When he entered the city, it was all in an uproar. Town criers were shouting out some sort of terrible news and there were handbills all over the city. People ran everywhere, frantically securing their shops and everything else that needed to be done for whatever was coming. Nathan knew things were serious when he could ride a horse through the streets, clearly show he was a man, and not be noticed in any way. He saw a handbill fluttering down the street into the dust, so he hopped off his horse and led all three over to it.
He picked it up and dusted some mud off it. It was a notice telling everyone to secure their possessions and stay inside as a challenger queen would be here in just a few hours. The handbills were obviously made very hastily and probably in the midst of such great fear as he saw now. He swung around and looked out past the Capitol's walls. What he saw sent a chill up his spine.
A cloud of dust was coming closer and closer. The fact that it was coming in silence made it all the more frightening. Nathan stood in the street for a moment more and then took off running, dragging the horse's along with him. He had to get into a place of safety, a hiding place, and then wait until the perfect moment to kill both queens. Or perhaps he could have the challenger queen do the work of killing the current one for him.
The gates of the city swung open as far as they would go and Nathan flinched, expecting a great army of Warrior Women, headed by the challenger to come in, but instead a huge stream of young men came in, running as fast as they could, led by the leader's the facilities that Nathan assumed that they'd come from. He noticed a difference. All these boys were younger than twenty. Of course. All the twenty and up men had been killed off in the last battle, so they were using teenagers as a last resort.
He sank to the ground in the middle of the cold paved street and rested his head in his hands. He had hoped that they wouldn't have a chance to bring in anyone from the facilities but somehow, with their devilish ways, they had. And it would be an absolute massacre. He knew it, especially as all the boys were too young to have had full training. Well, most of them, anyway. The challenger queen had come too early. Much too early. Queens challenged only every twenty years, or so.
This was wrong. This was all wrong.
He would leave the Capitol before the battle started and go back to the Nonexistents until it was all over. He didn't want to witness what he knew was coming. He hadn't seen what Hunter went through, but he could well imagine and it tore at his heart and mind to think of seeing it for himself. He stood up, his heart as heavy as lead, and started to stumble down the street toward the gate.
“Hey, you!” came a woman's voice. It was probably a facility leader. Nathan kept his head down and kept walking. If only she was talking to someone else. He doubted she was, but it didn't hurt to hope. He would run if necessary, even use his Defensive Arts. “You, boy,” she called again. “Stop. Stop right there.”
He kept going.
The next instant all his breath knocked out of him in a whoosh of air. He doubled over, retching in pain from the blow to his stomach that had come from behind him when he least expected it. Had he known it was going to happen, he would've at least tried to tense up his stomach muscles, but as it was, he hadn't. He fell to the ground with a thud and then struggled up, turning to stare at the facility leader.
She was hooded, as usual. “What facility are you from, boy?” she said, her voice cold. What had just happened was, to her, nothing much to speak of. He made no answer and she gave an impatient sound. “His sleeve.”
The Guard Woman who had punched Nathan ripped off his right sleeve. A dark, twisted brand on his arm had the sign of his facility on it and he was shoved without ceremony into the thick of his old comrades. He recognized most of them but said nothing, not wanting to draw attention to himself. They'd know he didn't belong and then he'd be in a fine mess. He saw Ethan. The boy was nervously fingering that odd wooden tag like he always did when he was frightened or worried. Right now he looked about ready to cry and Nathan didn't blame him one bit.
They were heading toward the palace, but not in an organized fashion. Everyone kept in their ranks, more or less, but there was a constant twisting of heads to see where the challenger queen's army was now and whispering among the boys – and the leaders. Most of the boys looked excited and even happy, but some of the others were worried or even terrified. Nathan felt nothing, just a dull ache inside him. He knew what was going to happen, even if none of the others did, and he hated himself for staying quiet about it. He was a coward who was going to die a coward's death.
He found himself wishing for some of Hunter's strength. He hadn't been a coward.
They entered the courtyard of the palace but didn't go inside. Instead, they took a turn and came across the vast field that had been used for the battle of the queen's for as long as Nathan had heard stories about it. In places there were dark red splotches still covering the frozen earth and Nathan felt like throwing up. Some of that was Hunter's blood and he couldn't bear to see it. So he kept his eyes forward, waiting for the challenger queen's army to appear as he knew it would eventually.
He knew that there had been no time to get boys from other continents, as Aaron had called them. It was just North America, and probably not all of that either, just the facilities that were closest. He saw Ethan just a few feet away and pushed through the press of boys to get to his friend. “Ethan,” he whispered, still not wanting to draw attention to himself.
Ethan noticed Nathan for the first time and his face showed fright and surprise and happiness all mixed into one.
Ethan would die, he would die, they all would die.
Why, oh why, did it have to end this way?
A subdued shout from the ranks caught his attention and he looked up to see the challenger queen's army of Warrior Women just entering the field. They kept coming and coming and soon there were too many to count. Compared to them, the opposing army's number of men was pitiful indeed. Nathan knew they were doomed. He'd known that from the starting, but seeing this just confirmed it. He squeezed Ethan's hand and then let go to take Hunter's knife out of his hiking boot, glad that he at least had that weapon. He wondered who would have it once he was dead.
Some sort of yelling was taking place amongst the Warrior Women and then a call was screamed out and even though he couldn't make out the individual words, he knew it was a call for attack. And attack it was. Suddenly the Warrior Women were running toward them and the boys were running toward the Warrior Women and Nathan was swept up in the swell of humanity. He kept his knife down so as to not hurt any of his friends. He would strike when the women were nearer.
And then there was a sickening crashing sound as the two armies collided and everyone was fighting for his, or her, life. It was every man and woman for him or herself and no one, it seemed, was looking out for their comrades. Except Nathan. As he battled one Warrior Woman after another, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind him, he kept half an eye out for Ethan, willing him to survive each encounter.
For a while it worked. Ethan and Nathan slowly worked their way to the end of the field. If they could just get there, they could make a run for the woods and perhaps make it to safety. It was a very slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. Nathan wasn't really paying attention to his own fighting when he saw Ethan fall, cut down a blade of the Warrior Women.
“NO!” he screamed and ran toward Ethan, leaving the Warrior Woman he'd been fighting to look for new prey. He reached Ethan and knelt down next to his body. The boy's body was motionless and there was no heartbeat. His heart swelled and he felt too full of grief and anger to cry. He stayed there, seemingly paralysed by his friend's body for minutes on end as the battle raged around them.
A blade whistled through the air toward his neck, but it caught his collarbone instead, shattering it to bits. He could feel it shatter and he fell over, almost blacking out from the pain. The agony of it. He wished the Warrior Woman's skill had been sharper. Then he would be dead and away from this terrible w
orld where people killed other people all the time. He closed his eyes and prayed for death to take him away to velvety blackness and darkness and nothingness.
A hush fell over the field. There was still little bits of fighting going on, but for the most part it was quiet. He heard footsteps walking near him and despite himself he opened his eyes. The challenger queen was coming closer, probably to fight the current one, kill her off and take the throne. She came close to Nathan and glanced down at him for a moment.
Shock and hurt poured through Nathan like a bolt of lightning.
It was Lily.
The End
Vengeance Is Mine Page 14
