He flung a loop of his chain around the guards neck, and pulled it tight. The guard outside had been looking down the corridor for that single vital second; before he could come to his companion's re Alaire had already made his move.
He leapt down from his perch on the balcony, aim- ing for the guard's back, but knowing he was probably too far out of reach.
He was; he hit the floor far short of the guard, and rolled, coming up in a crouch.
Barehanded, of course. Facing a man with a sword, dagger, and armor.
Still, he had gotten the second guards attention, all right. That gave Kai a fighting chance with his.
Bluff, fool! He doesn't know you aren't some kind of barehanded assassin!
He stretched his mouth in a rictus-grin that he hoped was frightening, and beckoned to the bewil- dered guard. "Come on, fool! Come dance with me! I love to dance!"
Kai had a good hold on the other guard, and was clinging to his back like a monkey. The guard thrashed about, flailing wildly with his sword, but he was unable to reach Kai, and he couldn't go beyond the chain wrapped around his neck.
The second guard glanced over his shoulder Alaire made an abortive movement to get the man's attention back on him. "Come on, you lily-livered bas- tard!" he snarled, gesturing with his hands. "What's the matter? You scared of a little boy?"
He was dancing a fine line, and he knew it; he had to keep his man distracted, but if the guard decided to attack hi There was a clatter, a sword fell to the floor inside the cell. Alaire had a heartbeat to make a decision, and he opted for the chance to get his hands on a weapon.
He dove past his man, with his hands outstretched, flying just under the startled man's blade. He grabbed for the hilt of the fallen sword; caught it and rolled, then came up against the wall of the cell with a grunt of surprise. A moment later, he was up with the sword in his hands.
Two-on-one was unsportsmanlike, but this was not a sporting event. As the first guard spun around, finally knocking Kai off his back, Alaire swun But not for the chest; he swung for the legs.
The man went down with a scream. Kai leapt on him and grabbed the hilt of the dagger at the guard's belt. Alaire ran for the door of the cell, and was met there by the second guard. Kai would have to deal with his man himself.
This time it was an even match, sword against sword. Even -- except that this man was older and stronger than Alaire, and a trained fighter. Even -- except that Alaire was not going to fight fair.
He feinted for the eyes, before the man had a chance to settle himself. The guard automatically winced back, and Alaire took a step toward him, clear- ing the door, swinging again at the man's legs, then feinting up at his eyes again. He gained another step.
Now he was completely outside the cell.
Behind him he heard thrashing, but he dared not look back to see how Kai was doing. Kai would have to win or lose his battle on his own.
The second guard made a rush at him, and they closed. They struggled hand-to-hand and blade-to- blade for a moment.
Then Alaire let his legs collapse, and dropped into a back-somersault, catching the guard in the gut with his feet and flipping him over backwards, trying to roll his adversary into the bars and not into the open cell door.
The guard slammed into the bars; Alaire drove both feet into the man's belly, as hard as he could. The guard's eyes bulged out and his cheeks puffed with the impact.
Alaire rolled to the side, and came up on his feet.
The guard was still down, but Alaire did not hesitate.
He stabbed down, even though, at the back of his mind, a tiny portion of himself was stuffing hands into his mouth, horrified at what he was doing.
As he looked up from his bloody work, he saw Kai had won his battle as well; the boy was rising from the guards body, hand and knife dripping blood, face white as snow.
They exchanged a wordless, quick hug; then Alaire bent to the padlock holding Kai's chains to the floor.