Read The Sunset Warrior - 01 for Free Online

the affiliation of a Saardin? He must be sorely disappointed in you!’
    Ronin sat impassively, and allowed it to flow past him. Even so, he was abruptly thinking of K’reen, her white skin. And then he saw quite clearly the face of a man strapped to a bed, two smudgy triangles high on his temples. He could hear screaming, a terrible pain-filled noise.
    Consequently he did not move fast enough to completely avoid G’fand’s mad lunge across the table. Plates and goblets burst apart, sending their contents showering in all directions as they tumbled over backward into the narrow aisle. Servers scattered and people along the adjacent row were sent reeling into their own tables.
    G’fand tried to yell but all that came out were grunts as he pummelled the body beneath him. For his part, Ronin was of two minds, as he defended himself. He did not want to hurt the Scholar but neither did he wish to prolong the scuffle and thus risk the intervention of Security daggam. Then, as G’fand shifted, a knee caught him in the side and he felt the lattice of pain lance up into his shoulder. The breath went out of him and he thought, Should have had Stahlig bandage the thing. And the instinct of his training took over. He lashed out with his free hand, slamming his fist into G’fand just below his ear. The Scholar’s eyes bulged and his head danced like that of a puppet. Ronin took a breath and, in that instant, felt a searing pain. He twisted his head, saw the hilt of a small dagger protruding from his shoulder, tore it out, cursing, heard dimly the clatter as he dropped it, balled his hand, and swung into G’fand’s midriff at the low point of the sternum. He had a momentary glimpse of the other’s eyes, open wide, terror burning in them like an uncontrollable fire, before he doubled over. Ronin felt the spurt of adrenalin and he became aware that his fist was raised again. Then he was in control, panting, sweat stinging his eyes, hearing the strange sound of G’fand vomiting on to the floor. He touched him on his bowed back. With that came an understanding of what he had done, and what he had almost done. Then he swung about, searching for the dagger.
    Nirren was beside him. ‘I had better see about poor G’fand,’ he said softly. Ronin nodded. He put his palm up to his shoulder because it was still numb and he would not feel the pain for a while, but he wanted to stop the blood.
    Then he felt K’reen behind him, and she knelt and he saw her face. Wisps of hair had come undone so that she looked as if she had been standing in a high wind. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her lips parted. Down deep in the awful stillness at the core of his being, he felt an inexplicable movement, as if he were a stringed instrument and something he could not see had plucked a thawed chord. He shivered involuntarily and K’reen, misunderstanding, put an arm across his shoulders. He shrugged it off, and she crouched like that, very quickly, so that only he could see, bent her head, flash of pink tongue, and licked at the crack between two of his fingers at the oozing stripe of blood. He stood up then, but not before he had seen her eyes shining.
    ‘Clear away! Clear away!’ called a commanding voice. The gaping crowd parted reluctantly and Ronin saw two daggam push their way towards him. Someone at the fringe of the crowd must have summoned them. He cursed silently and wished he knew where G’fand’s dagger was. They came up to him. If they found it—
    ‘What caused the disruption?’ The one who was not talking stood with his hands free. There was some space around him. Neither of them bothered to look at G’fand as Nirren helped him to his feet.
    Ronin took a deep breath, let it go slowly. ‘Nothing at all,’ he said calmly. ‘Just a slight misunderstanding.’
    The daggam grunted. ‘Huh! Awful lotta people staring at a “slight misunderstanding”.’
    ‘You know how people are.’
    ‘Yeh, sure. Listen, you Bladesmen know