By the Sword - By Sara Flower Page 0,81
Her child was in trouble and she couldn’t even help her.
“God, save my baby girl!” she cried.
Enveloped in a cloak of helplessness, Roselyn sank to her knees and wept.
*****
Ittonifer was stalking toward Chrissa now.
Instead of retreating, Chrissa saw Ittonifer and started to run toward him.
“Chrissa, get away from him!” shouted Edandir.
He will kill you!
The girl jumped into the air and swung a diagonal arc with her sword at her father’s stomach. He merely stepped aside and avoided the blow. With Ittonifer’s superior size and skill, she did not stand a chance. He sent Chrissa’s sword flying out of her hand with one powerful, perfectly angled swing.
Chrissa dove for her weapon and managed to block Ittonifer’s next stab just in time, but now he had her legs pinned to the ground. He began to press all of his weight down on her arms, forcing her own sword down toward her neck.
“Stop!” Edandir shouted.
Edandir broke into a sprint. He was not going to allow Ittonifer to end the life of the child that he never deserved.
Out of breath, Chrissa knew that she would be dead soon. The blunt end of her sword was almost at her neck. She closed her eyes, avoiding her father’s cold glare.
“I always knew that you hated me, but how could you do that to Jalarn?” she said.
“He meant as little to me as you always did. I only use those that benefit what I want.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. It would be the last one she would ever cry.
The blade of her weapon grazed her neck.
“Edandir!” Ittonifer snarled.
Ittonifer leaped away from Chrissa just in time to stop Edandir from impaling him.
Chrissa managed to stand, but she could barely see through her tears.
“Chrissa, get out of here,” said Edandir.
She ignored Edandir and came at her father while his back was still turned away from her.
Ittonifer spun around and then slammed his gauntlet into her jaw. She stumbled backward and landed on her backside. Weaponless and dazed in the muddy grass, she shut her eyes until the dizzy spell passed.
She opened her eyes to see Ittonifer standing over her again. This time she looked him right in the eyes. He had to be a monster. No human could be that heartless.
“I’m about to do what I should have done to you years ago. You always were disappointing, but I never took you to be a traitor.”
Chrissa spat at him, shaking as rage surged through her.
“You betrayed me from day one, Father.”
“Wench.”
Ittonifer drew back his elbow, ready to drive the blade of his sword straight through her, but Chrissa looked past her father at Edandir.
The general blocked Ittonifer’s lethal stab with his sword. Here was a man that actually cared for her.
Ittonifer laughed hollowly as he swung his sword at Edandir’s stomach. The general blocked it.
“Get out of here, Chrissa!”
Chrissa got up and ran away, fighting another wave of nausea. Too weak to rejoin the battle, she ran to a clearing, away from the other warriors, and watched Edandir and Ittonifer fight one another.
“You know I’ll finish her after I’m through with you,” Ittonifer sneered.
Chrissa’s stomach knotted and she vomited.
Chapter Twenty-One
Edandir blocked another swing and attempted to drive his blade through Ittonifer’s chest, but once again he missed.
“Look around you, General,” Ittonifer said. “You’re losing. Even those giants are useless against so many of my men.”
“Your army isn’t as large as it had been before Chira came.”
Ittonifer studied Edandir for a moment.
The thunder had ceased and the downpour had transformed into a light drizzle. Queen Roselyn’s melodic voice resounded hauntingly in the damp evening air alongside Uittan’s solemn, deep one.
“When I am finished with you and the little traitor, I’m going to slit your precious queen’s throat.”
Despite the evening’s damp chill, Edandir’s face flamed with fury. He fought the obscene man with a greater ferocity than before.
“You may think that she’s protected from me,” said Ittonifer, “but when I kill her daughter that will all change.”
Daughter?
“Oh, didn’t she tell you? Roselyn and I were married long ago. Then, she left me to join your pathetic country. Now she’s getting what she deserves. You will, too.”
Roselyn was Ittonifer’s wife? The mere idea of that amazing woman being married to the sick tyrant was outrageous.
“Her heart will be filled with grief and rage when I slay Chrissa,” Ittonifer went on. “She will run to me and then I will kill her.”
Edandir jabbed at his enemy’s stomach, but Ittonifer blocked it with maddening ease. The earth rumbled again.
“General Edandir, look out!” shouted