War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

to make good on what I offer. A tease is only fun as long as you make good on the offer in the end,” she said with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin.

Kyle went back and forth in his mind as to whether he should play her game. Normally, he would continue the mutual tease and perhaps end up with another conquest by the end of the night. Who knew? There might even be something to her offer, but he was aiming for something new, so it was with great difficulty that he responded, “If at some point you want to speak more clearly, then I would be happy to hear what you have to say, but for now, I need to check upon some matters.”

She laughed for a moment and then grew still. “You aren’t kidding, are you? Not sure when any man has spoken to me like that, let alone a slave. But surely you have needs.” As she spoke, Sissel stood up and crossed the short distance between them, to walk around him.

There was no subtlety to it anymore. She was being brazen and putting all of her charms on display. “Surely you could find some time for me now.”

It took an act of will for Kyle not to take her into his arms as she pressed herself up against him, but as much fun as that might lead to, he wanted to stay in control here. “Not unless you can tell me who this patron is so that I might better gauge your offer.”

She pressed a finger to his lips and made a shushing sound. “Not now, but I assure you they have the highest of authorities.”

Kyle felt his head start to get fuzzy like on the rare occasions that he had more than a single drink. He didn’t know what she was doing to him, but knew it was her. It caused anger to rise up within him and War Essence flooded his system. His thoughts grew clear again and he shook his head, symbolically clearing the haze. “Well, as enticing as this offer is, I am needed elsewhere.”

Then he disengaged her arms from around his neck as gently as he could and stepped back, quickly spinning on his heels. He headed for the door. A part of him expected her to call for the guards but whatever game she was playing, he must be more important to her than he had originally thought.

It was an important lesson he had learned long ago. Once you knew how valuable you were to another party, negotiating became easy. Some simple math told him that if she, a noblewoman, had a patron, then based on the little bit he knew about the politics in Thena, it must be one of the deities. And no matter how much momentary fun he might have had, he needed to think about the long game.

As Kyle walked out of the room, he saw shock register on the faces of the guards. They apparently hadn’t expected him for some time. One of them joked, “What’s the matter, your tool not quite as big as that maul you use in the arena?”

He didn’t even bother to respond because a moment later he heard a woman’s voice screeching in anger and the sound of pottery breaking. The guards rushed into the room and he pushed past the only one still in his way.

No, Hilde was right. It was high time that he formed a team.

And he knew just where to start.

Chapter 30 - Behind the Scenes

Kyle couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto his face when he heard her screech as he left. He even started to hum to himself.

“You really shouldn’t go out of your way to antagonize people like that,” Hilde said.

“You would rather that I had just agreed to serve her patron?” Kyle asked.

“No, nothing like that. She is clearly working for one of the churches. So, she absolutely can’t be trusted. But it is common for the gods to try to seize servants of another god for their own. Perhaps if you had bedded her, she would have been amenable.”

“I already told you about this. I’m not going to use women, or men for that matter. I’m going to build a team. And yeah, it’s not like a tumble with her wouldn’t have been fun, but I’m not looking for fun like that anymore. I know how I screwed up on Earth, and from what you have told me about Krig, he screwed up in much the same way here,” Kyle replied.

“So, you are swearing off sex?” Hilde’s tone held just enough panic in it that Kyle wanted to burst into laughter.

“Hardly, I just want it to mean something.”

A pause followed. He could tell that she wanted to ask him something, but he wasn’t gonna make it easy on her. She had already turned him down once. If they were going to have a relationship beyond allies, then she would have to make the next move. So, when she didn’t speak up, he asked, “You mean that she is serving one of the other gods?”

“No. Well, not directly. If she was, then I think you would be captured or dead. I think it is more likely that she is serving one of the churches and doesn’t know what you actually are, but thought that a war elemental would be a prize to claim,” Hilde said.

“And let me guess, likely Begaer. Whatever spell or skill she hit me with made my head foggy and little Kyle stand at attention like never before,” he replied.

She chuckled. “Little Kyle isn’t so little. Trust me as one who has been on the receiving end.”

There it was again. Fun. He was genuinely having fun with Hilde. She wasn’t even here in the flesh, but talking to her was just starting to become so natural. Oh well, she didn’t seem to see him the same way, so best not to dwell on it too much.

When he found