Chapter Nineteen

Deyro

Shango hadn't been able to provide us with exact details of the castle's layout. But he'd been able to tell us enough that I was able to find my way to the royal bedchamber. And when I arrived in the corridor with the King's door at the end, I ran into two guards standing post outside that door.

I fired one arrow and dropped the first guard before they even realized what was happening. I dropped my bow and rushed straight at the second, drawing my sword as I closed the distance.

The guard, obviously not expecting anything out of the ordinary, was slow to react. By the time he had his sword clear, the tip of my blade was already pressed to this throat.

“This is how it's going to work,” I said quietly. “The first thing you're going to do is drop your sword.”

The steel hit the stone floor with a clatter. His eyes were wide and he looked at me with absolute terror etched upon his face. The guard was young. Very young. Which worked to my advantage.

“Please,” he begged. “Please don't kill me.”

“Is the door to the bedchamber locked?” I asked.

He hesitated for a moment, so I leaned forward, pressing my sword against his throat a little harder to make my point.

“I asked you if the door to Nepar's bedchamber was locked,” I said

He nodded quickly. “No, m'lord,” the guard pleaded. “It's unlocked.”

“Very good,” I said. “Now, I'm going to give you something that's going to give me the time to do what I need to do – at the same time though, it's going to paralyze you. It's a temporary effect and in a few hours, you're going to be just fine.”

“M'lord,” he said. “I don't understand.”

I shook my head and smiled. I quickly snatched an arrow from my quiver, driving it straight into the man's shoulder. He hissed in pain but was on the ground at my feet, rendered completely immobile in a matter of moments.

I moved to Nepar's door and readied myself. Pulling another arrow from my quiver, I held it and my bow in one hand as I reached out and turned the knob of Nepar's door. Using my foot, I nudged it inward and strung my arrow.

Across the room from the door was an archway that led to a large balcony just off the bedroom. The walls and flooring were made of a white granite and like the feasting hall below, the bedroom was just gaudy.

In that archway, Nepar stood with his back to me, his hands clasped behind his back, seeming to be standing there without a care in the world.

“Welcome,” Nepar said. “I've been expecting you.”

“Have you now?”

He turned to me and smiled – a humorless, predatory smile that made my skin crawl. Without waiting for an invitation, I fired an arrow straight at the King. He surprised the hell out of me though, when he caught the arrow. He'd snatched it out of the air within moments of having it buried deep in his face.

Nepar smiled and tossed the arrow to the ground. I quickly pulled out another arrow and fired – and he managed to catch that too. He was so fast that it was unnerving. If I was going to kill him, I was going to have to find another way.

“I can do this all day,” he smirked at me.

“Tell me why,” I said. “Why did you join the Shadow Clan? Why are you trying to bring death and destruction to your own people?”

“Because we've become decadent,” he said. “We've become lazy. Undisciplined. And we sure as hell shouldn't be working with the – humans.”

“That doesn't answer my question, Nepar,” I said. “Why are you with the Shadow Clan?”

I wanted to hear him admit it. To tell me that he was and confirm the reason I was standing there in the first place. I still didn't feel right about being an assassin and if Nepar was actually innocent, I had no intention of following through with the job. If he admitted it though, that was a different story. If he admitted to being part of the Shadow Clan, then I had no intention of letting him live.

“Why, Nepar?” I asked. “Why are you part of the Shadow Clan?”

“Because,” he said, anger coloring his voice. “I am going to restore order and discipline to Chondelai. The Kings have gotten too fat and too complacent. Which means, it's time to shake some things up.”

“There are other ways to do that,” I said. “Ways that don't involve selling your people out. Ways that don't involve enslaving and murdering them.”

He shrugged. “You do things your way,” he said. “And I'll do things my way.”

It didn't matter. Nothing he said mattered anymore. I had the confirmation I needed – Nepar was a bad guy. And bad guys needed to be put down. I dropped my bow and unslung my quiver, letting it fall to the ground. I slid my sword from its sheath and looked at him, anger coursing through me.

“Then it is my duty,” I said. “To deliver justice to you.”

He laughed. “Justice? Is that what you call this?” he scoffed. “Would justice not be hauling me before the Council of Kings? Make me stand trial for my crimes?”

I shrugged, a malicious grin upon my face. “You do things your way,” I said. “I'll do things my way.”

He nodded and smiled. “So be it.”

I slowly started to cross the room, my sword at the ready. Though relatively new as a King, Nepar was significantly older than I was. Which made him dangerous. He moved over to a table near the archway and picked up a scabbard. He withdrew the sword and tossing the scabbard aside.

“You are young,” he said as he moved to the side of the large chamber. “Naive. Idealistic. You don't know the way the world works yet.”

“I'm learning quickly,” I said.

“You're learning nothing,” he hissed. “Why do you protect the humans? What do they offer you?”

“What do you offer me?” I countered.

“I offer you Chondelai,” he said. “Join me. Be my right hand. Help me rule this wretched world and make it something better.”

“Better?” I asked. “By enslaving and killing those who stand opposed to you?”

“By building a world that can have a lasting peace,” he said. “A world not governed by the whims of a group of fat old men who only seek to enrich themselves.”

“And live in a world governed by one man – a tyrant – who seeks to enrich himself on the backs of the oppressed?”

He shrugged. “I take care of those loyal to me.”

“I'll pass,” I said. “Call me naive if you wish. But I believe a better world involves equality. A world where people have a voice.”

He laughed hysterically. “Is that what you think you have now? Equality? A voice?” he asked. “You do what your masters tell you to do. You have no voice. You have no equality. They sit at the top while you dance to whatever music they play.”

“It's still a far better world than what you have planned,” I replied. “Now, shall we do this? I'm growing bored listening to you.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Last chance,” he said. “Join me. Join the Shadow Clan and help make Chondelai great again.”

“Pass.”

“So be it.”

Nepar launched himself at me, his blade a blur of movement. I barely got my blade up in time to deflect his cut – a cut that would have taken my head clean off my shoulders. As it was, the tip scraped along my cheek, opening a wound. I felt the blood, hot and sticky, spilling down my cheek.

Nepar was good with a blade. Quick. Precise. But I was better.

As he moved by me, I deflected another blow and quickly spun, lashing out with a vicious cut. He hadn't been expecting the quick counter and my blade sliced into his forearm. He grunted as blood poured from the wound. He licked the blood that dripped from his arm and flashed me a ghoulish smile.

“You're light on your feet,” he said. “Good with a blade. I could use a man like you.”

“I'm sure you could.”

I closed the distance between us, our blades singing as they clashed together in a dance of thrusts and parries. Nepar's face was a mask of grim concentration as he struggled to keep up with my blade. He took a step back and my blade whistled by his face, opening a thin slice along his cheek. Blood spilled down his face and he smiled.

I pressed my advantage, taking a step forward and only realized too late that I'd made a grave mistake. I'd let him bait me into believing I had him on the ropes and when I felt the blade of the dagger he'd slipped out of the sleeve of his robe slip into my flesh, I realized my error.

I looked down and saw the blood spilling from my abdomen, washing over his bony, pale fingers. Looking up at him, I saw a manic glee in his eyes. He withdrew the blade and my stomach felt like it was on fire. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I staggered back a step.

My sword hit the floor with a loud clang and I fell to my knees, staring up at the man. He held the dagger in his hand, looking at it almost lovingly. Pain like I'd never known before radiated through my entire body and I felt my body begin to tremble and shake. Though my blood felt like it was burning, my body felt cold. And it was in that moment I knew the wound was serious.

“I always coat my blades in a rare and special toxin,” Nepar said. “You just never know when it might come in handy. This one is a particularly nasty one. The effects are almost instantaneous and –”

“No!” Alex's voice rang in my ears.

I turned my head and saw her standing in the doorway of the bedchamber, her face stricken, tears streaming down her cheeks. As my vision began to blur, I suddenly regretted not being better to her. Regretted not telling her how I felt about her. And now, I was never going to get the chance.

She'd once said I was arrogant and thought too much of myself. She was right and it proved to be my undoing. I'd believed I'd triumphed over Nepar only to have him prove me wrong. And I was going to pay the ultimate price.

Alex screamed and I watched as she launched arrow after arrow at Nepar. The Shadow Clan King hadn't been expecting her. Hadn't expected her fury. He'd been arrogant himself. And as I watched arrow after arrow punch into his body, watched his eyes widen in shock and horror, I found myself amused that his arrogance proved to be his ultimate end as well.

I fell onto my back and watched Nepar fall to his knees, a dozen arrows sprouting from his neck and chest. As blood poured from his mouth, he fell beside me, his dagger clattering to the floor. My fingers were growing numb and my strength was fading, but I used what little I had left to grab his dagger and drive it into his body, letting the toxin he'd poisoned me with do its work on him as well.

And then Alex was hovering over me. Her voice sounded faint. Far away. It was as if she was shouting to me from the end of a long tunnel. And yet, she was right there in front of me. I reached up and caressed her cheek.

“I love you,” I said. “I just wanted you to know. I love you, Alex.”

Tears rolled down her face, falling from her cheeks and splashing onto me. I gave her a soft smile, hoping that I was able to convey the depth of my feelings for her.

“Don't you dare die on me,” I heard her say. “We have to get married, remember? I'm going to be your wife. I'm going to nag you for a very long time. So, don't you dare die on me, Deyro.”

I smiled at her, believing my death was inevitable at that point. But I took comfort in the fact that I might be dying, but at least Nepar was dying alongside me. Both of us done in by our arrogance. The irony was delicious. I lay back on the ground and laughed until the darkness pulled me under.