Dathid stares out the window for hours. I walk up behind him and unhook the armor at his shoulder. He looks over and glares at me. His gaze softens, and he looks back out the window. I remove his armor in silence. Jonah eventually turns his attention to the cherries, which I know are his favorites. I also know that Dathid stole them because he doesn't have any money.
"I need to speak with the Voornok," Jonah says. "Neither of you are to leave this room. You hide if anyone comes in."
The image of Dathid hiding if someone enters makes me want to laugh. I won't because when Jonah exits, it's like he took the air with him. I have no idea what to do or say. Should I make him feel better? Talk about it? Distract him?
Dathid flops in the chair Jonah vacated. He pops a cherry in his mouth and spits the seed across the room. "Do you have any idea how many of my family and friends I've lost recently?" He looks at me when he answers. "Most of them. I've been at war my entire life, but I've never lost this much and this many."
He rests his forehead against his hand and says to the table, "I thought when I married Elaeria, we would finally have some peace, but it doesn't stop."
I wish he would've started talking when Jonah was here because Jonah is better at this. All I can do is stand here and let him spew words in my direction when he looks up. "Everything I've ever done is pointless. My father is dead. My friends are dead. My home is gone. Everything I've ever fought for, sacrificed for, is gone. Why?"
He's looking at me as if he expects me to give him an answer. "Um, well..." is as far as I get when he laughs at me.
He rubs his fingers against the bridge of his nose, "Oh Agg, why are we in this dirty, stinking town, in this filthy room?"
"Because we're doing something important," I say without hesitation, so he doesn't laugh at me again.
I take a step toward him but stop when he stands and throws the chair against the wall. To the chair's credit, it stays intact and the wall breaks. He picks it up again and slams it into the wall making a large hole leading to the hallway.
"Dathid stop. This isn't a place where you go looking for a fight," I say, surprisingly calm...until he kicks the chair. I duck out of the way and then jump in front of him. I need to put an end to this before the Inn Keeper decides to investigate. I take a defensive sparring stance and say, "Alright, take your best shot." Hopefully, not his best shot.
His head snaps toward me, and his back stiffens. "I'm not going to hit you."
"It's fine. Trelix and I fought all the time. You're not going to hurt me. Do you have enough control not to hit my face?"
He snorts. I've definitely distracted him. "Yes, because I won't hit you anywhere."
"Good," I say and kick him hard in the thigh.
He flashes an angry glare my way, but doesn't move. I kick him again and he catches my foot. I smile at him and swing my other foot toward his shoulder. He pivots catching that foot in both hands, sending me crashing to the floor. With my now freed foot, I kick him in the neck. He lands on the floor next to me.
He grunts and turns wide eyes glaring my way. Is he's more shocked by being on the ground, or the knowledge that I'm the one who put him there?
"It's a three part kick," I say after I laugh at him.
We both jump to our feet, but he's faster. And before I can get my balance, I'm back on the floor. He jumps on me, knocking out some of my wind with a groan. He sits on my stomach and pins my arms down. Now, he's laughing at me, but not for long. I wrap my foot around his head and pull him to the floor with a satisfying thud.
YOU ARE READING
The Lost Knight (Volume IV) The Lost Prince
FantasyWIP Would love some Beta Readers
