Iron Champion (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 5)

by Billy Wong

  "No, he was here, and told his associates that your children would have to be 'removed' right in front of me. I knew you weren't home yet and couldn't allow such an atrocious act, so I went to your dwelling and, well, took them. It was just so I could keep them safe here until you got back."

  "All right, I believe you." She wondered what Lawrence's rationale could possibly be, though. "Why didn't you tell my friend what was going on, instead of beating him up?"

  "I just didn't know who I could trust, so I tried to sneak them out unnoticed. But when he saw me, I panicked. I was desperate to get away! Sorry..."

  Rose sighed. "But do you know why Lawrence would want to kill our children? It's just unbelievable he'd do that!"

  It took him a while to find his voice, and the guilt in his eyes foreshadowed what he would reveal. "I-it's because of a vision I had. I'm so, so sorry."

  "What the hell did you see that would make him react so?"

  He didn't even bother rhyming. "I saw your children grown into strong adults, a fine young man and woman to do you proud. They were brave and good-hearted and-"

  "Get to the point," Finn snapped. "Why does Lawrence want them dead?"

  Evan looked at the floor between his feet. Finally, he said, "They are to revive a creature that will end civilization as we know it, the same being which destroyed the Old World."

  "And Lawrence wants to prevent that from happening," Rose concluded in a whisper. She'd heard of the Old World being destroyed in a war between the mages and a "demon lord," one of several explanations which she now supposed to be correct, and knew any sane person would fear its return. "But this is the wrong way to do it!"

  Finn groaned. "Yeah, but he probably figures it's the surest way. If they're dead, they'll never be able to do anything as adults."

  Rose put her face in her hands and sobbed, overwhelmed. What was she supposed to do? The ruler of her own country wanted to kill her kids, and even if she stopped him, where would that leave the future? "Evan, your visions don't always come true, right? I mean, Sean didn't kill Regis or Deathend."

  "But like you said," Finn pointed out a bit reluctantly, "he might still be key in finally bringing peace to the land."

  True, but that wasn't necessarily the correct interpretation... "Well, Deathend also wasn't defeated with a sword of flame like he told Julian, right? I broke his neck."

  "But the explosion of his own sword did badly injure him, and helped lead to his demise."

  Rose sighed. "You're not helping here. Aren't you supposed to support me and give me hope?"

  "I'm just telling it like it is. None of his prophecies have really been proven wrong."

  She nodded, knowing he was right. But she had one more example that she felt more confident in. "Evan, didn't you see me fight a monarch and his giant, get run through from behind, and fall off the roof? So since that happened in the past, it's incorrect for a vision of the future."

  Finn frowned. "Maybe it'll happen again. Not with Wilner and Egbert, because Egbert's dead, but maybe with someone else? I hope it doesn't, though. Scared me enough the first time."

  "I highly doubt the exact same scenario will repeat itself."

  Meekly, Evan suggested, "It could still be a metaphor for something else—like you sacrificing yourself to beat something?"

  "You're just hell-bent on preserving the notion that you're never wrong, aren't you?" Rose said. "If you're so sure all your prophecies will come true, why did you save our kids? You can't want civilization to end."

  His answer raised her opinion of him by a fair amount. "I saved them because killing them would be the wrong way to avert the prophecy, when they're so utterly blameless." Less endearingly, he added, "Besides, if my visions are infallible, it'll come true one way or another. There's always another interpretation, after all."

  Finn scoffed. "So if that's how you feel, why even tell Lawrence about your vision? Why not make something up to save our children?"

  "I didn't even realize what he might do until after I told him my rhyme. By then, of course, it was too late. He could have interpreted it a different way if we were luckier, though."

  Rose sighed. If they were luckier indeed, but they rarely were. "How exactly did you word the rhyme, anyway?"

  "Today shall be long past, when mages' seeds grow to flower, to unleash darkness upon a world aghast, return the end of old to power."

  "And how long did it take for them to interpret that the way they did?" Finn demanded, his tone harsh. "When you say 'mages' seeds,' and 'flower' in the same rhyme, it makes it fairly obvious who you're talking about. To my knowledge, me and Rose are the only mage couple around these days."

  "That's kind of the point. I mean, they're not supposed to be impossible riddles, just interesting ones. Sorry--but I saved them, didn't I?"

  Rose smiled with genuine gratitude. "Thank you. It was very brave of you to risk your own life for our children, even if you did hurt our friend Derrick in the process."

  "I only saved them from a danger I created for them. Is your friend all right?"

  "Yeah," Finn said. "Or this conversation would have gone much differently."

  "What are you going to do?"

  Rose answered him. "There's only one thing to do. The two of us are going to visit Lawrence to try and talk some sense into him."

  "And if that doesn't work?"

  Though she knew what her reply must be, that was one truth she could hardly bear to acknowledge. "We'll have to see." But if Lawrence or anyone insisted on murdering her children, she knew there could be no choice but to eliminate the threat, no matter who it was or what it would cost.

  Evan looked into her eyes with pity, and she guessed what he saw there. Despair. "I'm sorry that this is happening to you," he said softly.

  "Not half as sorry as we are," Finn grumbled.

  "Take care of Jacob and Amber while we're gone, okay?" Rose said.

  "You're going to trust this fool to take care of our kids?" Finn asked. "All he ever does is make trouble for other people."

  "He did risk his life to save them, even if it was from a mess he made in the first place. We've had to solve problems of our own making in the past too. He isn't a bad person, even if he might be better off giving up the godforsaken seer business."

  Evan smiled weakly. "I'll make sure to take the very best care of them."

  "You have enough food for them?" Finn asked.

  "They're small. I think we can manage."

  "Fine. Let's go, then."

  They walked back towards their rowboat, but Rose's steps began to slow as a dreadful thought crossed her mind. "Wait, Finn. What if we don't make it back? If Lawrence goes at us with all his resources, I don't know if we can escape, or survive... I don't want to leave Jacob and Amber orphans."

  He stared anxiously at her. "Rose, what are you saying?"

  Tears were already flowing down her cheeks when she replied. "I'm saying that if they're to lose one parent, they should at least have the other by their side as they grow up."

  "In other words, you want me to stay here with them while you go and risk your life alone."

  "Yes. I'm sorry."

  "Why does it have to be me who stays behind? Why do you always have to go out and do the hard stuff while I sit around waiting, not knowing if you'll come back alive?!"

  She met his frustrated gaze with her resigned one and said plainly, "Because I'm more likely to succeed. As much as I know that's always bothered you, it's the truth. So if one of us has to go, it should be whoever has a better chance of coming back, right?"

  "But if I go too, you'll have an even better chance of coming back."

  "You're right. But I don't want to risk the possibility of neither of us doing so. Please don't follow me this time, okay? I'm not going into some war with allies at my back, even if they might be at a disadvantage compared to the enemies. I'm headed into what is now the heart of the enemy without any help. So it's way too dangerous for both of us to go, if you think
about our children's future."

  Finn hugged her. "It's even more dangerous for you if you go alone."

  "I know. But I have to."

  "Can't we just move to Terlon now, take everything we can and go? Danica doesn't seem the type who would put so much credence in fate as to act like Lawrence."

  That was a valid suggestion. But then, they'd lose everything they had worked so hard to build in Kayland. "If we do that, we'll just be giving up. What about the Center for Magical Study? Our friends? My mom? Besides, if we run away to hide behind our allies in Terlon, we'll be dragging other people into our mess. I've got to try and fix this, or we'll spend the rest of our lives wondering if we could have saved our lives at home."

  Finn shook his head, and it moved her to see his eyes glisten with wetness. "I'd rather spend my life wondering with you, than knowing without you. And if you die, I'll still wonder—if I could have saved you had I been there for you."

  The prospect of dying so young terrified her all by itself, but what made it worse was the unbearable thought of breaking her love's heart. She wanted to swear to him she would come back, that she wouldn't leave him behind so easily and disappoint him. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, for such a promise would feel too disingenuous.

  "I-if I don't come back," she stammered, tears running like waterfalls now, "you have to t-try and find yourself a new wife. A good woman who'll love and nurture our children as if they were her own, and be their mother—a better mother than me, probably."

  Evan too sniffed now, and gloom closed in on Rose while the likelihood of her demise grew in her mind. Finn held her face in great comforting hands and gave her a long kiss. "I'd never be able to forget you."

  "I'm not asking you to. You don't have to give up your love for me, to find someone new who will give our family what it needs. I know we'll always love each other, no matter where either of us is..."

  "It looks kind of like you're going to win this argument," Finn said. Her eyes widened as he proceeded to smile. "But there's one thing you're forgetting."

  "What?"

  He threw a lazy punch at her left cheek, saying "Block." The punch was so slow and weak, it obviously wasn't intended to injure her or knock her out. Bewildered, she avoided it anyway by stepping back.

  "Finn, what are you doing? This is no time to play around."

  "Block," he said again, and followed her aiming another half-assed punch. She dodged it with ease. "No, I said block." Deciding to indulge him whatever his motives might be, she tried to raise her left arm.

  His fist smacked against her cheek, not hard enough to hurt much. But it only took a second before she recognized the point he was trying to make.

  He put it in words anyway. "Sorry about hitting you. But how can you say you have a better chance of coming back than me when one of your arms doesn't even work?"

  "It's starting to work again. It just doesn't respond as quickly yet."

  "See? You're no condition to walk into danger alone. If you insist on going, there is nothing you can say or do to keep me from coming with you."

  His voice was as firm as she'd ever heard it, and left no room for argument. Truthfully, she felt somewhat relieved. For all her desire to protect him, she did value her own life, and his help would go a long way towards preserving it. "All right then, Finn. We'll go together. Evan, if we don't come back, contact my friend Loreen in Coblan. She'll take care of our children."

  "Will do," the seer said.

  Finn grunted and puffed out his chest with the signature bravado that for once warmed Rose's spirit. "Thanks, but you hardly need to worry about that. With me at her side, there's no chance Rose doesn't make it!"

  #

  They returned to the ship that would take them back to their homeland, and Rose walked onto the docks in Nacin with her heart heavy in her chest. Even if they managed to convince Lawrence to leave their children alone, the specter of what he'd tried to do would hang over them. She wished she didn't have to confront the regent, but pretending they didn't know his intentions would only put Jacob and Amber in continuous danger. Home could hardly be the same again, and she could only hope to mitigate the consequences for their lives.

  The couple made the short trip to Gustrone and returned to the center, where they told Derrick what preparations to make in case they were forced to flee the country. No assassins had shown up; or maybe they had, and left unnoticed after finding the children not there. Though Rose and Finn didn't ask their friend to go with them, Derrick volunteered anyway, saying he had little to stay for without the center, whose essential texts they planned to move to Terlon if necessary. While Rose might have been willing to give the institution up to her countrymen, Finn would never let the fruit of his most noteworthy accomplishment slip out of his hand.

  Then, trying her best to keep up a calm demeanor, she visited the castle and requested an audience with Crown Prince Lawrence. She and Finn were called in with surprising haste, and she wondered if this resulted from Lawrence's own anxiety over meeting them. She entered the large white throne room. The last time she'd been here, Lawrence had showered her with praise and the honorary title of "Knight Protector of Kayland." Now...

  "How are you, Rose?" he greeted her, the wariness in his gaze belying his calm voice.

  "Scared for my children," she answered meaningfully while looking him in the eye. "It's wrong, my lord. They're innocent, how can you consider such a thing?!"

  With no one but his bodyguard of devoted knights around to hear them, he didn't pretend not to know what she was talking about. "Sometimes there must be small sacrifices for the sake of the larger good. After all the thousands you've slain fighting for what you believed the 'right' cause, you must understand that."

  It was true many of the men she'd killed in war had been fairly innocent in their own right, that they'd never wished to harm others, but only fought out of loyalty to their nation or because they had little choice. But her children were babies! At least the soldiers she killed in battle were grown, and had gotten a chance to shape the course of their own lives. "They're two years old—they haven't done anything!"

  She saw him swallow, and knew he didn't take his planned child-killing lightly. Still, he replied, "But they will, Rose. They have to be stopped, or our world..."

  "No! We can stop the prophecy from coming true, there must be a way—a better way than to kill children!"

  "If it was even to save my own life, I wouldn't consider committing such a horrible sin. But this isn't for my life or yours, but something greater. Evan's visions never lie, and the world is worth more than any two people, even if they are babes."

  Why did he have to buy so much into damned prophecies? "Evan himself doesn't want you to kill them! He helped us against this madness, and told us your intentions in hopes of stopping them. Besides, isn't one of the reasons they always prove correct is because you can twist their interpretations so that one way or another, they are?"

  "Perhaps. But still he has never been shown to be wrong outright, and this particular vision is rather more specific than most." The determined set of his jaw told her he wasn't going to back down. "So what will you do, if I won't change my mind?"

  "Then we'll k-" Finn began, but she hushed him with a raised hand. Honestly, the two of them could probably slaughter Lawrence and all the knights present even if she was recovering from grave injuries, if they put their mind to it. But after that...

  She felt too that Lawrence would look back at it with sadness for the rest of his life, if she and Finn ended up the ones lying dead before him today, or if he managed to cause the deaths of her children. Like her, he was only a well-meaning person driven into a corner by iron beliefs he wouldn't let go of.

  "We're going to leave this country," Rose said, "and find our family a new home. Don't send any assassins after us. You won't get them back." She took Finn's hand and turned, hoping Lawrence would have a change of heart.

  "I can't let you go," he said instead. "I mu
st find out where you're hiding them first, no matter what it takes to make you talk. I won't let our world be destroyed for your selfishness—and it is selfishness."

  Maybe it was. But she knew it was also hope—the hope that she could find a way to prevent what the prophecy foretold without allowing her children's deaths. She would find it. She wasn't a fatalist. The regent signaled to his men, and their booted footsteps closed in. She slid her gigantic sword from its sheath, and Finn reached for his mace.

  "Don't do this, Lawrence. You're too good for such reprehensible methods." She looked around, recognizing many of the guards' faces from when she'd visited before. Some she'd talked to briefly and knew the names of, or even fought together with them... "These are good men you have here, loyal men who'd die for you. If you send them forward, they will die."

  He motioned to his men to halt. He must have considered their odds of stopping her and Finn, and realized they had little chance to do so. She felt glad she wouldn't be forced to slaughter her own countrymen today. But what about later? She feared they might end up having to hack through an army of fellow Kaylanders before they escaped, if they could at all.

  "Maybe we should kill him now," Finn whispered in her ear.

  "No. If we walk away, perhaps he'll learn his lesson, to live and let live."

  "You know he won't do that."

  Rose and Lawrence stared into each other's eyes, the terrible deeds both considered making the air heavy. She could perhaps buy her children safety by depriving her homeland of the second ruler it would lose in three years. But what if Lawrence had told others of the prophecy, which seemed likely? Then slaying him would only buy some time, which she didn't think worth it.

  "We won't kill you," she said, turning away again. "Please think about what you're doing, and understand there are other ways to fight fate. I won't let my kids be the death of civilization. I swear it."

  They had almost it to the exit when she heard Lawrence rise from his seat. "Take them!" he yelled. Feet thudded across the floor as his guard charged. She spun, her slash severing the neck of the first knight to reach her. The wound sprayed, drenching her in blood and bitter guilt. On another occasion she might have held back to start, but now, struggling to raise her shield with her bad arm, she didn't dare risk it. Why did Lawrence do this? He was an intelligent, rational man, and surely there was no need to throw away the lives of good men like this...