To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(95)

Yavi turned to face Uman, putting the windows at his back in case he needed to escape. “Where is Terijin?” he demanded, still brandishing his scimitar.

Uman laughed. “Fool. You won’t be able to take the sword from him. My Vyrkune will devour you as soon as you enter the Great Hall.”

Yavi’s bedroom door opened, and an arrow struck Uman in the side of the head. He toppled to the side and landed on the floor with a loud thunk.

Yajna let Jiandra in and shut the door. He turned to Yavi. “Where is father’s sword?”

“Bastard says he gave it to Terijin.” Yavi sheathed his scimitar. “He’s in the Great Hall with the rest.”

“Bloody traitor of a cook,” Yajna cursed. “Let’s go get it.”

Yavi nodded, and they slipped out of the room before Uman could revive. They crept along the passageway, keeping close to the wall, until they came to the corner. Yavi peered around it down the hall that led to the library and the main staircase down to the Great Hall. Voices emanated from below, grunts of laughter, raucous shouting, and talking.

Yavi kept to the shadows as best he could as the three of them neared the top of the staircase and ducked down behind the large pillars of the balustrade. The Great Hall was packed with Vyrkune, at least two hundred of them, feasting on the bloody carcasses of animals that were strewn over the floor. Yavi spotted Terijin in the crowd with the sword of the Zulfikars slung over his back, laughing with his dinner-mates at the far side of the room. Yavi glanced at the upper balcony on the third floor above the hall, then over his shoulder at Yajna.

Yajna nodded, and Yavi slipped across the hallway and into the library, closing the doors soundlessly behind him. He crept onto the balcony overlooking the sparring courtyard, checking for any sign of Vyrkune below. Finding the courtyard quiet, he leapt up and grasped the ledge above the doorway, climbed onto it, then hoisted himself up to the window ledge above. Thankfully, it was dark inside. He broke the glass with the hilt of his scimitar, unlatched the window, then climbed over the sill and into the solar. He slipped into the hallway and hurried along the shadows to the balcony overlooking the Great Hall from above.

His grappling hook dangled from his hand a moment as he positioned it just above the circle of Vyrkune where Terijin sat. With a practiced hand, he dropped the hook quickly, felt it catch onto the crossguard of his father’s sword, then jerked the line upward, hard.

The sword lifted high into the air, and Yavi pulled the rope hand over hand over the balustrade as fast as he could, while Yajna’s arrows sailed through the air from the balcony on the opposite side of the Great Hall.

At last Yavi grasped the hilt of the heavy sword, slung the blade onto his back, and ran. His brother saw him heading toward the back of the palace, grabbed Jiandra’s hand, and took off running in that direction as well.

Eventually Yavi reached the rear of the palace, ducked into the northeast guard turret, and flattened himself against the curved wall to wait for his brother.

The door opened, and Yajna and Jiandra slipped inside.

Yavi indicated the sword on his back. “You’ll have to give me your bow so you can carry Jiandra.”

Yajna handed his bow and arrows to Yavi, then helped Jiandra onto his back.

Yavi secured his grappling hook on the window’s ledge, then grinned at his brother. “Ladies first.”

“Horse’s arses last,” Yajna retorted, lowering himself over the sill with Jiandra clinging to his back.

Once they were out of sight, the tower door swung open, and a small group of angry Vyrkune glared at Yavi.

He reached over his back for the sword, but the hilt caught in the strap of his brother’s bow. One of the Vyrkune lunged for him, clawing at his arm. Yavi saw sharp, disgusting teeth coming toward his face. He crouched and spun, drawing his scimitar from his hip to slice at the monster’s belly. It fell back, screeching.

Yavi rose and reached over his back to try to grab the greatsword, but another Vyrkune lunged at him before he could free the hilt. He head-butted the creature, hard, and it staggered back against its companions. Yavi quickly pulled Yajna’s bow off his back and dropped it out the open window along with the quiver of arrows. When he turned back, the remaining three Vyrkune lunged at him as one.

Yavi pulled the greatsword off his back and whirled around, swinging the blade in a wide arc just before their wide-open jaws reached his face, and the creatures tumbled to the ground at his feet.

Yavi paused, breathing labored, staring down at them. He knew more would be arriving any second, so he couldn’t wait around to see if they got up or not. He replaced the sword onto his back and jumped out of the window, turning to grasp at the rope on the way down. He caught it and slid down rapidly.

At the foot of the wall, his brother helped catch him to break his fall a bit. Yavi steadied himself on his feet, looked up, and freed the grappling hook just before a Vyrkune stuck his head out to look down. It let out a hoarse cry to alert the others, and Yavi turned to see the Vyrkune guards that had been feasting at the campfire running to surround them.

Yavi brandished the sword of the Zulfikars with both hands while Yajna stepped back and strung an arrow.

The Vyrkune surged forward, and Yavi swung at them. He slashed diagonally in each direction, felling several of them at once. Another group rushed forward, but arrows knocked two of them onto their backs. Yavi swung at the other three, slicing through their chests, arms, and necks. They fell in a heap among the others, and Yavi stepped forward to drive the sword through the hearts of the two Yajna had struck with arrows, hoping they wouldn’t rise again.