Read Online Mighty Hammer Down by David J Guyton - Free Book Online Page B

armor a good whack before descending the
steps.
    Before he even got to the last step,
something caught his eye. He couldn’t be positive at such a great
distance, so he quickened his pace, careful to stay out of sight.
Ahead of him, at the next row of houses was a woman walking; a
Vindyri woman. She was walking away from him, but he thought he
recognized the gentle, graceful sway of the woman he had met the
day before.
    Both of them slipped between the
people in the streets. She didn’t seem like she was trying to hide,
which seemed odd to him if in fact she was responsible for the
attempt on his father’s life. He lost her around a corner and he
felt cold rush of panic at the thought of her escape. He hurried up
the street and turned the corner himself, caring less about being
seen and more about catching this woman. This was the city’s
busiest street on the west side, with shops and carts lining the
road as it gently curved around the Emperor’s Hall to connect with
other streets than eventually made a giant circle in the center of
the city. A wonderful wall of aromas from the foods in the
marketplace hit him and reminded him of his hunger. The woman was
nowhere in sight.
    Suddenly he saw her, off to the side
behind a cart of fruit near an alleyway. He didn’t waste any more
time. He ran to her area, trying to avoid trampling the innocent
shoppers in the streets. When he finally reached her, he grabbed
her arm and pushed her into the alley.
    "Hey!" she cried as she tried
unsuccessfully to pull away.
    He pulled her farther into the shadows
and spun her abruptly to face him. He must have looked as shocked
as she did, since he wasn’t expecting to see dried blood and
bruises on her face. For a moment he forgot what he was going to
say or do, but he kept her arm firmly in his grip.
    "You," she said, startled.
    He got right to the point. "Are you
the Vindyri that stabbed my father?"
    "Your father?"
    She looked even more shocked, but then
her expression cooled as she paused for a second.
    "Is that what’s going on? Those brutes
chained me and beat me all day. They had other Vindyri there too,
all of them as bruised as I am. They only just now let me go less
than an hour ago. Is this the kind of treatment I can expect
anywhere in Medora?" she said as she jerked her arm from his grasp
and ran her hand through her hair.
    "Well, no, it’s just…"
    "What right do you have to do this to
innocent people? And women no less!" she said as she crossed her
arms and stood tall.
    "Well, see, someone tried to kill my
father, and he described her as an attractive woman with blonde
hair, so we assumed, since no one…"
    "I can gather what your reasons are,"
she interrupted again.
    He stood staring into this woman’s
eyes. Her beauty held him in some kind of spell, making it hard to
think straight. He was sure that they would not have let her go if
she was indeed the guilty Vindyri, so he decided to believe her.
Forgetting what he was going to say next, he sputtered out the only
thing that came to his mind.
    "What was your name again?"
    "Alana." She caught herself before she
said her last name. "And you are? You never told me your
name."
    "I am Rommus Tirinius. I’m sorry that
they hurt you. That sort of thing never happens here, but the
General of the army doesn’t meet an assassin every day either. On
behalf of all Medorans, I apologize."
    He felt silly phrasing it that way,
clumsily stumbling over the words, but it was too late to take
back. He stood there like a fool, desperately hoping she would say
something so that he wouldn’t have to.
    Finally, a smile came to her face. "So
you’d call me an attractive woman with blonde hair,
huh?"
    That wasn’t exactly the line he hoped
she would throw him. "Well, yes I’d say you were…"
    "Do you think you could find me a
tall, handsome man to protect me until I can get out of Brinn?" she
asked as she stepped in closer to him.
    He stammered a moment as he tried to
tell her that he