Assassin Queen (11 page)

“That one was too perceptive. She was always meddling in my business. She had to die quickly.”

The door burst open, and three knights sprang into the room. Kirin threw his knife at the first one and used his magic to render the second unconscious. The third, however, was a problem. Kirin had retrieved another knife from under his cloak, but, instead of throwing it, he held it to Silverwood’s throat. He’d taken a chance by throwing the first one. It was an acceptable risk since she didn’t suspect the move. Now that he’d thrown one knife, though, she’d be waiting for him to repeat the move. He was stuck.

“Let her go.” The knight stalked toward them purposefully.

“Not until she’s released the Crown Princess
Lilavati.”

The knight looked from him to Lilly. “That’s really the princess?”

Thankfully, three of Lilly’s men had sneaked into the room behind the knight. They must have followed the knights from the barracks. Kirin just had to keep the man occupied for a few seconds more, and then the assassins would be able to subdue the man one way or another.

“Of course it is. She’s come to claim the throne.”

Now the knight gawked at Lilly.

“You fool. He’s distracting you,” Silverwood hissed.

Kirin pulled on her hair to try to silence her, but it didn’t matter. Lilly’s men were close enough to grab the knight. But Silverwood used the commotion to struggle against Kirin’s hold. For one shattering moment, he thought she’d escape. The silken strands of her hair were slipping through his grasp. If he lost her, he would lose Lilly for good.

He dug the knife into the tender skin of her arm as she tried to roll out of his hold. It was just enough to get her attention and slow her down. And that was enough for him to grab her once again.

“Not so fast. We aren’t done here.”

“I’m not going to let her go. There is no end to this standoff in which I survive. I realize that. She took everything I had. And, before I die, I will take everything from her. She’ll be helpless to do anything but watch.”

“If you will not free her, then keeping you alive serves no purpose to me.”

It was the most painful thing he had ever had to say. But the words hurt less than what he knew he had to do. Before he lost his nerve, he took a steadying breath and then slid his blade through her neck, severing the blood vessel cleanly. When she grabbed at her throat and started thrashing in his arms, the full weight of what he had done crashed into him.

He had trapped Lilly in a state of frozen torment. The room spun around him as he dropped the struggling mage. His stomach heaved, and unshed tears burned the backs of his eyes. He was going to have to kill Lilly. He had just promised himself that he had the strength to do it. The alternative was unthinkable. But, as he approached her with his dagger, he thought about turning the blade on himself.

“She was right. I do love you,” he whispered softly. “And I will die along with you. This I swear. But to leave you trapped in the hold of her spell for an eternity is worse than a million deaths.”

Silverwood coughed and sputtered behind them, and it was all he could do not to turn and thrust the dagger through the woman’s heart. He refused to let her steal from what little time he had left with Lilly, though.

“I wish there were another way.” As he put the tip of his dagger to Lilly’s chest, his own heart stopped. He couldn’t do this. He wasn’t strong enough. Maybe if he just turned the dagger on himself, one of the other men would finish Lilly?

He shook the weak thought out of his head. Lilly needed him. She needed him to do this. He heard the mage’s last attempts to breathe behind him and had readied himself to plunge his dagger into Lilly’s heart when he heard a faint whimper.

“No.”

The word was soft but unmistakable, as was the gentle movement of one of Lilly’s hands as she wrapped her finger around his.

He dropped the dagger as relief flooded through him. “You’re alive.”

She stretched her body carefully starting with her neck. “No thanks to you.”

“But I thought you were trapped. For an eternity.”

She couldn’t possibly think he would harm her for any other reason.

“So I heard. Patience isn’t your best virtue. It was a magician’s bluff. As soon as the hag took her last breath, the spell dissipated.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Maybe. But you could’ve sworn to find the counter spell even if it took your entire life. That’s what the heroes in bards’ tales do.”

He would have worried if he hadn’t seen the telltale twitch of a smile. She was goading him. Trying to get under his skin. He’d long thought she did it for sport.

“Ah. But I am no hero. And you are no damsel in distress to sit at home and wait for rescue.”

“True. If it’s of any comfort, I would’ve killed you as well. If the situation was reversed.”

“Is that your way of telling me you love me, too?”

Before she gave her answer, she was caught up in a seizure that made her eyes roll to the back of her head.

Lilly woke up slowly and in more pain than she’d ever experienced in her lifetime.

“How long was I unconscious? Where am I?”

Kirin held her tightly in his arms as he ran his hand over her hair. It would have been sweet, if she thought Kirin knew how to do sweet.

“Still in Silverwood’s quarters. You were only out for a few minutes.”

His shudder was at odds with his words, however. It was as if her passing out had caused him pain. Maybe he had been speaking the truth when he’d declared himself.

Her heart sped with hope, but she quickly put a damper on it. This was Kirin. He could have said that just to provoke the mage. Discerning the truth would take longer than she currently had. She had come here with a mission, and she planned on finishing it before the Guard woke up and turned this whole affair into a bloodbath. She sat up, and the room swam before her.

“My stepfather?”

“Is in his chambers, I assume.”

“Then we should finish this before I have to add more collateral damage to the count.”

“There has been very little so far. The men took the surviving knight back to the barracks along with Simon, Lib, and Nathan. They can keep things under control there until you’ve taken back the throne. You should probably wait until you’re feeling better.”

“Until I’m feeling better? This is a coup, not an afternoon tea. One would think you’d gone soft.”

She said the words in a teasing tone, but she still held her breath. She’d always been focused. Sometimes to her detriment. Her mother had warned her how being single-minded blinded you to other areas of your life. But she’d always assumed her mother was crazy. When Kirin charged the mage, however, she discovered the truth in her mother’s words. She had been so busy seeking revenge she hadn’t even realized she’d fallen in love with the fearless mage until it was almost too late. She’d tried to scream for him to stop. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him because of her. But she couldn’t. Her cry became as frozen as her body.

And then he said he loved me.
Her breath caught at the memory.

“One would be right. I could live another eternity without ever experiencing that kind of pain again.”

His voice brought her out of the memory.

“Pain? You were hurt? Did she hurt you? If she so much as broke one of your fingernails….”

She started searching his body for any evidence of wounds but stopped when she realized his body was shaking with laughter.

“You’ll what? Kill her again?”

She sat up and pulled out of his embrace as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I could.”

“She didn’t hurt me. You did.”

Lilly felt tears burn at the corners of her eyes. “How?”

“You were just standing there helpless. I couldn’t fix you. And if she’d left you like that for an eternity….”

He shuddered, the pain so clear on his face that she had to lean forward to comfort him.

“I’m fine. But I’ll make you a deal.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “And what would that be?”

“If you don’t carry my heart into danger, I will do everything I can to protect yours.”

“I didn’t carry your heart anywhere. Last I checked, it’s still caged beneath those beautiful breasts of yours.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. My heart is no longer here.”

She ran her fingertips over her chest. “From this day forward, it resides in you.” She placed her palm over his sternum and felt the strong beat. “Guard it better than I did.”

“Better than you did?”

“Aye, apparently I allowed a thief to steal it in the night.”

He laughed heartily, but then the color drained out of his face.

“Oh, Lilly.” He crushed her to him in a painful embrace. “What are we going to do? You cannot love me. I’m a rogue, not a king.”

“If I can be the Assassin Queen, then you will be my Rogue King, and together, we will save my home.” She nuzzled his neck in an attempt to reassure him. “But, first, I have business to attend to.”

She stood on shaking legs and walked numbly down the winding corridors to what had once been her mother’s chamber. Just as Silverwood had said, her stepfather lay motionless on the bed. As she raised a dagger over his heart, the doors to the room burst open. Naresh, along with a small company of knights, rushed into the room but stopped as they saw her.

“You cannot kill him,” Naresh said. “He is not even alive.”

She pulled the linen off her hair. It was nice not to have to hide who she was any longer. There was a round of hushed gasps, but she didn’t care to examine the other knights’ shock. She was too focused on Naresh’s reaction. His rapid intake of breath and the quick shake of his head as the color drained out of his face was rewarding.

“Do not think to tell me what I can or cannot do in my own kingdom.” She took a steadying breath and looked down at him once more. “Odd. This doesn’t bring me the pleasure I thought it would.”

Still, she held the dagger with confidence and then plunged it into the king’s heart.

“There is no room for evil here, and I will give it no quarter. Awake or asleep, I will destroy any who do not hold my kingdom’s best interest at heart.”

“Then what of the thugs and assassins you brought with you? They have the guards confined in the barracks.” Naresh took a step toward her, malice clearly present in his pinched lips and the daring grip on his sword’s hilt.

“Be careful what you say about my royal court, Naresh.”

“Your royal court? You can’t be serious. They are traitors and thieves.”

“And yet they’ve shown me more loyalty than my own order of knights ever did. What does that say about your honor, Naresh?”

Naresh looked from her to the dead king, indecision written on his face as his hold on his sword’s hilt faltered.

“We did not think you would ever return.”

“So I gathered.” She walked away from the body. “Give him a proper burial. He should be placed next to my mother. The people will need the closure. They need to believe everything was as it appeared to be. I may never figure out what she saw in him, but he was her king. And tell my men I have the throne. They are to free the guards. Any harm done to my court will be treated as if it was done to the crown.”

His sigh was resigned. “As you command, Your Majesty.”

“I want the prince to be told of his father’s death, but, if anybody tells him it was my hand that killed the King, you will face a fate far worse than assassination in your sleep. Have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal, Your Majesty.”

“There are rumors of the neighboring kingdoms circling like vultures.”

Kirin’s voice was a comfort to her, but his words spoke to one of her worst nightmares.

“Is that true, Naresh?”

The knight glanced between her and Kirin in open curiosity.

“I asked you a question. Is it true?”

He shook his head as if to dispel whatever thought had captured him. “I believe it is, Your Grace. Might I inquire as to his identity?”

“He is my betrothed.”

She looked up at Kirin and smiled. She hoped he didn’t mind her taking liberties with their newly founded relationship.

“It will be a long engagement, however, in order to give the people time to adjust.”

“Is this the truth?”

Naresh directed the question at Kirin, and for one moment, Lilly was afraid he would contradict her.

“Would your Queen lie?”

Naresh glanced between her and Kirin once more. “Of course not. I apologize, Your Grace.”

She nodded. “No apology necessary. For that at least. You and I have much to discuss.”

He had the good sense to look concerned.

“Now, I have to get cleaned and into proper attire to greet my people. See to his arrangements.” She nodded to the king’s body as she spoke. “And I meant what I said about the prince. He is not to know what transpired here today.”

Naresh bowed gracefully as she and Kirin made their way out of the room.

“Do you think they’ll keep their word?”

She doubted they would. There was too much intrigue in royal politics and too many had already sided against her for her to believe them loyal. But there was no point in her worrying Kirin, so she simply shrugged.

“If they do say anything, I will hold true to my end of the bargain.”

“Of that I have no doubt. There is one more thing I need to tell you. It’s about my family.”

“Your family? I wasn’t aware you had one.”

“Once word spreads that we are betrothed, my aunt will declare war on your house.”

“Aunt?”

“Yes. She also happens to be my father’s wife. It displeases her greatly when I achieve any success or happiness.”

“How very interesting. And your father?”

“Might be persuaded to ally with us. Given the right incentive.”

“This tale becomes more and more twisted as it unfolds, doesn’t it?”

“Such is my life.”

“It would be helpful to have my enemy’s and ally’s names.”

“Ehani and Dahak SanMathun.”

She stopped and turned to look at him. “So I’m marrying into the great SanMathun line, then? I always thought there was an air of royalty around you.”