by M. Lynn
The sailor scrunched his brow as if nothing Dell said made sense. After a tense moment, he shrugged and moved on.
Dell slipped one of Bemus’ knives from where he’d hidden it in his shoe and pressed it into the man’s hand. He dropped his voice. “You can use this on yourself, or you can take some of these bastards with you when you go. Your choice.”
The guard’s eyes widened. “Long live the king,” he rasped.
Dell squeezed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t go that far, buddy. But the princess is cute, right?”
A weak laugh passed the dying man’s lips. The joke eased some of the tightness in Dell’s chest.
It didn’t work this time.
He met the man’s glassy gaze with a nod before straightening to join the others.
When he searched the hall, it wasn’t the sailor who waited for him.
“Brother,” Reed said. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pain radiated from Helena’s shoulder as she slammed it into the door once more. “Cole,” she screamed. “Let me out of here!”
“Helena,” her mother said calmly. “That will not help.”
“He can’t keep us in here. We’re his family, for priest’s sake.” She put her hands on her head and turned to her mother. “Family.” She walked back to the couch and dropped onto it with a huff. “I feel so useless. I can dance. I can sew. I can sit at royal dinners and not make a fool of myself. If I get close enough, I can take anyone down with a single knife. But when my family needs me most, I can’t help them.” Her shoulders slumped.
Her mother scooted close and put an arm around her shoulders. “Helena, dear, you are not useless. You have so many skills you have yet to discover. A princess is not all you are. This is not the end for you.” She rested her chin on Helena’s head. “Besides, I can get us out of here.”
Helena reeled back. “What are you talking about?”
Her mother sighed. “In Cana, we were taught so much more than I’ve passed on to you.”
“Of course.” The kingdom of spies. She jumped to her feet. “And you didn’t think to mention this in the hours we’ve been sitting in here?”
“I don’t want you out there, Len.” Sadness etched across her face. “It’s killing me to not know where Estevan and Kassander are. You three are my heart. But I do not think it wise any longer to wait and see what they mean to do with us.”
She rose to her feet and reached into her hair, pulling free two pins. At the door, she put the pins into the lock, her face a mask of concentration.
It was only when the click of the lock echoed through the room Helena realized she was holding her breath. She exhaled slowly, trying to calm her pounding heart.
The queen walked into her maid’s adjoining room, returning with an array of weapons. Helena shouldn’t have been surprised at her mother’s secrets.
“Helena, you have an advantage. Those at the ball only glimpsed your face. Only your brother and a few select others will recognize you. You must change.”
Helena’s eyes slid over the blue dress she’d almost forgotten she still wore. Her mother loosened the laces, and the dress fell to the floor, leaving Helena in only her underclothes. She entered the maid’s room where a small chest contained a few articles of clothing.
Pulling out a woolen skirt, tight fitting linen shirt, and an apron, she dressed. Her mother worked to unpin her hair before pulling it into the bun favored by servants.
The maid’s shoes being three sizes too large and her mother’s too small, she realized she’d have to go barefoot through the halls.
As she walked to the door once more, her hip hit the table, sending its contents to the floor with a crash. The mask she’d left there sailed through the air, the glass pieces shattering on impact.
A small smile lit Helena’s face. She was no longer the hidden princess. Maybe after today, she wouldn’t be a princess at all. For the first time, she felt like the person she was meant to be.
And that person would fight for her family.
Even if it meant taking down one of her own.
The door burst open moments after the noise, but before Helena could react, her mother flipped a knife in her hand and plunged the tip deep into the rebel’s chest. He stumbled back in shock before crumpling to the ground.
The queen pulled her knife free, wiped it clean on her skirt, and extended the hilt toward Helena.
Helena took it tentatively.
“No hesitation, Helena.”
She nodded. “No hesitation.”
Her mother glanced toward the open door then back to her daughter. “Listen to me, Len. Whatever happens, I love you with my whole heart.”
“Mother…” Her words sounded too much like goodbye.
“No, Len. You have to hear this. The throne is not worth protecting. It does nothing but destroy. You… your brothers… you’re worth it. Whatever happens, I need you three to make it out of this. Get free of Madra. Make it to Quinn. He’ll protect you.”
“But Cole…”
Her mother shook her head, fire entering her eyes. “They may be twins, but Quinn is not Cole. Promise me you’ll find Kass and Stev and leave this place behind. Promise you won’t try to win back the throne. It’s not worth your life.”
Shouting entered the hall, and Helena fixed her eyes on the open doorway, preparing herself. “I promise.”
Without warning, her mother ran into the hall, ball gown whipping around her legs. The sound of steel crashing together was the only thing ringing in Helena’s ears as she followed blindly. Her mother twisted and ducked, fighting two rebels at once with a skill Helena had rarely witnessed.
Torches lined the walls and without thinking, Helena pulled one of them free, needing to create a distraction. She held the flame to the edge of the giant tapestry spanning the wall, an image of the royal family—king, queen, four princes and one princess. A happy aura clear on their faces. She set it aflame, knowing those people didn’t exist anymore. Maybe they never had.
Flames spread rapidly, and she stood mesmerized by them until her mother pulled her arm. “We must go, Helena.”
They passed the bodies of the two men the queen has slain and peered around the corner at the end of the hall. Voices sounded from the sitting room at the center of the royal family’s wing. A sitting room the siblings spent countless hours in together.
Helena jerked her head that way, and her mother nodded. They pressed themselves up against the wall and inched forward until they could make out the conversation.
“You were never my father,” Cole spat.
“Of course I was.” The king coughed.
Helena’s wide eyes met her mother’s. Father was in there. She scooted forward to peer into the room.
The king kneeled in the center of the room with his hands tied behind his back. Blood trickled from his head.
Cole paced in front of him.
Ian Tenyson sat on the arm of the couch where the Rhodipus children had laughed together and bonded over the years. Where Cole had made promises of protection.
Was everything he’d ever said to her a lie?
“I don’t see Kassander or Estevan,” her mother whispered, pulling Helena back.
“Or Edmund.” Where would they keep the foreign ambassador?
“They won’t kill Edmund. Whatever power Cole thinks he has, he’ll still fear Bela. Madra would have no chance if they retaliated. No, the ambassador will be sent home.”
Helena knew something her mother didn’t. Edmund would never leave. Not while Stev was still here.
Ian’s voice drifted into the hall. “We need to deal with him, Cole. We gain nothing by drawing it out.”
Helena couldn’t help but peer into the room again, her breath coming rapidly.
Cole sighed. “Lord Rhodipus, I hereby strip you of the right to rule.” He bent and yanked the ring from his father’s hand, placing it on his own. “You have betrayed this kingdom.”
“You speak of betrayal,” the king spat. “What do you think this rebellion of yours is?”
Cole looked him in the eye. “Fewer people will be harmed here today than in one of your wars. Madra can be rebuilt. We can be great again as we once were. On our own. Without foreign influence.”
He straightened and held out a hand. A man at the back of the room walked forward and placed a long, thin sword in Cole’s open palm.
His finger’s curled around it. “I sentence you to death.”
The king opened his mouth to speak but his words were cut off as the blade slashed across his throat, spraying crimson life onto the ground as he fell forward.
A scream ripped through Helena. She clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. She’d just witnessed her father’s murder and now she was next.
Her mother stood frozen, tears streaming down her face.
“Check the hall,” Cole shouted.
A hand clamped on her shoulder jerking her back. Smoke streamed from behind them, evidence of the fire they’d set.
Her mother pulled her into a run, rounding the corner into a room Helena knew well. The tunnels. They could get out. The ornate, unused bedroom sat untouched as if not a part of the palace outside its door.
No. She shook her head. Not without her brothers. Her mother pushed aside the painting hiding the entrance to the tunnels and yanked open the secret door before shoving Helena inside. As the door slammed, cutting off all light, the sounds of a fight broke through the darkness.
Helena sank to her knees, tears tracking down her face. She pounded her fists against the tunnel wall until her knuckles turned bloody.
Her mother was over-matched. She had to be. She counted shouts from four different men, including Cole and Ian.
But it wasn’t the noise of battle that killed everything inside her.
It was the silence that followed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dell’s back slammed against the wall as his brother put a hand to his chest. Reed threw a glance over his shoulder to where a group of soldiers ran by.
“Get off me,” Dell growled. “Unless you want to arrest me and take me to Ian right now.” He held out his wrists. “Come on, brother. Try it.”
Reed stared at him for a moment, his eyes narrowing, before someone slammed into him from behind. A soldier in a Madran uniform fought a palace guard.
Reed gripped the collar of Dell’s shirt and yanked him out of the way, pulling him through an open doorway and kicking it shut behind them.
He released Dell with a shove. “What are you doing here, Dell? Edmund promised me you’d be on the ship leaving Madra.”
Confusion warred with rage inside Dell as he stared at the brother who’d never had a kind word for him. Reed followed Ian’s lead in everything he did. The two of them had tormented him since the day he arrived in the city.
Dell wiped sweat and ash from his face. “Why do you care? You got what you’ve always wanted. You and Ian. Is your mother involved in this too? Being the tip of the spiral wasn’t enough for you. You wanted more. More influence. More power.”
Reed slumped against the wall. “Sometimes there is no other choice. And no, mother didn’t want to be involved. She didn’t come to the ball tonight.”
Dell advanced on him. “Of course there’s another choice.” He looked to the door. “Why are Madran soldiers fighting royal guards?”
“The army has chosen their side.”
Dell deflated. Then Madra really was lost. His brother had won. With the army behind the rebels, Edmund had never had any chance to stop this fight.
“Where is Edmund?” he asked, meeting his brother’s pained gaze.
Reed pushed himself away from the wall. His stocky frame ambled across the room as he paced in front of the long table near the wall. Buckets of cutlery and stacks of plates lined the surface. Dell took in the room as he waited. It must have been where servants prepared to serve the royal family. A large cherry wardrobe sat partially open at the far end, the corner of an apron hanging out.
Normal. The room spoke of normalcy in the palace. Life went on, and soon these servants would serve a new king.
“Reed.” He grit his teeth. “No more stalling. Tell me where Edmund is. And the royal family.”
Reed’s feet froze, but he didn’t turn to face Dell. “Edmund was arrested at the ball. He’s being kept under guard in one of the rooms in the king’s wing.”
Dell’s mind tried to process Edmund’s captivity. He’d be no help to them now. But Len… “And the royal family?” He swallowed past the thickness in his throat.
Reed finally turned, darkness swirling in his gaze. “Ian has… plans for them.”
A whimper came from the direction of the wardrobe, and both men paused, listening for any other sound. Footsteps stomped through the hall outside the door amid shouting voices, but the soft cry was all they focused on.
Reed approached the wardrobe cautiously and pushed the door open wider. He reached in between the hanging aprons and uniforms. A high pitch yelp sounded as he pulled a young boy free.
Dark curls fell over wide eyes as the boy tried to pull away from Reed.
Recognition sparked in Dell. “Your Highness.”
Fire entered the boy’s gaze, and he lifted his quivering chin, trying to be tough even as he stood before them in a child’s sleeping gown. “Unhand me.”
“You heard the kid.” Dell put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let him go.”
Reed loosened his grip.
“I am Kassander Rhodipus,” the young prince stated. “Are you going to kill me?”
“We don’t kill children.” Reed pressed his fingers against his closed eyes.
“Does Ian know that?” Dell asked, his eyes scanning the kid who looked so very much like Helena. “What do you think is going to happen when he gets his hands on the entire royal family? The only way to cement the bastard prince’s rule is to make sure all his siblings are in the ground.”
The bravado in Kassander’s stance cracked and his eyes glassed over. “Cole won’t hurt me.”
“I wish I had as much faith as you, little prince.” Dell walked to the wardrobe to rummage through it until he found what he wanted. He draped a dark cloak over Kassander’s shoulders. There was no way he could just leave him. Not when he gazed up at him with Len’s hazel eyes. “I’m taking the prince. If you want to arrest him, you’ll have to take us both.”
Dell spared one more long look for his brother, waiting for him to make a move. Instead, Reed turned and opened the door, disappearing into the shadows once more.
Dust rained down as another explosion struck.
“People are pouring through the gates,” a soldier yelled as he ran by. “All those loyal to the king are called to fight.”
Kassander tried to take off, but Dell held him back.
“They need us to fight,” Kassander yelled.
Dell watched more soldiers rush by. Not palace guards, but military men and women. “I don’t think the king they mention is your father.”
“I remember you,” Kassander said. “From the docks… and the games. You’re a Tenyson. I’m not going anywhere with you, Rebel.”
Dell didn’t have time for this. He turned on his heel, gripping the boy’s shoulders and bent to look him in the eye. “You don’t have another option, kid. I’m not going to kill you, but I have one goal… to get Helena out of here alive. Come or don’t, that’s your choice.”
He released the prince and joined the chaos snaking through the halls. Blood stained the velvet carpeting. Furniture lay in broken pieces. Wall hangings were slashed and torn.
The palace was a war-zone.
“Dell.” Kassander pointed to a group of men and women in armor marching down the hall.
Dell pulled Kassander back into the shadows of a doorway as they watched the man who’d betrayed his own family for the crown pass by, blood spattered across his face.
Kassander’s entire body s
hook and Dell realized for the first time, he wasn’t so different from the royal family after all. Warring siblings. Betrayal. It didn’t matter if you lived in a palace or a loft in the stables, it all hurt the same.
Ian strode beside Cole, and they stopped as they came upon another guard. After they spoke a few words, they marched toward the stairs that would take them to the main level where the explosions were growing.
Dell pulled Kassander forward. “We need to get to the royal residence and find Edmund. He’ll help us.”
Kassander veered to the right into a hall flooded with light. Smoke seeped out under a door at the end.
“No guards,” Dell whispered to himself. “Cover your face, kid.”
Dell pressed his arm against his mouth and pushed the door open. Smoke curled around the ornate sitting room, choking the air from it.
Did they leave Edmund to die among flames?
Dell ran forward, stopping when he caught sight of the fire blazing along the tapestries on the wall. “Kassander, stay back,” he yelled.
His eyes stung as he forced open the first door he saw. Empty.
Kassander’s scream echoed through his mind, and he ran back the way he’d come to find a Madran soldier with a knife to Kassander’s throat. Dell pulled his knife free as he met the boy’s eyes, but before he could make a move, an arrow split through the attacker’s head, right between the eyes.
The knife he held nicked Kassander’s neck, drawing a bead of blood, before the man fell back away from the prince.
Dell prepared to fight whoever appeared to take the prince. A figure emerged in the smoke with two others behind him.
“Stev!” Kassander cried, flinging himself at his brother.
Prince Estevan didn’t take his eyes from Dell. “Are you going to put that down?” He gestured to the knife Dell continued to aim at him. “Dell Tenyson, Edmund trusts you, but I’d feel more comfortable if you didn’t try to stab me or the few guards who’ve chosen the right side in this.” He gestured to the men behind him.
Dell lowered the knife. Coughs racked his body, and he covered his mouth to keep the smoke at bay. “Where is Edmund? Have you seen him?”