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eyes.
"My lord," he said casually, "the next time you require a mystery, send a
lighter hand on the hunt, for
Ragnor has broken the one he's brought."
"More than I would have wished," D'Arbois agreed, though without any regret in
his tone. "I trust you will be able to put her back together, and when she is
of apiece, return her that we may together plumb her secrets."
Dain refrained from reminding his lord that when the occasion or the need
arose, he would prefer to plumb female secrets alone. The possibility of all
manner of mesalliance involving at least himself and
D'Arbois had already been much hinted at by the baron and refused by himself,
though never openly discussed. D'Arbois's single strength was his ability to
keep from being directly rejected. Still, Dain would have preferred not to
physick the chit. Maids screamed when he stitched. They cried for all manner
of reasons. Sometimes they pleaded, but never for the right things.
"If it pleases my lord." Dain stepped toward the hearth, because he really
didn't have a choice, and was rewarded with a warning howl of outrage from the
red giant. On another, the theatrics would have seemed overplayed. With
Ragnor, such was to be expected. They were at check and Dain realized that the
true sport of the evening had just begun. He had been summoned to perform a
part in a nasty tableau; that of being the one to take the jewellike beauty
from the raging beast. No one else, not even
D'Arbois, had dared. With good reason.
All around him, Dain heard trestles being pushed back or taken down to make
room for the combatants.
The hunting dogs and mongrels moved with the tables, careful to avoid drawing
Elixir's attention. Dain, himself, was more wary of Numa. Being female, she
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was the less predictable of the two, as she'd so aptly proven with her
response to the girl.
Servants scurried through the hall like silent wraiths, eager to empty the
tables and refill the cups, making all ready for the rare entertainment to
come. Dain hoped not to disappoint, though he'd thought he'd done his night's
work by freezing Noll to the Druid Door.
Fresh pitch was added to the cressets. Torches were set out in iron stands to
ring the hearth, enclosing the section of wall where the girl hung from her
chains and Ragnor's fist. Dain entered the blazing circle alone, leaving the
hounds behind with a quiet command. The odds were already in his favor,
assuming the maid was on his side. He looked at her, a pale outline against
the soot-covered wall, and saw her blanch.
He could be assuming too much.
Numa whined behind him, so like a woman, but to have his bitch tear out the
knight's throat wouldn't leave much room for his own personal glory and he was
more than a trainer of hounds, much more.
A low hum snaked around the perimeter of the great hall, as wagering took
place with lightning speed.
Ragnor was near seventeen stone in weight, but Dain had no intention of
letting the exhibition disintegrate into a physical ordeal, not when the
knight's mind was as weak as his arm was strong, and not for a mere maid.
Finesse and timing were the keys, and an invocation to turn Ragnor's guts into
a churning, knotted mass of fear.
A smile flitted across his mouth. He knew just the thing.
He moved forward with slow, measured steps, giving Ragnor enough time to
contemplate his immediate future and all of eternity should he be defeated by
Wydehaw's mage, but not enough time to steal the
opening gambit. At five paces away, he palmed a bit of miscellanea out of a
pocket in his cloak. A quick glance proved it to be a black stone. He slipped
it back and tried again. Draconite had its purposes, but felling giants wasn't
one of them.
A chunk of petrified snake's tongue came next, but he always needed more
snake's tongue than he had.
Pieces of mermaid's purse, wren's teeth& he found naught he could use until
the end, and a costly trick it would be besting Ragnor if the green bauble was
broken or lost in the bargain.
Just out of striking distance, Dain stopped. His nose twitched in distaste;
the knight stank more than would seem humanly possible. He turned his
attention to the girl and let his gaze drift over her, noting the depth of her
head wound, the glazed look in her eyes, and the circle of bloody marks on her
shoulder.
The last gave him pause. A flame of anger sparked to life in his breast,
irritating him no small measure.
The knight didn't smell human because he wasn't, but 'twas none of Dain's
concern. The urchin's fate was incidental, as nothing. He looked again at the
ragged bite, and much to his disgust his anger flamed high enough to singe his
reason.
"There are better ways to eat a maid, Ragnor," he chided, shifting his gaze to
the knight. He took a step closer and bowed his head to whisper for Ragnor's
hearing alone. "Shall I have D'Arbois chain thee to a wall in my tower so that
I may teach you the tender placement of teeth and the gentler uses of thy two
tongues?"
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