Liam bowed as well. 'Lord Purdun.'
'Please, gentlemen, no need for ceremony here,' said the baron, lifting a full flagon of mead from the table and taking a large swig. 'I've only come to tell you how relieved I am that you made it back safely.'
'Thank you, sir,' said Knoblauch. 'It's really only because of Liam that I made it back today at all.'
Purdun nodded, looking directly at Liam. 'So I have heard. So I have heard.'
Liam was a little uncomfortable. He'd saved the lives of many men before. It was an almost daily occurrence in the Awl. But he'd never received so much attention for it. He stood silently, not knowing what to say, trying to avoid eye contact with the baron.
'Well,' said Purdun after a long awkward moment of silence, 'I don't want to derail everyone's well-deserved fun.' He turned to the room. 'Please, everyone, carry on.'
A few of the men started to drink their mead, but for the most part the room stayed quiet. Only Captain Phinneous, lurking near the door, seemed to be enjoying himself.
The baron turned back to Liam and Knoblauch. 'Liam, may I have a word with you in private?' he asked in a hushed voice.
Liam looked to Knoblauch. The veteran soldier nodded his head and gave Liam a little shove.
'Uh, all right,' said Liam.
'Excellent,' replied Lord Purdun, then he headed across the room and out the double doors.
Liam put his mead down on the table and did his best to look sober as he followed the baron out of the room.
Once they were outside, Liam could hear the soldiers begin to laugh and talk again. Purdun walked on in silence, waiting until he was halfway down the hall before speaking again.
'You've done well, Liam,' he said, slowing his pace.
'Thank you.'
'Far better than I ever imagined.'
Liam shrugged. 'Guess you underestimated me,' he said.
Purdun smiled. 'Indeed. And that is precisely what I wanted to talk to you about.' Purdun stopped only a few steps from the door to Liam's room.
Liam stood at attention, his hands behind his back.
'I think your talents aren't being fully used,' continued the baron. 'I want to offer you a promotion.'
Liam's head swam. 'A promotion? What… what exactly does that mean?'
Purdun put his hand on Liam's shoulder. 'It means that with the undead incursions into Ahlarkham on the rise, the threat to my personal safety has increased as well. I'm going to be adding more men to my personal bodyguard, and I want you to be one of them.'
Liam shook his head, trying to clear the fuzzy haze of mead covering the inside of his skull. This was happening so fast. It wasn't that long ago that he was fighting against this man, and now Liam was being offered a job as his personal bodyguard. Was this really happening?
'I… I don't know what to say,' he said. It was one thing to take refuge in the elite guard, but protecting the life of the man he had worked so long to kill…
Liam shook his head. 'I… don't think-'
Purdun put up his hands, interrupting Liam. 'Wait,' said the baron, reaching over and grabbing hold of the door to Liam's private room. 'I have a surprise for you.' Tugging it open, Purdun waved his arm as if he were a herald presenting a visiting dignitary.
'Listen,' said Liam, gathering his will to turn down the offer.
'I-'
A slippered foot appeared first, followed by the rest of a beautiful woman. Out of his room stepped Samira, and Liam's jaw dropped.
She looked like an angel descending into Zerith Hold. She wore a flowing white silk gown with ornate lace sleeves that flared at her hands, hiding them from view. Her long black hair had been lifted into an exquisite pile on top of her head, adorned with wildflowers and a handful of tiny sparkling jewels. She seemed to float as she moved, the smooth fabric of the gown trailing behind her.
Looking at her made Liam feel warm all over.
'Hello, Liam,' she said.
'Uh.' Liam did a once-over of his own appearance. He was still wearing most of his armor and was covered in tiny bits of leaves and wood. 'Hi,' he said.
Liam looked into Samira's eyes. She smiled, and the rest of the world seemed to disappear.
'I don't want to keep you two any longer than I have to,' interrupted Purdun.
Liam tried to break eye contact with Samira, but he simply couldn't. She was entrancing, and he was helpless.
'Liam,' continued Purdun, 'don't give me your answer now. But let me leave you with this one thought. The position I am offering you would come with a considerable raise in pay. Enough to, say, keep a lovely young woman in the custom she deserves.'
Liam and Samira continued to stare into each other's eyes.
Lord Purdun bowed to the two of them. 'I take my leave.' Then he turned and hurried down the hall.
Samira reached up and pulled out one of the torn leaves stuck in Liam's armor. 'What happened to you?'
Liam looked down at himself again. 'Got in a fight,' he said.
'I heard,' she said. 'Baron Purdun told me you saved a man's life.'
Liam nodded. 'I guess I did.'
The two of them stood in the doorway for a moment longer, looking at each other. Then Samira grabbed his hand.
'Come on. Let's get that dirty armor off you.'
Liam followed her inside his room and closed the door behind him.
Chapter 19
Ryder lay on the warm stone floor, Giselle's head on his chest, his fingers dangling in the quickly cooling water, staring at the stars.
The muscles in his back that had relaxed from the warm water and Giselle's caresses were once again knotted and tense. His head hurt, and it took tremendous effort to simply lie still. He laughed at the absurdity. This was a fantasy come true-he was on top of a tower inside a splendid palace with a beautiful, exotic woman lounging naked beside him. Things like this didn't happen to people like Ryder. They happened to the rich and powerful, not the poor farmer or the revolutionary. Yet, he couldn't enjoy it.
The moment they had finished, Ryder was struck right smack in the middle of his chest with a tremendous wave of guilt.
Samira.
How could he have done that to her? She would never forgive him, and he wouldn't blame her. She would never do something like that to him. Had he been killed, she would have likely spent the rest of her life celibate, grieving over him.
But not him. He had always thought of himself as a good man. But right now, he didn't feel like one.
Giselle stirred, stretching her arms and turning to look up at Ryder.
'Hi,' she said, smiling.
He looked at her but couldn't keep eye contact. 'Hi,' he said, trying to put a smile on his face.
Giselle rolled over and got to her knees, then climbed up to straddle Ryder, looking down into his face.
'That was nice,' she said.
