Betrayal's Price (In Deception's Shadow Book 1) by Lisa Blackwood Page A

Captain. Be glad of your ignorance.”
    “Ash, don’t do
this. Let one of my men...”
    Sorntar added
another layer to his shielding, blocking all outside sound. Much better.
    The woman
hesitated for a split second, her trembling fingers poised to grasp the burning
sword. With a sigh, she squared her shoulders and closed her fingers around the
hilt. Her bravery impressed him. Not many humans would touch a magic talisman,
especially not while it burned. She rolled the sword around, her wrist flexing
as she tested the sword’s balance. It cut through the air with a wavering hiss,
blue flames danced along its heated length. Adjusting her single-handed grip to
a two-handed one, she ran through a quick warm up, before she inclined her head
in his direction.
    She had to be responsible
for the Gate incident, but why had she attacked? Still, this new revelation
explained why Marsolwyn and his sisters had come. A human with a Larnkin needed
investigating.
    For the first
time since he had heard of their capture, the tight knot of unease in his
middle began to uncoil. This human, strangely, calmed him in some unnamed way.
Now, if he could only get through the coming fight without theatrics from his Larnkin.
He stepped off the warm stone and traversed the broken ground.
    “I am Sorntar,
Crown Prince of the Phoenix. You honor me by answering my challenge. Might I
ask the name of the one brave enough to do so?” He stopped a bare pace in front
of her and was pleased to see she held her ground without flinching or cowering
back from the heat cast by his fiery wings.
    “Ashayna
Stonemantle, scout in the Emperor’s Army. I will do anything to save my father’s
life.” Her voice was pitched low and smooth. She gave him an elegant bow, which
seemed at odds with her leathers, light armor, and weapons.
    “Father? I
think there’s an interesting story here.”
    “Perhaps after
the duel?” Eyebrow raised, she saluted him with her sword. “And are there any
rules I should be aware of?”
    “No killing.
First to bleed loses. Pretty much anything else goes.” He eased back two steps
and arched his wings out behind him. Blue fire hissed and flared as he moved.
The way her eyes widened as she tracked his wings wasn’t lost on him. It wasn’t
fear he saw, though. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one with questions and a large
dose of curiosity. His earlier rage diminished another small notch; still
there, but at least he could think about something other than ripping into
humans with his talons.
    Ashayna studied
his wings a moment more, and then relaxed her arms, extending them out before
her with the sword’s tip nearly touching the ground.
    Clearly, her
opening was a deception. A brief hint of humor curled in his chest, a smile
ghosting across his lips for a moment. More than willing to be lured into her
trap, Sorntar lunged. Her blade snapped up into position, meeting his and
deflecting the point.
    Quicker than he
thought a human could move, Ashayna cut upward at his crest. A bare heartbeat
ahead of her stroke, he whipped his blade up into a defensive position. Moments
flashed by, but her blow never landed. Instead she feinted and reversed her
swing. She swiped at his legs. Sorntar leapt clear of her strike—barely.
Surprised and off balance, he stumbled backward. Ashayna followed him, her
sword’s point uncomfortably close. She crowded him, her nearness preventing him
from using his longer reach and greater strength to full advantage.
    Swift, sharp
strikes continued to meet his blade. While each impact didn’t have a devastating
force behind it, she still rained blows down upon him in rapid succession.
Adapting to her style, his blocks grew swifter. Surprise at her skills melted
away as he warmed to the fight, testing her. A human’s stamina wasn’t equal to that
of his kind. He knew her swift agility had a cost—sweat already beaded on her
brow. With a couple brutal moves on his part, he could end this fight before it
had truly