Empire of Rust

by Chambers, V. J.

She threw herself on the ground at his feet.

  * * *

  “So, they’ve got both of them tied to this tree and surrounded by barbed wire and guarded,” Leah was saying.

  Gabriel couldn’t believe she’d managed to find the camp so easily. Certainly, the rebels must be worried about retaliation from him. Why hadn’t they moved yet?

  Maybe they already knew that he’d lost his empire. Maybe they already knew that the necromancer had taken over and that Gabriel was no longer a threat.

  “More water?” he asked her.

  She nodded.

  He handed her his water skin.

  She drank a bit more and then handed it back. “Why are you being so nice to me? You said you didn’t want to look at me.”

  “I was angry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have sent you out into the wilderness. You’re pregnant.”

  She looked away. “That doesn’t matter.”

  “It does,” he said.

  Leah was listless. He’d never seen her this way. It was as if some life-giving spark inside her had been snuffed out.

  “I’m glad I found you,” he said. “I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”

  She shrugged. “That doesn’t matter either.”

  “Leah, stop saying things like that.”

  “Why are you here? Why didn’t you go back to the capital?”

  “I came after the rebels,” said Gabriel. “I couldn’t let them mount an offense and try to topple my empire, could I?”

  “Oh.” Leah made a face. Apparently, the thought that he would retaliate hadn’t even occurred to her.

  “I sent for reinforcements, but the empire is no longer mine.”

  “What?”

  “I had word,” he said. “Darius and Michal have taken over the capital. He is the emperor now.”

  Leah sat up straight, looking indignant. “You can’t let him do that.”

  “I can’t stop him. He is infinitely more powerful than me.” Gabriel shook his head, emitting a short, harsh laugh. “You know, I’m only surprised that it took so long for a necromancer to try this. How is that that we used them for over a hundred years and none of them realized what they were capable of?”

  “Well… most commoners don’t even dream of becoming part of the nobility,” said Leah. “It would never have occurred to me that I would marry you.”

  He considered. She was probably right. The class system was deeply ingrained in everyone’s mind. Moving up wasn’t possible. This idea probably wasn’t Darius’s, but Michal’s. Still, he had never known his sister to be ambitious. He couldn’t understand why it had happened, and it pained him.

  “Well, why did you keep coming, then?” said Leah. “If you have no reinforcements, you can’t take on the rebels.”

  “I came for Ezekiel,” said Gabriel. “I guess. I don’t know, Leah. I have nowhere to go.”

  She chewed on her lip.

  He offered her the water again.

  She shook her head. “You care about Ezekiel? You love him?”

  “Love?” Gabriel laughed a little. “I don’t think I…”

  “You must, though. You came to save him.”

  Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think Ezekiel wants to be anywhere near me. He fled the city rather than be with me.”

  “But you don’t want him to be tied to a tree, do you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Well, I don’t want Nathaniel there either. He may not care about me, but I… I can’t seem to stop caring about him.”

  Gabriel regarded her several seconds, and then he nodded slowly. “Yes, I know what you mean.”

  She gave him a small smile. “So, what do you say? I’ll help you save the man you love if you help me save the man I love.”

  He smiled back. And then he nodded again.

  * * *

  They had to wait until night to strike. Gabriel knew it was the only thing that made sense. Under the cover of darkness, they’d have a chance of escaping undetected. But that didn’t mean that it was easy to wait all day.

  He and Leah stayed out of sight, watching the camp from a distance. Gabriel could see Ezekiel there, so far away, tied to that tree and helpless. It made him crazy with desire to hurry in there and free him.

  But he knew that they had to wait. And so they waited.

  They waited as the sun sank lower and lower over the horizon. They waited until it disappeared. Until the stars came out and the moon rose. They waited, and they watched. Leah had said that the guards weren’t particularly vigilant, and that it was likely they’d run off at some point, but thus far, the guard had been right at his station.

  Gabriel was beginning to think it might be easier to take out the guard. He could maybe find a large rock and hit the man over the head with it. He started looking around for an appropriate bludgeon.

  But then the guard did leave. He went up to the fire with the rest of his companions.

  Leah grabbed his arm. “Now,” she whispered.

  And they hurried forward in the darkness.

  Ezekiel saw them before they had reached their destination. His eyes widened.

  Gabriel shook his head at him, a finger to his lips to warn him not to make noise.

  But when they stopped outside the circle of barbed wire fence, Ezekiel whispered, “What are you doing here?”

  Nathaniel turned to see them. His eyes widened too, but in fear.

  “Don’t worry,” said Gabriel. “We’re saving both of you. But keep your mouths shut.”

  The barbed wire fence wasn’t well secured. The posts had been shallowly buried. Gabriel grasped the bottom of one of the posts, and Leah used a spoon from their provisions to dig around the post.

  Gabriel wriggled it.

  It didn’t budge.

  He cast a glance in the direction of the guard. Still gone. “Deeper, Leah.”

  She dug into the soil further with the spoon, hurling dirt out of the way.

  Gabriel kept wriggling.

  It was loose!

  He grinned, feeling encouraged. He nodded at Leah to keep going, and she did.

  And the post came free.

  He held it up, high enough to make a space large enough to crawl through. “Okay,” he said to Leah.

  She took the post from him, keeping it up high.

  He crawled inside the enclosure.

  “Gabriel,” said Ezekiel.

  “Not now.” Gabriel took out his travel knife. “We can talk later.” He began sawing at the ropes binding Ezekiel to the tree.

  It only took a few seconds, and Ezekiel was free.

  “Go,” said Gabriel, moving on to Nathaniel.

  Ezekiel crawled out under the barbed wire.

  “Gabriel!” Leah’s frenzied whisper. “Hurry. The guard is leaving the fire.”

  Gabriel cut through the ropes quickly.

  Nathaniel fell away from the tree, landing on his hands and knees.

  “Hurry,” Leah urged.

  Nathaniel crawled through the opening.

  Gabriel came after. But behind him, he heard a yell.

  “Hey! The prisoners!”

  He pushed his way under the barbed wire, and a sharp piece caught his back. He swore, getting to his feet.

  Leah stood up too.

  “Run,” Gabriel yelled. He picked up his feet and started into the night. He could see Ezekiel and Nathaniel beginning to run ahead of him.

  “Gabriel!” Leah was terrified.

  He turned back. Her skirt was stuck to the barbed wire, and she couldn’t get free. The rebels were surging down on her, their swords drawn.

  Damn it.

  Gabriel sprinted back for Leah. He slashed at her skirt with the knife, cutting her free.

  He straightened.

  And his throat collided with the point of a sword. He found himself staring down the blade into the eyes of Zachariah. Who didn’t look the slightest bit happy.

&n
bsp; FIVE: DANCE WITH DEATH

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Gabriel swallowed, the tip of Zachariah’s blade scraping against his Adam’s apple.

  Zachariah sneered. “Lost your empire and trying to prove to yourself that you’re not inadequate? You are, you know.”

  Gabriel had a sword too. Of course he had one. He wouldn’t travel out of the city without a defense against the revenants. But he wasn’t holding the sword. The sword was in its scabbard, banging ineffectually against his legs, and he had a knife in his hand instead.

  What should he do? Should he drop the knife and go for the sword, or would Zachariah slash his throat before he managed it?

  Zachariah stepped forward.

  Gabriel backed up, away from the sword tip. He slashed out with his knife. But he didn’t have the reach. He slashed only air.

  However, Zachariah reacted, his sword going to block the knife, even though it was unnecessary.

  Gabriel danced out of the way, dropping his knife.

  Zachariah lunged for him, bringing down his sword.

  Gabriel yanked his sword out of its scabbard and blocked the other blade, the sound of metal on metal ringing through the night.

  Zachariah let out a cry of rage. “Go!” he yelled over his shoulder. “After the others!”

  The rebels fanned out from the camp, running into the darkness the way that Nathaniel, Ezekiel, and Leah had gone.

  Gabriel cast a glance out into the darkness, but he couldn’t see any of them. Had they gotten far enough away that they’d be safe?

  But he couldn’t contemplate this for long, because Zachariah thrust his sword at him.

  Gabriel parried, pushing the blade aside.

  The two men circled.

  Gabriel didn’t know what he was doing. He’d trained to use swords against revenants, not against armed men. Certainly, there had been a bit of swordplay in his youth, but that had only been boys playing games. This was serious—two razor sharp weapons against the other. He knew that his sword could cut a revenant body to ribbons, so he was sure he could do the same to Zachariah. But he didn’t want to kill the other man, not if he didn’t have to. He’d never killed anyone before.

  Well… except for his father.

  He flashed on that moment, driving the sword into his father’s skull…

  And Zachariah’s sword moved in a blur, too fast for him to counteract it. It slashed through his clothes, into the skin of his stomach.

  Gabriel looked down at the wound—a line of red seeping out over his body. When he saw it, he felt the sting of the cut. He gasped.

  Zachariah pressed his advantage, bringing his sword down again.

  Gabriel managed to block him, but it was clumsily done.

  Zachariah’s sword slid against Gabriel’s, and then fell off. The blade nicked Gabriel’s hand.

  More blood.

  Gabriel staggered backwards. He was shaking.

  Zachariah roared with laughter. “You’re afraid. You can’t protect yourself. Without your empire, what are you?”

  Gabriel hacked at him with his blade, feeling angry at the words.

  Zachariah stepped back, avoiding the swipe entirely. Then he changed direction, coming for Gabriel, swinging his sword in quick and deadly patterns.

  Gabriel stumbled back from the man.

  Zachariah kept coming.

  The dark ground came up fast, and Gabriel fell backwards.

  Zachariah stood over him, sword at his throat again.

  Gabriel cringed.

  “You’re nothing,” Zachariah repeated.

  Gabriel wasn’t much when it came to sword fighting, he had to admit it. When he was a child, he’d spent time reading, not whacking other boys with wooden sticks.

  This was apparently what came of that choice.

  He steeled himself for the death blow.

  The sharp blade nicked his sensitive skin.

  Feeling desperate, Gabriel opened his eyes. “Why are you bothering with this?” Why had he even tried fighting? It wasn’t his strong suit. Words were his strong suit. Thinking was his strong suit. If he stood a chance in hell of getting out of this, it was going to be by using his brain.

  Zachariah furrowed his brow. “What?”

  “You know that the necromancer has taken my throne, don’t you?”

  The other man laughed. “Of course. That’s why you’re so pathetic.”

  “Right,” said Gabriel. “I’m pathetic. I’m not the emperor. So, you don’t need Ezekiel anymore. He’s not worth anything as a hostage.”

  Zachariah looked confused. His sword wavered.

  Gabriel propped himself up on his elbows. “The only reason you were keeping him was because you wanted to have something to try to influence me with, wasn’t it?”

  “Well… yeah…” Zachariah rubbed his forehead.

  “And Nathaniel? I’m guessing you couldn’t kill him because you have a history, and you couldn’t let him go because you didn’t want him to go to me and give away your secrets?”

  “How do you know that? You have a spy?”

  “No, it’s just that it makes sense,” he said. “But now it doesn’t matter what he gives away. I have no power, just like you said. I’m worthless. Why don’t you just let us go? Keeping those prisoners could only be a liability to you now.”

  Zachariah screwed up his face. He was thinking very hard. “I guess you’re right.”

  Gabriel scrambled to his feet. “Of course I am. Really, this is a favor to you. You don’t have to keep watch over Nathaniel and Ezekiel. You don’t have to feed them. I’m taking them off your hands.”

  The rebel leader seemed confused as to how Gabriel had ended up standing next to him when he’d been on the ground at sword point a moment ago. He rubbed his forehead again.

  “Call back the others,” said Gabriel. “You don’t want to waste time chasing after us. We’re not important anymore.”

  “I guess not,” said Zachariah. He still looked confused.

  * * *

  Leah burst up from the place she was crouching in the shadows as she saw Gabriel stumbling away from the camp. She ran for him. “I can’t believe you talked him out of it.”

  Gabriel gave her a wry smile. “Me either.”

  “You’re hurt.” She wedged herself under his arm. “Here, lean on me.”

  He pulled his arm away. “Leah, you’re pregnant.”

  “And you’re bleeding,” she said.

  He just shook his head at her and kept going out into the darkness.

  She walked beside him, keeping pace and staring down at the blood that was soaking the front of his shirt. “I thought he was going to kill you.”

  “I thought that too.”

  “I’m sorry I made you do this,” she said.

  “You didn’t make me do it. It was my decision.”

  They walked further from the camp, and there was a stirring ahead of them.

  “Gabriel?” It was Ezekiel. He came forward. “Oh God, what happened?”

  “Our horses,” said Leah. “Where are our horses? We have bandages there.”

  “Here,” said another voice. Nathaniel appeared out of the darkness, holding the reins of the horses.

  Leah found she couldn’t meet his eyes. She’d done all this for him, but now she felt too shy to look at him. She didn’t address him at all. Instead, she just darted forward and went through the saddle bags until she found the bandages. She hurried back to Gabriel. “We’ve got to get his shirt off.”

  Ezekiel held out his hands for the bandages. “I’ll do it,” he said quietly.

  “That’s okay,” said Leah. “I can do it.”

  “Have you bandaged wounds before?” said Ezekiel.

  “Well…”

  “I volunteered on a wilderness excursion to kill revenants once,” said Ezekiel. “We didn’t make it to the revenants because we were caught outside in a bad storm with strong winds. Big stuff was blowing around—whole trees, sharp rocks, all the pro
visions and tents we brought with us. Half of those men didn’t make it back. But the ones of us that did got pretty adept at binding up bleeding flesh.”

  Leah handed him the bandages. “All right, then.”

  She turned around. Without the job of tending to Gabriel, she didn’t have anything else to do except face Nathaniel, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

  She raised her gaze to him, and then quickly looked away. She fled back to the horses and began to go through the saddle bags again, as if she had something important to find.

  * * *

  Ezekiel surveyed Gabriel’s bare chest. It wasn’t the same as the last time he’d been near this man when he was unclothed—not with all that blood. But as he wiped it away, the wound that emerged was shallow and not that serious. He smiled. “You’re going to be just fine. He barely got you.”

  “Yeah?” said Gabriel in a strangled voice. He was lying on his back, staring up at the stars. “Because it kind of feels worse than barely.”

  Ezekiel chuckled. “Trust me, it’s not bad.” He went about the business of bandaging it.

  Gabriel watched. “I told you not to go after the gypsies.”

  “I’m tending to your bleeding body here. I think I deserve better than an ‘I told you so.’”

  Gabriel looked away. “Sorry.” A long pause. “I guess I don’t know what to say.”

  Ezekiel finished the bandaging job. He moved back, settling on the ground. “You tried to negotiate for me? Why would you do something so stupid?”

  Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome.” Wincing a little, he sat up.

  “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, of course. It’s only that if it’s a choice between me and a necromancer, I don’t even rank as a choice.”

  “Well, I was never going to give them the necromancer.”

  “Ah.” Of course not. Why did that make Ezekiel feel strangely disappointed?

  “Not that I was going to back down and let them keep you,” Gabriel added quickly. “I didn’t know what they were. I thought I could find something else they wanted and give them that. I was wrong.” He sighed. “And now everything’s ruined. I don’t even have an empire anymore.”

  “What?” Ezekiel was confused.

  Gabriel explained what had happened in the capital after Ezekiel left. “I don’t understand it. I can’t believe Michal would do that to me.”