Chapter Eighteen
A sudden storm howled through the chamber, forcing the guards back.
The Emperor rose. “She is the heir! I want her!” He took a step forward, reaching for me. A blast of wind pushed him back. “Get her!” His bellow was swallowed by the squall.
“Run, Kyann!” the three kings shouted.
Behind me, a hole exploded in the wall of the chamber, Axxon weighing in to give me a way out. Us a way out, because I wasn’t leaving without Essa.
The squall didn’t hold me back. I snagged Essa’s hand and tugged her towards our escape.
The wind howled, dragging everything that wasn’t attached to the building into a maelstrom of debris. I couldn’t see where the guards or the Emperor were. I could barely make out the hole in the wall.
We pushed towards it, the gusts screaming around us, funnelling us towards our exit. Then a hand reached through the storm and grabbed Essa’s wrist. The Emperor.
“My Empress!”
“No!” As he tugged one way, I tugged back.
“Kyann, help me!” Essa’s voice was filled with terror. The storm must have broken the enchantment.
The Emperor’s teeth bared. “Let her go.”
He was determined to keep her. And I was determined he never would. I might not have magic, but I had other talents. I grabbed the skinning knife from my hip, fingers closing around the hilt, and plunged it into the Emperor’s hand.
He howled with pain and snatched his hand away. Essa came free, falling against me. We bolted for the hole, stumbling over fallen masonry to reach the grey outdoors.
“Keep going,” Axxon’s voice rumbled in my ear. More explosions followed as he blasted a hole in the next wall. Servants and guards scattered.
“Kyann, where are we going?” Essa stumbled.
I squeezed her hand. “Just a little farther. I promise, this will all be over soon.”
“It’s barely begun,” Rey argued. I was glad Essa couldn’t hear him.
Another blast and we dodged through a final passageway. We were outside the palace now, in the courtyard of the citadel. The market stalls from earlier had gone. Vashri swirled debris behind us to keep anyone from following while we ran across the slimy cobbles and between the tumbledown shacks to reach the far wall.
A blast through that and we arrived at the edge of the island. A few yards of mud and scrappy grass, then the lake began. The lake that wasn’t as serene and empty as it appeared. But I’d beaten the monster before, I could do it again with the kings’ help.
“We have to swim,” I told Essa.
She nodded. “I’ll try to keep up.” Her smile was an echo of the Essa who’d been stolen away from the village two days ago, but I’d take the echo until my sister returned full strength.
“I know you will.” We stood together on the edge of the island.
“Stop!”
A guard appeared through the hole. He levelled a crossbow at my sister’s heart. “No one leaves the citadel.”
I shoved Essa to one side as the guard’s finger depressed the trigger. She fell into the lake. I heard the splash, just as I turned to see the bolt flying straight at me.
“No!” Vashri’s voice resounded and the bolt halted, hovering in mid-air as though held by an invisible hand.
“No one threatens the guardian!” A new voice sounded in my head. Faster than thought, a flash of fire turned the crossbow bolt to ash. A smudge of grey scattered on the ground.
Another blaze erupted, flaring up the guard’s jacket. He howled with agony, falling, writhing to the ground. A third blaze filled the hole Essa and I had come through, preventing anyone from following.
I looked down at my hand, where three wavy lines completed the square of markings on my palm. “The king of fire, I assume?”
“Zephon. Here when you need me,” he told me, a laugh in his voice.
“Late as usual, Fon,” Vashri complained.
“It’s time for you to join us,” Axxon reminded me.
I looked across the lake. Essa was treading water, waiting for me. A smile buoyed my face. We were together again. “Of course. You’ll have to show me where to go.”
“Our pleasure. Jump in,” Nashrey instructed.
A final glance behind to check that no one was following, and I dived into the lake, coming up beside Essa.
“Thank you.” She threw her arms around me. “Thank you, for not abandoning me.”
“Never,” I swore.
She grinned. A better smile this time. “It’s Essa and Kyann against the Emperor.”
“Along with the four kings,” I said. It was time to fulfil my promise.
“Down.” Rey’s voice rang clear across the water. I grabbed Essa’s hand in mine. No one was separating us now. The water slid soft and cool around me. “Head for the bottom of the lake.”
The instruction didn’t make sense, but I trusted the kings. I kicked my legs and drove down, Essa keeping pace beside me. The water grew darker. There was no sign of anything in the lake apart from us. Then, from the gloom, a watery kind of dawn seemed to break. Was there a source of light at the bottom of the lake? More magic? From the kings this time?
My stretching hands broke a surface that shouldn’t have been there. My head popped into air and I gasped, slicking water out of my eyes. Somehow, we’d got turned-about. And yet – I wasn’t looking at the citadel I’d just left.
“Kyann! Here!”
I trod water and turned to see four men standing on an island in the lake, in front of a structure that was simultaneously similar to the Stalwart Emperor’s citadel, and utterly different.
“Welcome to the Silent Castle!”
I twisted and kicked, swimming to the bank. As my fingers touched soil, I looked up and got my first true look at the four kings.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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