by S. M. Boyce
“I will not run when my people are in danger!”
“You will because your father commands it!”
“Hang him. I will help!”
“Aurora,” the general begged.
“No!”
He pulled her in close even as she glared at him. “In this, I believe your father is right. If you could fight, if you could help, I would let you honor your people. But this is a deadly battle that few will survive”—he cupped her neck with his hand—“and our Heir must be safe!”
Aurora’s eyebrows pinched, and tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. She nodded.
Gurien sighed with relief and gestured to a group of Kirelms who stood at the ready nearby. “This old tower will take you to the roof. Go! I will hold off the Stelians as best I can, but you must hurry!”
The guards surrounded her, and they ran through the hallway to where scattered moonlight drenched an empty tower. Kara could see the posts of what had once been stairs winding to the roof, but now it was nothing but an empty tower. Windows dotted the wall between the tower and the hall where Kara sat, pinned against the wall, and she was forced to watch the ensuing escape through flashes in the empty frames.
As Aurora entered the tower, the doors opposite the stairwell opened and a horde of smoking Stelians funneled through. One lunged and stabbed a Kirelm guard clean through the chest. The Kirelm soldier paled, and as soon as he dropped to the floor, bits of dust cracked away from his face. Kara gasped and tried to lift the unconscious Gavin from her lap to go help. Though he groaned as she heard the snap of his arm mending itself, he wouldn’t budge.
She glanced back to Aurora, trying to compose the techniques she had learned at Losse into something useful, but the screaming clouded her focus. Panic flooded her limbs. She didn’t even know what technique would be useful from such a distance.
Aurora grabbed the fallen guard’s sword, spread her wings, and jumped into the air. As she flew, the Stelians nearby changed form and became Kirelms themselves. They stretched their dark wings, reaching for her with their arms. As one came too close, she swung her sword wildly. The sword sliced his arm clean off. He screamed and fell to the ground, but more soldiers took his place and swarmed after her.
In another flash of movement through the windows Kara could see, a soldier grabbed Aurora’s arm and yanked her to him. Another soldier tied a rope around her wings as she tried to escape. A third gagged her. The first soldier wrapped a blindfold around the princess’s eyes and took her in his arms even as she struggled to get free. The soldiers then flew higher, still climbing toward the roof.
Kara tried again to push Gavin off her—the royals were disappearing. And not only did Carden not want them dead, but he was kidnapping them. Aurora likely wouldn’t have escaped even if she’d made it to the top of the tower.
Gavin groaned as Kara punched him in the shoulder. He leaned his head into Kara’s lap and opened his eyes, just staring at the ceiling.
“Gavin, we have to get out of here!” Kara said. She shook him, trying to make him come to.
He caught her gaze and narrowed his eyes, finally seeming to wake up. But instead of nodding, or debating, or saying anything for that matter, he pushed himself off her without a word. He stood and scanned the crowd.
Before Kara could say anything, a familiar voice yelled in agony. She turned out of instinct toward the sound, only to catch Braeden duck a swing from Carden as he backed toward a stairway. The stairs wound up the wall, carved as they were into its side without a railing for all to see. If Carden forced Braeden up there, he would be trapped.
She pushed herself to her feet, but Gavin grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.
“Gavin, what—?”
“This is what I need you for, Kara. Help me kill Carden and I will give you absolutely anything.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“You’re the Vagabond. Come up with something!”
Carden smacked Braeden in the face with the flat of his sword and knocked him onto his back. He skidded into the bottom of the stairs and cursed loud enough that Kara could hear it from a hundred or so feet away.
Gavin grabbed her elbow. “I can show you how to use your power. Let me control you.”
“Like hell!”
“I know how to manage a battle, Kara. If you take my bloodline and become my subject, I can direct you in the fight. We can end Carden right here, right now. All you have to do is put this on.” He pulled from his pocket the tiara she had rejected so many times.
She pushed him away. “I knew it! I knew that was still cursed!”
“That’s not important! Right now, you can either wear it or watch Carden kill my brother. He’s no match for a Blood!”
Kara glanced back to Braeden. He parried, but the color drained from his face even as she watched him. It was like seeing him realize he would lose. Carden had let him keep his Hillsidian form, though Kara couldn’t figure out why. Braeden always moved a second or two behind his father’s attacks, barely blocking each blow at the last possible minute.
Carden was toying with Braeden.
Kara didn’t have many options, but she couldn’t take Gavin’s offer. If they didn’t kill Carden, she would be Gavin’s slave for as long as he wanted. And if they did kill Carden, Braeden would become Blood and everyone would find out the truth anyway. He wouldn’t be able to hide as a Hillsidian when his body adjusted to the new power that came with being king.
She summoned the pearl blue sword Braeden had taught her to use from the light and energy in the air.
“Sorry, Gavin. We aren’t going to do this your way.”
“You’re mistaken.”
Gavin grabbed her wrist and twisted, sending her to her knees. Pain shot into her elbow. The sword shattered and dissolved into the air. Gavin knelt in her peripheral vision and reached for her head. Something in his hand glittered like a diamond in the hall’s candlelight.
Not happening.
She shifted her weight and used her own momentum to swipe out his knee. He fell, and his grip loosened. Kara rolled out of his reach and bolted into the melee, dodging the twisting bodies as she ran toward Braeden.
If this was the end, she and Braeden would go out together.
Chapter 5
Brothers
Braeden dodged a blow from Carden’s sword. He still couldn’t fully understand why his father let him fight at all, but he had a guess. His father probably wanted to distract him and would likely wait until his soldiers finished whatever they’d come to do. Carden would no doubt then fully break the Gala guests left alive with the grand finale—making Braeden change form to add the insult of betrayal to the injury of losing the battle.
Though Braeden knew what would come, he couldn’t figure out how to stop it.
A stairwell loomed behind him. If Carden forced him up those steps, Braeden would lose all tactical advantage and be put on display at the same time. He’d tried everything he could think of, but he always ended up near the stairs. Carden owned this battle.
The Blood threw a bolt of dark smoke into Braeden’s chest. The blow knocked him off his feet and kicked the breath out of him. He slid into the bottom stair.
“That human girl is your weakness, Braeden. You could have escaped,” Carden said with a sneer.
Braeden’s heart raced as he stole a quick look to where he’d left Kara, but only an empty wall with a green bloodstain remained.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m strong enough to face you,” he said.
Carden grinned. “You are by no means strong enough to win this.”
The Blood lunged, aiming the Stelian Sartori at his son’s shoulder. Braeden parried, and the two struggled up the stairs. Braeden cursed under his breath. He’d just lost.
With a laugh, Carden erupted into black flame as he donned his daru. His skin darkened further as the flames danced across his arms, and his bones cracked as he grew another two feet. His clothes stretched with him, bending to accomm
odate his new size.
Braeden buckled under the strength his father pulled from him and dropped his sword. His knees shook. His muscles tightened against the strain of another person using his energy. Several moments passed before he could pull himself back to his feet, though he didn’t know why Carden would even allow such a thing. Arrogance, most likely. When he stood, most of the Stelians around Carden were on their knees.
“Acknowledge what you are, Braeden, or I will kill you here and now!”
“I won’t,” he said, barely loud enough to hear.
Carden swung the flat end of the sword toward Braeden’s jaw. He ducked the blow, leaning backward as he reached for his own sword.
Braeden spun with everything he had left, but his father easily stepped out of range. Carden swung again, pushing Braeden up the stairs step by step until those in the Gala hall below came into view. Mostly partygoers covered the dance floor, rips and stains dotting their lavish dresses or suits. Those without weapons stared at him, eyes wide as he fought for his life. Only a few Stelians remained, and those darted into a nearby tunnel. Carden’s massive army had already disappeared—and fast. Carden must have been planning this for as long as Gavin had been trying to secure the hall for the Gala.
Carden’s influence tugged on Braeden’s gut. It wasn’t a command—it was a test. The desire to change into his Stelian form burned through him. Justifications spun in his mind about how he would be stronger and better able to fight, but he knew better.
“Stop!” Braeden yelled.
He swung at Carden’s face and brushed the king’s cheek. Black blood dripped from the wound even as it healed.
Carden paused, his glare enough to make Braeden forget what his next move had been. He tensed his jaw as he scrambled to look for an opening, but a burning command tore through him.
Change.
This wasn’t Carden’s influence. It was a direct order—a mandate that no yakona had ever disobeyed.
Braeden fell to his knees and leaned into the stairwell wall as he fought the urge to turn. For a moment, he did. His body twisted to obey, but he kept it under control. His mind pushed against the order, strong enough to preserve the Hillsidian body that had given him a home for the last twelve years.
But as soon as the thrill of hope made his heart flutter, his skin began to change color. He cursed as the hope dissolved into panic.
His veins boiled as his skin darkened to a charcoal gray that matched his father’s. Even as he watched, it grew darker. Black flames erupted from the pores along his arms and chest. Fury and guilt crushed against his chest and shredded his resilience. In an instant, his lifetime of lying came to light.
The shame within him reasoned that if he could kill his father, he might find some redemption, if only from himself. It was his only thought, his only reason to exist in that second. He let his daru take over—it was too late to hide the truth now. He might as well embrace it.
He swung.
The two Stelians attacked and ducked until Carden twisted Braeden’s sword from his hands and threw it into the throngs below. Braeden had only a moment to catch his father’s sneer before the Blood kicked him in his gut. The blow knocked him off the twenty-foot-high ledge.
As Braeden fell, his father disappeared above him with a crack. Smoke billowed in the space where Carden once stood.
Braeden hit the stones below, and the ground broke beneath him. The stones in the floor bent from the force and knocked the air from his lungs. His body disconnected and wouldn’t obey. Pops and snaps echoed within him as he healed, but he couldn’t move.
His father stepped into view above him.
But how—?
“You will find your way home to me,” Carden said.
A small, black creature with a large head and a long tail crawled onto Carden’s shoulder. With yet another crack, Carden disappeared, leaving behind only a small cloud of smoke.
Someone screamed. Actually, several people screamed. Some yelled, but Braeden closed his eyes. He still couldn’t move. Eventually, the screams faded until only a dull murmur echoed through the massive room.
After a few moments, his fingers twitched. He smiled and moved them. He curled his toes in his boots and sighed with relief as they obeyed. Out of instinct, he shrank back into his Hillsidian form. Gasps and murmurs echoed in his mind.
“Traitor!” Gavin yelled from somewhere in the crowd of bodies.
Braeden flinched at the word and opened his eyes. He pulled himself gingerly against the wall as Gavin barreled toward him.
“Coward! LIAR!” Gavin screamed.
Pebbles cascaded from the roof as the Hillsidian’s voice echoed through the hall. Partygoers stood back to let Gavin through.
“For twelve years you have lied to me and to my family, and here you will pay your debt for our kindness!”
Braeden could barely move. Gavin donned his daru, and green thorns pushed from his pores as he drew his sword. Vines pulsed over his skin, wrapping around him, shielding him like armor until all that could be seen of the Blood were his blazing green eyes. Hillsidians standing nearby dropped to the floor, unable to stand without the strength he sucked from them.
Gavin cocked his sword over his shoulder. Judging by the angle, Braeden guessed Gavin planned to simply cut off his head. Even though it wasn’t a Sartori—Carden still had Gavin’s Sartori blade—it would likely work.
Braeden’s wounds still needed time to heal. He didn’t stand a chance against a Blood as healthy as Gavin. He could let Gavin end him. He could finally be done with Ourea, with politics, and with all the lies.
A memory of Kara’s smiling face flashed in his mind. He wasn’t done yet.
He took a deep breath. Turning to his own daru was the only way to defend himself, so he let his anger and his shame take him, too. His skin rippled with heat, and the raw power for which he would never openly admit he lusted tore through him. He conjured a black sword from the air and gripped it. The thing blazed like his skin.
Gavin swung. Though Braeden couldn’t move from his space by the wall, he parried the attack. Metal clanged as Gavin’s blade hit the solid energy in Braeden’s sword. Bystanders flinched. Braeden managed to parry two more blows before his elbow shook and the last of his strength dissolved. His sword shattered with a hiss and evaporated into a cloud of steam.
Gavin kicked him in his gut. Braeden doubled over. He forced himself to look up at Gavin, but the king wouldn’t look him in the eye. Gavin set his sword on Braeden’s neck, likely aiming for the final blow.
Braeden couldn’t move. He’d pushed his body to its limit, and now it only shook and twitched as he tried to roll out of the way. All he wanted was to escape and find Kara, but the last flame of Braeden’s resilience flickered out in a heavy dose of shame. He would always be the enemy. As Gavin lifted his sword, Braeden didn’t even put up his hand to block the final strike.
But Kara did.
Gavin stopped mid-swing as Kara stepped in front of Braeden without a word. Her mess of blond hair and the torn shreds of her dress appeared out of nowhere. She faced the Hillsidian, her loose curls and arched back blocking Braeden’s view of the king.
“Get out of the way,” Gavin spat.
“No,” she said, her voice calm.
“He’s a Stelian!”
“I know.”
Gavin cursed. “How long have you known?”
“That’s irrelevant. The point is killing Braeden would be a mistake.”
“He’s a traitor. If you don’t move, I’ll take you down with him.”
She crossed her arms. “That’s enough! He has always been loyal to you. He saved your life tonight. Carden would have killed you!”
“His father killed Mother!”
Gavin raised a hand to brush her out of the way, but a blue light pulsed through Kara’s fingers. It struck him in the chest as he touched her and shot him backward into the growing crowd of onlookers.
Kara arched her back. “Braeden didn’t
kill her. There’s a distinction.”
“This is your last—”
“You would never sleep again, Gavin, knowing you killed the brother who has always protected you.”
No one spoke. A distant humming echoed in the silent hall. Gavin stood, and Braeden could see him now—he glared at Kara as if he wished he could kill her, too. She didn’t flinch, even as Gavin brushed past her.
Gavin knelt and whispered in Braeden’s ear. “Having your life is more mercy than you deserve. I think your shame will be punishment enough until your trial.”
The king walked off and signaled into the crowd of nearby bodies, but Braeden didn’t realize why until Captain Demnug shuffled forward with a set of spiked shackles.
“That isn’t necessary,” Braeden managed to say.
“I must,” Demnug said without looking him in the eye.
Braeden’s old friend knelt beside him and waited for Braeden to offer his wrists. Braeden sighed. In his state, he couldn’t run. If he did somehow manage to escape, Kara would likely become leverage to lure him back. Gavin evidentially knew there was something brewing between them.
A broken bone popped back into place somewhere in Braeden’s arm. He stifled a groan but lifted his hands to the captain in surrender.
Demnug snapped one cuff onto Braeden’s wrist in a fluid motion. The spikes bit into Braeden’s skin. Pain tore through his arm. He flinched and sucked in a sharp breath. Black blood snaked down his arm from the holes around the handcuffs’ barbs.
The captain snapped the other shackle into place. The agony doubled. Braeden tried not to yell. His veins burned from the poison in the spikes. Ringing boomed in his ears.
He looked up to see Kara watching him from beside Gavin. She stood so close—only a dozen feet off. She leaned forward, as if she wanted to run to him, but Gavin grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She flinched at Gavin’s grip, but smiled nonetheless when Braeden caught her eye.
Despite the pain and humiliation he’d endured in the last few minutes, Braeden’s heart lifted the barest inch from where it lay at the pit of his stomach. Kara would be all right, and he had nearly disobeyed a mandate from Carden. He didn’t know it was possible to resist at all. The thrill of hope shot through him again. If he survived whatever came next, perhaps he could find a way to disobey his father entirely.