Liberate

by Krista D. Ball

  ROSE WINCED WHEN THE floorboard underneath her feet groaned. She knew someone was down the other corridor. The fighting was still above her in the general receiving rooms, but soon they would either find the stairs or one of the servant passages. They might even stumble upon one of the secret passages that were forgotten to the inhabitants.

  She’d seen a shadow earlier running with two little heads bobbing over each shoulder, and had assumed it had been Amber. It made sense, considering this route would take her through to the cellars, and then she could climb out one of the windows. Or, barring that, she could at least lift the children out and the little ones could make a run for it. Henry was old enough now to speak, Opal would listen to him. Plus, they were tiny. They could hide in the shrubberies if nothing else.

  But she’d seen more than Amber’s figure. She’d seen a tall man with a sword following her.

  Rose carefully moved her sword into a fighting stance. She might need to charge when she got around the corner. She would only have one chance at this, especially if it was more than one of the attackers.

  A rush of fear hit her, but she managed not to stumble and give herself away. She’d already come upon a servant who’d been assaulted by these beasts. They’d done that to her once, too. Cut out her tongue so she couldn’t even tell her story for comfort.

  Well, as Lady Bethany once said, fuck them all. She wasn’t going down without a fight. If they wanted to hurt her, she was going to take them with her.

  KINER MADE HIS WAY down the stairs, Brennus hot on his heels. “Who did you send upstairs?”

  “Jackson is up there with his men clearing them out,” Brennus whispered.

  “Good. Then there’s just the basement now,” Kiner said.

  He’d finally managed to pass little Tori off to some maids and the housekeeper who were sneaking the servants and visitors alike through the secret entrance in the back of Arrago’s bedroom. The housekeeper had a stern, bossy, but oddly comforting way with children and most adults. She’d convinced the child to stay with her so that Kiner could continue on without the extra worry of protecting a kid. He was grateful for that, as her tight grip on his neck had made it difficult to breath.

  He learned from the housekeeper they had not seem Amber nor Prince Henry, so she had taken it upon herself to get as many of the guests outside as possible through the side entrance. She estimated she’d rescued eleven people in total. Kiner thanked her for her bravery, and instructed her to leave with little Tori and the other servants who stayed with her.

  “Your job is done, now. Let us clean up the mess. Go be safe.”

  She had protested against Kiner’s words at first, but looked down at the fussing child and sighed. “Yes, Lord Kiner.”

  “The king will know of your bravery, I promise,” Kiner had said.

  “And the queen?” the housekeeper asked hopefully.

  “Definitely,” Kiner said.

  That seemed to have perk up the old woman. She gave him a tight nod and then turned her back to begin organizing the room of servants, some of whom weren’t any older than Tori.

  Kiner and Brennus had left the housekeeper to her work and began their trek down to the basement. When they were out of hearing range, Brennus whispered, “Bethany arrives and suddenly everyone wants to be a hero?”

  Kiner snorted. “More like that poor woman has been unable to make Bethany happy with the usual tactics.”

  “Ah,” Brennus said. “That sounds more plausible.”

  They headed down the staircases without incident. The sounds of fighting were growing dimmer now and Kiner hoped they were finally ahead of the attack.

  A floorboard groaned in the distance. Kiner held his hand up for Brennus to stop moving. They waited, listening. There were no other sounds from down below, just the distance echoes of shouting and destruction from above that filtered down through the walls and ceiling.

  Kiner motioned for Brennus to follow and, together, they took their time making their way down the stairs. A floorboard groaned under Brennus’ weight and Kiner flashed him an annoyed look. For his part, Brennus merely shrugged.

  They went down two more steps. More floorboards creaking. Some theirs, some in the distance. Kiner winced. The element of surprise was long gone for both sides now. They knew someone else was there. The someone else knew they were there. The only question now was how to figure this all out and come out on top.

  Kiner bumped his fist against Brennus’ chest to get his attention. He lifted his sword in an attack position and held up a finger. Then another. Then another. Then they rushed.

  A high-pitched squeal came from further down the corridor as a cloaked figure jumped from around the corner.

  Kiner’s instincts were to attack, but he held back long enough to see Rose charging Darien, who was crumpled in the corner by the back door.

  “Stop!” Kiner shouted.

  Rose spun, sword swinging. He’d be prepared for it, and deftly deflected her swing until she could realize it was him. She did, blinking in confusion. She lowered her sword, and pointed down the corridor.

  “It’s me,” Darien said, panting. “It’s me.”

  Rose signed something that Kiner didn’t understand. He glanced at Brennus, who said, “She wanted to know if the girly noise came from Darien or us. I can only make that sound if I’m kicked in the balls.”

  “Same,” Kiner said.

  Darien let out a long sigh and sheathed his weapon. “I was protecting this corridor because Miss Amber went this way. I thought she...I thought I was about to die.”

  Brennus laughed. “Well, at least she didn’t kill you.”

  “Did Amber have the prince with her?”

  Darien nodded. “She was heading to the cellars. She was hoping she could crawl out a window from there. We tried to get to where they deliver the wood, but there were too many for just me. I couldn’t...”

  Kiner nodded. “Retreating back and circling around was the best plan. Why didn’t you stay with her?”

  “She told me to stay to...slow down the attacks,” Darien gulped.

  Rose bumped her fist against her hand to get Kiner’s attention. She signed swiftly, too fast for him to understand all of the words.

  Brennus said, “She said this door leads to a dead end. They couldn’t get in after her unless they, too, came through the windows and they are quite small.” More signing. “She thinks Amber wouldn’t have been able to fit through the windows.”

  Kiner blew out a breath. “She was hoping Henry would run and hide. Apexia’s mercy. All right, Jackson is upstairs. Let’s...”

  A bloodied man crashed through a wall tapestry near where Darien had been guarding. He collapsed on the floor, sword gripped in his left hand.

  “Edmund?” Kiner asked. He looked up at the tapestry, which revealed a servant’s passage. They really needed a map.

  “Where’s Amber? Did she make it out? Where is Opal? Where is Henry?”

  “Lord Edmund!” Darien exclaimed. He sheathed his sword and then reached down to help Edmund to his feet. “Are you injured?”

  “Mostly just my dignity,” Edmund said.

  Kiner eyed the cuts all over Edmund’s forearm and knew that was a lie. They didn’t look fatal, provided he didn’t caught an infection before they got healers and soap in here.

  “Where are they?” His sword clattered to the floor as he tried to grab Darien by the shirt, but his hand was too bloody and bruised to grip. Instead, he hit Darien’s chest. “You were supposed to stay with them.”

  Kiner grabbed his arm, though as gently as possible. “Amber asked Darien to stay, to slow their escape. But this way is a dead end.”

  “No it isn’t,” Edmund said.

  Rose signed: The windows too small for Amber.

  Edmund said. “Didn’t you know? There’s a trap door through there that leads into the cold cellars. It’s for emergencies. The tunnels run the entire length of the palace. I used to hide down here with...” He coughed. �
��A certain noble woman I fancied.”

  Kiner barked out a laugh. “When this is over, we all need to sit down with the servants and map the bloody tunnels in this place.”

  Shouting from above caught Kiner’s attention. “All right, you two go find Amber and clear out the basement. Rose, you’re with us. Let’s head back up to get the stragglers.”

  Rose nodded. Kiner gave Edmund’s back a solid thump and said, “Good to see you still have it in you.”

  Edmund bowed his head. “Shut up, Kiner.”

  Kiner laughed and said, “Let’s go, Brennus.”

  “Anyone who fights next to me gets to call me Bren.”

  “Bren it is.”

  Chapter 19

  BETHANY JUMPED OUT of the window after Jud. She landed smoothly on the awning directly under his window and then jumped the floor down. She landed well, bending her knees in the process, and didn’t fall. Though, her joints screamed at her for having done such a stupid thing. But the Power boiled inside her, and she knew her joints would heal. Jud would not.

  Jud crawled away from her, even as knights rushed her position from all over the courtyard. She kicked Jud in the knee and a loud pop filled the air, followed by a wail from Jud. He kept crawling, wailing and sobbing, and Bethany kicked him again, this time in the small of the back. Again, he wailed, and again she kicked. Over and over. He eventually curled in on himself, and she began shoving the heel of her boot into his hip, over and over.

  “How does it feel, you fucking monster!” Bethany screamed. “How does it feel to be helpless? Tell me!”

  ARRAGO WATCHED ALONG with hundreds of other elves as Bethany went into a blood rage like he’d never seen before. He couldn’t identify all of the languages she screamed in. He didn’t even realize Bethany knew that many. Every word was punctuated by a kick of her boots. She wasn’t content to run him through. No, she was going to beat him to death, right here in front of everyone.

  So many people were shouting at Bethany to stop that it was difficult to hear anything through the crowd of voices. She was going to kill Jud, though. There was no question in Arrago’s mind. She was still kicking him, screaming well beyond what a normal voice should be able to produce. She’d formed a protective dome about her, though it flickered in and out as her rage built and refocused on Jud.

  Arrago knew how she felt. He felt it stir within his own belly at the sight of the rag-covered skeleton that had replaced Erem. Erem had been one of hers and Bethany wasn’t the type to lay down her life for others; she was the type to burn the world down to rescue others.

  The protective fire wall faded as she kicked Jud. The inquisitive part of his mind calculated how quickly it faded when she turned her attentions solely on Jud. Had she forgotten about it, that part of his mind wondered? Was there a system of keeping it in her memory to keep the wall active?

  Then Arrago saw the line of archers form up along the back wall. No one wanted to touch her, not with her like this. Many of them had seen her pull an entire army to their knees. Many of these knights had been trained by her. Apexia’s might, many of them had their lives saved by her in the war.

  The calculating part of his brain shut down. Arrago threw himself between Bethany and the archers. Something inside him screamed to protect. It was his job to protect. The world needed him to protect them from...something. The feeling pulled on him and took away his own will to make the decision. He simply knew he was meant to fling himself between Bethany and the arrows.

  JONAS SAW ARRAGO RUSH at Bethany and whispered under his breath, “Oh, shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

  He put his arm around Erem and helped lift him to his feet. He didn’t have the strength to carry him. Not after carrying Jovan. The knights were carrying Jovan to the rowboat, their safe escape back to the main ship. His entire body screamed for him to stop, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and just kept going. His life, and Erem’s life, depended upon him reaching the ship now. Erem faintly begged Myra to kill him. Well, no one was going to be killing either of them if he had anything to do with it, so he ignored Erem and just kept running. Each step forward was closer to the dock and help.

  They should have all known how Bethany would react to seeing Erem. They should have locked her up in Taftlin and come without her. She was going to get them all killed. She was going to get herself killed. She had lost her mind when she’d seen Erem and Jovan. Perhaps that was Jud’s intention all along. Get her so off balance that she’d be stupid. Bethany could be stupid when she was angry, true, but she was also deadly. If she killed Jud, which she probably would, there would be no going back. Not even Apexia herself would get Bethany out of the trouble she’d gotten all of them into.

  So he kept running. Almost there now. The servants and dockworkers were running toward him now. Just a few more steps and...

  His leg gave out underneath him and a hot pain burned a line across his calf.

  “EREM, PLEASE. KEEP moving,” Myra pleaded.

  Myra tried not to think about what had been done to Lord Erem, for fear she would drop him on the ground and run back to join Bethany and Arrago. Anger like she’d never experienced in her life bubbled inside her. She didn’t even feel this during the war, when she watched Magi cut down her fellow soldiers. This was personal.

  And for however personal it was for her, she couldn’t even imagine how much this cut Bethany. She saw it as soon as Bethany laid eyes on both men. Myra knew rescue was now off the table. Revenge would be the dish of the evening. Provided they didn’t all die in the process.

  “Please kill me,” Erem whimpered.

  “Shut up, Erem,” Myra snapped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. We just have to keep moving.”

  Jonas collapsed in a wail of pain. Erem’s knees buckled under him, unable to stand by his own strength. He dragged her to the ground with him. Her wrist snapped, and she let out a shriek of pain. Her pain startled Erem, and he began crawling away from her, back toward the courtyard, toward the archers, and back toward the people who’d been torturing him for a year.

  Myra grabbed Erem by the ankle with her good hand. He kicked wildly, completely losing his mind. He didn’t know it was her, and the more she shouted for him to stop, the more he kicked. He landed three kicks to her face until Myra let go automatically. The world spun and she felt off-balance. Her ears rang. Her stomach rolled.

  Still, she feebly called out to him. “Erem, please. Come back.”

  She reached out to grab his foot when a massive shimmer blinded her. She blinked several times before her eyesight adjusted. Erem spun on his knees and began crawling back to her, eyes wide and full of terror. She tried to put her hand through the barrier in front of her, but it shocked her, the way kids loved to rub their stocking feet on carpets and form lightning lines, as they called them.

  Myra managed to pull herself to her feet. She stared at the wall of shimmering protection filled with awe and fascination. Bethany was still beating Jud. It was hard to see her, but her screams echoed through the night air. There had been so many rumors and rumblings about Bethany, Arrago, and all the others since the defeat of Sarissa, but she hadn’t believed any of them.

  Until now.

  She still did not believe this was Magic. There was something...different about this wall. It didn’t give her the greasy feeling that she’d gotten anytime she’d been around Magic. This had a clarity and a purpose.

  “Apexia’s might,” Myra swore, when the realization dawned on her.

  This wasn’t a case of Magic. No, this was more amazing, more shocking, than a bit of Magic casting. This was pure Power. This was the gift of Apexia. This was Apexia’s power.

  The rumors had been true. Apexia was gone. In her place stood Bethany, Arrago, and all the others that day in the tower. The day the war ended.

  Erem passed right through the barrier like he didn’t even affect him. “Get me out of here! Oh, Apexia! Get me out of here.”

  She didn’t know what the fuck was going
on, but she was happy to agree with Erem and get out of there.

  Chapter 20

  AND THEN THE STRANGEST thing happened. A curtain of shimmering air appeared between the archers and Bethany’s position, and the arrows bounced harmlessly off the curtain wall. A needle shoved itself into Arrago’s temple and he stumbled, but kept his feet. Arrago touched his head, sure to find a sliver of something in it, but his hand only found clammy skin.

  Arrago stared at the shimmering curtain and then back at all the eyes that had turned to him. Even Bethany had stopped plummeting Jud to stare at him. His vision blurred and the curtain shook in rhythm with the pain in his head. He shook his head and pushed back the pain. The curtain stabilized.

  He thought back to the events of the night of the ball, where the rebels attacked the palace. There had been a couple of times during the skirmish that he thought arrows and swords were not landing as they should have. Had he caused that? Was this the effect of Apexia’s gift? And he’d done it in front of all these elves.

  “Oh, shit,” Arrago whispered.

  BETHANY BRANDISHED the dagger. She imagined sinking it into Jud’s chest, where his heart should have been if he’d been a feeling person. Jud was barely conscious now. He mostly moaned and choked, letting out occasional cries when he tried to move away from her blows. Her anger had subsided enough that she could stop herself from killing him, though the urge was still there.

  Of course, she wanted to kill him and he deserved it. What he’d done to Erem, what all of the knights had done to Erem was beyond anything she’d seen before. She felt righteous in that thought, too, even knowing all of the things she’d done in her past. Erem had done nothing to them and Jud tortured one of his own to get at her. She would show him pain like he’d never felt.