by Kory Shen
"Surrender now, or he dies," Erole said. "I guarantee it."
My left arm twitched. Kuri could take out the other Sentinels. If I could take out the four crossbowmen in time…
There was no way to save Tavi. I lowered my left arm in defeat.
I pointed to Lexley, still circling in the sky above us. "Lexley making you do the dirty work? You a child-killer now?"
"Shut your mouth, Jakson," Erole said. "I'm here to deal with you and collect your armor."
"My armor?"
"Yeah, smartass. Your armor. Now step out of it, and I'll let him go."
I'd trade my armor for Tavi's life any day. But I wouldn't trust Erole so easily, and Genna wasn't here to help.
"You'll let him go?" I asked.
"I told you. I'm only here for your armor. Once we're sure you're not a threat, you can see the king." Erole glanced past me. "And tell your elf bitch to lay off, too."
I winced slightly. So Kuri's secret was in the open now.
Kuri stepped out from behind me, defiantly. She ripped the headband off her head, proudly displaying her elven heritage. The others gawked. Erole laughed.
"Don't Jakson," Kuri whispered. "No honorable man would cower behind a youth."
Erole tightened his grip on Tavi's ruined shoulder. Tavi's face contorted in pain. He fought to stay silent, but as Erole pinched harder, Tavi screamed, tears streaming down his face
"Erole!" I screamed.
Tavi's red, pleading eyes sought my own. All the bluster of the sixteen-year-old was gone. This wasn't a Heartstring Harry. Those were the eyes of a kid begging me to do something.
"Mira, open up," I said.
Kuri tried to block me, but I pushed her away.
The suit flowered open, and I stepped out of it.
Erole laughed. "There we go."
He barked an order to one of the other Sentinels, who ran forward to fetch the armor from me. The Sentinel trotted over and held out his arms.
"Hand it over, traitor. And no tricks," the Sentinel growled.
"You hear that?" Erole called over. "No tricks, or the boy dies."
"No tricks," I said out loud, hoping Mira understood. "Got that, everyone?" I gave Kuri a stern look as well for good measure. She scowled.
I hefted my armor up, then dumped it into the waiting Sentinel's hands. I held my breath, but Mira didn't shock the knight.
The Sentinel ran back to Erole with my suit.
"There. You got what you wanted," I said. "Let Tavi go."
Erole shrugged, then pushed Tavi forward. "See, just like I said. I let him go. Run boy! Run!"
Tavi raced over to me, but something in Erole's tone wasn't right.
"Tavi!" I screamed.
The four crossbowmen raised their weapons and fired. Twin columns of flame smashed into them an instant later, but Kuri was too late. When the flames cleared, there were four smoking corpses. In front of them lay Tavi's unmoving body, face forward, four bleeding wounds in his back.
"Tavi!" I ran forward, but Kuri pulled me back.
"Stay behind me," she hissed.
Kuri sent another wave of flames at the remaining Sentinels, but they raised their tower shields to block her attack. The flames vanished as soon as they touched the shields. A touch of steam puffed into the air around the shields.
Erole grinned as he stepped forward, brandishing a flail.
"I can't hold them off," Kuri warned. She tried sending another wave of flames, but they again vanished before doing any damage.
The Sentinels were slowly advancing despite Kuri's continued fiery assaults, their tower shields soaking up Kuri's attacks with ease.
"Ice Shields," I said.
Ice Shields were hardly ever used. Mages were rare in the Elderlands and an Ice Shield was an even more specialized piece of equipment. They had come prepared for us, then, ready to kill Tavi from the start. Where was the king? Was this the queen's doing?
I clenched my fists. It didn't matter. Erole was the one who was here. Erole was the one who would pay. I stepped forward.
"Jakson!" Kuri shouted. "Jakson, we have to run!"
I ignored her and took another step forward.
"I'm here to see the king!" I shouted. "My father!" The last words tasted bitter now, like a lie.
Erole spun his flail once as he approached. "The king? I'm the last one you'll ever see." He raised his flail for a strike.
"That's enough, Sir Erole." The king stepped forward from the shadows of the columns lining the courtyard, along with more Sentinels. I scanned the faces quickly. Counting Lexley in the air, all nine Champions were here, other than Prig. There would be no escape. I had to make my words count.
I walked towards the king, but Erole whipped his flail down to block my path. I shoved the spiked head away with my bare hands.
"Fuck off," I hissed as I walked past him.
I knelt before the king, his Champions on either side. "Your Majesty."
"Stand up, Jakson. What's this all about?"
I rose to my feet and pointed to the crate on the dead wyvern. "I brought pieces of the stolen Valorian armor. As proof of Lexley's treachery."
No one moved or spoke. I looked into their hard faces, resting on Lady Dyann's. She stared ahead stoically, not meeting my eye. Sir Hurik had a slight frown but otherwise showed no reaction.
I looked back at the king. He, of course, didn't appear the least bit surprised. But neither did anyone else.
"You all knew?" Not a single one would stand up for the truth? "You all knew I was innocent this whole time? That it was Lexley's doing?"
"Insolent brat!" Erole shouted. He raised a metal gauntlet to strike me, but the king waved him away. The sound of wings beating grew louder, and I heard Lexley landing behind me.
Still the king didn't say anything.
Lexley ran up to us, his metal boots pounding loudly on the stony floor of the courtyard.
"What are you doing?" Lexley yelled. "Kill the fucking bastard! I'll do it myself." Lexley moved to draw the enormous black sword on his back.
"Enough, Lexley!" the king screamed. "Get over here!"
Lexley froze, his face unsure. I had never heard the king shout like that at Lexley. From the expressions on the Champions' faces, neither had they.
"But—" Lexley said.
"Lexley!" the king thundered.
Lexley slammed his sword back into its sheath and stomped over to the king's side.
The king turned his attention to me again.
"The prince is young," the king said.
Lexley started to speak, but the king glared at him harshly. Lexley shut his mouth.
"He is young," the king repeated.
"They all know he was plotting to kill you?" I asked, pointing to the Champions. "That he tricked me into murdering a foreign convoy, then planned to arm mercenaries from out west to overthrow the throne?"
"Yes, they know."
I didn't know what to say. I stared blankly at the king, incredulous at his public dismissal of Lexley's crimes.
Lexley's face grew bright red. He made sputtering noises, but the king cut him off again. The other Champions shifted uneasily, but still, no one looked surprised.
So everyone was in on the game but Lexley and me. There was only one explanation.
"You wanted him to do this. But why?"
"I didn't plan for any of this, but we make use of what we have to serve the kingdom."
"Serve the kingdom? By—" I stopped. The king wanted another attempt on his life. A false, controlled threat. Think, Jakson, think.
The assassins would wear armor that could be traced back to the Valorians. That would ignite a war. By why not attack Valoria outright? Why all the trickery?
"You want war," I said calmly. "But I know little of politics. Why the deception? Why not simply declare war?"
The king nodded. "You're learning. The kingdoms are bound by a treaty. War on one is war against the others. Do you understand?"
Declari
ng a one-sided war on Valoria without cause would invite retribution from her allies. But if Valoria had made the first strike…
"But Lexley's plot?" I asked. "It makes no sense. It's stupid and poorly thought out."
Lexley fumed silently at the king's side.
The king spoke in a softer voice. "As I said, the prince is young. When I learned what he had done, it was too late. I'm sorry, Jakson, but the choice was clear. The kingdom is above all."
"What about the illusion mage on the loose? Isn't that a threat to the kingdom?"
"There was no mage. What you saw was a trick of paint, nothing more."
The king was spouting bullshit, and from the look in his eyes, he knew it.
The pieces slowly clicked into place. I was to be a pawn, sacrificed to save the prince, or maybe even the queen herself. I looked around, expecting to find her lurking in the shadows, but she wasn't there.
"What's the story?" I asked. "There's an upstart bastard who wants more? He conspires with the Valorians to overthrow the king?" I spat out the words. "Then, what? You catch him in the act and declare war on the Valorians?"
It wasn't a bad plan, just ruthless and practical. The king had managed to turn Lexley's colossal blunder into an opportunity. That is, if you forgot the thousands of men who would die in the coming war. Not to mention the pillaging and wanton destruction that the people would suffer.
I knew I had hit the nail squarely on the head when the king didn't reply.
"You're okay with this?" I asked the Champions. "Why do you want war so badly? You're bored? You want glory?"
No one spoke. I turned back to the king.
"First Holden. Now Valoria? What is it? A distraction? A way to send the unruly to their deaths?" I must have struck a nerve, because a dark expression flitted across the king's face.
"You wouldn't understand," the king said. "Every day is a war for the kingdom, a battle of countless wills. Everyone wants something, and I decide what is best for the kingdom." The king rubbed his faces. "You're skilled, impressive even, but no one's perfect or indispensable, not even you. I am the one that has to serve the kingdom. I am the one who has to make the difficult choices. Because I am king."
There was a hint of sadness in his voice, and in another circumstance, I might have had more sympathy. Maybe he still felt something for my mother through me, but he had made his choice. He was throwing me to the wolves for Lexley's sake.
"What now?" I asked coldly.
Lexley laughed. "Don't you get it? You die. We have the Valorian armor here. We'll say you—"
"Quiet, Lexley," the king said.
I ignored Lexley and stared at the king. I shook my head slowly.
"All these years, I never laid a claim to you," I said. "Never. And I don't fault you for trading someone like me for a prince. I'm not mad about that."
The king eyes widened slightly. He looked at me curiously.
"The kingdom comes first. I get it. I do. That's what being a knight is about, yeah?" I asked the last question loudly, sweeping my eyes over the Champions. "I don't know about being a king and all that shit, but I do know that the people around you can make things a whole lot better or a whole lot worse."
I stepped backward towards Kuri, who had been watching silently the whole time.
"It's not about me or Lexley." I was next to Kuri now. I took her hand. I was glad that Genna wasn't here, hopefully safe somewhere else. At the same time, I wished she could have been standing by me, in what could be my last moments.
"No, father. This is about you." I spoke my next words carefully and clearly so that no one would mistake them.
"You chose the wrong woman."
There was a deathly silence. The king fought to contain whatever emotion threatened to burst onto his face. His jaws clenched tightly, and his nostrils flared. But he still hadn't ordered my death for my impudence.
I squeezed Kuri's hand tightly. I looked into her golden eyes. They were hard and angry but also on the verge of tears.
"Jakson…" she murmured. She would burst into flames in any moment. I could feel it in her trembling hand.
Oh, fuck this. We were dead anyway. I had one last parting shot, one last thing I had wanted to do my whole life, but I had turned down every opportunity before. This was my final chance.
"I demand a trial by combat," I said. "Against Lexley, if he's not afraid."
"What?" Lexley asked. "Why would I do that?"
"Don't give him his armor," Erole said. "He's too tricky in it."
"We can't let him escape and open his mouth," Joren added.
The king shook his head. "No, you won't be wearing your armor again. It's too valuable, and I'll want Vasir examining it at once." He motioned to several guards in chainmail. They trotted up to take hold of my suit, which was lying on the ground.
This time, the man picking up the suit screamed as a shock coursed through his body. He fell to the ground, unconscious or dead. The others backed away from my suit.
"See!" Erole shouted. "Keep him away from his armor!"
Lexley raised his arms in a mock show of reluctance. "Too bad. No armor for you. An honorable knight like me can't possibly fight you wearing that." He gestured towards my plain tunic.
"Then, face me out of your armor," I said. "On equal terms. A trial by combat is my right as a Knight Sentinel."
"We're not on equal terms," Lexley snarled. "And you're not a Knight Sentinel."
"I swore an oath to become a Knight Sentinel, and I'm not the one who broke it," I said.
"We're not risking the prince's safety for a traitor's demands," Erole said.
A new voice spoke. It was Lady Dyann. "It's true. A trial by combat is Sir Jakson's right as a Sentinel."
"And he never knowingly broke his oath," Sir Hurik said. "We owe him that much, for his sacrifice. For honor's sake."
Some of the Champions grumbled, but I wasn't counting on any of their support. They were cowards, the lot of them. It was a meaningless gesture because the king's knights weren't ruled by a code of honor. That's where Sir Hurik was mistaken.
No, they were ruled by a code of shame. I had to use that.
The king turned to his Champions. "This is ridiculous—"
"I'll fight him in his armor, then," I said, interrupting the king himself. This wasn't a time to be timid. "I don't need anything else. I can take him like this." I plucked at the thin cloth on my chest. "My boys." I glanced at Tavi's unmoving body. "Kids really. We beat up Sentinels all the time. I can take on Lexley, armor and all."
I shifted my eyes from Tavi's corpse to Lexley. "You must be scared. You know that everyone else always lets you win? That you don't deserve to be the First? I won't go easy on you. That's why you're scared. That's why—"
Lexley stepped forward. "I change my mind. I'll enjoy ending his miserable life personally. May I?" He looked to the king.
The king scowled. "Finish it quickly."
"Wait," I said.
Lexley raised an eyebrow. "Who's scared now?"
"No. I want to declare the terms of the trial," I said.
"Terms?" the king asked. "That's unusual. What is it?"
"If I lose, nothing changes, but if I win…" I swallowed. "You let Kuri go. I'll stay."
"No!" Kuri cried. She stepped in front of me with glowing fists, but I wrapped my arms around her so she couldn't harm the others without hurting me first.
"Kuri, stop it!"
Lexley laughed. "Look at that elf bitch go. Do it, father. When she makes a fuss afterward, we can kill put her down. It won't make a difference."
"Kuri," I whispered into her ear. "Don't. You have to get away. Find Genna. Make sure she's safe."
Kuri struggled for a moment.
"Kuri!" I pleaded. "Please, Kuri. Tell Genna what happened."
She stopped struggling. "Jakson, you fool." She drew her face close to mine, as if she was going to kiss me. "Tell her yourself." With that she stepped backwards.
Was she still
jealous? Now, of all times? I didn't care if it kept her safe.
"Your Majesty?" I asked, waiting for his reply.
"Granted," the king said. His voice was tired, quiet. "Hurry. Get it over with."
I nodded to Kuri one last time, then stepped into an open part of the courtyard. The other Sentinels and guards moved away to give us space, while Kuri remained standing where she was.
Lexley strode over casually to a spot opposite me, about twenty yards away. He unslung his sword's sheath from his back, then dropped it behind him.
"I do have a sense of honor," Lexley said with a smile. He punched one gauntlet into the other, his armor's golden accents pulsing with power. "I'd also rather rip you apart with my own hands."
There was no one to officiate. It was just Lexley and me. We stood, facing each other for a while longer. Then, Lexley sighed and walked towards me.
I waited, ducked under Lexley's first punch, and rolled behind him. At the end of my roll, I kicked the back of his knee joint hard, but my heel just bounced off the metal.
Lexley turned slowly, casually, while I darted away. He smashed a metal fist into the ground where I had been. The stone tiles cracked.
"Think you're the only one who can dance?" Lexley asked.
His armor glowed. He closed the distance between us in a fraction of a second, faster than should have been possible in his armor's bulk. I barely dodged to the side as he swung another fist at me.
This time, he spun and whipped an armored leg at me, too quickly for me to dodge. If we had been evenly matched, I could have blocked the kick with ease. Instead, I curled with the blow as it sent me flying several feet into the air. I hit the ground hard and tumbled. Fuck. I pushed myself up, half-expecting my bones to snap, but luckily, nothing was broken. Yet.
One or two hits, and I'd be dead at this rate. I searched the courtyard for something, anything, I could use to my advantage. I ran to a fountain statue, one of those naked ones pissing water out of its mouth. I hurried to the side opposite from Lexley, but he simply punched through the entire fountain, shattering it.
A stone fragment grazed my cheek, cutting it, and another missed my eye by less than an inch. A mixture of rock and water sprayed over my back as I scrambled away.
"You twat," Lexley said. "You asked for a trial by combat. Not a game of chase-the-monkey."
