Chapter 41

SCARLET SWUNG THE STOLENshort blade and hit a guard in the chest plate. The metal clanged and the man fell. Scarlet kicked him in the chest and sent him sprawling on the cobblestones of the courtyard.

Half an hour ago, she"d been beaten and bloody. But a few healing potions, a couple of bites of jerky, and a quick talk with the Robins, and she knew what she had to do. Her emotions were raw from the torture, and she desperately wanted the comfort of her daggers and blades. She felt naked without them, but she"d taken down her first guard by hand, then taken his sword.

The king had gotten into her head with his wicked lies, and it infuriated her. She"d kept telling herself that Knox would find her. He was as steady as the stars. And if he was in trouble, she would be there to help.

Another guard ran at her from the side. She stepped back and kicked her leg out, sending him to the ground on top of the other one. The Robins and villagers behind her flooded the castle courtyard, spreading out to find a way inside the castle itself.

One of the Robins, Ashur, pointed up and yelled at another one, Will. She followed their gaze and clenched her jaw. Thanks to her sharpened senses, she could see perfectly fine even at this distance.

Knox fought with the king on the balcony above. Her blood ran cold, and her heart raced. She"d been a prisoner of that madman for days. Knox was strong, but he couldn"t defeat the strongest mage in the kingdom by himself.

She raced past the two big Robins and yelled, "That"s Knox. We have to help him."

She made directly for the closest door, but one of them yelled back, "This way."

Scarlet turned and followed behind them, swinging the sword and slicing open the throat of one of the guard officers.

His hand went to his neck as he gasped. Sticky blood seeped between his fingers. Scarlet ran past him before he even hit the ground.

She followed the two men, barely panting. "Do you know where we"re going?"

Will looked back at her then took off down a hallway. "You"d best stay on guard down here. We"ll help Knox."

"Knox can handle himself. He said to save the queen, if she"ll let us," Ashur said as they entered the large foyer.

A scream echoed off the walls, "No!"

Together, they sprinted up the grand staircase to the third floor. When they rounded the landing, they saw movement in the ballroom. They ran through the open doors, the two men falling behind her as she sprinted.

Knox was on top of the king on the edge of the balcony, landing blow after blow and stabbing with his tail. Magic shimmered as the queen reached out her hand and cried out.

Scarlet changed course and ran to Bella. She couldn"t let the queen hurt Knox either; he was handling himself at the moment. The queen saw Scarlet coming out of the corner of her eye, stepping back and facing her.

Her glowing hands flew up, and a shockwave of magic blasted the air. Scarlet jumped, but the Robins behind her were too slow, their boots sticking in the melted tile.

The blast slammed into Knox and sent him over the side of the railing.

"No!" Scarlet cried, racing to the edge. Frantically, her eyes searched the ground, but she didn"t see him splattered below. Her heart raced too fast and she started to panic.

A motion to her right had her turn. The princess had swirling magical wings of brilliant colors, her arms wrapped around Knox as they crashed into a nearby roof. They rolled but came to a stop on the edge.

Scarlet took a deep breath of relief, but the queen cried out behind her.

"No, no, no, no, no. You"re alright. Come on, my love. Let"s get you a nice healing potion, yes?"

Scarlet turned to see the queen kneeling beside the king, reaching out to help him sit up. He held his head, eyes glassy and dazed. One eye was already swelling shut and blood dripped from his nose.

The king jerked back with a hiss. "Get off me, hag."

The queen gasped and scrambled to her feet, following the king as he stumbled to the door of the ballroom. Ashur and Will still struggled with their boots melted into the tile, but Scarlet followed the royals on silent feet.

"Scarlet, no, wait for us," Ashur whispered.

Her heart raced with adrenaline, her eyes on the couple as they went through the ballroom. Seeing no response at the whisper, she motioned for them to stand down.

Will was unlacing his shoes while Ashur still struggled. Scarlet stayed in the ballroom shadows, waiting for the couple to leave. Then she sprinted along the wall to see which way they were going.

****

The queen hovered astep behind Gastone, her hands raised just in case she needed to catch him. He swayed on the stairs, and her stomach twisted. "Gastone, please, let me help. There"s a healing potion in–"

"No," he yelled, turning to her on the stairs and stumbling like a drunkard. "You can"t help. There"s only one thing that can help me now."

"What? How can I fix it?" Bella cried. The sconces on the stairwell flickered in between each of his mounted trophies, light shifting with magic as she walked by. The cries of cowering servants below were ignored.

She paid no heed, her only focus on Gastone.

She"d never seen anyone this beat up, even when she"d helped Lailant with healing calls. "Fisica protect–"

"The old gods aren"t part of this," Gastone yelled, stumbling to their chambers. "Borga may side with the rebellion, but I will win the war. The one with Glathen and the one on our own people."

He hit the wall, and Bella cried out, throwing magic at the wall and changing the painting on the wall to a pillow.

"Leave the gods out of it, woman. They"ve turned their back on me, even though the mirror said I was divinely chosen for such a time as this. The mirror is never wrong. Only the mirror can help now. He"ll have a way to fix this."

Gastone rambled and stumbled through her doorway. Her heart raced with fear as he sank to his knees. The mirror on her vanity shimmered with magic, and Bella gasped, her hands going to her lips.

"Magic mirror, hear my plea, who is better than me?"

King of nothing, your rule is through. Everyone is better than you.

Bella gasped, stepping back. No, what magic was this? She"d spent a lot of time around that mirror the past few months. Gastone had said nothing when she"d had it moved from the library to her bedroom.

She shook her head and backed all the way to the hallway wall. A shadow caused her to blink, and the ranger woman from earlier stalked inside on silent feet. Bella blinked, adrenaline pumping and shaking her head as she gathered her magic.

"No," she gasped, her voice barely a whisper as she followed the woman inside.

Gastone sank onto his haunches, his face pale and jaw slack as he stared up at the mirror in supplication. He saw the ranger come into the room, and his face shifted.

His jaw snapped shut, and his eyes glittered, blood still dripping down from his temple.

"You," he growled, lurching to his feet. He swooned where he stood. "If you would"ve killed that bitch like I hired you to do, none of this would"ve happened."

The woman shifted on the balls of her feet and stepped to the side of the room away from Bella.

"Me? If you hadn"t gone power hungry and left your sister alone, none of this would"ve happened."

Bella gasped, looking from one to the other. "What?"

The ranger looked over her shoulder at Bella. "He hired me to kill Eirwyn, and I didn"t do it."

Bella held her hands to her lips and shook her head in horror. Not Eirwyn, not her friend. He wouldn"t do that. A blast of magic hit the ranger. With a grunt from Gastone, the woman fell to the ground.

Bella jumped in surprise, her heart racing as she flew to the woman"s side to feel for a pulse. "Oh gods, did you kill her?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. The woman was shimmering with magic, her bones and body transforming into some kind of woodland creature.

"There are worse things than death. A polymorph spell, the next lesson for you to learn. She refuses to be my Hunter? Fine, she"ll never hunt again. She"s the prey now," Gastone said as he laughed maniacally. The laughter faded to a coughing fit, and Bella scrambled back as the woman finished her transformation.

Bella shook her head, looking back to Gastone. He wiped blood from his mouth and slung his fingers, throwing blood and sparks from his hand. He glared, his bloody grin scaring Bella.

She jumped to her feet, fisting her skirts and backing out of the room. Gastone was unhinged. Eirwyn had been right all along. They had talked about Bella"s brother for years, but she didn"t remember. It was all hazy.

And she"d married the madman. How could she love such a beast?

She turned to leave. She had to get out of the castle. He made the mess and now could clean it up himself.

She"d been running interference for him for months, trying to placate the nobles, the priests, the Chancellor, the General. She"d been so busy working on his image that she hadn"t stopped to see what he truly was.

Bella stopped in her tracks as the man from the balcony entered the room. He"d left his boots below, trapped in the tile.

The Robins had finally come for the king. Her heart raced and she glanced over her shoulder at Gastone.

Fire flickered in his hands and he grunted, weaving from side to side as he widened his feet to fight again. "Ah, another party. How fun. Well, come on then, Robin."

Gastone made a come hither motion with his fingers and coughed again. Blood dripped down his chin, his eyes burned with hatred.

Bella gasped, jumping in front of Gastone and holding her arms wide at the stranger.

"No, don"t touch him," she demanded in her most queenly voice.

Still it warbled with fear. She didn"t want him to die. He was still the king, still her husband. He"d given her the entire kingdom, had laid it at her feet for her help. Without him, she was nothing, and she wouldn"t let him go.