Capítulo 19: Go on then. Murder a Karkbhurg
"Do you have a crossbow?" Willy asked.
Theara shook her head. "No."
"Any weapons?"
"Just your sword, a few daggers, and a bunch of kitchen knives," Theara said.
Willy's shoulders sagged. "Go hide. They want me. There's no point in you dying with me."
Raina ran off, her heart thumping like a thousand drums. She stopped when she realized Theara hadn't moved a muscle. "Go!" Willy said.
The woman shook her head stubbornly. "I am not leaving you."
"Theara, I am too weak to stand, let alone swing a sword. This is not a fight I can win," Willy said. "I am going to die today. You don't need to follow me."
"I want to," Theara insisted. She wrapped her arms around Willy and nestled against him. "If you die, I will die with you."
"Theara—"
Theara shut Willy up with a kiss. A hungry and passionate kiss so intense Raina expected their lips to be seared from the collision.
"Don't be so morose," Theara said after she broke the kiss, stroking Willy's hair lovingly. "You have what? Four men out there? They might prevail."
This gave Raina a bit of hope. Then Willy dashed it. "I don't think so," he said. "Markhor is already dead. Or too wounded to fight. The remaining three are outnumbered. They're fighting valiantly but there are at least ten attackers, skilled fighters from the sound of it. My men can't prevail."
"How do you know this?" Raina asked. All she could hear were grunts, shouts of pain, and the clang of weapons. It was an indistinguishable cacophony of sounds. The only thing she knew for certain was that the cacophony was creeping closer.
"I've been a warrior all my life," Willy told her. "I have an ear for such things. An awareness of the flow of a fight is my sixth sense. I also know what my men sound like when they grunt. I train with them all the time."
At that moment, Raina heard a pained grunt and the sound of a sword clattering against wood. This was followed a heartbeat later by a squelch and the clattering of a second sword. "Rolyrn has fallen," Willy said. "Now it's two against nine. You need to hide."
"I'm not going anywhere," Theara insisted. Then she kissed Willy again.
"We can jump out of the windows," Raina suggested.
"They're too small," Willy said. "That door and the staircase beyond are the only way in or out. Unless we can knock down the wall, we're trapped here. You don't happen to have an axe or a hammer, do you?"
Raina shook her head. She moved the drapes and checked the windows anyway. As small as Willy had said. They were more narrow slits than windows. A child could fit through but no one larger. If Raina were a contortionist, she could see herself squeezing through. But not Theara or Willy. Their bodies were too large.
She looked down at the street below. At the people going about their business as if nothing untoward was happening. A band played trumpets and stringed instruments but nobody was listening. Then Raina realized the point of the "music": to drown out any screams coming from the inn.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Willy roared.
Raina flinched but that was enough. A crossbow bolt whistled past her ear and tore into the drape beside her. She touched her face. Her hand came back red. "It's just a graze," Theara told her. "Pray that it isn't poisoned."
That had Raina's entire body trembling. "One against six," Willy announced. "Carlon is down." Raina's trembling intensified.
Then Willy unsheathed Demonslayer. "You should hide," he said, dropping to his knees and turning the tip of the sword on himself.
Theara snatched Demonslayer from his hands. "What are you doing?" she barked.
"I refuse to be killed by cowards," he said.
"So you'll kill yourself?"
Willy held out his hand. "I want to deny them the satisfaction of killing me. It's the only honorable way I can find out of this mess. Give me the sword and go hide."
Theara shook her head. "No."
"Faustyrn is going to fall soon. You can't fight, she can't fight, and I'm no better than a cripple. I couldn't beat a toddler in a swordfight right now. If I die, you might live as long as you hide. If we fight, we all die."
"What makes you think I want to live without you?" Theara asked.
"Theara, now is not the time for this. Give me the sword!"
Theara shook her head. "How many are left?"
"Four. Faustyrn has killed two but he's wounded and weakening by the moment. It's a miracle he's lasted this long."
"Then we try," Theara said stubbornly.
"You can't fight," Willy said. Then he pointed at Raina. "She can't even thrust a sword without falling flat on her face. These men are not amateurs. You can't win against them. If I was healthy, I would take my chances but I can't."
Theara bent down and kissed Willy one last time. "We can surprise them," she said.
"Even then, you would only kill one," Willy said. "Two if you're lucky. Then the others will kill you. You don't need to die. Only me."
"I want to die with you," Theara said. "It's the least I can do for all you've done for me. All the joy you've brought me. I love you, Willarn. I have never told you that before but I do. With all my heart. I may have caused you misery before—"
"Faustryn is down!" Willy hissed and put up three fingers.
Theara dragged Raina behind the door and Raina hastily picked up the knife Theara had threatened her with. A moment later, the door flew open and slammed into Raina's face. She winced at the pain but stayed still. She heard footsteps. Willy was still kneeling on the floor, his head bowed.
Three men walked into the room, covered in blood. "Sirr Waillayn," one said in a thick Reendeni accent. Willy looked up, a cryptic smile on his face.
Raina and Theara were now behind the assassins, shivering. One of the men turned to look behind the door and a screaming Theara charged, burying Demonslayer deep in the man's belly.
A second man loped off Theara's arm but Willy picked up the dead assassin's sword and plunged it into the hand chopper's throat in turn. This all happened in the blink of an eye. Raina was still frozen behind the door, her hands and feet trembling so much she couldn't move.
Theara lay screaming on the floor while Willy struggled with the last assassin. He parried blow after blow. He was slower than Raina remembered but his grim determination kept him going.
"You fight well. For a wounded man," the last assassin said in flawless Rhexi. Then he kicked Willy in the belly, the exact spot of the wound.
Willy stumbled back, screaming as his bandage turned red. "Don't move from there, Lady Raina," the assassin said without turning as he lazily parried another thrust from Willy. "I have orders not to harm you. But I will kill you if you move a muscle." The assassin plunged his sword into Willy's belly, pulled it out, and turned swinging, bringing the tip of his blood-soaked sword to a stop an inch from Raina's throat. "Drop the knife."
Raina felt her fingers unfurl and release the knife. She felt it strike the wooden floor. "Very good," the assassin said. He had yellow hair streaked with black and a scar across his left cheek. "Your new husband is very eager to meet you."
"Who's that?" Raina whispered.
The assassin smiled. "You know who it is. You've always known, cousin."
Raina stared at the man and she knew. It was him.
Across the room, Willy was still alive but fading fast. He crawled towards Theara, who was fading even faster due to blood loss from her severed arm.
The assassin turned to Willy. "I have always admired you, Sir Willarn," he said. "It hurts me deeply that a great warrior like you must die like this. But my brother's orders were very clear. He sends his apologies, by the way. And his congratulations. It's regrettable that you must die so soon after finding yourself a father."
Willy looked up at the man. "You must be very pleased with yourself," he said. "Killing women and half-dead men. How brave."
The assassin shrugged. "I don't really care about your silly Rhexian honor. Dead is dead to me."
Willy crawled the last bit of distance separating him and Theara and cradled her head. She sobbed and he kissed her forehead. Then Theara went still.
A tear trickled down Willy's cheek. He glared at the assassin. "Go on then. Murder a Karkbhurg. I am sure you will live a very long and happy life after this."
The assassin laughed. "Oh! You don't know? You died in a fire. It was a terrible tragedy. The inn caught fire. You and your whore burned to death. Lady Raina was only able to escape with the skin of her teeth. I saved her, you see. Pulled her out in the nick of time but the blaze was too strong. I couldn't come back for you. There are scores of people outside who will see the fire. Every last one of them an unimpeachable witness. I will be a hero." Then the assassin raised his sword.
Willy stuck out his neck. "Cut clean, coward."
The assassin swung and something seized Raina. She didn't know what. It was just a sudden urge to move. So move she did.
She slammed into the assassin and his blow went wide, the sword striking a table. The assassin landed on his side beside Willy and Raina on top of him. The assassin responded with an elbow to Raina's ribs. She felt a rib crack and scrambled back, coughing blood.
Willy pulled Demonslayer out of the man Theara had killed and swung at the assassin but he was too weak. He missed. The man laughed. Raina took the sword from Willy, her side hurting like it had been smashed by a boulder.
Every breath she took made her feel like her insides were being pierced by a thousand needles. But there was no time for that. Raina thrust the sword into the assassin's side with both hands and as much strength as she could muster.
The laughter died on the assassin's lips. He turned and punched Raina hard in the jaw. She saw stars, tasted more blood, and felt a tooth or two floating around her mouth.
In the punch-induced haze, Raina remembered the assassin's name: Sherhor the Sour, Laman's half-Reendeni bastard brother. She had never met him, but she had heard tales.
With her last conscious thought, Raina twisted the sword. She didn't have the presence of mind to pull it out but she was falling anyway. She just held on to the hilt with the little strength she had left and let her weight drag out the sword. She heard her cousin scream like a baby.
Stab, twist, pull, Raina thought with a satisfied smile as her back slammed into the floor. Then she smelled something: smoke.
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