Page 68 of The Shadows Between Us
Kallias cleaves the water in wide strokes as he draws closer to shore, toward the figure hovering over our picnic, staring down at its contents. I think it’s a man, but it’s difficult to tell with the attire he wears. A cloak hides much of his figure. A hood conceals his face.
“Halt!” Kallias shouts, his torso coming out of the water while the rest of him remains submerged. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The man turns, his hood falling away. Not that it reveals anything. A brown cloth covers his face from the nose up, only two slits allowing his eyes to see through.
“So much food for only two people,” the man says, his voice unusually deep, as though he’s trying to mask its true timbre. “Surely you’ve had your fill, and the poor grow hungrier by the minute. I will see that your leftovers are distributed to those who need it most.”
It’s him. The masked bandit who accosted the nobles.
The man in the brown mask gathers the blanket by the corners, sweeping all the food to the center. He places the entire bulge back into the discarded basket.
“That is the property of the king!” Kallias shouts back at him. “You will unhand it immediately.”
“It’s the king who demands too high of taxes so he can maintain troops in all the lands he’s conquered. While you start new wars inharmless kingdoms, your own people suffer. It’s time you took care of those who need your protection the most.”
Without another word, the bandit leaps onto the back of a waiting horse and starts galloping for the nearest hill.
Kallias turns back to me. “Get dressed. Quickly.” He races the rest of the way out of the water, yelling for his guards. I realize I’m staring once he reaches down to grab his pants, jumping into them seamlessly.
“Hurry!” he shouts to me again, then rushes back for the carriage.
Needing no further prompting, I swim for the shore, wringing out my hair, trying to shake the droplets of water from my skin. My clothes don’t go on easily. Everything is tight, unwilling to slide over wet skin. After much struggling, I finally get myself covered up and race after Kallias.
CHAPTER
16
“How the hell did he get past you?” Kallias shouts at some ten men surrounding the carriage. Our driver has returned, carrying a bouquet of wildflowers he likely meant to take home to a sweetheart. But Kallias pays him no mind. “You are paid for one job. To protect your king. And you failed. How? What the devils were you all doing?”
Half of the men turn toward me.
“We were unprepared for the… um… distraction,” one of the men says.
“Am I to understand you failed to protect me because you weren’t paying the lady the respect she deserves?”
“You can hardly blame us, sire. She wasnaked.”
Kallias steps forward, draws his sword, and puts it through the one who spoke. The man looks down at the rapier stuck in his gut, eyes wide. He falls as Kallias draws his sword back out.
I’m reminded of Hektor and the last breaths he took. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen death.
Until now.
The rest of the guards step back, likely worried that they’ll be next.
“Anyone else wish to offer up excuses?” Kallias asks in a quiet voice.
No one says a word.
“You.” Kallias points to one of the guards. “Ride ahead and gather my council. We meet as soon as I return.”
DURING THE RETURN CARRIAGE RIDE,Kallias has the back of his hand pressed to his lips as he thinks. He stares off into some corner. Not avoiding me, just lost in his own thoughts.
“Forgive me,” he says, suddenly looking up. “You should not have seen that. I shouldn’t have—in front of a lady—What must you think of me now?”
I’ve been perfectly calm the entire time. I didn’t feel as though I were in danger when the bandit attacked. Not from the safety of the water. And I find Kallias’s question perplexing.
“I believe you now,” I say. “You do know how to use that sword.”
