Page 15 of The Barbarian King's Assassin (Magic and Kings 1)
Nothing.
I glared at the sword and the pile sitting on it.
“Need help?” Of course, he’d drawl that and imply I lacked the strength to handle it myself.
Maybe I did; however, not all things required brute force. Time to put my cunning to work. I eyed my prize under its massive stack. I could remove the items one by one while he watched and judged me. That would take too much time. I’d get annoyed. I’d probably end up killing him and getting in trouble.
I needed that blade. The quicker, the better.
Only one thing to do.
I body-slammed the tower of junk.
CHAPTERFIVE
My shoulder slammedinto the tower hard enough that it shifted, starting a chain reaction of toppling piles. It reminded me of a game I’d played before I began my training. As children, we’d line up stone or wooden blocks called dominos, spaced just enough that when you toppled one, the rest of them fell, one after another, in a string of destruction that never failed to please.
Much like my childhood games, my antics brought about much yelling and screaming. The angry kind. Not everyone was excited by the shifting of the objects.
Too bad. With the lightening of the load, I could grab what I’d freed. The sword practically leapt into my hand. My fingers closed around it, a tingle jolting me, making me gasp then smile as a pleasant hum emanated from it. Elekium. Lots of it. The dark metal blade was filthy, the dirt tarnishing its surface, but no denying this weapon held much of the precious metal. It would fetch excellent coin once I cleaned it.
If I could bear to part with it. It felt very right in my hand.
“The merchant won’t be happy with you.” The giant interrupted my special moment with the blade.
Somehow, I’d forgotten about the man who’d stayed to watch. I stood with my prize. “On the contrary. He is about to thank me. I’m about to make him wealthy.”
I marched to the merchant, who waved his arms, cursing in some colorful language as the curios settled into new piles. At his urging, staff dispersed to create new paths as well as seek out buried customers.
“You! You did this!” the merchant barked at me.
“I did. You’re welcome. I’ll be buying this.” I handed him a chit for the local moneylender with a sum that had him snapping his mouth shut.
“What of the damage you caused?” He indicated the chaos in the tent.
“Maybe it will unearth more weapons of this metal.” I held it up. “If you find more before I return, contact me.” I gave him the shop address then made the merchant wrap the dirty sword, which I put into a sling bag across my back.
The big man who’d been watching the entire time followed me out of the tent and kept pace with me.
I whirled. “Why are you stalking me?”
“Just ensuring your safety. This bazaar is nothing like the merchant district. You shouldn’t come to a place like this alone.”
I paused in the chaos. “Why wouldn’t I? If you say it’s because I’m a woman, I might have to hurt you in a place that will cause you to question your manhood.”
His slow smile had a strange effect on me. “I’m tempted to see you try. And I meant no insult. It’s just you are rather tiny and delicate for such a rough locale.”
I blinked. Tiny, yes. Delicate? That was a new one. “Your concern is misplaced. I can handle myself.”
“Most mountains won’t fall if you run into them.”
“Don’t be so sure of that.” As I went to skirt him, he shifted to block my path, so I showed him how to take down someone bigger than me. I hooked a foot around his ankles and twisted to topple him.
The result wasn’t as expected. He grabbed hold of me as he went down, meaning I landed atop him.
We both exhaled hotly and found ourselves face to face, staring.
I should have moved.