Regnus Gyre ducked back into a hallway as Brant Agon ran past with a dozen royal guards, and inexplicably, a few fat n.o.bles.
"Long live the king! To the prince!" one of them yelled.
To the prince? The rumors must have been wrong then. Regnus had heard that Aleine Gunder had been murdered last night. The rumors must have been wrong then. Regnus had heard that Aleine Gunder had been murdered last night.
Had the lord general been alone, Regnus would have called out to his old friend, but not with Vin Arturian there. Vin was duty-bound to arrest Regnus, and he would, even if he didn"t like it.
There was shouting in the distance, toward the center of the castle, but Regnus couldn"t make out any words. Having so much happening that he didn"t understand made him anxious, but he could do nothing about whatever was happening elsewhere in the castle. He only had six men, none of them in armor. It had been hard enough to smuggle themselves in as servants and still bring swords. All he could hope to do was find Nalia and get her out of here.
The queen"s chambers were on the second floor of the castle in the northeast quarter. Regnus and his men had been walking through the castle nonchalantly, in two groups of three, trying not to attract the servants" attention, but now he gestured sharply. His men gathered around him, and he started jogging.
They got to the queen"s chamber without running into a single servant or guard. It was unbelievably good luck. Against even a pair of royal guards, who would be armed and armored, Regnus and his unarmored men might all have died.
Regnus pounded on the great door, and then opened it. A lady-in-waiting who"d been about to open the door fell back in surprise.
"You!" she said. "Milady, run! Murderer!"
Nalia Gunder was seated in a rocking chair, embroidery obviously untouched in her lap. She stood immediately, but waved the servant off. "Don"t be a fool. Begone." Her two younger daughters, Alayna and Elise, both looked like they had been crying. They stood uncertainly, neither old enough to recognize Duke Gyre.
"What are you doing here?" Queen Nalia asked. "How did you get here?"
"Your life"s in danger. The man who attacked my estate last night has been hired to kill you tonight. Please, Nal-please, my queen." He looked away.
"My lord," she said. It was how a queen might greet a favored va.s.sal. It was also how a lady might address her husband. In those two words, Regnus heard her say, "I"ve never loved anyone but you." "My lord," she said again. "Regnus, I"ll go wherever you lead, but we can"t go without them. If I"m in danger, they are too."
"Your girls can come along."
"I mean Logan and Jenine. They wed this afternoon."
Long live the king! To the prince! The n.o.bles" brief cries suddenly made sense. They"d abbreviated it: The king is dead; long live the king. They meant long live the new king. The prince. Logan. The n.o.bles" brief cries suddenly made sense. They"d abbreviated it: The king is dead; long live the king. They meant long live the new king. The prince. Logan.
King Gunder was dead. Logan was the new king.
A better man would have had other thoughts first, Regnus knew-a better husband would have had other thoughts first-but his first thought was that Nalia"s husband was dead. The hateful little man who"d caused so much misery was gone; his own wife was gone, too. He and Nalia were both suddenly, miraculously freed from twenty-two years of bondage. Twenty-two years, and what he"d thought was a life sentence had suddenly been commuted.
He"d consigned himself to the satisfactions of a proud father and an able commander, never believing that he"d have anything but marital agony to come home to. Now, happiness wasn"t just a dim possibility, it was here, one step away, beaming at him, eyes full of love. What a difference it would be to come home to Nalia, to share her home, her conversation, her life, her bed.
If she would have him, he could marry Nalia. He would marry her.
The other implications came to him more slowly. Logan was the new king? The genealogists would have nightmares if Regnus and Nalia had children. He didn"t care.
He laughed aloud, his heart was so light. Then he stopped. Agon, the guards, and the n.o.bles had been running to his son, armed with dinner knives.
Logan was in danger. Those men had been running to save him. Logan was in danger, and Regnus had turned aside.
There wasn"t time to explain everything, to tell Nalia that she was free, that Aleine was dead. Regnus had to act. He had no idea how much time they had left.
"They"re in trouble! Follow me!" Regnus shouted, lifting his sword. "We-" something hot lanced through his back and then was gone.
Regnus turned and rubbed his chest, irritated. He saw something black flit into the shadows as blood suddenly bloomed from one of his men"s throats. As if they were marionettes whose strings had been cut, his men fell one after another in rapid succession, dead. Regnus"s hand came away from his chest sticky.
He looked down. Blood was spreading on the front of his tunic over his heart. He looked up at Nalia. The shadow was behind her, holding her. One black hand held her chin up, the other held the long thin short sword that had killed Regnus, but Nalia"s eyes were fixed on him and wide with horror.
"Nalia," he said. He dropped to his knees. His vision was going white. He tried to keep his eyes open, but then he realized his eyes were were open, and it didn"t matter any more. open, and it didn"t matter any more.
Lord General Agon and his ragtag band of n.o.bles and royal guards were not making good time. Through the centuries, the castle had undergone several expansions, and no simplifications. Twice the general"s men had been stopped by a locked door, argued the relative merits of hacking it down or going around, and decided to go another way.
Now they ran down the last hallway to the north tower-the royal guards sprinting, Agon running, and several of the n.o.bles wheezing their way down the long hall. The n.o.bles had long since given up their earlier enthusiastic cries of "to the prince" and "long live King Gyre!" They were saving their breath now.
Agon entered the tower"s antechamber to the sound of men cursing and beating at the door to the stairs.
One of the royal guards, Colonel Gher, was standing at the entrance to the antechamber. "Hurry, my lords," he urged the last two paunchy n.o.bles.
Scanning the room, Lord Agon let the younger, more athletic men attack the thick door to the stairs. The room wasn"t large, barely twenty feet square, spa.r.s.ely furnished, with ceilings so high they were lost in the darkness, and just two doors: one to the stairs and one to the hall. There was no going around this door.
Something wasn"t right. That the door was locked meant that the guards posted here had either been killed or subverted.
Lord General Agon looked over his shoulder to where Colonel Gher was ushering the last n.o.bles into the room. Agon pushed past Logan"s cousin, the fat lord lo-Gyre, and started to shout a warning, but before he could get a word out, Colonel Gher"s mailed fist caught him in the chin.
Falling backward, Agon could only watch from the floor as Colonel Gher slammed the doors and threw the bolt.
One of the royal guards threw his shoulder into the door an instant later, but it held, and a moment later, Agon heard the door being barred.
"Trapped," Lord Urwer said helpfully.
For a moment, everyone in the room stopped. As the Lord General stood with the a.s.sistance of one of the royal guards, he could see the implications. .h.i.tting the men.
If they"d just been betrayed by one of their own, then the attempt on the prince"s life wasn"t isolated or poorly planned. Everything in the last few days had been orchestrated-from Prince Aleine"s death to their own arrival at this dead end. Their odds of surviving weren"t good.
"What do we do, sir?" one of the guards asked.
"Get through that door," Lord Agon said, pointing to the door guarding the stairs. It was probably too late. They would probably find enemy soldiers and dead royals up those stairs. But Agon had long ago learned not to waste time on the battlefield lamenting what you should have done, what you should have seen. Recriminations could come later, if there was a later. the stairs. It was probably too late. They would probably find enemy soldiers and dead royals up those stairs. But Agon had long ago learned not to waste time on the battlefield lamenting what you should have done, what you should have seen. Recriminations could come later, if there was a later.
The guards had renewed their a.s.sault on the door when the tw.a.n.g-hiss of a crossbow bolt rang out.
A royal guard went down, his mailed chest pierced as easily as if he"d been wearing silk. Agon cursed and stared around the room for murder holes in the walls. He could see none.
The men looked around wildly, trying to guard against an enemy that attacked from nowhere.
Tw.a.n.g-hiss. Another guard stumbled into his comrades and fell dead. Another guard stumbled into his comrades and fell dead.
Agon and the men looked up into the darkness. A low-hanging chandelier destroyed their chances of seeing beyond it. A low laugh echoed out of the gloom it hid.
Guards and n.o.bles alike scrambled for whatever cover they could find, but there was precious little to be had.
One soldier rolled behind a thickly stuffed wing-backed chair. A n.o.ble tore a portrait of Sir Robin from a wall and held it before himself like a shield.
"The door!" Agon barked, though his heart was clouding with despair. There was no way out. The man or men shooting them not only had numbers and traitors in the castle, they also knew the castle"s secrets. The paranoid King Hurlak had honeycombed his expansion of the castle with secret rooms and spy holes. Because he knew where they were, this a.s.sa.s.sin had merely to sit in place and murder them all. There was no way to stop him.
Tw.a.n.g-hiss. The soldier sitting behind the great chair stiffened as the bolt tore through the chair"s back and penetrated his. The a.s.sa.s.sin was letting them know the hopelessness of their plight. The soldier sitting behind the great chair stiffened as the bolt tore through the chair"s back and penetrated his. The a.s.sa.s.sin was letting them know the hopelessness of their plight.
"The door!" Agon shouted.
With the kind of courage many commanders would demand but few would get, the rest of the guards jumped up and began hacking at the door. They knew that some of them would die doing it, but they also knew it was their only way out, their only hope for life.
Tw.a.n.g-hiss. Another royal guard crumpled in the middle of a swing at the door. Lord Ungert, weakly holding the portrait before himself, wailed like a little girl. Another royal guard crumpled in the middle of a swing at the door. Lord Ungert, weakly holding the portrait before himself, wailed like a little girl.
Tw.a.n.g-hiss. A soldier seemed to leap sideways as a bolt punched through his ear hole and threw him bloodily into the doorframe. A soldier seemed to leap sideways as a bolt punched through his ear hole and threw him bloodily into the doorframe.
A rent appeared in the door. One of the remaining three royal guards gave a shout of triumph.
An arrow flew in through the gash in the door and buried itself in his shoulder. The man spun around once before a bolt from above clove his spine.
Both of the last two guards snapped. One dropped his sword and fell to his knees. "Please," he begged. "Please no. Please no. Please..."
The last was Captain Arturian. He attacked the door like a man possessed. He was a strong man, and the door shuddered and rocked under his blows, the gap widening, stretching to reach the latch.
He dodged as two arrows sped through the hole and past his head, then attacked once more. Another arrow streaked past Vin Arturian, and Agon saw his head whip back. His cheek had been grazed, cut in a neat line, his ear sliced in half.
Screaming, Captain Arturian threw his sword through the hole like a spear. He grabbed the latch and tore it out of the door, jerking as an arrow went into his arm and out the other side. Ignoring it, he seized the door and heaved, tearing it from the frame.
Five Khalidoran archers wearing Cenarian livery stood on the stairs with arrows drawn. Six swordsmen and a wytch stood behind them. Another archer lay at their feet, the guard"s sword sprouting from his stomach. The five archers released their arrows simultaneously.
Riddled with arrows, Captain Vin Arturian dropped backward. His body landed next to the guard on his knees, who shrieked.
Tw.a.n.g-hiss. The shriek ended in a gurgle and the young man fell, drowning in his own blood. The shriek ended in a gurgle and the young man fell, drowning in his own blood.
Then came one of those eerily normal moments in the chaos of battle that Lord Agon had seen before but could never get used to.
One of the archers handed his bow off, stepped into the room, and grabbed the door. "Excuse me," he said to the captain he"d just helped kill. His voice wasn"t sarcastic, simply polite. He pulled the door out of the captain"s death-clenched fingers, stepped back into the stairwell and propped the door in place as Lord Agon and the n.o.bles watched him.
In that no-time before reality came crushing back into place, Lord Agon looked at the n.o.bles. They looked at him. These were the men who"d been willing to put their own lives at stake to rescue the prince. Brave men, if some of them fools, he thought as he looked at Lord Ungert shielding himself with a painting. These were the men he"d led to death.
The trap was clever. The "Gyre servant" who"d announced the attack on Logan had doubtless been one of the usurper"s men. The ploy not only split the royal guard, taking most of them away from the Great Hall, it also neatly separated the wheat from the chaff. The lords who had come with Agon weren"t even exactly the men he himself would have expected to defend Prince Logan, but they were all men who had shown their loyalties in the only way that mattered-with their actions. defend Prince Logan, but they were all men who had shown their loyalties in the only way that mattered-with their actions.
By killing these men, the Khalidor would eliminate the very men most likely to oppose them. Brilliant.
Under the sound of the dying soldier"s gurgling and rasping breath, Agon heard another sound. His ears identified it immediately. It was a crossbow"s windla.s.s being cranked.
Click-click-clack. Click-click-clack.
"So you know whom to curse as you die," a voice, darkly amused, said from his hideout above them. "I"m Prince Roth Ursuul."
"Ursuul!" Lord Braeton cursed.
"Oh, it"s an honor then," Lord lo-Gyre said.
The bolt caught lo-Gyre through his fat stomach and struck with such force that it tore out of his back, taking a good part of his viscera with it. He sat roughly against a wall.
Several of the lords d.a.m.ned Ursuul as he had invited. Some went to comfort Lord lo-Gyre, wheezing and shaking on the floor. Lord General Agon remained standing. Death would find him on his feet.
Click-click-clack. Click-click-clack.
"I want to thank you, Lord General," Roth said. "You have served me well. First you killed the king for me-a nice bit of treason, that-and then despite that, you were able to lead these men to my trap. You will be rewarded well."
"What?" old Lord Braeton asked, looking at Brant with alarm. "Say it"s not true, Brant."
The next bolt went through Lord Braeton"s heart.
"It"s a lie," Lord Agon said, but Lord Braeton was dead.
Click-click-clack. Click-click-clack.
Lord Ungert looked at Agon, terrified. The canvas shook in his hands. "Please, tell him to stop," he begged Agon as he saw that he was the last n.o.ble standing. "I didn"t even want to follow you. My wife made me."
A small hole appeared in Sir Robin"s painted shield and Lord Ungert staggered backward. For a long moment, he stood against the wall, grimacing, canvas still in hand. He looked disgusted, as if the canvas should have stopped the crossbow bolt. Then he fell on the painting, breaking the frame to splinters.
Click-click-clack. Click-click-clack.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Lord lo-Gyre said between thin gasps, staring at Lord General Agon. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
The next bolt hit Lord lo-Gyre between the eyes.
Lord General Agon raised his sword defiantly.
Roth laughed. "I wasn"t lying, Lord General. You"ll have your reward."
"I"m not afraid," Lord General Agon said.
Click-click-clack. Click-click-clack. The bolt hit Agon"s knee and he felt bones shatter. He stumbled to the chair and fell. Moments later, another bolt tore through his elbow. It felt like it had torn his arm off. He barely held himself sitting on the floor, clutching the arm of the chair like a man drowning. The bolt hit Agon"s knee and he felt bones shatter. He stumbled to the chair and fell. Moments later, another bolt tore through his elbow. It felt like it had torn his arm off. He barely held himself sitting on the floor, clutching the arm of the chair like a man drowning.
"My wetboy told me I could trust you to run blindly into this trap. After all, you were stupid enough to trust him," Roth said.
"Blint!"
"Yes. But he didn"t tell me you"d betray your king! That was delicious. And marrying Lord Gyre into the royal family? Friend of yours, isn"t he? You cost Logan his life with that. I know you"re not afraid to die, Lord General," Roth said. "The reward I give you is your life. Go live with your shame. Go on, now. Crawl away, little bug."
"I"ll spend the rest of my sorry life hunting you down." Agon said between gritted teeth.
"No, you won"t. You"re a whipped dog, Brant. You could have stopped me. Instead, you helped me every step of the way. My men and I are going upstairs now. The prince and princess will die because you didn"t stop me. So why would I kill you? I couldn"t have done this without you."
Roth left the lord general there, gasping on the floor. Shattered.