Assassin Queen

by Chandra Ryan

  The two other members of their group joined them. Kirin was relieved to find that Simon was indeed holding a bag and billow, which contained and dispersed the sleeping ash.

  “Are the others positioned around the entrances in case the Guard starts waking?”

  “Aye.” Simon nodded. “Two at the front, two at the rear, and one by the kitchen entrance.”

  “Good.”

  “It’s not enough to hold them if they do wake,” Simon said.

  “They don’t have to hold them for long. Come on.”

  As he led them to Silverwood’s quarters, he explained. Nathan was brute strength. Lib was finesse. He held the magic in the group. And Simon was their ace in the sleeve. Just in case it all went wrong.

  He took a deep breath before he put his hand on the doorknob. When he broke the seal, the trap would be sprung. He nodded to Nathan to make sure the guy was ready to fight. He drew his sword and nodded back. With his assurance, Kirin threw the door open.

  He’d thought he was ready for whatever lay on the other side of the door. They’d been through so much over the years that he’d seen Lilly in countless states of duress. He soon learned he’d been wrong, however. The eerie stillness that greeted him was more than unsettling.

  “Where are they?” Nathan whispered.

  Kirin shrugged and motioned them to proceed into the room. As soon as Nathan stepped over the threshold, his entire body froze. Ice crystals formed on his clothing, his face became pale as snow, and his mouth hung open yet locked in place as if he were trying to make some statement or plea.

  “She’s using the hibernate spell.”

  He’d cast the spell enough to recognize it. Thankfully, he also knew the ward to counter it. He spoke the words in a rush as he blanketed their group with the protective spell.

  “Many thanks.” Nathan still shivered, but at least he could speak again. That was something.

  Kirin looked into the room and grimaced. It was an empty parlor. Of course, he hadn’t really expected the mage to make it easy on him, but he had secretly hoped. Four doors led out of the room. She had to be behind one of them. But which one?

  “We can’t split up. I can’t counter traps if I’m not there.”

  “Examining where each door leads one at a time will take too long.”

  He nodded to Lib in agreement as he put a finger to his lips. The mage would know he was there now. He had to hope Lilly would as well. If anyone could aide in her own rescue, it was Lilly. It took a second, but there was a soft thud behind one of the doors.

  Nathan was at the door before Kirin could stop him. He flung the entrance open and then ducked as something came whizzing into the parlor.

  “Fatal flight.”

  The magical bug-like creature had a particularly nasty bite. A handful of people had managed to survive its toxin over the years, but not many. And, according to the stories, those who had survived had spent days screaming to be put out of their misery before the poison left their system.

  “There are three of them. Make sure they don’t land on you.”

  “I can deal with this one.” Simon grabbed a handful of the sleeping ash out of the bag. “Cover your nose and mouth.”

  That was all the warning he gave them before he blew softly over the magical dust. It swirled around them as it took flight through the air. When it began to fall, it shimmered like stardust. The mist was so beautiful it captured Kirin’s attention.

  A hand smacked over his mouth and nose just as he was about to take a breath. He shook his head as he startled out of the fog he’d almost been caught in. Thankfully the Fatal flight hadn’t been as lucky as he. Three distinctive pings echoed through the room as they hit the stone floor one by one. He nodded to Lib and motioned the team to start down the hallway the opened door revealed. The corridor was dark, but he couldn’t risk casting a light orb under the circumstances. Any magic on his part would alert the mage. There was a chance she might think the bugs had gotten him and his companions. That had been the reason she created them, after all. And, if that were the case, they would have surprise on their side once more.

  He waited until he had taken twenty steps down the passage to finally take a deep breath and relieve the burning in his lungs. The simple act felt good. It also brought with it the slight tickle of honeysuckle. The scent made him smile. Lilly was here somewhere. Or, at least, she had been recently.

  Thankfully, the passageway ended in a single door. Nathan didn’t have time to open this one. It burst into a ball of flames just as they approached it.

  Guess she knows we’re still here.

  The four of them pressed against the wall as the fireball shot down the corridor. The heat made his face burn as it passed him. The pain was minor given the circumstances, however. Had he been even a second slower, he would have been crispy. This mage was certainly throwing everything in the book at them. The only upside was that she had to be almost tapped out. Even with his reserves, he’d be close to passing out after casting so many spells. Which meant it was time to end this.

  He motioned for Lib and Nathan to proceed into the room.

  “Don’t look upon her face. Her beauty is where her magic lies,” he whispered softly.

  The men nodded and then held their weapons at ready as they approached the room with caution. As soon as they disappeared into the room, the clang of metal-on-metal combat made Kirin’s ears ring.

  Damn. The woman was going to do everything she could to make this hard for them. Not surprising but somewhat disappointing.

  “We should probably help them out.”

  “If we must.” Simon gave him a wary smile before putting the bag of sleeping ash on the floor. “That would probably do more harm than good under the circumstances.”

  “It might make things more entertaining.”

  “Oh, I have a feeling it’s entertaining enough already.”

  Determined to save as much of his magical energy as possible for facing the mage, Kirin unsheathed his sword and followed Simon into the battle.

  Lib and Nathan seemed to be holding their own against the two armored men. If they had all day, Kirin might be inclined to let them finish the fight on their own. But one look at the back of the room told him that time was at a premium right now.

  “Lilly.”

  Her name was filled with the pain and fear that filled him at the sight of her. Lilly stood perfectly still. One hand held a dagger and was stretched out as if in an attack, but she couldn’t complete the lunge.

  Silverwood laughed. “Don’t worry. She’s not going to go anywhere.”

  He allowed his attention to move fully to the woman threatening Lilly for the first time. Her red hair reflected infinite shades of crimson as she shook her head. Some strands would be blonde if not for the kiss of strawberry but others were as saturated as rubies. Her eyes were gray. So much so they’d remind him of a dismal day if it weren’t for the specs of green hidden within their depths. In that small, unexpected imperfection the beauty of her gaze hid.

  Her skin was as perfect as her body. They were standard assets any enchantress would fight to maintain both with magic and diet. There were her bread and butter. The only thing he found surprising about her appearance was the cut of the dress she wore. It did nothing to display those assets the way an enchantress preferred. But maybe she was still playing the role of governess. He found he cared little about her dress or its implications in the current situation.

  Silverwood had one hand up with the palm pointed at Lilly. The simple gesture had to be what was holding Lilly motionless, as not even a muscle twitched. In that moment, his heart became as frozen as his love. Cold rage filled him until the only thing he felt was his anger and the magic that danced through him. He dropped his sword in favor of his magic and then reached out and placed his palms on the backs of Silverwood’s fighters. They both collapsed under the touch.

  Lib and Nathan almost struck each other when their combatants crumbled between them. It was
only through quick footwork that they avoided doing any damage to each other. Kirin should feel bad. These were his men, and he had almost caused them harm. Yet, somehow, he didn’t. Not even the ringing in his ears or the small drop of blood that ran from his nose from tapping so much magic at once concerned him. The only thing that mattered was Lilly.

  “What have you done?”

  He wiped the blood off his face and then took three steps toward the mage but stopped when the woman laughed. The tinge of insanity in the laughter sent a fresh wave of fear through him. He couldn’t reason with lunacy. Nor could he threaten someone who wasn’t in touch with reality. If she had slipped into madness, he had no leverage. Crazy people didn’t care about pain or suffering, even if it was their own. Which meant he had to dig deeper to try something to motivate her with. He was going to have to get her to tell him her weaknesses.

  “Your magic shouldn’t have been able to work against her. Nor should it have been able to conjure the hibernation spell or the Fatal flight.”

  “So you figured me out, then? I’m an enchantress.”

  “That much was fairly obvious.”

  “Only you didn’t piece together the whole truth. My mother was an enchantress. That much is true. But my father had a completely different skill set. All those followers didn’t do his bidding of their own free will because they agreed with his vision, silly man. They followed him out of fear. Fear of his power. He was the greatest sorcerer in the realm. As it turns out, I inherited both of their abilities.”

  She made a gesture with her hand, and Lilly whimpered in pain.

  “Just in case you have any clever ideas about how to save her, this is not as simple to dispel as a hibernation spell. Kill me and she’s locked in this state of torment for an eternity.”

  “Then you should probably tell me what my options are before I get twitchy and somebody accidentally dies.”

  She hadn’t tried to bolt to the door. Not that she would have made it very far. Kirin was looking for any excuse to kill the woman. If she hadn’t held Lilly’s fate in her hand, he would have already done the deed. But that she hadn’t tried to escape told him she still saw some sort of possible victory.

  She smiled. “You never do anything by accident.” Her voice became warm, but it didn’t call to him the way it had when they first arrived in the city. “You are the best assassin who has ever lived.”

  So she assumed she could use her magic to turn him. That was not going to happen.

  “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

  Her smile fell. “That’s not possible. No male can ignore my magic.”

  “Looks like your mother’s gifts aren’t working today. And your sorcerer’s energy must be close to being tapped out. What now?”

  He took another step toward her. He was almost close enough to grab her. Before he did, however, he’d have to figure out how to undo the spell she’d put on Lilly.

  “Guards! Guards! There are intruders in the keep.”

  The scream was loud enough to raise half the guard. Thankfully, most of them would still be sleeping off the effects of the ash in the barracks. Still, they hadn’t trapped all the knights in the keep. And anybody who happened to be walking by would have heard her call and would go to find one of the available men. Time was running out for their mission.

  Trying to delay the interruption as long as possible, he used his own magic to shield the door. It would break with enough force, but it would give him a few precious moments with the mage.

  “I have you just as securely as you have her. No one can break through my magic,” he lied smoothly. “Our fates are linked. And you can surely see our numbers are slightly better than yours.”

  He gestured toward the other men who were still dutifully looking anywhere but at her as he spoke.

  Her jaw clenched tightly before she took a deep breath. Then she smiled once more.

  “Are you so sure they answer to your command? You may be deaf to my magic, but are they?”

  She turned to look at the other men as she spoke. The meaning of her statement was like a dagger to his heart. If she chose to target the other men with her magic, simply looking away from her would no longer be enough.

  “I’m sorry, men,” he said without looking away from Silverwood and Lilly. “But I can’t let her turn you against us.”

  “We know. Just don’t do anything that will leave a scar.” Nathan’s laugh was harsh with scorn. “I’ve been told the fates are finding me a mate.”

  Kirin smiled in spite of himself. “Never fear. Your perfect face is safe with me.”

  Just as she started crooning at the group of men, he countered with a spell to make them unconscious. For a few minutes, her energy pushed against his in a battle to win the men, but then it shattered like a brittle shell, and he heard the men collapse behind him.

  “Sorry to have destroyed yet another one of your plans.”

  “No, you’re not. You delight in besting me.”

  He shrugged at the obvious statement. “It is certainly more appealing than the alternative.”

  “You are a very talented mage. And so handsome.”

  She was throwing all her charm at him once again. The warmth of her magic pressed against him, but it didn’t seem to penetrate. He should have been completely fogged by it at this point. Yet he wasn’t.

  “If you switched sides, we could rule this realm together.”

  “I’m not doing this for power. If I’d wanted to rule a realm, I would’ve stayed home and taken over my own. Then I would’ve gotten to kill a couple people who richly deserved it in the process.”

  She glared at him as her free hand clenched in apparent frustration.

  “Why does my magic not affect you? I can’t even feel your presence anymore. Your essence is shielded. When my magic calls to it, it hits a wall.”

  Her voice wasn’t panicked. She sounded merely curious.

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Now, let her go and I’ll make it a clean kill. Keep her frozen, and it’s going to get ugly in here.”

  It was time to make a move. He pulled a dagger from its sheath on his belt and closed the space between them in a swift movement. If she hadn’t been so fixated on her inability to enchant him, she probably would have had time to move. As it was, she didn’t manage to shake herself out of her own head until the knife was already in position to kill and he had his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist pinning her in place.

  “If I die, she stays like this.”

  “I have no plans on killing you until you free her.” He dug his dagger into her shoulder just deep enough to draw blood. “For curiosity’s sake, how effective is a disfigured enchantress? Does your perfect beauty enhance your gift, or is it merely a bonus?”

  He ran the knife along her collarbone in a jagged line, slicing through the delicate skin as he went. “Guess we’ll find out.”

  She screamed and tried to free herself from his hold, but he had her just as surely as her magic held Lilly. After she’d taken a couple of deep breaths, she shook her head.

  “You love her. That’s why I can’t enchant you.”

  “If you say so.”

  He knew the truth of the words the moment she said them. He did love Lilly. There were no doubts left. He would do anything to end Lilly’s suffering. Even take her life by his own hand if need be. But he couldn’t give the woman any more leverage than she already had.

  “Her father is already too far gone to be saved. I’ve leeched more of his energy than he can ever recover. Even now, he sleeps so soundly he might as well be dead.”

  “Then we owe you a debt of gratitude. You’ve made our mission that much easier.”

  He wrapped his hand around the end of her long hair and then pulled it until her back bowed. “Now free her.”

  This time he slid the sharp blade of his knife along her cheek until blood ran freely down her skin. She didn’t recover as quickly from that attack.

  “I should’ve known
the heartless bitch would kill her own father.”

  “Oh, she has a heart. You simply took the wrong person captive. She bears no love for her stepfather. Had you allowed her mother to languish, then you might have known power.”

  “That one was too perceptive. She was always meddling in my business. She had to die quickly.”

  The door burst open, and three knights sprang into the room. Kirin threw his knife at the first one and used his magic to render the second unconscious. The third, however, was a problem. Kirin had retrieved another knife from under his cloak, but, instead of throwing it, he held it to Silverwood’s throat. He’d taken a chance by throwing the first one. It was an acceptable risk since she didn’t suspect the move. Now that he’d thrown one knife, though, she’d be waiting for him to repeat the move. He was stuck.

  “Let her go.” The knight stalked toward them purposefully.

  “Not until she’s released the Crown Princess Lilavati.”

  The knight looked from him to Lilly. “That’s really the princess?”

  Thankfully, three of Lilly’s men had sneaked into the room behind the knight. They must have followed the knights from the barracks. Kirin just had to keep the man occupied for a few seconds more, and then the assassins would be able to subdue the man one way or another.

  “Of course it is. She’s come to claim the throne.”

  Now the knight gawked at Lilly.

  “You fool. He’s distracting you,” Silverwood hissed.

  Kirin pulled on her hair to try to silence her, but it didn’t matter. Lilly’s men were close enough to grab the knight. But Silverwood used the commotion to struggle against Kirin’s hold. For one shattering moment, he thought she’d escape. The silken strands of her hair were slipping through his grasp. If he lost her, he would lose Lilly for good.

  He dug the knife into the tender skin of her arm as she tried to roll out of his hold. It was just enough to get her attention and slow her down. And that was enough for him to grab her once again.

  “Not so fast. We aren’t done here.”

  “I’m not going to let her go. There is no end to this standoff in which I survive. I realize that. She took everything I had. And, before I die, I will take everything from her. She’ll be helpless to do anything but watch.”