by M. Lynn
Someone barreled into Helena, sending her rolling down the steps as an arrow sailed through the space she’d been standing.
She pushed at the man on top of her. If they wanted to arrest her, she wouldn’t go without a fight.
“Len, stop.”
She stilled her hands, finally focusing on the man’s face. “Dell.” She breathed his name and everything from the past few moments struck her full force. A sob ripped past her lips. “I killed your brother.”
Dell rolled off her and pulled her to her feet to avoid getting trampled. A wave of water, pulled from the river, broke over the crowd, and the screams intensified.
Tyson was there.
Her breaths came rapidly until it seemed no air entered her chest. She gasped, trying to suck in oxygen as she saw what she’d done. Kassander lay trapped under Reed’s still form. The knife Reed had given her now protruded from its owner’s chest.
Blood seeped through his jacket.
Taking in the scrambling crowd, she noticed Cole had disappeared.
Fighting broke out near the gates.
“The rebels are here,” Dell said into her ear.
She barely heard him as she ran to where Alex freed Kassander. Her brother sobbed when he saw her.
She squeezed him to her chest. “Stick by me, Kass.” She searched the crowd. “I need a weapon.”
Alex leaned down, drawing Reed’s sword from the scabbard at his waist, handing it to her. She didn’t stop to thank him as she pushed through the crowd, running down the steps to where Estevan struggled against the ties binding his wrists and ankles.
She was so relieved to see him moving, she almost threw her arms around him. When he’d screamed and gone still, she thought she’d die right along with him.
At her touch, he flinched. “Stev, it’s me.”
His body relaxed. “Len.”
“Yeah, it’s Len. I’m going to get you out of here.” She flicked her gaze over her shoulder to where a line of guards approached, weapons ready.
“We must take the prisoner back into the palace for his own safety,” one of them said.
Helena knew what they meant. They had to make sure he didn’t escape.
She opened her mouth to speak, knowing Dell and Alex wouldn’t be a match for all of them.
But another voice cut in. “We can’t let you do that.” Quinn stepped in front of Helena.
“Sir,” the guard in charge narrowed his eyes. “The king’s orders…”
“Cole Rhodipus is not the king of Madra,” Helena said, her voice ringing loud and clear. “He is a usurper who murdered his own father for power. Reed and Ian Tenyson were his puppet masters, putting ideas into his mind. How many of you have seen the starvation in the streets as the so-called king cut off all foreign trade? How many have had family members apprehended for being suspected rebels when they were nothing of the sort? Has Cole asked you to leave everything you believe in behind?” She paused, examining her audience. No one moved to stop her.
“Tradition has always been important to Madra, but it has been wielded as a weapon by our kings.” She lifted a hand to the back of her head, untying the mask and letting it drift to the cobblestones beneath her. “That doesn’t mean it should be nothing to us. Have we forgotten what makes Madra great? What has always made Madra great?”
She shook her head. “I have not forgotten because I feel it. And so do you. We’re supposed to take care of each other. To take care of anyone needing our aid, whether they are Madran or not. To protect our lands from the acts of those who would do evil.” She pointed to Estevan. “Is this not evil? Is this what Madra stands for?”
Helena slipped her sword under the edge of one of Stev’s bindings. To her surprise, two of the guards moved to cut the other ties. The rest of their unit, along with a group of Madran citizens who’d heard her every word turned away from her, standing as guards against any who’d take Stev away again.
Quinn cut the final rope, and a groan gurgled in Stev’s throat.
Helena examined the open wounds on his back. Reed may have been behind Cole’s lust for power, but Cole wasn’t innocent in any of it. He’d chosen this.
And now he had to pay.
She lifted her eyes to Dell and Quinn. “Find the man who stole my brother’s throne.”
Quinn insisted on being one of the men to help Stev himself. Careful to avoid the cuts on his back, he helped Dell lift Stev, looping an arm over each of their shoulders. Helena winced when she took in his pale face.
Sounds of battle circulated around them, but the guards who’d flipped to their side provided a barrier as they climbed the steps.
Rebels fought Cole’s people while ordinary citizens scrambled for the closed gates, herding themselves against them.
Alex followed Helena’s gaze. “Someone needs to get those gates open before those who do not wish to fight are lost.” His eyes brightened as he caught sight of the woman Helena now saw.
Persinette Basile, queen of Bela, fought two men at once as if it was what she was meant to do. Helena had seen her in training, but it was nothing like this. The stories about her became more real. Maybe she was as strong as the mythical figure they’d heard about in the minstrels’ songs.
As if sensing her husband’s gaze, she glanced up, her face brightening. Without breaking the stare, she slammed her knee into one guard while slicing her sword through the back of the other’s legs. They both fell.
“The gate,” Alex yelled, pointing to the now unmanned gatehouse.
Dodging other fighting pairs, Etta raised her arms over her head. Bright green vines shot up the gates from the ground. Stone broke apart, sending rubble showering down. She yanked her hands back, and the vines tightened.
The parts that Cole repaired after the explosions of the first rebellion hadn’t had time to strengthen. They were the first to fall. Tyson stepped up beside Etta, using the force of his magic to pull water from the ground and prevent the rocks from crushing the crowd below.
Helena’s jaw fell open when he stopped, and a sea of rocks now stood where the gates had. Dell was the first to speak. “Couldn’t she just have fought her way to the gatehouse and opened them?”
Alex laughed, a sound so foreign in that moment. “That would have been easier.” He rubbed his face. “Living among the magic folk, I’ve learned they think with their power before anything else. Believe it or not, that’s the third time Etta has destroyed a castle’s gates.”
Helena shook her head as she turned away from the crowd of people pushing through what was now a hole in the wall around the palace. “Come on.”
She took the steps two at a time, knowing the others would catch up. Alex kept stride with her along with another rebel man she didn’t know.
The fight hadn’t reached inside the palace yet, and the silence slammed into them. Every guard who’d been on duty was now out amidst the battle. Guards. Rebels. They each thought they were fighting for the soul of the kingdom.
Helena was fighting for her family.
Alex glanced down the hall. “We need to get to Edmund.” Something akin to fear flashed across his face.
Helena didn’t ask why Edmund hadn’t come out to the demonstration. Only something of extreme importance would have kept him from Stev.
She followed Alex until they heard the crash of steel on steel.
Unconscious guards littered the hall and up ahead, two figures fought. One of them seemed no match for the other.
“He’s exhausted,” Alex breathed. “He’s used too much magic.”
She glanced at the still guards again. Edmund had done all of this?
Alex took off running, and Helena wasn’t far behind. Cole had Edmund pinned against the wall as Edmund fought off his attacks.
“You don’t belong here,” Cole growled.
Edmund lifted his chin in defiance. Blond hair clung to his forehead and cheeks, sticky with sweat. His eyes blazed. “You don’t deserve them.”
Cole knocked
Edmund’s sword away, and it clattered to the ground. He leaned forward. “I deserve anything I take.”
Helena was still too far away to stop him as Cole raised his sword.
“He’s too weak to use his magic.” Alex picked up speed, but they both knew he wouldn’t make it.
Blood pumped through her veins, and it was as if she could feel every bit of it drain from her body. Not Edmund. He was too good. Too loyal. Too kind-hearted. Cole couldn’t take him. Not like he took everything else. Tears burned her eyes, but she didn’t stop moving.
“Cole,” a voice cried from behind her. “Cole, don’t.”
Helena turned so quickly she almost fell. Kassander had followed her inside.
Cole froze, finally seeing all of them. That single moment was all Alex needed to reach them. He dropped his shoulder, slamming into Cole and sending them both sprawling to the ground. He gripped Cole’s wrist and slammed it against the stone floor until the sword fell from his grasp.
Edmund slumped against the wall, gasping for air.
Kassander streaked past Helena.
Alex pinned Cole’s arms. He might not have won in a sword fight, but his strength overpowered the pretend king’s. Helena stopped at Edmund’s side, looking into his eyes. “You okay?”
He nodded wordlessly, bending forward to put his hands on his knees.
Cole kneed Alex in the groin and pushed him off before lunging for his sword. He leaped to his feet, facing all of them.
Kass raised a tear-stained face to their brother. “You don’t have to do this.”
Regret flashed in Cole’s eyes, but it was gone so quickly, Helena thought she’d imagined it. “You haven’t left me any choice.” He straightened. “You are under arrest for treason against the crown.”
“Treason.” Helena sucked in a breath. “What about your treason, Brother? What about when you betrayed the crown? When will you pay for that?”
Cole tightened his grip on his sword. “Your father had betrayed Madra with his foreign wars. I saved us.”
“Our.”
“What?”
She raised her voice. “Our father, Cole. You might want to feel better about slaughtering the man, but there’s no changing the fact he was your father as well. He wasn’t perfect, I know. But what about us, Cole? Does Kassander deserve to be a prisoner in the palace?”
His face tightened in sadness, and he lowered his sword slightly. “I gave you all the option to stand with me. To be allies instead of prisoners… and yet, you chose these foreign monarchs and low-born rebels.”
Helena took a step forward against her own judgment. “You killed my mother.” She took another step. “Whipped my brother.” She stopped when the tip of his sword was only inches away. “And raised fists to me. Are you going to kill me now, Brother?”
A unit of guards entered the hall and relief flooded Cole’s eyes. “Guards, arrest them!”
Their long strides quickened as they tried to reach their king. Helena didn’t take her eyes from Cole despite the tip of the sword now touching her chest. One movement from him and she’d be dead, unable to save Kassander and Stev. No good to Dell.
But what good was she to them if she didn’t fight for them? If she didn’t swallow her fear.
“Arrest them!” Cole screamed again, his eyes bouncing wildly.
The stern-faced guards stopped moving and stood still for a moment, staring at their would-be king. The one in front, lifted his chin. “Cole Rhodipus, surrender your weapons.”
Cole’s jaw clenched, and his eyes slid along the blade for a moment before he took a step back.
Helena released a breath and rubbed her chest in the spot the blade had touched. A tiny dot of blood smeared across her skin, dripping down onto the bodice of her gown.
She saw the signs seconds before Cole made a move. Helena had spent many years watching her brothers at swordplay. His fingers tightened, twisting around the hilt as they always did when he was preparing to lunge. Since he was younger, it had taken his mind a while to catch up with his body.
But it wasn’t enough time. All Helena could do as Cole swung his sword was push Alex out of the way.
The blade bit deep into the stomach of the rebel who’d come with them. His big frame stumbled back.
“Orlo,” Edmund groaned.
“Stay there, Edmund.” Alex ran to Orlo’s side as the guards jumped to action.
Edmund tried to push his weakened body off the wall. The stories called him one of the greatest warriors in the Draconian war but now he couldn’t fight.
Helena watched as Cole fought two men at once.
Heart thudding in her chest, she dodged a guard as he stumbled back, a gash in his stomach. He dropped to the floor as Helena reached Edmund.
“I need to help them.” Edmund tried to step away from the wall’s support again and stumbled back.
Helena gripped his arm. “You’d only get yourself killed, and Stev wouldn’t survive that.”
He lifted his eyes to hers. “You’ve seen him?” Thickness choked his words.
Helena rested her forehead against his. “We’re all going to get out of this.”
Before he could stop her, Helena ducked away from him, and slipped around the guard who was holding Kass back from the fight. Orlo lay unmoving, his blade beside him. Alex had already joined the fight. There was no one left to stop her.
The princess of Madra grabbed the sword, its weight foreign in her hands. She prowled toward Cole, standing with his back to her. His arms struck in fluid motions, never making a mistake.
But he already had made a mistake. He’d killed her parents and let her live. He’d underestimated her. She was no longer the masked princess of Madra, meant to be neither seen nor heard.
She’d traveled foreign kingdoms, consorted with mercenaries. She’d been a prisoner, a warrior and watched too many people she loved fall into danger.
No, in all her time away from Madra, she’d never once been a princess.
The point of her blade dug into Cole’s back and she lifted her voice. “Stop this!”
Another thing she’d never been: a killer. At least intentionally. Cole deserved death, but she didn’t deserve the bite of vengeance. Not anymore.
Revenge had only left her cold and alone, making her leave people behind in her single-mindedness. What Cole had done hadn’t broken her. Her quest to destroy him had.
But she didn’t want to be a jumble of dangerous shards of broken glass any longer.
Not a single person in the hall moved as Helena pressed the sword harder against Cole’s back.
“Do it, sister. Kill me. Then you’ll be no different from the monster you think I am.” Cole’s words sank into her. She didn’t want to be a monster.
“I should,” she growled. “You took everything from me.” She turned the blade and leaned in, dropping her voice. “But you’re wrong. I am not you.” Growing louder once again, she said. “Drop your sword.”
Eying the guards who each had their weapons pointed at him, Cole complied. Alex kicked the sword out of reach, and a guard pulled the knife free of Cole’s belt.
“Treason sounds too good for you.” Helena circled him, her sword skirting his waist until she faced him.
Cole’s looks hadn’t changed in many years. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine him as the brother who taught Kass to fight or who wore a mask to her name day ball in a show of support along with her other siblings.
“Did you ever love us, Cole?” she asked, not sure which answer she hoped for. “Were we ever your family?”
He swallowed. “I never stopped loving you, Sister.”
She grimaced. “Yes, you did. You stopped loving me the moment you took my mother from me. I don’t know why you did this, Cole. I don’t care if Reed and Ian Tenyson forced it upon you or if you were behind everything. Because it doesn’t matter. You are responsible for breaking Madra.”
“Len…” He reached toward her.
She shook her head, t
ears clouding her eyes. “So, you don’t get death. Cole Rhodipus, I place you under arrest. Murder. Treason. After this day, you will never see my face again. I won’t visit you. If you die of illness, I will not mourn you. Because you are nothing. When we rebuild Madra’s standing in the world, no one will think of you. We’re going to have peace, Cole.”
“That’s all I wanted.” The fight had left his eyes. “Peace from Father’s wars.”
Edmund’s harsh laugh broke through Helena’s thoughts. “Peace. You wanted peace?”
Helena lowered her sword and gestured to the guards. “Bind his wrists and take him away.”
Two guards stepped forward to do her bidding, but before they reached Cole, he jerked back. Helena snapped her head around. An arrow protruded from Cole’s throat.
He reached up in surprise. His lips moved but nothing more than a low gurgle escaped. Blood trickled from his lips, and he fell back, his head cracking against the hard floor.
“Cole.” Anguish ripped through Helena as she dropped to her knees beside her still brother.
A single tear escaped her eye, rolling over the bridge of her nose. Why was she crying? Cole killed so many people. He almost destroyed the monarchy.
He didn’t deserve her tears.
Yet, as more broke free, she couldn’t stop them.
Her brother was dead. It was what she’d thought she’d wanted. Flashes of the young boy she’d known flickered in her mind. Cole and Quinn coming to the palace as children who’d just lost their mother.
Cole spinning her in his arms each time he returned from far kingdoms.
The twins joking with each other as they wedged her between them in the sitting room.
She’d lied when she said she wouldn’t mourn his death. Commotion sounded around her, but she couldn’t focus on it as she stroked Cole’s pale face. He couldn’t be dead. The brother who’d defended her to her father and protected her had to still exist. Somewhere.
Or maybe that Cole had died a long time ago.
Arms wrapped around her, and she buried her face in a familiar shoulder. Dell held on tighter.
She didn’t know at what point in the fight he’d arrived, but Quinn stood behind him, using his body to hold Stev upright. She wasn’t the only one who’d lost something. Both his brothers were dead. Kassander, Estevan, and Quinn lost Cole too.