At least I found Ranen. This is a horrible place to be in, though. I can't handle putting Nash in danger yet again. I stand in front of him to block him from view. Now the arrow is pointed at me, but it doesn't matter. Better me—the one who messes everything up—than Nash, who is good to the core.
I open my mouth to call for Wilric and the other guards, but Ranen stops me. “I wouldn't do that if I were you.”
“Why not? Afraid to handle a little fight?”
“I know you better than that. It wouldn't be just a little fight. It would be something atrocious.”
I give a half-smile. “So you're scared.”
He glowers, reminding me of all the reasons I always hated him. “I'm no such thing.”
“Then why don't you fight me yourself?” I ask.
“I'm not trained in fighting, like you are. Unlike some uncouth people, my strength lies in words.”
“Words are not your specialty, unless you count yelling and throwing a fit as a good thing.”
He scowls, and I know I've hit a nerve. One I shouldn't be hitting when his man has an arrow pointed at my heart.
I hit it anyway, grateful to be able to. “So why all this charade, if you could have gotten yourself out of the dungeon long ago?”
“Like I'll ever tell you.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Secret tunnel that you’ll never find.” He grins and snaps his fingers. It's the only warning I get before an arrow is speeding toward me. I duck, but not fast enough. It embeds itself into my left shoulder. Thank goodness or it would have made it hit Nash. I’m not accustomed to protecting anyone but myself. I break the shaft and pull out my daggers before another arrow is loaded.
I let loose a dagger into the shooter’s chest and drop him to the ground. It wasn't a deadly hit, but it should be enough to knock him out for a while.
“You really want to do this?” I ask Ranen.
He grins, a startling expression that sends chills running down my spine. He snaps a second time, and another three men come pouring out of my bedroom before I have time to think about what's happening. I back into Nash, who slides a dagger out of my pocket.
I'm only too happy to let him. He's in no condition to fight, but I can't have him weaponless either. He needs to be able to protect himself. It's my hope that the men will focus on me instead of him, though. Six men I can handle myself, but not when I have him to protect. I don’t know how we’re both going to get through this alive.
The first man comes for me, sword drawn. I plant a dagger in his arm and whisk another out my boot. As I'm bent down, he hurtles toward me with the second and third men close behind. There’s not enough room in this little place to fight so many.
The floor is firm beneath my feet, giving me the confidence I need to win this fight. A fourth man hurtles past me and locks the door to my sitting room. Backup will not be quick in coming.
I scream for help. The locked door won’t keep my guards out for long, though maybe long enough. There’s already a thump of something hitting it.
There’s no more time to think about it. The three men are on me, barely held at bay by my daggers. Swords flash before my eyes. It’s all I can do to keep up with them and stay in front of Nash.
Sweat drips down my face, getting in my eyes, but I can’t wipe it away. A blade makes it past my defenses and slices my left arm. I grit my teeth against the pain, ignoring the liquid spilling out onto my arm. I lift it in time to block another sword coming at me.
While they aim for my torso, I’ve got to do something to get around them. As I block one, I kick one of my opponents in the groin. He drops his sword with a grunt and dives backward.
One down, but four to go—plus Ranen, but he admitted he can’t fight. He’s not the real threat here; his minions are.
As four blades try to reach me and Nash, I block and whirl, kicking the hand closest to me. The owner yells as I throw both daggers, one right after another, to land in the shoulders of two attackers. There’s lots of groaning, but one opponent hasn’t been hurt.
The remaining attacker laughs, probably thinking I don’t have a weapon to defeat him. I have nothing within reach, but I’ll use my body to block him to the last, no matter what it means. I can’t let him get to Nash.
He reaches back to swing at me, the blades in my boots too far away. He’s going to win, unless I get his sword away from him. It all happens so fast—while he moves his sword forward, Nash calls out, “Duck.”
Trusting he isn’t doing this to sacrifice himself, I dive to the floor. A whistling is promptly followed by a moan of pain.
I jump for the sword, which my attacker holds loosely in his hand. He doesn’t put up much of a fight while I get it. He stumbles back a few paces. When I take him all in, I notice that one of my daggers is sticking out of his chest. Nash got him where he will never be able to do damage to anyone else.
I put the sword I’m holding to Ranen’s throat and direct my comment at the nearest attacker. “Tie up the others.”
He has one of my daggers sticking out of his shoulder. “You haven’t won enough for me to do so.”
“Haven’t I?” Without warning, I press my blade into his opposite shoulder. He hisses, moving away from me. I turn to the second attacker, the one I kicked in the groin. “Tie up the others.”
He glances at Ranen, his face screwed up like he’s not ready to stop fighting, but then relaxes his expression into defeat. He rips the curtains and ties up his comrades. I’ll deal with him in a moment. First I need to secure Ranen and get the door open so my soldiers can come in. They’re pounding on the door, and I wonder how long that’s been going on. At this rate, they’ll break through it before I can unlock it.
I pull a dagger out of my boot, and swap the sword into my left hand and the dagger into my right. It’s more comfortable this way—feels like it’s meant to be. “Sit on the floor next to your buddies.”
He does so, and though he’s not secured yet, I’m much more confident that I can handle all of them.
“Why did you do it? Why make me raise taxes? Why take Nash?”
Ranen sneers. “Because you are unfit to be queen. I wanted the people to be unhappy with you. I made you name Tido your Head Advisor, so I could control him after I sent someone to kill you or had the people do it for me. I want revenge for how you treated me. Nash, the man you care about, will never be himself again.”
“Who said I care about him?” How could he possibly know that? Where did I slip up?
“You were wearing his coat when you came to visit me in the dungeons.”
I clench my jaw. How could I be so stupid? “How was that telling?”
“I’ve never seen a queen accept such a thing from a Head Advisor before. Only a fool who cared about him would accept his coat. Besides, you look at him with more kindness than anyone else.”
I want to rage at myself for making the mistake that cost so much, but the past can’t be changed, only learned from.
I put down my blades. This is it. Fighting’s over. I've won, and Ranen is going to be out of our lives. Done torturing people.
There's a burst of movement, and before I can stop him, Ranen is at Nash's throat.
The promise I made myself not to kill flashes through my mind. It's not something easily forgotten, even when the moment is a fast one that seems to somehow last forever. It's either deal with what's happening and live with the consequences, or stop it no matter the cost to me.
It's not a hard choice to make with Nash's life on the line.
I let my dagger go, not stopping to watch where it lands, because I know it's a death blow. What I don't know is if Ranen will be able to move before it kills him. I jump forward, knocking his blade away, but it’s already falling from his grasp.
Ranen is dead.
And the promise I made myself not to kill is broken.