The Oathbreaker's Shadow **SAMPLE COMPLETE**

Part 12 - Chapter 6.2

He found himself being drawn deeper towards the market stalls. The smell warmed him more than a freshly stoked fire and made his mouth fill with saliva. After months living on a diet of goat’s milk, rice and the occasional piece of dried meat, the variety on Kharein’s streets overwhelmed him. It seemed like everyone in Darhan – and beyond – felt the same way. The food market was filled to the brim. The Festival had well and truly begun.

But it wasn’t just any food that Raim was after. If anything, it was the fish from the Erudine river that was drawing him deeper into the market. The Festival was the only time of the year that the fishermen – the Erudees – brought their catch to the capital city. They transported it strapped to fragrant planks of wood cut from the forests on the border of Mauz. By the time they reached Kharein, the fish was rich with flavour – once seared on the giant wood-heated grills on the city streets it became Raim’s favourite dish.

He followed his nose to the stall and handed over a few bronze coins for a portion. It came wrapped in thin white paper, juicy and delicious.

Before he could take a bite, he felt a tug on the sleeve of his tunic. He looked down into the face of a young boy. ‘Excuse me, are you a Yun apprentice?’

Raim smiled. ‘Yes . . .’

‘GRANDFATHER, I’VE FOUND ONE!’ the boy shouted.

All of a sudden he was surrounded by people, jostling him between them like a gutball. In one instant he was being pulled at by a dozen young boys asking for advice, the next he was in amidst strong-armed merchants, like the young boy’s grandfather, evaluating him for a good bet.

‘How’s your sword arm?’

‘Not feeling a little weak in the shoulder?’

‘Don’t eat that Erudine crap, you’ll feel sick for the bout.’

‘I’ll give you a hundred gold pieces if you let the other boy win.’

He knew apprentices often experienced a whirlwind of attention during the Festival, but he never realized it was as bad as this. He felt trapped. Khareh was the one who normally got all the attention and Raim liked it that way. Khareh might embrace it, but Raim could currently think of nothing worse. He tried to push his way through the crowd to escape, but wherever he moved the hungry throng followed.

‘Quick, follow me!’ said a whispered female voice. A hand pressed on his back, then slid around to his elbow to lead him away. He whipped around just in time to see the girl’s dark brown eyes urging him to follow her before she disappeared into the crowd.

Erdene.

A new kind of adrenaline fuelled him now, his heart speeding up to a thousand horse strides a minute in his chest. He caught sight of her again, and doubled, trebled his effort to get to her, finding a path through the crowd that had seemed so impenetrable before.

She ducked down an alley, and just as he entered it himself he saw her twist down into another. This part of Kharein, behind the market stalls, was a maze of cramped, darkened streets barely wide enough for a single person to move. He turned sideways to fit down the alley she had turned down then stopped abruptly as a hand grabbed his belt and pulled him backwards.

He tumbled back into a small courtyard, a welcome square of space after the tight alley and the hungry crowd. A line of freshly washed linens hung from a cord across two windows above them, motionless in the still air.

Or maybe the air only felt so still because he was suddenly aware how close he was to Erdene. Close and alone.

He turned around to see her pulling the veil down off her head, strands of long black hair falling across her face. She pushed them back off her forehead, threw her head back, and laughed. ‘Gods, did you expect that? All those people clamouring for us. I guess the other apprentices have been through this before, so that’s why we don’t see them out and about so much before the duel.’

Raim struggled to form any suitable kind of reply, his mouth suddenly completely dry. She didn’t wait for him to speak though. ‘Do you have any idea when they’ll call us in for the fights? Last year it was at the beginning of the Festival, so maybe this year they’ll make it the closing event . . . I hate to be kept waiting, don’t you?’

His mouth tried to form words like ‘yes, the wait is horrible’ but instead he ended up mumbling something vaguely affirmative.

Erdene didn’t seem to notice. She leaned back against the wall, and when she looked Raim in the eyes, he was surprised to see them glistening. ‘I’m so worried about the fight,’ she said, biting her lower lip. ‘I don’t know if I’m ready for Jendo. It’s his third try and . . . I want to be Yun. I want to be Yun more than anything.’

‘Jendo is a good fighter, but he has his weaknesses,’ Raim said, grateful she had finally picked a topic that would loosen his tongue. On this subject, he could talk for ever. ‘He’s steady, but he’s not very creative. You can trick him – use feints, deflections. Come at me now.’ He beckoned her over.

She blinked the moisture from her eyes, as if weighing up the decision. Then she pushed away from the wall and moved into a fighting stance. She bounced on the balls of her feet a couple of times, then snapped forward to strike at Raim.

He allowed himself to take the blow, taking the majority of the force on his left shoulder. Then, when she attacked again, he turned his body as if protecting his injured left side. He watched as Erdene’s nostrils flared, as if she could almost smell his weakness. Then she went in again for the kill, but he used his uninjured right to deflect the force of her attack against her and almost flipped her onto the ground. Except he didn’t let her complete the fall, catching her a few inches from the floor.

They remained in that position for a moment. It was only a moment, but it was long enough for Raim to notice he could feel the strong muscles of her back through her coarse tunic where he’d caught her, long enough to notice her hair trailing on the ground over his sandals, tickling the skin of his toes. He lifted her up to her feet quickly, before he noticed anything else.

Her face was hot and red with the exertion, but a wry smile crossed her face. ‘I see what you did. Feinting. Got it.’ She reached forward and Raim held his breath. She straightened his tunic by running her hands across his shoulders. ‘There. Better.’

He smiled back, awkwardly.

‘So, Raim, where’s the Crown Prince? Aren’t you two always together at the moment? That’s what I heard . . . that you are close enough to be in line to be his Protector one day.’ She raised an eyebrow.

Raim shrugged. ‘Maybe. If he asks, of course I’d say yes. There are plenty of other worthy candidates though . . .’

‘Hmm.’ She let her gaze run him up and down, and Raim felt shivers run down his spine. ‘Well, you know, I’ve never met Prince Khareh . . . Even if I can’t be his Protector, I might be able to do something . . . else for him.’

Raim shuffled his feet along the dusty ground. ‘I’m sure I could introduce you to him soon?’

‘At the party after the duels?’

Raim shrugged. ‘Sure, why not?’

‘Perfect. Thanks, Raim.’ She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. ‘See you around.’

I hope you enjoyed this new section of The Oathbreaker's Shadow! New parts up tomorrow and Thursday - which is the PUBLICATION date of The Oathbreaker's Shadow in paperback. Horray! 

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