Page 22 of The Barbarian King's Assassin (Magic and Kings 1)

“You brought reinforcements. Smart king. You should be afraid of me.” I said it with a straight face.

“Why is that?”

“I could be a killer.”

He laughed so hard I almost stabbed him in the throat. I only stopped because I’d die a second after. Also because I had to know. “Why is the idea of me being an assassin so funny?”

“Because you are tiny. How would you hurt me?” He sounded genuinely curious.

“Poison will take down even the biggest threat.” I’d actually thought about using it at dinner, but then they might close down this restaurant. I liked spicy food.

“Poison is for cowards. A real fight is face to face.”

“Says the guy whose face is twice the size of mine,” I declared, sitting down. “Am I not supposed to use any aids to cover the disparity? And before you say I should fight people my own size, that wouldn’t be feasible, as there aren’t many.”

“How about not fighting at all?”

“Some of us live in the real world.”

“Maybe we need a better world, Ilyana.”

He remembered my name. Oozed danger. Maybe I should use the poison in my pendant.

I held off. “A better world sounds boring. How about controlled chaos instead?”

“You’re different,” he stated.

“Good or bad thing?” I asked. I’d removed the sling with the sword and went to hand it over.

He slashed a hand. “Not yet. After we eat.”

“As if you need more food. Look at the size of you.”

“He’s a runt!” someone shouted from the table behind us, showing they unabashedly listened.

“You, small? How big are your fingers?” I held up my hand. Humoring me, he put his against mine. A tingle went through me, different than the kind I felt with elekium. A pleasurable sensation I didn’t understand. I concentrated on each of his fingers, which were half again as long as mine. “How did you get so large?” I didn’t bother holding back. I got the impression he preferred brutal honesty.

I was right. He smiled.

“Everything is big in the west.”

“And he meanseverything!” Someone at the table across from me snickered.

I ignored them. “You’re like a person and a half, maybe even two. You’d be hard to take down but not impossible.”

“Why the obsession with my size?”

“I told you I’m a killer.” I spoke the truth, but mockingly, so of course he didn’t believe me.

“You’re too smart to come after me. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“You’re right, you should give me a fair shake. Maybe tie one of your hands behind your back.” I leaned forward and purred.

“Why not tie both his hands and have your way?” The shouted suggestion came with ribald laughter

It annoyed me I couldn’t work the king to get him where I wanted him. Then again, perhaps I had an effect. His expression smoldered.

“Do you really want to fight me?”