Читать книгу Sinbad: Rogue of Mars - John Garavaglia - Страница 19

physique. Such strong arms and brightly tanned skin. “A rare quality his kind infrequently possesses.”

“Ah,” confirmed Akhdar, grinning savagely.

He signaled Tarkhun, his right hand man and loyal bodyguard, to bring Sinbad’s confiscated scimitar from the armory. Tarkhun presented it to his lord and master. Akhdar merely waved it away for his majordomo to throw the sword out the balcony and landed several feet in front of Sinbad.

The sailor pulled his reliable sword out of the ground. He took several practice slashes and showed off some of his swordsmanship skills. Aella admiringly watched him from the royal terrace. She fantasied him as both her lover and her guardian. Even though he wasn’t a natural inhabitant to this advanced civilization, this made her infatuation more taboo.

She stared at the handsome outlander and studied him with half lidded eyes at the fluidity of the way he moved. She had seen several of his fights and gathered enough evidence of his power and skill. Then she wondered if he had talents of similar magnitude in other areas of life.

In the corner of his eye Akhdar noticed her coarse ogling and followed her gaze to the human. Disgusting, he thought. Such an affair would damage his image to his faithful followers and his high-class peers.

Akhdar quickly rose from his throne and motioned to his guards on the combat zone.

“Release the moktar!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

His bellowing gave his sister quite a jolt. She broke her fanatical gazing and turned her attention to the arena.

The two strong guards pulled the heavy chains under extreme duress. The sound of gigantic feet thundered behind the door and the vibrations shook the coliseum. Bits of rock shook loose and several stalactites fell into the arena. Sinbad and the guards maneuvered away from the debris. Then the sound of demonic trumpets and growls emerged through the door.

JOHN GARAVAGLIA

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