“Yes,” I said. “I think we do.” And in the turn of a second, the smugness was gone. His eyes widened in wonder.
“And now,” I said, “Venda has no Komizar either.”
A swift act. One that was easy.
I pulled my knife from his side and plunged it in again, twisting for good measure, feeling the blade cut through his flesh, ready to plunge it in again and again, but he stumbled back several paces, finally comprehending what I had done. He fell against the wall near the portal, staring at the red stain spreading across his shirt. Now he was the one who was incredulous. He drew his knife from its sheath, but he was too weak to step forward, and it spilled from his hand. His sword remained useless at his side. He looked back at me in disbelief and slid to the ground, his face twisted in pain.
I walked closer and stood over him, kicking his knife away. “You were wrong, Komizar. It’s much easier to kill a man than a horse.”
“I’m not dead yet,” he said between labored breaths.
“You will be soon. I know about vital organs, and though I’m certain you have no heart, your guts are in pieces now.”
“It’s not over,” he gasped.
I heard shouts and turned. Though the people below couldn’t see what I’d done, those on the high wall on the far side of the square had seen. They were already running, trying to find the quickest route to the terrace, but Kaden and Griz charged through the portal first. Griz pushed both halves of the heavy portal door shut behind him and wedged a bar through the iron pulls.
Kaden looked at the blood on my hands and dress, and the knife still in my grip. “By the gods, Lia, what have you done?” And then he spotted Aster’s lifeless body lying in the snow.
“Kill her,” the Komizar yelled with renewed energy. “She won’t be the next Komizar! Kill her now!” he demanded, choking on his breaths.
Kaden stepped over to him and knelt on one knee, looking at his wound. He reached across and pulled the Komizar’s sword from its scabbard and faced me.
Griz’s hand went warily to one of the swords at his side.
Kaden held the weapon out to me. “You might need this. Somehow we’re going to have to get you out of here.”
“What are you doing?” the Komizar screamed. He slumped further to the ground. “You owe me everything. We’re Rahtan. We’re brothers!”
Kaden’s expression was as grieved as the Komizar’s. “Not anymore,” he answered.
Even as he lay dying, the Komizar continued to issue demands, but Kaden turned back to me, ignoring him—and then we heard the trampling of heavy boots on steps. Rafe appeared at the head of the stairs where I was supposed to have fled already. Jeb and another man stood behind him.
They walked toward us, taking in the scene, and slowly Rafe drew his sword. His men did the same. Kaden looked from Rafe to me. His eyes flooded with understanding. He knew.
“I’m leaving, Kaden,” I said, hoping to avoid a clash. “Don’t try to stop me.”
His expression hardened. “With him.”
I swallowed. I could see it in every twitch of his jaw. He had already guessed, but I said it anyway. “Yes. With Prince Jaxon of Dalbreck.” There was no turning back now.
“You always meant to.”
I nodded.
His gaze faltered. He couldn’t hide the pain of my betrayal.
“Step away from her,” Rafe warned, still cautiously advancing.
Suddenly Griz grabbed my arm, dragging me to the wall where the crowds still waited. He raised my hand to the sky before them. “Your Komizar! Your queen! Jezelia!”
The crowds roared.
I looked at Griz, horrified.
Kaden’s face was equally shocked. “Are you mad?” he yelled at Griz. “She’ll never survive! Do you know what the Council will do to her?”
Griz looked out at the cheering crowds. “This is bigger than the Council,” he answered.
“She’ll die just the same!” Kaden said.
Rafe pulled me from Griz’s grip, and then the world seemed to explode. The portal doors burst open, the iron bar flying loose, and Rahtan flooded in, governors following on their heels. The first blows came from Malich, who focused all his energy on Kaden, brutal and hungry. Kaden deflected his first strikes and advanced, the fierce clang of metal on metal juddering in the air. Theron and Jorik came at Griz, their assault relentless and violent, but Griz was a giant wielding two swords, and he met them blow for blow, driving them back.
Rafe felled one guard after another, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Kaden against the onslaught.
Governor Obraun advanced toward me, and I lifted my sword to strike when he suddenly turned and dealt a death blow to Darius. The governor was fighting on our side? His own mute guard fought beside him, but now he was yelling with a voice that was loud and clear, warning Jeb of someone charging from the side. Governor Faiwell battled beside Jeb, as did two of my assigned guards. None of it made sense. Who fought against whom? The melee of screams and clattering swords was deafening. In one swing, Rafe brought down Gurtan and Stavik and moved on to more. He was frightening in his power, a force I didn’t even recognize.
The grunts of battle and the sickening crunch of bone filled the air. They had hemmed me in behind their backs. I was clearly the target of those advancing. My own sword was useless. I tried to break through to help, but Griz pushed me back.
Malich’s expression was wild as he attacked Kaden, driven by more than just duty. A scream pierced the air when Griz finally thrust his sword between Theron’s ribs, but Jorik swung, and his sword sliced Griz’s side. Griz fell to one knee grasping his ribs and Jorik raised his sword to finish the job. Before he could plunge it into Griz, I threw the knife still in my hand. It hit Jorik dead center in the throat, and he stumbled backward. He was dead before his body ever hit the ground. Griz managed to get back to his feet, still wielding one sword while he held his injured side. Blood was everywhere, and the snow was a slushy red. A bloodbath.
The onslaught slowed, and at last the numbers seemed in our favor.
“Get her out of here!” Kaden yelled. “Before more come!”
Rafe yelled to the not-so-mute guard to clear the stairs and ordered me to follow, then laid a deathblow on Chievdar Dietrik, who had charged toward him, determined not to let me go.
“This way, girl!” Governor Obraun grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the stairs. Another man ran with us. I heard Jeb call him Tavish, and the mute guard, Orrin. Rafe followed behind, guarding our backs. I looked back and saw Kaden, Griz, Faiwell, and the two guards holding off those remaining on the terrace. Gods help them when more came. Surely all of the soldiers’ barracks had been alerted by now.
We hurried down the stairs to the second level and turned into the portal, the plan gone horribly off course. As soon as we passed through the heavy door, it slammed shut, and I looked back to see Calantha bolting it.
“Calantha,” I said, stunned.
“Hurry!” she yelled.
“You can’t stay now. Come with us.”
“I’ll be all right,” she answered. “No one knows I’m here. Go.”
“But—”
“This is my home,” she said firmly.
There wasn’t time to argue with her, but I saw a resolve in her face that hadn’t been there before. We exchanged a last knowing nod, and I ran.
Rafe now led the way with me just behind him. It was a long dark corridor, and our footsteps echoed through it like thunder, but then the sound doubled and we knew we had guards charging toward us from the opposite direction.
“Down here!” I shouted, turning toward a path I had traveled with Aster. “It will take us to the catacombs.” I led them on the twisting path and then down a long flight of steps. When we reached the bottom, I heard loud shuffling. I put my finger to my lips and mouthed, Someone’s coming. Jeb pushed past me. I tried to stop him, but Rafe nodded to let him go.
He stepped out from the landing into the light, and I saw him t
ransform back into the patty clapper. He smiled and a guard came into view, asking him if he had seen anyone run past. When Jeb pointed in one direction, the guard turned, and in a lightning-quick motion, Jeb snapped his neck.
“It’s clear,” he called to us. “He was the only one.”
We ran through the narrow catacombs and down trails that led us through the caverns. We were so deep in the earth I knew the scholars had no way of knowing that a war had been unleashed above them. The few who saw us running past were stunned into silence, confused over what was going on. They only conjured wars; they didn’t fight them. I turned at the pathway of skulls. “This will take us to the river,” I said. When we heard the roar of the falls, the one called Tavish pushed in front to lead us to the raft. About a hundred yards down, we stepped out of the tunnel into the mist from the river. The ground was slick and icy.
“This way!” Tavish called over the din, but then four soldiers emerged from another tunnel that emptied onto the river and a new battle ignited. Rafe, Jeb, Obraun, and Tavish ran forward to intercept the assault. Orrin and I took on more guards who ran toward us from the tunnel we’d just left. I stepped to the side, hidden from view, and when the first came through, I swung, catching him in the neck. Orrin took the next one, and we both downed the third. I caught him in the ribs, and when he stumbled forward, Orrin gored his back.
Rafe yelled for us to get to the raft, that they would catch up, and Orrin pulled me along a bank and down a trail of rocks, with Tavish following close behind. We came to an outcropping of rocks, and panic gripped me. I saw no raft, but Tavish jumped. I thought he’d gone straight into the river, but then I saw him on the raft nearly hidden by mist and rock.
“Jump!” he ordered.
“Not without Rafe!” I said.
“He’ll be here! Jump!” The raft strained against the ropes that secured it to the bank. Orrin gave me a nudge, and we both jumped.
“Stay low!” Tavish said, and told me to grab one of the knotted ropes to hold on.
The raft pitched and rolled, even in the calmest waters near the shore. I stayed low as Tavish ordered, gripping the rope to stabilize myself. Even through the mist, I could see the high cliffs above us, guards and soldiers traversing the trails downward. They seemed to multiply like feverish insects determined to swarm over us. Everywhere we looked, we saw more coming. They spotted us as well and arrows began flying, but they fell short and landed on the shore. Jeb and Obraun arrived and jumped down with us. “Rafe’s coming!” Jeb said. “Get ready to lift the ties!” His shoulder was bleeding, and blood drenched Obraun’s arm. Orrin and Tavish reached for the ropes securing the raft.
“Not yet!” I said. “Wait! Wait until he’s here!”
The soldiers scrambling down the wall of rock to the river were getting closer, their arrows falling dangerously near, but suddenly arrows started flying in the other direction, toward them. I turned to see Orrin letting loose a firestorm of arrows. Soldiers tumbled from ledges. Orrin managed to slow their assault, but there were always more to replace the men he took down.
We heard a terrifying scream through the mist and every drop of blood in me burned with fear. I saw Jeb and Obraun exchange an anxious glance.
“Free the ropes,” Obraun ordered.
“No!” I cried.
But just then, Rafe broke through the haze and was running toward us. “Go!” he yelled, and Tavish set the ropes free. A powerful explosion ripped through the air. Rafe leapt to the raft as it was already moving from shore, barely crossing the expanse, and pieces of rock rained down around us. He grabbed the knotted rope I shoved in his hand. “That should keep the bridge out of commission for at least a month,” he said. It was more than I had expected of the small flask of clear liquid.
We were rapidly swept into the current, and the raft pitched and jumped in the violent waters. With Obraun and Jeb both injured, Tavish and Orrin took over the rudder and somehow managed to steer the bobbing barrels through the treacherous current, away from shore. But we weren’t far enough away yet. I spotted Malich perched on a boulder, easily within range. Dear gods. What had happened to Kaden?
Malich’s bow was loaded and aimed at Rafe’s back. I jumped forward to push Rafe down as the raft spun in an eddy and I was tossed to the side. A fiery pain jolted my thigh. Even through the violent rocking, I saw Malich smile. It wasn’t Rafe he was aiming at. It was me.
“Lia!” Rafe shouted, and scrambled toward me, but not before another arrow hit my back. It burned like a glowing ember searing into my flesh. I couldn’t catch my breath. Rafe’s hand grabbed my arm, but I still tumbled backward as the raft rolled and pitched. I plunged into the icy water. Rafe’s hand held tight, fiercely digging into my arm, but the current was strong and my heavy dress quickly became weighted with water like an anchor pulling me down. I tried to kick it away, but it circled around my legs, binding them as tightly as rope. The river was numbing and wild, water rushing into my face, choking me, and the current was too much for Rafe’s grip. The fabric of my sleeve began ripping loose. I tried to lift my other arm, but it wouldn’t move, as if the arrow had pinned it to my side. Two sets of hands were grappling at my arm and shoulder, trying to get a better hold in the wild swirl of water, but then a quick suck of gushing water pulled me free from them. I was swept into the icy waters away from the raft. Rafe jumped in after me.
We tumbled through the current, his arms reaching me again and again but being pulled away as many times, the water covering our heads, both of us gasping for air, with the raft nowhere in sight. He reached me at last, his arm circling my waist, trying frantically to rip the dress off. “Hold on, Lia.”
“I love you,” I cried, even as I choked on water. If there were to be last words he heard from me, I wanted it to be those. And then I felt us sliding, tumbling, the world turning upside down, and I lost sight of him, lost sight of everything, the wretched dress the Komizar had made me wear pulling me under as if he were tugging at me from beneath the water himself, getting the last say, until finally I couldn’t fight against its weight any longer, and my icy world went black.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
RAFE
I had walked the riverbank for miles, searching everywhere. I wouldn’t accept that she was gone. I was numb with the cold and uncertain how much time had passed. I never caught sight of the raft again and wondered if the others had made it. With every step, I retraced the events, trying to understand how everything had gone wrong. I saw the child, Aster, again, her body lying in the snow, and the knife in Lia’s hand. I saw the Komizar too, slumped against the wall and bleeding. There hadn’t been time to put the pieces together then, and I still couldn’t.
My thoughts just kept going back to Lia. I’d had her. I’d had her in my arms and then we were tumbling in the falls and she slipped from my grasp. I’d had her, and the river ripped her away.
The current was fast and relentless. I wasn’t sure how I had made it to shore myself. By the time I did, I was miles downriver, and my limbs were frozen. Somehow I had dragged myself up on the bank and forced my legs to move, praying she had done the same. I couldn’t accept anything else.
I slipped on an icy rock and fell to my knees, feeling my strength fading. That was when I spotted her ahead, facedown on the bank, settling into the earth as if she were already a part of it, her fingers lifeless in the mud and snow.
Blood stained her back where the arrow had entered. Only a broken stub remained. I ran and dropped to her side, gently turning her and pulling her into my arms. Her lips were blue, but a soft moan escaped them.
“Lia,” I whispered. I brushed the snow from her lashes.
Her eyelids fluttered open. It took her a moment to see who I was. “Which side of the river are we on?” she asked, her voice so weak I could barely hear her.
“Our side.”
A faint smile creased her eyes. “Then we made it.”
I looked up, surveying our surroundings. We were miles from anywhere, wi
thout horses, food, or warmth, and she lay badly injured and bleeding in my arms, her face the color of death.
“Yes, Lia, we made it.” My chest shook, and I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Then why are you weeping?”
“I’m not. It’s only—” I held her closer, trying to share what little warmth I had. “We should have stayed. We should have—”
“He would have killed me eventually. You know that. He was already weary of the little power he shared with me. And if not the Komizar, his Council would have done the job.”
With each word, her voice became fainter.
“Don’t leave me, Lia. Promise you won’t leave me.”
She reached up and wiped the tears from my face. “Rafe,” she whispered, “we made it this far. What’s another thousand miles or two?”
Her eyes drifted closed, and her head lolled to the side. I put my lips to hers, desperately searching for her breaths. They were shallow and weak, but still there.
We made it this far. I didn’t even know where we were. We were lost on a riverbank with miles of dark forest surrounding us, but I scooped one arm under her knees and the other carefully behind her back and stood. I kissed her one more time, my lips gently resting on hers, trying to bring back their color. And I began walking. A thousand miles, or two, I would carry her all the way to Dalbreck if I had to. No one would pry her from my arms again.
We already had three steps behind us.
“Hold on, Lia,” I whispered.
Hold on for me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Wow. Another book is done? My head is still spinning from the publication of the first book. More than ever I know the birth of this book is by some miracle and the help and support of so many.
First, bloggers, tweeters, booktubers. Oh my. ARCs for The Kiss of Deception came out quite early and you jumped on it. You blogged, tweeted, squealed, spread the word, and encouraged me enormously. And pestered for the next. That kind of pestering rocks. Your belief in Lia’s story bolstered my own. You kept me going.
The Heart of Betrayal Page 33