<|endoftext|>'t really think he intends to kill you?" Thom asked. He seemed pretty fucking calm on the outside, but I could hear his voice tightening underneath.
"Nah," I said, tossing him my best grin. It was all teeth. "Besides, I'm not gonna lose. That's some real impressive confidence you have in me."
"Rook," Thom began, and then, a lot more quietly, almost like he didn't mean to say it, "John..."
"Get back in the fucking circle, Thom," I snapped, like he was three fucking years old again and wouldn't listen to a damn thing I said. Then I turned away, passing my knife from one hand to the other to get a feel for the weight of it. At least _this_ time what I'd said took. He walked back slowly to stand between two of Kalim's men, and not near Geoffrey, I noted, which was funny as hell. Maybe he was listening to me after all.
"Can't we just be reasonable about all this?" Bless asked, gurgling softly when the man holding him made it clear that now was the time to shut up and shut up good.
Kalim spat in the ground rather than answering him, which I thought was a pretty fair answer, all things considered. I did the same. It was good for diplomatic relations.
"Among my people, we have a tradition," Kalim said, turning to me again. "When a man is not fighting to prove his innocence, and between men who have no blood quarrel, we end the fight when first blood is drawn. It is an understanding that the man who bleeds will abide by the wishes of the victor. To attempt to do otherwise would be dishonorable."
"So even though you're not going to slit my throat and I'm not gonna beat you to a pulp, whoever lands the first scratch gets to call the shots, is that what you're saying?" I asked, just to be clear we were on the same page. I didn't trust him—it went against all my instincts as a Mollyrat to trust a stranger in a fight, especially when I was fighting by the stranger's rules—but I was kinda _almost_ inclined to _want_ to trust him, which was throwing me off.
"Shots?" Kalim blinked. I could've laughed, but it would've broken my concentration.
"You get to make the rules," I clarified, and he nodded.
"Yes," he said. "The rules. I am learning a great deal of interesting language from you, Mollyrat Rook."
"You've got no idea," I said, and just like that he lunged at me.
I'd been waiting for it. Oldest trick in the book was to talk at someone until you got them to let their guard down, and what Kalim hadn't been counting on was that my guard was _always_ fucking up, even when I was talking. Maybe especially when I was talking. I stepped quick to the right and he snapped back around, pivoting so the miss wouldn't leave him vulnerable. He was quicker than I'd have guessed from his size, but that didn't matter much since I was quick for my size too. Only real advantage he had on me was that he was better used to fighting in the desert, moving his feet on the sand when I was used to harder surfaces, broken-up cobblestone and the like. It was a little difference, but it was there.
Starting out, I went on the defensive, stepping back and dodging as he circled me. It was the easiest way to make out his moves, see how fast he was and which side he favored. Then, just so he didn't start to catch on that that was what I was doing, I attacked him quick, going low when he went high and catching his hip against my shoulder. I flipped him flat on his back.
"Yes!" Thom whooped loudly, probably jumping up and down like a fucking idiot. I'd've thrown my knife at him if I'd had a spare, but he caught ahold of himself real quick and piped down. Better that he didn't draw any attention to himself, or give our new desert friends reason to hold him hostage. It was one thing they were doing it to Bless, but if it'd been Thom they were ransoming, my hands really _would've_ been tied.
Kalim twisted up quickly to his feet, checking his arms for a knife wound. There wasn't any. Not yet. We were both respecting each other too much to end it so quick, and I'd done him some kind of honor by prolonging the fight. He grinned like the crescent moon and dove at me again, his hand a blur as I hopped back, doing my best to dodge the sudden fl