“We…” He hesitated before trying again. “We might be too late to help your aunt. You said it yourself. But are you really prepared for it? Maybe we should head back to the beach, try to find the others. We could come back for her together.”
I didn’t break stride. “If we do that, it really might be too late for her. I’m hoping that he kept her alive because we escaped. He might be hoping to use her as a hostage or bargaining tool.”
William sighed. “I feel like a fool for not seeing Prince Horace’s true intentions.”
I shook my head sharply. “No. You and Celine questioned the situation. You weren’t sure about allying with him. I’m the one who let my hatred guide me. You bear none of the blame.”
William took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I still don’t quite understand, though. Why did he wait all these years? He kept talking about a ‘loose thread’…”
I had been thinking about that. “Horace is the youngest. Even if he killed both my parents, and all of us, he wouldn’t be the next in line. Melisande would. Of course, the situation would be complicated given her banishment. But if there were doubts about the assassinations, she might have become a rallying point. The only way a Lanoverian princess can give up her right to the throne is by marrying into a foreign kingdom. Melisande’s husband chose to renounce his Arcadian ties and join her in Lanover so, officially, she’s still in the line of succession.”
I rubbed my head which had started to ache, although a different sort of pain to the one the curse used to inflict. “At least that means Clarisse and Cordelia are safe. Uncle Horace will have no reason to go after them.” The thought of my sisters made me glance surreptitiously at William. If we could just defeat my uncle, I would be joining Cordelia in Northhelm. I could start a new life away from the court who had known me under the curse. The possibility seemed too idyllic to consider while I trudged through the jungle with a bloodied leg and death hanging over my head.
“No wonder he was having his men keep a close eye on the situation with the hedge. He must have been trying to find a way to get to her for years. And then we all decided to sail over here. Imagine his delight when we not only took him exactly where he wanted to go but we went after the sword, too. His reluctance to give it to you must have been purely for show. You were the exact tool he needed.” I paused. “I’m so sorry, Will…”
“Stop. No more apologies. You’re too hard on yourself. You’ve carried a heavy burden for a long time, all alone. You might have made mistakes, but you’ve also done a lot of good. The kingdom needed Aurora, it seems. I’m just sorry you had to endure so much pain to create her.”
I stilled, my attention caught by something to our right. “What’s that?” I pointed towards it.
The small blackened section of jungle still smoked slightly, the acrid smell carrying on the breeze .
“Forest fire?” William’s answer lacked conviction.
“It’s a pretty small patch for a forest fire.”
“Must have been that dragon then.” He chucked, but it carried an edge of uncertainty.
I gripped his hand tighter. “Let’s keep moving.”
As we moved closer to our goal, we passed several more patches of burnt out jungle. I remembered the crackling sound that had pursued us through the trees. The guards couldn’t have been lighting fires as they ran, it made no sense. And how come the entire jungle hadn’t burned, if so?
We moved more slowly and cautiously the closer we got to the house. The tramp of feet and voices told us that some of the guard, at least, had remained there. For the last stretch we had to drop down and crawl along on our stomachs. Roots and rocks caught against my bandage, and I had to grit my teeth to remain silent.
A vantage point behind a large fern gave us a clear view into the clearing surrounding the house. A small knot of anxiety in my stomach loosened when I caught sight of a female figure lying on the ground, bound at the hands and feet. They wouldn’t have bothered with that if she were dead.
She moved slightly, and the fern around us rustled at William’s sudden jerk. I glared at him, but I had to admit I felt shaken myself. Her sleeve had completely disappeared, and a large fresh-looking burn covered her arm.
I squeezed my eyes shut and took several steadying breaths. If my uncle could do that to his own sister, what had he done to the rest of my family?
“You’ll never find them, Horace.” The hint of strain in her voice was the only indication of her pain.
“Of course I will. And when I do, I shall destroy you all.”
A small knot of soldiers moved as my uncle spoke, giving us a clear view of him. He stood near the house, his hand resting, almost lovingly, on a large, black tube that leant against it.
“What in the kingdoms is that?”
I didn’t respond since I had no answer. I had never seen such a thing. It looked a bit like metal, but it absorbed the light instead of reflecting it. One end had been shaped to resemble the head of a dragon, and the words of the guards in the jungle came back to me.
Whatever it was, if my uncle felt so fondly towards it, it couldn’t be good. Could it have anything to do with the burnt patches and my aunt’s injury? I surveyed the rest of the clearing. I counted ten guards, as well as my uncle. I was sure there had been more than ten chasing us. The rest must still be out combing the jungle.
One of the men present wore a bandage, and another lay prone against the house. Those must be the two William had fought when we made our escape. So, we really only faced nine then. Still not great odds.
I carefully drew all of the knives except the one in my boot. I lay them out on the ground in front of me.
“What’s the plan?” William produced a knife of his own which he placed beside the sword. “I don’t like the odds for a frontal assault.”
“No, definitely not.” I looked back at the clearing again, assessing.
Two men seemed to be standing guard over my aunt, and one ministered to the injured man on the ground. The remaining six moved around the clearing at various tasks, singly or in pairs.
“We need to get behind the house, out of sight of the majority of them. Then we might have the chance to take them out slowly.”
William ran his hand through his hair before nodding. He knew we had no other choice. Retrieving our weapons, we crawled backwards until we were far enough away to stand. Moving carefully, we circled the clearing before creeping close again, crouching this time, ready to leap to our feet.
My aunt and uncle, as well as the strange contraption, were hidden from view. None of the guards were in sight, either. But I once again laid out my weapons, content to wait.
A minute later, a lone guard came around the building, heading for the pool of water. I picked up one of my blades, testing the wind. Standing, I pulled back my arm and threw the knife. It left my hand before the guard had time to notice me.
It spun across the space between us, the hilt smashing against his temple. His head jerked back, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
“Nice throw.” William sounded impressed, and I hoped we lived long enough to have a true practice duel one day.
William crept into the clearing and slung the man over his shoulder, bringing him back amongst the trees. I removed his belt and used it to bind his hands. Ripping off several strips of his shirt, I managed to fashion a gag.
“One down, eight to go.”
William looked back into the clearing. “I forgot your knife.”
“Wait!” I reached for him, but he had already stepped back into view. Two guards rounded the corner of the building and froze in surprise at the sight of him. I grabbed another knife off the ground and threw it towards one of the men. It hit him, hard, and he went down.
William had at least had the foresight to carry the sword, and he ran towards the other man.
“Hey! They’re here!” The guard barely had time to call the warning before William cut him down. He fell to the ground, moaning, but the damage had been
done.
I rushed out to join William, my two remaining knives in my hands. I tried to remember if any of the guards had carried a bow. Hopefully the archers had all been sent out to track us down.
Three guards came around the side of the house at a run. William and I put our backs to the building and crouched. As they ran towards us, I threw another knife. These men were on the alert, however, and dodged the missile. I swapped my remaining blade to my right hand, and reached into my left boot to draw my last one.
The three men closed on us, and I fought for my life, using every trick I knew to fend off their longer blades. William quickly dropped one of them, and the pressure eased somewhat. He had almost gained the upper hand on his remaining opponent, when the last three guards came into sight, my uncle trailing behind them.
Two of them carried the black tube on their shoulders, the head facing forwards. Held that way, it looked a little like a cannon. A shiver rushed from my scalp to my toes.
The men fighting us fell back, clearing the way for their comrades. William and I held our position, our weapons gripped in our hands.
“Well, well, well. I knew keeping my sister alive would pay off.” Uncle Horace waved the two guards carrying the tube towards us. “Destroy them.”
The men angled the dragon’s head in our direction, and a loud humming filled the clearing. A scream sounded from the other side of the house, sending another chill through me. “No! Celeste!” It sounded like my aunt’s voice.
“Go!”
William and I dived in opposite directions, as a jet of flame erupted from the open mouth and blackened the stones where we had been standing.
Chapter 32
I rolled and came upright, still with both knives in hand. One of the remaining men rushed me. I stayed low, swiping beneath his guard and then scuttling out of reach as he screamed and fell.
The humming sounded again behind me, and I spun in time to see the guards aim the dragon at William. An injured guard lay at the prince’s feet, but he still battled with another and hadn’t seen the danger.
I raced forward, aiming myself at the outstretched tube. I shifted my grip on my knife, raising it above my head and stabbing down at the contraption with all my force.
The knife bounced off, flying out of my stinging hand. I danced backwards out of reach of the weapon and the guards.
“William!” I screamed his name as the rush of flame erupted from the spout again. His sword flashed out in one final, successful strike, before he dropped to the ground.
I had a better view of the weapon this time, and the flame that emerged burned with a terrifying purple and green tinge. The fire caught the edge of the fence around the garden, and the whole thing went up in flames.
For a second, I thought William had avoided the inferno, and then a small finger of fire leaped up from his left sleeve. He rolled over, crushing his left arm against the ground, but when he rolled back over, the flame remained. Leaping up, he threw himself into the water.
Horrified, I saw the bright flame shining from beneath the surface of the pool. I screamed, and then the flame disappeared from the dragon’s mouth, the fence and William all at the same moment. An unnatural fire from an unnatural weapon.
William surged from the pool, a hole burnt in one sleeve and an angry red patch beneath it. Our eyes met.
“Get him!” yelled my uncle.
Only the two guards holding the dragon remained. And it seemed the contraption needed a break between each attack. After a moment’s hesitation, they lowered the heavy tube onto the ground. The time it took them to complete the manoeuvre gave William the chance to retrieve his sword and race towards them. They met in the middle in a loud clash of metal against metal. I lifted my arm, ready to throw my last knife and even the odds.
But I hesitated. The fight moved too quickly for me to be certain I wouldn’t hit William. Before I could lower my arm again, the blade was ripped from my grasp.
I staggered, thrown off balance and whirled to face my uncle. I expected to see the blade raised against me, but my uncle had tossed it into the jungle. Turning back to William, I saw that one of the guards lay unconscious at his feet.
A scuffling sound drew my attention back towards my uncle. He had lunged for the dragon, which was once again emitting a loud humming. He didn’t bother trying to lift it from the ground, simply swinging it around to face me.
As the tongue of the flame emerged, rushing towards me, my eyes met William’s. In the second before I was engulfed, time seemed to slow. Horror washed over his face, and he faltered. The lone remaining guard raised his sword to strike at the undefended prince.
“Princess!” He screamed my name at the same moment I screamed his.
Our long ago fight in the gardener’s hut flashed before my eyes. But this time, only one of us had a weapon. William didn’t hesitate, however, whipping back his arm and throwing the sword with all his strength across the space between us.
My knife had made no dent in the strange tube, but the Sword of Lanover cut through it as if it were made of air. The flame died just before it could lick the edges of my face.
I screamed and lashed out, striking my uncle where he knelt beside his broken weapon. He fell to the ground, and I raced towards William’s attacker, roaring as I charged.
The guard, busy pulling his blade from William’s chest, didn’t even have time to turn. My fist caught him in the side of the head, and he dropped like a stone. I leapt over him and collapsed to my knees beside William.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” The tears poured down my cheeks, as I pressed my hands against the bleeding wound in his chest. He couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let him. Not after everything we had been through.
His eyes fluttered open and found my face.
“You fool,” I wept. “Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
He coughed, and a trickle of blood leaked out of his mouth. “I had to defend someone more important than me.”
“No.” I shook my head frantically while I tried to increase the pressure on his wound. “You are worth a hundred of me.”
He reached up a shaking hand to cup my cheek. “Ah, but Princess, I thought I told you. You are my dawn.” He smiled weakly. “True love’s kiss remember? There is no truer love than this.”
His eyes fluttered shut, and his hand dropped, a sigh seeming to deflate his body. I pounded his chest and turned my face up to the sky as I screamed, “Godmother!”
I pressed my lips down hard against his.
Light encircled us. Bright, blinding light, sparking back and forth between us.
I fell back, blinking, dazed and confused. A familiar grey-haired figure stood beside me.
She surveyed the clearing, her interested gaze taking in the groaning figures scattered across the ground. Her wings twitched. “I see you’ve been busy.”
“Godmother!” I gasped. “William!” I turned back to his body.
Brilliant blue eyes greeted me. “William!” I threw myself across his body and lay there, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, and gasping in my own great gulps of air. One of his hands stroked my hair.
Slowly I calmed and pushed myself back up. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at his chest. The slash in his vest remained, but the skin underneath looked whole and unbroken. Streaks of blood surrounded it and stained both of our clothing, but nothing new leaked out.
“I’m alive. That’s a pleasant surprise.” His eyes travelled from me to my godmother and his brows rose. “I suppose I have you to thank for that.”
She chuckled. “I can see why you like this one, Celeste.” She examined William. “I didn’t do it on my own, though. The High King has rules about such things. But a final, ultimate sacrifice combined with a true love’s kiss? The foundations of the kingdoms are built on power like that. You made it easy.”
“Thank you,” I said, helping William to his feet. “I can never thank you enough.”
She looked me up an
d down. “Well. You’re a sight to be sure. But somehow I find you more beautiful now than when we first met. Strange that.” Her eyes twinkled. “I didn’t give you an easy run of it all these years, so it’s about time you get to enjoy some reward for all your labour.”
A sudden thought shook me. “Uncle Horace!” I looked around, wondering if he had escaped in all the commotion.
He lay where I had left him, beside the two halves of his dragon. His eyes glared venom in our direction, but his hands and legs had been tied, and his mouth gagged. I looked around the clearing. Several of the guards had been similarly bound, although not gagged, and my aunt was busily engaged in trussing up another.
She looked in our direction. “I’m sorry it took me so long to work my way out of my bonds. I’m glad to see you’re both all right. You had me worried for a moment.” I tried to look her in the eyes, but my gaze kept getting stuck on her burnt arm.
She glanced down at it. “Yes, I’m going to need some medical assistance.”
“Let me take over with the guards.” William tried to move towards her, but I clung to his clothing, holding him back. He threw me a quizzical look, and I reluctantly let go. I still couldn’t quite believe he was alive. I wanted to count his breaths and feel his beautiful, living warmth beneath my fingers.
I turned back to continue the conversation with my godmother and blinked. She had disappeared. I bit my lip. I hadn’t asked her about the rest of my family yet. But surely she wouldn’t have talked so amiably with us if anything had happened to them?
Aunt Melisande approached me, and I told myself to focus on our immediate problems. “You need to get that arm into the water, Aunt. Right now.”
She grimaced, and I pointed at the pool. She waded straight in, ducking her shoulders below the water and letting out a loud sigh. She closed her eyes and let herself float in the water.
The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty (The Four Kingdoms Book 4) Page 23
