“What about you?”
“I’m right behind you.” Every inhale he took was filled with her scent, her wind-whipped hair brushing his cheek. “Your people need their rightful empress.”
“Why does everyone keep calling me that?”
“Because it’s the truth.” But this wasn’t the moment for revelations. “I’ll tell you why when we’re out of the thick of this.”
She hesitated, then began climbing.
Thunk!
He gritted his teeth as Bermin tried to shoot them through the planks of the bridge. Above him, Zarrah had reached the top, a Valcottan man holding a shield out to protect her as she climbed over.
“We’ve got you, girl,” the man said. “You’re safe now.”
As Keris neared the top, Aren, who was using a corpse as a shield, reached down to haul him over.
“We control this side,” he said. “All the soldiers are dead, and we’ve started moving the wounded.
Bermin stands alone—Lara shot the other two dead.”
Keris barely heard, his eyes searching for Zarrah. Daria and the Valcottan man had her, were drawing her away, the bodies and shields of their fellows blocking her from Bermin but also hiding her from Keris’s sight. Without a backward glance, they started down the path to the stairs that would His fingers tightened on Keris’s sleeve, clearly intending to use his weight to rip both of them from take them to the guard tower and the pier beyond.
“Lara said he’s the rebel commander,” Aren said. “They joined forces to take the pier, but that’s all I know.”
“He’s out of arrows,” Jor said, jerking his chin across the channel. Bermin stood among the fallen, his face lost to shadows, though Keris could feel the man’s rage. Alive, which meant he’d have to face his mother’s wrath for his multitude of failures.
Eyes on Bermin, Lara approached, a bow hooked over her shoulder, her face and hair splattered with blood. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
His eyes shot skyward, finding her clinging to the tangled ropes and boards of the bridge just above She gave a tight nod. “Let’s go, then. The rebels’ other ships lured off the navy, but they’ll have seen the signal fires and realized it was a ruse. We need to be gone before they reach the pier.”
The Ithicanians backed away from the edge, then turned to follow Lara, only Aren remaining. The other man cast Bermin one last appraising look, slung his arm around Keris, and tugged him forward.
“We did it. It’s over.”
Why didn’t it feel like it was over?
Keris’s skin prickled.
Turning his head, he watched Bermin’s shadow rooting among the corpses. Then the massive man straightened, arms lifting in a familiar form, the outline of a bow just barely visible.
There was no time for thought. Even if there had been, it would have changed nothing. Keris twisted out of Aren’s grip and stepped between him and Bermin.
Thunk!
The wet noise filled his ears, and Keris’s heart plummeted. He hadn’t been fast enough. He’d brought Aren here. He’d put him in danger.
He’d gotten him killed.
Bracing himself, Keris turned to find Aren standing before him, unharmed—
And that was when the pain struck.
Burning agony that raced down to his fingertips, and Keris slowly looked to find an arrow jutting out of his shoulder, the purple fletching stained dark with blood.
“Shit!” Aren snarled, reaching for him. “Lara! Keris is hit!”
“It’s fine,” Keris muttered. “I’m fine.”
He dropped to his knees, only Aren’s grip on him keeping him from falling over, his ears filling with Lara’s scream. Then his sister was in front of him. “No no no!”
“It’s not that bad,” he told her. “I just need to pull it out.”
“Aren, don’t let him pull it out.” Lara’s eyes were full of murder as she stood, moving past him at a run.
Where was she going?
Blood roared in his ears as he abruptly realized her intent. “Aren, stop her!”
The Ithicanian king was already in pursuit. “Lara, no!”
Keris twisted on his knees, the world swimming as he watched Lara pull an arrow from the quiver As Keris neared the top, Aren, who was using a corpse as a shield, reached down to haul him over.on her back, nocking it in her bow. “Lara!” he tried to scream, but it came out as a croak.
She loosed the arrow.
It soared across the deadly gap right as the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, illuminating the arrow as it sank into Bermin Anaphora’s throat.
“Lara said he’s the rebel commander,” Aren said. “They joined forces to take the pier, but that’s all
“It’s not that bad,” he told her. “I just need to pull it out.”
“Aren, don’t let him pull it out.” Lara’s eyes were full of murder as she stood, moving past him at a run.
Where was she going?
Blood roared in his ears as he abruptly realized her intent. “Aren, stop her!”
The Ithicanian king was already in pursuit. “Lara, no!”
Keris twisted on his knees, the world swimming as he watched Lara pull an arrow from the quiver on her back, nocking it in her bow. “Lara!” he tried to scream, but it came out as a croak.
She loosed the arrow.
It soared across the deadly gap right as the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, illuminating the arrow as it sank into Bermin Anaphora’s throat.
“I’VE GOT YOU, girl,” a Valcottan man said as he dragged her over the edge. “You’re safe now.”
He’d been the one leading the charge at Lara’s side. There was something familiar about
his voice, his face, but there was little time to think of it as she was drawn away from the ledge. Zarrah glanced backward, but the rebels who’d closed in around her blocked her line of sight.
He came for you, her heart whispered. He still loves you.
Instead of filling Zarrah with warmth, that knowledge tightened like a vise around her chest, making it a fight to breathe as her eyes skipped over the bodies of the fallen. He loved her, but it was a love twisted by his blood and upbringing. A love that burned so hot that it destroyed anything that got in its way, leaving ash and death in its wake.
“When our spies learned Petra had sent you here, we made immediate plans for a rescue,” the Valcottan man said, his hand pressing against her back as he directed her down the path. “We figured it for a trap, so we came prepared for a fight. Even so, it was good fortune that we crossed paths with the Ithicanians.”
Zarrah swallowed the thickness in her throat.
“I’m going ahead to confirm we’ve started loading the injured, Commander,” Daria said, giving Zarrah a grim smile before she jogged forward.
Commander. This man was the leader of the rebel forces.
Yet that revelation went in one ear and out the other as she searched for Keris and found him absent. Zarrah tried to slow her pace, looking over her shoulder, but the press of warriors drove her onward.
The commander gripped her hand. “Once word you are returned to us spreads, warriors will race to join our ranks, and we will rip the crown from the Usurper’s head.”