The Rival (66 page)

But Scavenger merely shrugged.  "I always thought that was a failing," he said, and started north.

Leen glanced at Adrian, looking a bit startled.  But, surprisingly, color had returned to her cheeks.  The Fey liked revenge.  He had forgotten that. And this attack could be seen as revenge for her family.

She bent down, grabbed his bow, and handed it to him.  He slung it over his other shoulder.

"Come on," Adrian said.  Together he and Gift propelled Coulter forward.  They  moved as quickly as they could.  Ahead, Adrian could see the end of the pile of bodies.  Once they were around that, they could choose their route.

"Do you hate me?" Coulter asked.

"No," Adrian said.  But it didn't seemed to ease him.  Coulter was waiting for Gift's response.

And Gift didn't answer.

EIGHTY

Nicholas caught the sword.  It felt as if it had been waiting for him all his life.  And he knew then that Arianna was right.  With the Black King gone, she ruled the Fey and she would have Blue Isle.

But this had to be Nicholas's decision, not hers.

Nicholas didn't even stop to think.  He ran forward.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arianna's clothes split as her legs extended, her torso grew and her face lengthened.  She was Shifting. 

Sebastian screamed.

The Black King was watching them both, looking startled.  The guards moved too, but Nicholas couldn't think about that.  He got within reach and swung the sword with both hands, using all the force he had.  He was swinging upward, an awkward angle, but he couldn't go for the chest.  The Black King's clothing had to be spelled.  His neck and face were the only vulnerable places on his body.

As he moved, he felt all that rage, all the things the Fey had taken from him, all the losses he had suffered since he met them.  His father, his kingdom, his real son.

Jewel.

Something slammed into Nicholas's back as he swung.  Somehow he kept his balance, kept his focus.  The Black King didn't move quickly enough and the blade dug into the skin of his neck.  It felt as if Nicholas were chopping into a tree with a dull knife. 

The Black King choked, and reached for the sword.  Blood oozed out of the side of his neck.  The weight on Nicholas's back grew.  Arianna was nearly done Shifting, and the guards were coming toward him, their own swords drawn.

The Black King was staring at him in complete disbelief.  Nicholas tried to pull the sword back, to attack again, but it was stuck.  The guards' swords rained around him, but something pushed him toward the ground.  He lost his grip on his own sword, and fell, landing at the Black King's feet.

Arianna's hooves pawed nervously.  She had become a horse.

A horse.

She was brilliant, his daughter.

"Daddy!" she cried.

Swords clanged, just behind him, and he realized what had been pushing him.

Sebastian.

"No!" Nicholas cried and tried to roll over, but Sebastian was too heavy. 

The Black King staggered back, hands on the sword, trying to pull it out, slicing his palms.  Blood dripped on Nicholas.  The guards brought their swords down.  He kept trying to roll, but Sebastian  —  the stone boy  —  put his full weight on Nicholas.  He couldn't breathe.

"Sebastian!" Arianna screamed.  Her screams sounded like whinnying.  "Sebastian." She reared, kicking at guards. She hit some of them, but not enough.  Their swords clanged on Sebastian's back.  Nicholas could feel the blows through Sebastian. 

"Stop!" Arianna yelled.  "He's of Black Blood."

But they must have known what he really was.  They brought their swords down again, and this time, chunks of Sebastian flew past Nicholas's head.

Nicholas couldn't yell.  He couldn't breathe.  He wanted to tell Sebastian to get on Arianna, to ride away, but the air wheezed out of him.

"Sebastian, come up here!" Arianna yelled in Islander.

Then a sword whizzed down perilously close to Nicholas's face.  He dodged with the last of his strength, and the sword hit Sebastian's cheek, lodging in one of the cracks.  Sebastian let out a grunt, and then he rolled off Nicholas. 

Sebastian's eyes glowed, and light streamed out of all the cracks in his body.  For a moment he looked like a man who'd swallowed the sun. 

Nicholas pushed himself up, ignoring his aches and his own dizziness.  He grabbed Arianna's mane  —  it was the same fine black as her own hair  —  and reached for Sebastian.  Sebastian extended his hand  —  it was glowing too  —  and then he mouthed something  Nicholas didn't understand.

"No!" Arianna shouted.

The guards had backed away from him as if they knew what was coming.  The Black King had slumped against the wall, eyes closed.  He looked dead.

Nicholas took Sebastian's hand.  Light traveled up Nicholas's body and filled him with a momentary warmth. 

Then the light grew even more.  It was blinding.  Too much.  Nicholas tried to pull Sebastian away from it  — 

And Sebastian exploded.

EIGHTY-ONE

They had made it beyond the carnage.  They were now cutting across a grassy field, a short distance from the road.  The Cap insisted on a hurried pace.  He hated being in the open.

Gift didn't blame him. 

They had decided on the mountains to the east.  They would either go to the Slides of Death or the Cliffs of Blood.  Adrian had never traveled that far, and neither had anyone else.  They would simply take the road with the most cover.

When they got there, they would decide whether or not to make a Shadowlands.  Adrian had heard of caves and other hiding places in the mountains that might make a magickal construct unnecessary.

Gift kept his arm around Coulter.  Coulter hadn't said anything since he sent the lightning on the Fey.  He shivered every now and then, and he wouldn't have moved at all if Adrian and Gift hadn't propelled him forward.

Gift didn't know what it would be like to kill that many people with the flicker of a thought.  He wasn't certain he wanted to know.

The stench of charred flesh clung to their clothing.  Surprisingly, the Cap seemed the most bothered by it.  He wanted to find the Cardidas or steal clothes.  He was complaining almost constantly.

The others ignored him.

So did Gift.

It was getting dark.  He suspected they would have to keep moving during the night.  The farther they got from his great-grandfather's armies, the better off they'd be.  But they needed food and water.  He and Leen needed rest. Coulter probably did too. 

Gift was about to mention it to Adrian when the world tilted.  He felt oddly dizzy.  The light was bright, and he was in that room, the room he'd seen earlier, the room in the palace.  Guards were everywhere.  His father's hand was on a sword that ran through his great-grandfather's neck.  His sister was Shifting into a horse.

And Sebastian launched himself onto his father's back, knocking them both flat.

No!
Gift shouted, but he wasn't really there.  It was as if the barriers between him and the palace had lifted, like a curtain revealing a window, and he could see what was happening at that place and time. 

The guards had their swords out. They were swinging at his father, but they hit Sebastian.  Cracks spread through his entire body.  Another sword hit him in the neck, making the cracks worse.  He rolled off Gift's father.  Light shone through the cracks. A brilliant light.  The light that was Sebastian.  Their father stood, cried out, reached for Sebastian.  Sebastian reached back. Then his eyes moved, and he saw Gift.

" … Gift … " he said.  Light moved across his arm, up his father's arm, and headed toward Gift.  Sebastian's body shuddered and then, suddenly, it shattered.

Bits of stone flew everywhere.  The light, strong a moment before, became diffuse, scattering with the pieces. 

No!
Gift shouted again, but it did no good.  He couldn't catch the bits of light.

Then the world tilted again.  He was on the ground, dirt in his mouth, his hands in fists.  Then he felt hands on his back.  Coulter's hands. Adrian's hands.  The Cap was sitting across from him, looking annoyed.  And Leen stood, guarding them.

"Gift?  Gift?" The voice was Coulter's.  He had apparently aroused himself enough to respond to Gift's crisis.

Gift sat up, wiped the dirt from his cheek, and buried his face in his knees.  Sebastian was dead.  He'd seen it, the loss of his changeling, his brother, his closest friend.  And he couldn't stop it.  He'd known about it for days and he hadn't been able to prevent it.

Sebastian was dead, but Gift had survived.

Somehow that made it worse.

"What did you See?" Adrian asked.

But it was Coulter who sat down beside him, Coulter who put his arm around him and Coulter who pulled him close.  Gift leaned against him and breathed.

Sebastian had died saving their father.

Sebastian had died so that their father could kill the Black King.

Sebastian.

Coulter's grip on Gift tightened.

Even if Gift had been Linked with Sebastian, he wouldn't have been able to stop Sebastian's death.  Sebastian had been warned.  He had known what would happen, and he had made a choice.

A choice to save their father. 

A choice to save Arianna.

A choice that Gift couldn't have made, even if he'd been there.  His heritage prevented it.

At least now they had a chance. The Black King was wounded, maybe dead.  In a few days, Gift might be able to get Coulter to reopen the Links. Then Gift could ally with his family to drive the army off their land.

Sebastian had done that for them.  He might have saved them all.

But it didn't matter.  Gift didn't know them.

He had loved Sebastian.

And Sebastian was dead.

EIGHTY-TWO

For a moment the world was as bright as the sun.  Then as the light spread out, it faded and grew diffuse.

Bits of stone rained around them.  The guards ducked.  Several protected the body of the Black King.  Arianna was screaming, but she had Shifted completely.  Her clothes were in tatters on the floor, and she was a magnificent brown horse with a sleek black mane.  She pawed at the empty space where Sebastian had been, and yelled for him.

Nicholas didn't even protect his head.  Bits of his son bounced off him, leaving bruises that he deserved. The boy had died trying to save him. 

And Sebastian had saved him, at least for the moment.

Nicholas couldn't mourn.  He didn't have time.  And he couldn't save Sebastian. There was nothing left.

"We have to get out of here," Nicholas said in Islander.  If they didn't, Sebastian's death would be in vain.  They had to move quickly.  The Fey were in chaos from the Black King's death, but it wouldn't last.  There were too many to fight.  Nicholas' and Arianna's only chance was to flee.

But Arianna didn't seem to hear Nicholas.  She was crying for her brother, still pawing at the spot where he had been.

Rocks had fallen on her as well, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Arianna!"

Nicholas still had a hand in her mane.  He tugged on it.  But she made no movement.  The guards that weren't around the Black King were crouched, protecting their heads.  They wouldn't be down long, and when they got up, Nicholas didn't know what they'd do.  Would they remember that Arianna was of Black Blood?  Would they go after him?

He couldn't wait for her to recover.  He braced a hand on her back and swung himself on.

She whinnied and rose on her hind legs  —  a horse response, which pleased him.  And as she went down, he slapped her on the hind flank.

"We're going," he said.  "Now!"

"Sebastian  — " she said.

"Is dead.  Make it worthwhile. Go!"

She did.  She stopped at the door, and kicked it down with her front hooves.  Several dozen Fey swarmed outside, looking startled as a horse bolted past them.  A few cried after them, but none gave chase. 

Surprise.  Surprise was working.  But they had to hurry.  If the Fey recovered, the two of them would die.

Arianna bolted through the Great Hall, past a bloody circle of Fey  —  did Nicholas see an Aud among them?  —  and out the main doors.

The stench in the courtyard was tremendous. The bodies looked even worse up close. Someone had lit the torches on the side of the building, but they didn't have to.  The light from the burning city cast an orange glow over everything.

Twice.  Twice in his life, he had lost all he owned in the space of a single day.  At least this day, he still had his daughter.  He had no idea what had become of his Fey son.

"Where do we go now?" Arianna asked.  She picked her hooves gingerly over the body parts littering the cobblestone.

Nicholas glanced around.  Fires to the south and west.  Across the river, the Tabernacle burned.  The air was full of soot and ash, and the heat was as intense as it had been in the middle of the day.

"We'll go north," he said.

"What about Sebastian?" she asked.

"He died so that we'd survive."  Later he would comfort her.  They could comfort each other.  But this wasn't over yet.  It wouldn't be over for a long, long time.

"North," she said, as if contemplating it.  She made her way to the gate, then shook herself.  He nearly lost his grip on her mane.  She took a deep breath as if she were thinking, and then she said, "Grab on, Daddy."

He did, and she took off at full gallop.  Nicholas leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her neck, and pressed his own head against hers.  She was all he had left.  His son, his home and his city were gone.  His rule was probably over too.  But that didn't matter any more.  Arianna mattered. And he would protect her life with his own if he had to.

He glanced over his shoulder.  No Fey were following them yet.  But they'd search.  They'd search and get revenge.   

They would search, and unless Nicholas was very careful, they would find.