His Conquering Sword Read Free Page B

laugh but rather embraced him, had set its mark so fast and deep upon his spirit that it had branded him forever.
    “Not even your father?”
    “My father rode out a lot in those days. He was a Singer. The gods called him at strange times, on strange journeys.”
    “Your sister?”
    “Natalia’s first husband had just been killed in a feud with the Boradin tribe, while she was still pregnant with her first child.”
    “Was that Nadine?”
    “Yes. Oh, Natalia was fond enough of me, and kind to me, considering what an embarrassment I must have been to her, but she was busy and preoccupied. Riders were already beginning to come round, to see what they could see of her, to ask if she was ready to marry again.”
    “But, Ilya, women have no choice in marriage.”
    He tilted his head to look directly at her. His lips quirked up. “Nor should they,” he said, and grinned. Then he yelped, because she pinched him.
    “That for you, and don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for taking me down the avenue without me knowing what it meant, either.”
    “Perhaps it was rash—”
    “Perhaps!”
    “But, by the gods, I’d do it again. Tess.” He pressed her against him, as close as he might, and kissed her long and searchingly.
    There came a cough. There stood Vasil, framed in the entrance by curtain and striped wall. “If you will talk about me, then I wish you’d do so in a language I can understand. And, Ilya, my love, I don’t know how you can expect me to leave here unseen if you post guards at the entrance to your tent.”
    Ilya swore.
    “Wait,” said Tess in khush. “Ilya, it’s true he can’t get out by the front entrance without being seen. They all saw you come in here. You’ll have to go out front and distract them with something, and he can sneak out the back.”
    “You have a back entrance?” Vasil asked, looking interested.
    “Go on,” said Tess, forestalling what Ilya was about to say, which she guessed would be ill-considered and rude. Vasil stared at him as he dressed, but he dressed quickly and pushed past the other man without the slightest sign of the affection he had shown earlier. A moment later, Tess heard voices outside, engaged in some kind of lively conversation. “Here,” she said, standing up with a blanket pulled around her. She went to the back wall of the tent and twitched the woven inner wall aside to reveal the felt outer wall. Here, low along the ground, the felt wall overlapped itself and, drawing the extra layer aside, Tess revealed a gap in the fabric just large enough to crawl through. She knelt and peered out.
    Vasil laid a hand on her bare shoulder. His fingers caressed the line of her neck. “Here, I’ll look. I’ve done this before.”
    Tess made a noise in her throat and stood up, and away. “I have no doubt of it.”
    He hesitated, and bent to kiss her. Then he knelt and swayed forward. Paused, surveying his ground. A moment later he slid outside. Tess knelt and looked out after him, but he had already vanished into the gloom. She twitched the fabric back, let the inner wall fall into place, and called for Ilya. After a little bit, he came back in, swearing under his breath.
    “Well, you can hardly blame him,” she began.
    “I can do what I like,” he said peevishly. “He’s so damned charming that it’s easy to forget how much trouble he causes.”
    “I think I’d better sew that back entrance shut.”
    He cocked his head at her. “Probably.” He stripped and snuggled in beside her. And sighed. “It was a stupid thing to do.”
    “What? Letting him get out of here unseen?”
    “No.” By the constraint in his voice, she could tell he was embarrassed. “What—we did—tonight.”
    “No, it was the right thing to do. It never does any good to run away from what you’re afraid of. I should know. I’ve done it often enough.”
    “What was I afraid of?”
    “I don’t know. But I don’t think you’re afraid of Vasil anymore.”
    His face rested