War of the Wilted

by Amber Mitchell

He nods. “Then we go together.”

  With a single word, the twelve men and women nearest to us spin on their heels to face him. He tips his sword toward his uncle, pointing out their target, and signals for them to move. Our tiny troop clashes with the mountain surrounding the emperor, and my heart sinks as my sword slashes into another man at the same time a rebel falls in a bloody heap at my feet.

  Was that our last goodbye? I’d dreamed of a million good night kisses, of laughter and hope, of unity…a world bursting with Rayce’s colors. How can I go back to gray now that he’s shown me the softness of blue, the passion of red, the calm of green? He brought me back to life and I will never be the same.

  Today the world will change one way or another, the next few precious minutes defining whether it will be gray or all the vivid colors the rebellion has promised. It will end in one death—either the emperor’s or the man I love.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Our small wave of rebels surging around us, we start to blast through the ocean of Sun soldiers guarding their emperor like a precious gem, trying to end this entire war the fastest way possible. The muscles in my arm quake as I swing my sword into the nearest soldier. Around me, green bolts light my path forward, my fellow Zareeni guards throwing everything they have into pushing ahead.

  Beside me, Rayce lashes out like one of his fireworks, an explosion of raw power as he ploughs ahead of the rest of us, his sword the only meaningful flash in the sea of metal and blue around us. He parts soldiers as easily as he moves through tall grass, his eyes set solely on his uncle.

  As I stab another man, a cry ripping from his mouth, I try to stomp down the desperation that ripples through me. Arlo has told us countless times during practice that thinking about anything besides the goal at hand during a battle is a good way to ensure you get yourself killed.

  But as Rayce manages to burst through the endless bodies his uncle threw between himself and the rebellion with bold, sure strokes of his sword and the emperor turns Rayce’s way, the only thing I can focus on is the last time they met, how hot Rayce’s blood felt slipping between my fingers. How many times has Rayce told me that he’s never been able to best his uncle in a fight?

  “Rayce, be careful!” I shout, my voice drowned out by the chorus of death surrounding us.

  As if fueled by my warning, he pivots around, his blade cutting across a soldier’s chest as his long black vest flares out behind him. If his shoulder wound is hurting him, he isn’t showing it right now. Two well-placed blasts knock the other soldiers out of his way, leaving a clear path to the emperor.

  Rayce’s uncle stands even more imposing than I remembered, his trim frame made bulky by the layer of silver scaled metal separating his skin from our blades. Snaking dragons wrap around the solid, thick piece of metal on his torso, as if signaling us where his heart lies. If he had one. Shoulder-length black-and-steel hair rests in a loose tie at the base of his neck, just peeking out over his helmet with the terrifying mandibles jutting out to cover his jaw. His goatee is trimmed meticulously close to his face. He holds out his long silver sword, a black gemstone sparkling in the hilt, and beckons Rayce forward with the fluid motion of a master, striking more fear into my already shaky heart.

  The emperor’s mouth peels back in a smile and he says something to his nephew that I can’t hear over the roar of battle engulfing me.

  I’m not going to let their meeting end the same way as last time. Before, Oren’s blood still coated the emperor’s blade and all reason had flown out of Rayce’s head. He’s more centered this time, ready to attack his uncle strictly with logic. This isn’t going to be another embarrassing fighting lesson. Today, Rayce will end the war because this time, I’ll be capable of helping him. I grit my teeth, running forward.

  Lightning pain shoots down my side as a sword bites into my flesh. I swing around, sweat dripping into my eyes, and slam my own blade at the first blue thing I see, staining it red. The metal fights against my grip, sliding through skin easily, but gets caught on bone. Using the momentum of my swing, I kick out like I’ve seen Rayce do, and drop the soldier to the ground.

  Pain racks me, but I push it down, my eyes only for Rayce and his uncle. Blood pours hot down my skin, lacing each step I take with a pounding that borders on torment. Gripping my gash with one hand, I stop at Rayce’s side, looking up at him. The stubble on his jaw almost covers the fact that it clenches.

  The emperor’s sharp gray eyes slide to me as I stop next to Rayce. “You brought the princess to guard you again. She didn’t do such a good job last time, nephew.”

  Rayce turns, brow furrowed as he looks down at me, and his hand slides to my forearm, sending me strength enough to fight through my pain.

  “Don’t you dare call me that,” I say, forcing a confidence in my voice I don’t feel. “The shogun doesn’t need me to guard him, but I will protect him with everything I have.”

  Rayce tips his sword in his uncle’s direction. “I don’t want to do this, but you’ve given me no choice. This ends now.”

  The emperor laughs, reaching up a black-gloved hand to remove his helmet, revealing more dark hair. A stray piece falls into his face as a breeze sweeps through the marketplace, bringing with it the metallic scent of blood.

  “You always were a bleeding heart,” he says. “I always knew it would be your downfall and now, I will prove myself right.”

  My stomach rolls being this near to him until the sword in my hand reminds me that I’ll only need to be here long enough to help Rayce ensure victory. He tosses his discarded helmet on the ground, the hunk of metal landing by his feet as he takes a step forward. The ground quakes as he stalks toward us, a spider descending on its trapped prey.

  “Although for once, I think we’re in perfect agreement,” the emperor says. “After today, your entire rebellion will be wiped clean from existence. When I am finished, it will only be mentioned in history books as a lesson for the younger generation to remember what will happen if they challenge the might of the empire.”

  “We shall see, uncle,” Rayce spits.

  The emperor remains unfazed by Rayce’s words, looking at him like a child throwing a temper tantrum instead of the hunter he is, his skills forged by war. The emperor has always resembled a rock, immobile and unwavering, but Rayce is the water, finding new ways to flow around him, even through the tiniest of cracks.

  The dragons on the emperor’s silver chest piece catch every shred of sunlight, bouncing it back into my eyes. As he walks, it looks like they breathe actual fire. “Are you really foolish enough to believe you can win?”

  “Every man can die,” I say. “And that includes you.”

  My words stir something in Rayce. He lashes out, his movement faster than I can process as he throws his whole body into his swing. The emperor thrusts up his own sword, locking Rayce in standstill, but for the fraction of a second, the older man’s eyes widen at the sheer force of Rayce’s attack. This isn’t the same grief-filled shogun he met on the battlefield before. This Rayce is focused, steady, and prepared to end the war.

  Rayce elbows his uncle in the side, pushing him back, and growls as he hurls his sword at him once more. The emperor feigns a dodge, yanking his knife from his side to slice Rayce across the leg. Though blood pours from the wound, Rayce doesn’t waver in his assault, his own weapon arcing in beautiful flashes of light.

  I swing around, attacking a Sun soldier going for Rayce while he is busy with his uncle. Just as my blade slips through the soldier’s armor, a heavy crash in my back sends me flying forward. I manage to catch myself, turning around to see what nearly knocked the wind out of me, and find Rayce stumbling to keep his balance.

  The emperor jumps swiftly back, putting some distance between himself and Rayce, breathing heavily. I take that moment to dive for him, twisting to jam my own blade into his ribs, but he swings out like he could predict my attack before it even happened. Our metal clashes in a ring of steel.

  His face gets dist
urbingly close to mine. “Did you think the same tricks were going to work on me again, girl?”

  He throws me backward, but I catch myself on the ball of my foot, spinning around, and swing again, nicking him in the forearm, slicing up against the glittering fish scales to cut through the leather underneath.

  “No, but I’m betting a few new ones will.”

  The emperor touches the meat on his shoulder and grins when his black glove gleams with blood.

  “A little blood isn’t going to scare me.” His calculating eyes flicker above my head and his smile widens. “But I’d be willing to wager that it would scare you, especially if it wasn’t your own, princess.”

  I’m about to ask him what he means when I hear a grunt of pain behind me and the emperor tips his head toward that direction. This is probably a trick, I know better than to follow his lead and yet, my eyes can’t help but slide back in time to see a soldier wrenching Rayce’s arm back, holding him in place while another rips their blade through his stomach. Blood pours from the wound, showering the ground.

  My entire world comes to a shuddering halt, hanging on the tip of a blade as the same soldier rears back his sword to stab Rayce in the gut. He pulls back the sword covered in Rayce’s blood and another attacks his unguarded body from behind. All my air shoots from my lungs, my vision suddenly blurry. If he dies, there is nothing left. This man that kept me at his side even when he was furious, that still chose to trust in me when every action I’ve taken has given him reason to doubt me. This man that is my future, the only person I have ever loved. My heart twists, trying to escape my own chest.

  “Don’t you know never to get distracted in war?” The cold tone of the emperor’s voice sinks through my horror and I turn back in time to see him swing at me.

  “Wait!” I call out, throwing my sword up to block him. “Wait! Don’t kill him! Please.”

  My arm nearly gives as the emperor slams his blade into mine and begins to push down. After forcing the crank to open the gate, rushing over the rooftops of the cityscape, and already fighting, my muscles are almost finished. Especially with the wound in my side still flowing freely. My vision grows dim at the edges, but I fight against it. I won’t give up on Rayce.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” the emperor ask. He leans forward as he continues to press my own blade closer to me. “After all, every man can die.”

  My eyes flicker to Rayce as he falls to his knees, his head rolling back as his body gives out on him. Blood pours from multiple wounds all down his side and his mouth lolls open. Everything I’d wanted to say to him pours through me, fast and reckless, unfiltered in a way only imminent death can bring. Another soldier grabs his robe collar, holding him steady as he tips the point of his blade against Rayce’s unprotected neck.

  “Rayce!” I yell out, my voice struggling to project through my own horror.

  He fights to lift his head up, his drowsy eyes locking with mine, reflecting the world he wanted to build for us back to me. His mouth moves like he’s trying to say something, but I still haven’t learned to speak his silent language the way Arlo can.

  No, I won’t let him die.

  My gut drops. This encounter won’t end like last time. The emperor is winning, so he’ll push forward, and we are cut off from our exit. Around me, there’s so much less green than there should be. My world fills with blue and silver and red. The colors of defeat.

  There’s nothing I can do to salvage this war by myself. The battle is already over.

  But I might be able to spare Rayce’s life, at least long enough to think of a different option. I will not sit back idly and watch the man I love die. Not as long as there is breath in my lungs.

  “What about your offer?” The words nearly choke me on the way out, riddled with spikes and desperation.

  “The last time we tried to be civil, princess,” he says, jerking forward so I stumble back, “you hit me in the head with a book. No, I think I’ll watch everything you love die soaked in the rebellion’s blood and then string their bodies from my wall to remind everyone why they shouldn’t disobey me.” He looks up at his soldier who held his sword. “Kill him.”

  I land hard on my back, feeling another wave of pain roll through me from my wound, but I don’t have time to worry about it. My sword slips from my grasp and I sit up, almost in a kneeling position. Once again, I find myself at the feet of a man not worthy of me, practically bowing. I keep breaking this promise I made to myself.

  My mind spirals back to the kitchen, to the plate of rice and fish that Rayce and I spoke over, how I told him there wasn’t anything in this world that I’d be willing to claim my birthright over, my words resonating in my ears almost as loud as my heart beat.

  I was wrong then. So incredibly wrong.

  There’s only one thing in the world that would make me desperate enough to offer up my title, even though my birthright scares me almost as much as returning to the Garden. The only thing I need more than safety.

  Rayce.

  He’s always been the one to push me to be better, to spur me on to work harder. His kindness, his smile, the way he loves me. He’s the only thing worth bargaining my soul for.

  “Wait!” I shout, throwing my hand out to the soldier. Even through my blurry vision, I catch him hesitating at my voice, revealing I’ve got a fraction of power still. “You’re willing to give up an easy victory? In return for the rebellion’s pardon, I won’t fight you. I’ll willingly marry you and you can stake my claim to the Varshan throne.”

  The emperor refuses to look at me, his eyes narrowing at his nephew instead. It’s impossible to tell if he’s even listening. I need something, anything to make him understand. My mind retreats back into Oren’s office, into the pages of his dusty books that still smell like him, all the advice I haven’t had time to obtain yet.

  “Think it through,” I say. “If you spare the rebellion, if you show mercy, your people will love you for it. They will fight for you without hesitation.”

  “They will do that anyway.”

  A retort sits poised in my throat as I glare at him, but my gaze flickers to Rayce, who has stayed awake even though his pain must be excruciating. A thick stream of blood rolls down his forehead, stretching down his cheek to the forest of stubble on his jawline.

  “Rose,” he tries to speak, his voice almost a whisper. “Don’t.”

  His words make my next ones even harder. I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hold myself up as I gaze at this precious man I love. If there was some way to open up my mind and show him all the things I wanted, the way I saw our life going, the happy days of laughter, the unity of our hands joined together as one, I would do it in a second so that he can know I understand everything I’m giving up, how beautiful each stolen moment is to me.

  “But with my claim to the crown,” I say, picking each word carefully, “those still loyal to my father will likely rise up to fight with you, too. An alliance between our two bloodlines could be the missing link between the two kingdoms, and your name would go down in history as the man who conquered both and brought order to the realms.”

  The soldier looks back cautiously at the emperor, his blade still held aloft. Metal clashing and screams can still be heard all around us even though the fighting has stopped inside our little ring of soldiers. Caught in the eye of a massive storm, locked in the calm while everything around us is destroyed. It feels somehow fitting.

  I don’t let myself consider what I’m selling the Varshan people over to. Perhaps Emperor Sun’s rule will be fairer than the current pretender on the throne, but judging by all the stories Rayce has told me and the queasy feeling I get every time he looks over me, I doubt it.

  The emperor turns his perceptive gaze back on me and I bow my head, averting my gaze the way the Gardener used to prefer, even though I clench my jaw tight. His intellectual mind has to see the sound logic behind what I’ve said. It’s better to have his insects falling in line than trying to change course. My heart po
unds in my chest and I press my eyes shut.

  Please, please let this save him. Even if I lose everything else today, I can find a shred of comfort knowing that at the very least, Rayce’s life was spared. He’ll never forgive me, but at least he’ll be alive to make the choice to hate me.

  After a long stretch, the emperor speaks, his voice booming. “You will acknowledge your heritage in front of the entirety of Delmar and I will announce our intentions to act on it. You’ll answer every question I have about the rebellion. Both of you.” His hand lashes out, gripping the sides of my jaw and wrenching my head up to meet his eyes. Even though there is a threat behind them, I’m so shocked at him meeting my gaze, I can barely tangle with it. “And if I catch a hint of you trying to stir anything within my walls or incite any kind of movement in the palace, I will kill him immediately, Flower. No questions asked. Do you understand?”

  Glaring into his face, I resist the urge to pull away from his painful clutch. No resistance, or I will cost another person their life. Fern’s soft face flashes behind my eyelids. Rayce just became my new Wilted.

  Still, venom leaks out of my voice. “Yes, I understand.”

  He rips his hand from my cheeks, dragging his clean nails across my flesh, and gives one of his men a nod, turning to Rayce.

  “Shogun,” he says, his tone mocking. “We’ll need your cooperation in this.”

  Rayce grits his teeth, looking down at the ground. He doesn’t speak.

  My voice catches on my dry throat as I turn to him. “Please, Rayce?”

  Pebbles between the cobblestones dig into my knees as I crawl toward him. Every movement sends a wave of hot pain down my side that is nothing compared to the torment pouring from my soul as I see all the places his dark robe reveals skin and blood underneath it.

  “We’re losing.” I reach out for him, my eyes pleading with him to understand. “We have to think about all the people counting on you. How many lives can we spare right now? How many people can we save? There’s no way out, we’re trapped.”