Emriana nearly gagged when she realized what she was lying in, and she recoiled as quickly as she could, holding her breath in disgust. In the darkness, she could not see the rivulets of filth flowing toward the grated sewer covers, but she had a pretty good idea what most of it was from the stench. Though the smell nearly overpowered her, the girl had to ignore the nasty stuff covering her front, for it became clear that she was not alone in the alley.
"Evenin', love," came a male voice from the near-darkness, off to her right. "'Tis a shame for a comely wench such as yourself to be out alone, don't you think?" the man said. Emriana could just make out his silhouette in the light spilling from the doorway beyond. It was the short, gaunt fellow with the greasy hair.
"Aye, and I'll bet she's wishing for a handsome rogue such as yerself to link arms with," came a second voice, that one female. She stood behind the wiry fellow, and Emriana could see it was the ponderous woman she had been watching inside earlier. "Maybe we can show her how much more fun she'll have, spendin' the evenin' with us, eh?" the fat hussy added, chuckling unpleasantly.
"Get away from me," Emriana said warily, backing away from the pair while trying to fling the worst of the filth from her hands. "I don't need any company."
"But of course you do!" came a third deep voice from the other direction, behind Emriana, cutting her off from her intended escape route down the alley. "Leastways, you've got it whether you want it or not," the man continued, sounding less friendly.
"You know what to do," came a fourth voice, from above, floating down from the roof. "You've got your gold. Take care of her."
Emriana glanced up and saw her quarry, though she was no longer cloaked and hooded. The girl could see by then that it was the short-haired woman she had spotted before, staring at her inside the rathrur. The stranger was standing at the edge of the roof and peering down, a cloak folded over her arm. Then she was gone, leaving the girl with her three unfriendly companions.
Fool! The girl chastised herself, realizing she had blundered right into the trap despite her vigilance. Idiot!
As the two men began to close in on either side of her, Emriana spun and planted her back to the wall, feeling for one of her new daggers, which she had tucked into her belt. She wondered if it was enough to deter unwelcome advances, as her aunt's had been at the bar before. She doubted it, and she hoped her aim would be as good as it had been against the dire-jaguars.
"Now, little monkey-child," the first man said, only a couple of steps away from Emriana, "come along and play real nice, and maybe we won't stick you like a pig for roasting." He was hardly much larger than the girl herself, and he crouched warily on the balls of his feet as he approached.
"I don't think so," Emriana said, just as the man lunged at her. She slashed at the outstretched hand coming toward her, able to follow it by the glint of a ring shining in the dim light of the distant doorway. Her assailant must have guessed at her intentions, for he snatched his hand back at the last moment, and the girl's dagger sliced through nothing but air.
The bear of a man timed his attack well, though, for at that moment, his very large, muscular arm snaked around Emriana's neck from behind, locking her head firmly in the crook of his elbow. At the same time, she felt his thick, meaty fingers enclose her wrist, clamping down and preventing her from swinging her dagger about again. His grip might as well have been a steel manacle, for she couldn't free her arm at all.
Emriana screamed, and when the skinny man came at her again, she kicked with both feet straight out, snapping her toes at his face. But he was too quick and darted to one side, wrapping his arms around both of her legs in the process. She jerked and bucked like a wild thing, but she could get no real leverage, for she was held completely off the ground. The skinny man worked his way up to her knees, trying to get a better hold of her as she thrashed. At the same time, the larger man behind her twisted her wrist around at an awkward angle, sending stabbing pains up her arm and forcing her to drop the dagger.
"Come on," he said, his breath hot in Emriana's ear, and the two men holding the girl began to move down the alley, away from the doorway leading into The Silver Fish. "Let's find a quiet spot where we can play."
"She stinks!" the smaller man growled. "What's she been rolling around in?"
Emriana wanted to scream again, but without her feet under her for support, much of her weight had settled on her neck, which was still trapped in the arm lock of the assailant behind her. She flailed desperately with her free hand trying to pull that massive arm away from her throat, but it was a useless gesture. She was gasping for breath as they toted her deeper into the alley. Behind the skinny man, Emriana could still see the capacious woman following, laughing.
As spots began to swim in her vision, Emriana thought frantically of the warning Xaphira had given her, about bodies turning up outside the rathrur every morning. Practically paralyzed with panic, Emriana began blindly punching at the man carrying her upper body, slamming her small fist up over her own head at where she guessed his face might be. She felt her pummeling connect with his nose and she struck again, terror lending her strength.
"Ow! You little brat, stop that!" the man howled, nearly dropping Emriana as he turned his face away from her blows. The distraction also loosened his hold on her neck, and the girl gulped a huge breath of precious air.
Just as quickly, though, he had a hold of her again, and he switched hands, shifting his grip so that his arm slid beneath both of Emriana's, between them and her back. With his free hand he took a firm grip on the girl's hair, yanking her head back to face him from upside down.
"You stop squirming," he said, viciously tugging her hair, "or I'll let Lak here slit your throat and be done with you."
Emriana froze, her eyes tearing up from the pain of having her hair pulled. Her hands fluttered uselessly behind her back, unable to prevent the horrid thug from hurting her. Then her hand bumped against a strategic point between the man's legs. Emriana clamped her hand around the telltale bulge and squeezed as hard as she could.
The man's scream was perhaps the loudest thing Emriana had ever heard. It blasted her ears and echoed all around her, bouncing off the high walls of the narrow alley. More important, he sank down to his knees, releasing the girl's hair and arms and bringing both his hands down in a desperate, frantic attempt to pry her painful grip off of himself.
Emriana landed awkwardly on her arms but quick as a cat, she was trying to roll over, twisting herself onto her belly while still maintaining a stout grip on her assailant. At the same time, she jerked one leg free from Lak and kicked, slamming the heel of her boot into his gut.
The skinny man staggered back, releasing her legs, while the larger man, his hands still prying futilely at her clenched fingers, doubled over, still howling in misery. Behind Lak, Emriana heard the woman swear. Emriana released her grip and scrambled to her feet. She was just about to dodge past the larger man, who was still crumpled in the dirt of the alley, whimpering, when something struck her hard from behind, right on the back of her head.