Page 37 of The Warrior Priest (After the Rift #1)

When her moves started to precede mine by the barest margin, I changed course and attacked in a way she didn’t expect.

I parried her sword then bent to remove the dagger hidden in my boot.

The usual course of action when presented with that move was to kick the opponent in the head before they could use the knife.

I wouldn’t recover from such a blow quickly enough to counterattack.

I might never recover from a hard knock to the head.

But predicting that kick meant I had just enough time to leap to the side. Her boot missed my head only to slam into my shoulder. Pain exploded like a firework in my bones. I fell, landing with a cry.

Giselle fell, too, screaming as she clutched the back of her knee. Blood oozed between her fingers and dripped onto the dust.

My fingers ached around the handle of my bloodied dagger.

Giselle’s screams of pain changed to shouted curses at me, calling me some colorful names I’d not heard since my days living on the streets. She spat at the warrior priests who came to disarm her, but when she realized that wouldn’t work, she tried to reason with them again.

“Jac is stealing your master from you!”

“That doesn’t justify murder,” one said.

“She’s a whore. She’s everything you loathe about women.”

The same priest stood over her and shook his head sadly. “You misunderstand us. We don’t hate women of any description.”

I pushed to my feet, clutching my shoulder as the pain ripped through it again. I closed my eyes only to open them again at the sound of horses approaching. A lot of horses, and a carriage, too.

Rhys rode in the lead. He was unharmed, thank the goddess. Relief filled me, pushing aside the pain and the fear that had festered within me ever since we parted. He jumped down from the saddle and scooped me into his arms, only to aggravate my shoulder.

He sprang back at my cry of pain. “You’re hurt.”

I clutched my shoulder. “I think it’s dislocated.”

“Merdu, you’re white as a sheet.” He signaled to one of the warriors. “Brother James is a healer. He sees these sorts of injuries all the time.”

Brother James spoke reassuringly as he gently felt my shoulder. “It’s definitely dislocated. Now, this will hurt. On the count of three, I’ll put the shoulder back. Are you ready?”

He didn’t give me a chance to nod. He pushed my shoulder back into place. I cried out, only to have it smothered by Rhys’s chest. He held me, stroking my hair, until I realized the burning spike had become a dull ache.

I pulled away. “Thank you, Brother James.”

The healer nodded. “Make sure you rest it. No lifting anything heavy for a few days.”

Giselle snorted. “What about me?”

Brother James bent to inspect her wound. She sucked air between her teeth but unlike me, she didn’t cry out. “Get your needle and thread, Brother. I can cope with the pain. Unlike some.”

While the healer returned to the temple to get his medical kit, I took in the newcomers.

Rhys was accompanied by Vizah, Rufus and Andreas, still on horseback, as well as several of the high priest’s guards, either on horseback or riding on the carriage itself.

The high priest sat inside, his face stony as he glared at Giselle.

She glared back from where she sat on the ground. “You idiot! You let him catch you. Why didn’t your men protect you?”

The high priest turned his face away without answering.

“Because they trained in the order of Merdu’s Guards,” Rhys said. “They’re loyal to the faith, not to any single man. Not even him. Once I explained the situation, they agreed to let me confront him. By the time Andreas, Vizah and Rufus arrived, it was clear he was guilty.”

“There’s proof,” said one of the warrior priests. He handed Rhys the letter Giselle had dropped.

“You think I’ll make it easier for you?” she snarled at Rhys. “Merdu, you two make me sick. I wish I’d killed you while you slept, Jac.”

“She would have heard you entering the room,” Rhys said, as calm as can be.

Vizah peered over Rhys’s shoulder to read the letter. He whistled. “That’s a large sum of money. The orders who feed and clothe the poor could do a lot with that.”

“It wasn’t about the money for Giselle,” Rhys said. “She wanted Jac dead because she’s jealous of her.”

Giselle barked a humorless laugh. “Jealous? I don’t love you, you arrogant prick. I never have.”

“It’s nothing to do with me. You’re jealous of Jac because she’s better than you and you loathe that.”

“She’s not better than me. She’s good, but more practice would have made her better. Years more. She was lucky today, that’s all.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I do need more training. I knew I wasn’t ready when we left Upway, and I remember telling you as much.

But it’s more than that. I also lack the quality you have, the hunger to kill or the desire to be the best fighter.

But it wasn’t luck that helped me beat you, Giselle.

It was your own arrogance. You think being better than everyone means they’re less than you, and when you believe that then you stop noticing them.

You thought the warrior priests would support you in murdering me because it’s what their high priest wanted, but you misunderstood them.

You misjudge people because you don’t get to know them.

You don’t value friendship, loyalty and honor, but they do, as does Rhys.

Your downfall was isolating yourself from friendship even when it was offered to you.

” I tapped my chest. “I’m sorry for you, Giselle. You brought this on yourself.”

Giselle spat on the ground. “Self-righteous bitch. You two are perfect for one another.”

Brother James returned with his medical kit, but Rhys hadn’t finished extracting a confession from Giselle. Once her wound was stitched, he ordered his men to help her to her feet then search her.

They found the dagger she stole from the high priest, but Rhys seemed disappointed. He must have wanted a note from my uncle too. Without evidence, we had no proof. Giselle might no longer be able to assassinate me, but he could hire another, if he still wanted to get rid of me.

Rhys hadn’t yet given up, however. “The governor hired you, too, didn’t he?”

Her smile was twisted. “He did, but he’ll get away with it. There’s no proof.” She shrugged, unconcerned.

“His guards followed you after you met with him upon your return to Tilting. He knew if he found where you were staying that Jac would be there, too. He realized she was working for you, and he wanted to kill her without paying you. That’s the sort of person you do business with.”

“What does it matter now?” she sneered. “I still can’t produce proof from thin air. You’ll have to take my word for it.”

We both knew it wouldn’t be enough.

The sheriff arrived with several constables in tow and demanded to know why he’d been summoned.

Rhys spoke quietly with him, but not so quietly that I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Even if I couldn’t, it would have been clear from the direction of the sheriff’s gaze.

It flew to Giselle, held prisoner between Vizah and another warrior, then shifted to the high priest, still seated with an expression of regal arrogance in his carriage.

He cut a lonely figure, isolated even from his guards.

I doubted any of the warrior priests, or indeed the priests and priestesses from the other orders, would stand by his side now.

He’d brought shame on them and on their faith by breaking the oath to not take a life.

He wasn’t the man they wanted representing the Glancian-based orders.

The sheriff directed some of his constables to accompany the high priest and Giselle to the holding cells. The warrior priests lined the side of the street and hissed or jeered as the high priest’s carriage drove past.

Rhys turned his back and joined me. He tucked my hair behind my ear and smiled wanly. He looked weary in both body and heart. “All right?”

I nodded. “The shoulder is still a little sore.”

He touched my cheek. “You disobeyed my order,” he said without any heat in his voice.

“I thought you went to kill the high priest in revenge, which would have given the sheriff a reason to arrest you, if the guards didn’t kill you first.”

“I suspected the guards would come to my side once I explained, but if they didn’t, I was prepared to face the worst outcome. I judged them correctly, though. They trust me.”

My heart lifted at the echo of the words I’d said to Giselle, pointing out that her unwillingness to accept friendship had led to her ignoring people and ultimately misunderstanding them. “And the risk of arrest, if it came to that? How were you going to avoid it?”

“Charm and wit.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was wonderful seeing a flash of the old, carefree Rhys again. I’d missed that side of him more than I realized. “What happens now?” I asked.

“The high priest and Giselle will face trial. The supreme priest in Vytill will need to be notified. I’ll write to him tonight. But first, there’s other business to be concluded. I’m paying the governor a visit.”

“You can’t!”

“I won’t be alone.” He nodded at his three friends, hovering nearby.

Another warrior priest joined them. “I’ll come with you.”

“As will I,” said a second.

More men joined, then soon the entire cohort of Merdu’s Guards stood behind Vizah, Andreas and Rufus, and several of the high priest’s guards, too.

Dozens of large, muscular men in prime fighting condition were a powerful sight.

Only yesterday, he’d had the support of just over half.

Today, he had them all waiting for his order.

It was a reminder of why Master Tomaj and the high priest had so much faith in him becoming the leader at such a young age. He was a natural.

As the men all repeated their oath to follow him, Rhys put up his hands for silence. “I only need some of you. But there are two things you need to know before you support me.”