The prince stepped forward and punched Jig in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. As he lay there staring at the beauty of the ceiling, he wondered if there was any reason to stand again. Not if people were going to keep hitting him, he decided. No, he would stay right here. If the gods were just, Barius would at least chip his sword on the floor when he finished Jig off.

His eyes traced one of the blue whirls toward the center of the ceiling, where it vanished into the water. Yes, this is much better. As long as I don’t move, nothing hurts. I should have thought of this from the beginning. They could have killed me and been done with it. At least I would have died comfortable.

He wondered what was taking Barius so long. Maybe he doesn’t want to chip his sword. Jig grinned. The prince would be so offended if he damaged his weapon on a mere goblin. Smiling turned out to be a mistake. The prince’s blow had split his upper lip, and his amusement vanished with a hiss of pain.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax as he waited. This is why goblins make such poor adventurers , he concluded. A few blows to the head, and Jig was out of commission. Well, to be fair, he had also been flung out of a whirlpool into a stone room. That cut on his arm hadn’t helped, either. And he’d be in better shape if he had eaten a real meal in the past day and a half. Still real heroes were the men who shrugged off a half-dozen arrows and continued to fight. Goblins tended to run and scream if they stubbed their toe on a rock.

A strong hand grabbed his injured arm. Until that moment, Jig had thought he was ready to die. He had been expecting it all along, ever since Porak sent him off alone. Death should have been a relief. But as powerful fingers pulled him into a sitting position, Jig realized the waiting wasn’t so bad after all. Perhaps he could stand to put things off for a mite longer. He raised his other arm to protect his head and kicked blindly.

“Here now, none of that,” Darnak grumbled.

The alcohol on Darnak’s breath was enough to knock Jig backward, even with his nostrils half-clogged by blood. His eyes snapped open. “What?” Where was Barius? Why wasn’t Jig dead yet?

“I know what you did,” Darnak said in a low voice. “True, she hates you now. And that wouldn’t have helped her against normal poison, but you may have saved her life.”

“I did?”