway.
Both Kush and Amalek started to draw their swords, each realizing too late that quarters were too close. Kush stepped back to make more room, so I turned my attention to Amalek while throwing Myra and Zadok back with a sweep of my arm. My heel slammed into Amalek’s instep. I followed it with a kick to the inside of his knee. He tumbled forward in a screeching heap.
Kush had managed to get his sword loose and swung it wildly at my head. I ducked under the sweeping blade. It thudded into the side of the house. I stepped into him and pushed his still extended arm against his body, pinning it before he had a chance to recover. Both hands locked on his shoulders and I yanked him down as my knee came up. He expelled a gust of air and dropped the sword. My elbow connected with his nose. Blood sprayed as he fell. He rolled into a ball on the porch.
I turned around quickly as Amalek tried to stand. A boot to the head knocked him out cold.
I walked over to Jareb and looked down at his splayed form. That pretty face looked a mess. Blood oozed from nose and busted lips. The defined jaw crooked. His unconscious body lying in a heap only upset me more. I had wanted him to get up if only to knock him down again. Doing anything more to him while he was out just didn’t sit well with me.