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43
Keilor and Mathin didn’t waste time. At the signal, they unsheathed their swords with lightning fast moves and attacked.
The individual moves were a confusing blur. Both men fought as if they’d just came fresh from their beds, not spent the morning fighting off hoards of opponents. The men were nearly equal in size, strength and endurance. What would tip the scales of the fight?
***
Mathin on a normal day was difficult to defeat. Mathin with charmer scented
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The Charmer 44
“No! You know I’d never let that happen. They’d have to get through me first,” she vowed. “I know you’d do the same for me, too.”Jasmine smiled and looked down. “All right.” She took a deep breath. “I will try not to be so jumpy around the Haunt, but I can’t promise overnight results, ok?” She slanted a teasing look at her friend. “You could have warned me sooner, though.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and said, sotto voce, “Hey, Jasmine, watch out for these guys, because when the moons are full they turn into Wookies!”
The Charmer 45
This wasn’t at all what she’d expected.The hedge enclosed gardens smelled heavenly. Beautiful, exotic white birds with red, blue and green crests chattered in the trees, filling the air with their music. Every once and a while they would pass an exceptionally nice smelling flower or herb along the stone paths, and Keilor would stop and tell her its name and perhaps a little about it. Once he’d even picked a small spray of blossoms and tucked them in her hair.Jasmine couldn’t figure out what he was up to. She’d never seen h
The Charmer 46
He took it away from her and slid his thumb against the guard. Instantly a blade of blue energy appeared, eclipsing the razor edged steel. She didn’t try to take it back, just looked it over carefully, catching his eye and nodding when she was done. The blue hummed back into the blade, and he gave it back to her.“The energy source is inside the haft. I release the beam when I slide the catch.”She looked it over a little longer and gave it back to him to be sheathed.
The Charmer 47
“What are you doing?”Jasmine and Rihlia stopped practicing the self-defense move they’d been working on and looked at Keilor. He was back in uniform today and his bandaged biceps, and a few fading nicks and bruises, showed clearly. Jayems was right beside him in the empty courtyard. He looked grave.“Practicing getting out of grabs,” Jasmine answered and wiped her forehead. It was difficult to look him in the eye after last night.
The Charmer 48
Jasmine creaked into her room that night and shut the door stiffly behind her. She eyed the bed and bath, debating whether or not she could stay awake long enough to soak away some soreness, or if it would be better to flop down on the bed, sweat and all, and pray for oblivion. Reluctantly, she decided on the bath.He was trying to kill her, she thought as she hobbled over. She sat down on the marble bath steps and put her head into her hands. All right, he probably wasn’t, but she strongly suspected he was trying to drive her so hard that she’d give up on learning self-defense all together. Only sheer mulishness had kept her at it for the last half hour, and when her legs had finally given out and dumped her on her b
The Charmer 49
Keilor’s eyes opened with a snap, and he was on his feet before Jasmine had time to blink. With a snarl, he yanked her down across his bent knee and spanked her three times. When he was sure he had her attention, he pulled her to her feet and shook her.“What in the name of all that’s holy did you think you were doing?” He shook her again, ignoring Mathin and the others. In all his years no one, especially not someone under his training, had ever dared to have such cheek. Had she been a man he would have pulverized her, but since she was a woman the best that he could do was blast her with words.
The Charmer 50
Heat pooled in her belly and she stumbled at the sudden ache. Keilor’s head rose like a wolf scenting prey, and his nostrils flared. His eyes told her he knew, and his knowledge of her weakness made her tremble. Without a word, he picked her up and carried her the short distance to his room.The interior was dim, the furniture brown and heavy. His room was half the size of hers, yet contained a microscopic and very cluttered kitchen. The ugly quilt on his narrow bed was ragged, torn, and sliding off the naked mattress, which rested on the floor. Weapons of every description littered the coffee table, furniture, and nested in corners, along with various articles of discarded clothing.
The Charmer 51
A lump formed in Jasmine’s throat, and her eyes prickled. No one had ever told her what he was telling her, save Rihlia. No man had ever felt as much. She closed her eyes. “I don’t deserve it.”For a moment, he simply held her. Then, with words she would remember for the rest of her life, he breathed in her ear, “I don’t know what’s happened in your life to make you believe that, but I will spend the rest of mine proving you wrong.”She kissed him. There was no doubt of her answer now.
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