and stars, but even when you deliberately pick on him, he doesn’t retaliate! So what did you think you were doing, dragging him out here and buying a fight that he didn’t want to sell?”
None of them could quite meet her eyes after that. She huffed out a disgusted breath and pointed sharply for the door. “Go. Go! Before I change my mind and finish what my men left.”
With grunts of pain and mutterings, they gathered themselves up and limped away. Siobhan took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. One breath didn’t cut it, so she took in another, then another. It didn’t noticeably calm her heart any, but it did give her the appearance of control at least. Turning to Rune, she asked, “How badly are you hurt?”
He didn’t answer immediately, just stared at her with weighing eyes for a long moment. “Ya vouched for me?”
Patience. She took in another breath. “Rune, do you honestly think that Jarnsmor would have let you walk through his doors without someone speaking on your behalf?”
At that, he really seemed lost for words.
“Think about it later, Rune-xian,” Fei advised. “Answer us first. Are you hurt badly anywhere, or is it just what we see?”
“Just what ya see,” he slowly answered, eyes studying their faces in turn as if wondering what they truly thought.
Well enough. Although she’d still drag him to Conli in a moment for treatment. “And you, Wolf? Fei?”
“Fine,” Wolf assured her, pleased with the fight. “Got my blood pumping.”
Fei shrugged, one hand splayed that indicated he was fine, although she noticed he had a neat slice along one leg that needed tending to.
“What were you two thinking, anyway, by jumping in like that?” Although a part of her was glad they had, there were better ways to handle the situation. She might not have the lung power to shout down a group of fighting men but Wolf certainly did. For that matter, Fei had become an expert on breaking up brawls after years of dealing with Wolf and Tran. He could have stopped it if he wanted to.
Wolf drew himself up in a dignified manner. “Real friends don’t let friends do stupid things alone.”
She closed her eyes, pained. “Why does that sound ridiculously logical coming out of your mouth?”
“He needed help,” Fei justified himself.
Why had she even bothered to ask? “Oh, never mind. You three go see Conli and get patched up. I need to hunt down Jarnsmor and tell him what happened.” Before some garbled version reached his ears. “Sylvie, escort them there. Do not allow detours.”
Sylvie gave her a half-bow of acknowledgement before grabbing Wolf by the arm and towing him along. The other two—one pleased, the other bewildered—trailed in her wake. As they went, she could hear Fei ask Rune exactly how everything had started (which was a question she wanted an answer to) but she let them go off alone. She’d get the full version later.
And to think, she had complained about being bored and restless earlier.
ӜӜӜ
She found Jarnsmor in his study, and sat at the paper-buried table to report what had happened. Jarnsmor heard her out with a pained frown, and he kept pinching at the bridge of his nose as if fighting off a headache. When she finished, he let out a low breath. “Guildmaster Maley, my apologies. I had made it clear to everyone that you and your people should be treated with all due courtesy. I thought I had made it clear, at least.”
“I know you did,” she assured him, more out of sympathy than politeness. “But I also know that you always have a few members in a guild that are stubborn and rock-headed who do things their own way. Fortunately, it was all just bruises and minor cuts from this fight with no real damage. Hopefully we can avoid any conflict in the future.”
A hard look came into his eyes. “I will talk with them personally.”
She almost felt pity for those poor idiots in that moment. Almost. “I must ask, however, just how bad is the blood between Iron Dragain and Silent Order that they felt so compelled to fight Rune?”
“Bad,” he admitted with splayed palms. “Silent Order has existed almost as long as Iron Dragain and we’ve been constantly fighting each other for as long as anyone can remember. Once in a while, we work out a treaty of sorts with them so that they don’t attack our people or allies, which lasts for a few years. When