Rebels of Vulvar (Vulvarian Saga Book 2), стр. 17

“The gate is there,” Emer said, pointing ahead. “Just beyond the corner.”

“Do you know how many guards are stationed there?” I said.

“Before the city fell to the rebels, we guarded it with four warriors,” Emer said. “I know not how the rebels have chosen to guard it.”

“How does the gate open?” I said.

“There is a chain windlass,” Emer said. “It is an iron-barred gate that raises and lowers when the windlass is turned.”

The women had gathered around us as I spoke with Emer.

“Wait here,” I said. “I will go take care of the guards at the gate.”

“There will probably be at least four,” Emer said.

“I will deal with it,” I said.

“No, I’ll go with you,” Emer said, brandishing a rakir she had taken off a dead guard back at the stockade. “Also, if I may, I will offer a plan.”

“I’m delighted to listen to your plan,” I said.

Once she had explained the plan, I found it an excellent one that I felt confident could succeed. Taking the shield and one of the captured spears, I ran ahead to the next corner. Emer was to wait until I made the first move. That would be her signal to carry out her part in the plan.

Having tied the sheath of the katana to my sword belt, I hefted the spear and shield. Stepping out of the shadows, I strode purposefully toward the gate. Emer had been right about the numbers. I observed four guards, three standing on the ground near the gate, and a fourth above the gate on the parapet walkway.

The guards all turned toward me when they saw me approaching.

“What is your business here?” a guard challenged.

“I’m pursuing a female spy who escaped arrest,” I said. “We lost her in this area.”

“We have seen no female,” the guard said.

At that instant, Emer stepped from hiding into the street.

“Help me!” she cried out to the guards.

“That is the female,” I shouted. “Seize her!”

Two guards immediately ran toward Emer. The third turned to watch. I noted the guard above on the wall was also distracted. Praying my training had been useful, I raised the spear and cast it with all my might. The guard on the walkway was still focused on Emer. My aim was true. The spear took the guard on the walkway on the left side of his chest. He grabbed the shaft of the spear, his eyes wide in utter surprise. After falling back against the parapet for a moment, he toppled headfirst from the walkway and landed on the street.

The guard at my side had already drawn his rakir. Instead, he should have retrieved his spear from where it leaned against the wall. When I pulled the katana, the guard understood his error. He had brought what amounted to a large knife to a sword fight. Still, he gamely sprang at me. Our blades had not crossed twice before I had opened his belly with a slashing stroke. I finished him with a slash to the neck to silence him when he cried out. The guard fell dead at my feet. I looked swiftly to Emer, ready to assist her. I need not have felt concern.

The two guards who had rushed at her it seemed had not expected a lone naked female crying for help to be a threat. When they got to her, they had been unaware of the rakir she had concealed behind her thigh. She had slashed and stabbed them both before either had even seen the sword. When I arrived at her side, Emer was stripping the tunic from one body. To my surprise, she stood and pulled the tunic on over her head. There was blood on it where she had thrust her blade between the ribs of the former owner.

“I tired of being naked,” Emer said with a grin.

“The tunic has blood on it,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Emer said. “None of it is mine.”

We both laughed.

“Go get the others while I open the gate,” I said.

Emer nodded and hurried away. I ran to the windlass, placed my hands on one of the poles attached to it, and pushed. The windlass turned easily. The chain clanked as it wound around the windlass, and the gate rose. By the time Emer had returned with the others, the gate was open. I grabbed a handle of the two-wheel cart, and we all passed through the gate and out of the city.

After traveling south far enough so that the darkness concealed us from the view of anyone on the city walls, I changed our course to the east. Some ten minutes later, I altered our route to the northwest, a bearing I hoped would lead us to Haela’s farm, or near to it.

Some thirty minutes after we had left the city, trumpets blared. Looking back, I saw in the distance burning torches appearing all along the city walls.

“They have discovered their dead at the stockade, the gate, or both,” Emer remarked.

“They will pursue us,” another woman said.

“Maybe not right away,” I said. “With the number of dead, the rebel commanders may assume a band of warriors infiltrated the city. Fearing a trap, they may be reluctant to open the gate and send their warriors in pursuit until dawn.”

“Even so, at our slow pace, the rebels will surely overtake us even if they delay pursuing us until daybreak,” Idril said.

“Not if they delay until dawn and pursue us on foot,” I said. “Ahead less than two legas lies the farm of my recent acquaintance. She has a gardo and a team of veovarks. Soon we will ride north on the paved road towards Thiva.”

Along the way, we were forced to add two more women to the cart. Their wounds and fatigue prevented them from walking further. With the added load, it was even more challenging to pull the hand cart across the stony, sandy ground. But at least we avoided stopping altogether.

The clouds in the