City in the Sky Read Free Page B

had in. Almost as soon as he'd fired up the forge, however, the shop bell rang. Taken by a sudden suspicion, he glanced over to the apprentice who stood by the bellows.
    “Can you cool the forge down, Jona?” he asked. “I think I need to meet a customer.
    The boy nodded and Erik clasped his shoulder as he turned away. Throwing a cloak on to cover the heavy leather apron he was wearing, he hurried across the courtyard of the house to the shop.
    He met his grandfather at the door to the shop.
    “I was just coming to get you,” the older smith said. “Rade is here.”
    “I'd guessed,” Erik replied. “His order is in the rack.”
    “Be careful,” Byron advised with a slow nod.
    “I will,” Erik promised. “Now go check on Jona, he's watching the forge on his own. I'll be fine.”
    The older smith hurried across the courtyard and Erik ducked into the store. Rade was waiting, dressed in the same dark maroon as before. Erik met his eyes, and the Draconan quickly jerked his gaze away.
    “Is my order finished?” he asked.
    Erik had finished the order less than an hour ago, and he sincerely doubted the Draconan had turned up this quickly by accident. He knew Erik had the order finished, and wondering how sent a shiver down the smith's back.
    “Yes, it is,” Erik replied. He reached under the counter and removed the cloth-wrapped package containing the weapons and slid it across the counter to the Draconan.
    Rade unwrapped the packaging and laid the weapons, each in a leather sheath made by a leatherworker Byron contracted with, out in a quick order. He drew each weapon in turn, starting with the smallsword and poniards, and examined them.
    “This is fine work, Mr. Tarverro,” he complimented. “I've rarely seen better. I believe we agreed on twenty marks on completion?”
    “Indeed we did,” Erik said with a hidden sign of relief. He hadn't been too worried, but he guessed some of Byron's fears had rubbed off on him.
    Rade drew a bag of gold from inside his doublet and reached across to drop it on the counter. Erik looked down to examine it, and realized that one of the stiletto sheaths was empty.
    Almost as he realized it, Rade released the moneybag and lunged across the counter, the glint of metal barely visible in his hand. The knife punched through the cloak Erik had wrapped around himself and into the leather apron he hadn't bothered to take off.
    The blade wasn't quite long enough to go deep through the leather, and it scored along his ribs as Erik hissed in pain and knocked the man's hand away. He kicked out as he did, and sent the Draconan stumbling backwards.
    Rade regained his balance quickly, and had somehow grabbed the smallsword off the counter. With a swift gesture, he drew the weapon and slid into a point-forward combat stance, lunging towards Erik.
    Erik dove out of the way, slamming his left shoulder hard into the wall and knocking the half-dozen sample swords off of their holders. They crashed down around him, and he grabbed the nearest weapon, a cavalry saber, before rolling back up onto his feet to face the assassin, who was circling back in for another attack.
    The heavy saber was not the best weapon to face the lethal swiftness of the point-oriented smallsword, but it was what Erik had. He parried Rade's first lunge, and found himself parrying three more attacks in quick succession.
    The Draconan was fast , and Erik was backed up against a wall. He lunged forward with the saber, trying to buy himself some space, but the assassin only deflected it. The parry turned into a riposte that Erik only barely managed to knock aside with his wrist. Metal scored along his face, but the smallsword had no edge and it was little more than a scratch.
    What little space Erik had gained was quickly lost as the assassin pressed in, forcing him to step back to block the attacks. He parried four times, and then lashed out with his foot. He caught Rade in the shin, knocking the Draconan off-balance. He slashed