Thieves World 3 – Shadows of Sanctuary by Asprin, Robert

them, sending a blaze of fire up past his knees. He cursed names that meant

nothing to her as he walked through the inferno.

They broke through the ring of flames into the predawn moist-ness of the port

city air. She coughed, realizing she had scarcely breathed since he had lifted

her. With the gasps of cool air she caught the bitter scents of singed hair and

charred flesh.

‘Your legs?’ she whispered.

‘They’ll mend; they always do.’

‘But you’re hurt now,’ she. protested. ‘I can walk – there’s no need to carry

me.’

She twisted to be free of him but his grip grew tighter and unfriendly. She

began to fear him again as if their moments together in the tent had been a

dream. The pinching fingers holding her arms and thighs could never have been

gentle.

‘I have not hurt you,’ he snarled. ‘Of more women than I care to remember you

alone had demands that would sate me. You’ve got your freedom and I’ve got rest

in a woman’s arms. When it is safe I’ll put you down, but not before.’

He carried her past the scattered stones of the unfinished temple and out into

the open land beyond the limits ofRankan Sanctuary towards the houses left

to ruins since Ilsig abandoned the town. She shivered and shed quiet tears, but

clung tightly as he assaulted the uneven, overgrown fields in the grey

predawn light. He stopped by a crumbling wall and set her down upon it.

‘The Hounds patrol here at dawn; they’ll find you and bring you safely to the

Prince and Torchholder.’

She didn’t ask to go with him, holding the request firmly within herself. The