Iron Melting (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 6)

by Billy Wong

  The way he spoke so tauntingly made Justin scowl with rage, and he wished to slaughter Silk right now and silence him forever. However, he realized as much as Silk said it to aggravate him, it was likely true. By committing such a horrible atrocity, he would open up the moral floodgates, and probably resort to evil more easily in the future. But Rose's children were the ones whose existence would cause him to destroy the world. What choice did he have but to destroy them, even if it meant working with men he hated more than the woman herself? He considered maybe he subconsciously did want to hurt Rose's kids in revenge against her, and that contributed to his decision to kill them when there might still be time to seek another solution. Yet he also believed it was too late for that, that a way would not be found to separate the power from him and thus, it was now him or them.

  "Believe what you want," he said. "But you will help me kill them?"

  "Yes, and finish them for you should you find yourself too weak," Silk said with a smile. "By the way, now that we have you with us, we should no longer be The Lost. For we have found the path to a fair world, a world where all are equal in nothingness, and henceforth we are thus... The Found.

  "And you, demon lord who clings to the good in his heart? Do you have any name you would like to adopt in light of your new self?"

  He felt like the man purposely teased him, but couldn't help clinging to any semblance of influence over his situation. "Dark Justice," he finally decided.

  "Hmm? I wouldn't mind an explanation, if you'd be so kind to grant it."

  A slight hope came back into Justin's heart as he gave voice to it. "For the bright world I'll create with this dark power. I won't let it follow its natural course of harm, but harness it, and everything will work out in the end." But before his spirit could fly high on the currents of idealism, he remembered who he was talking to, and deflated as Silk smirked condescendingly in response.

  #

  Looking upon the little house he'd bought to have a place to get his visions, Evan steeled himself for whatever dreams or nightmares he would find inside. This was the only way he could help his friends, and he'd do everything in his power to guide them through their plight, especially after his own part in their troubles. Not that telling the prophecy might not have been worth it if it ended up saving humanity, but he hated how doing so had made the heroic couple suffer.

  He'd felt totally helpless as they battled the demon lord, not daring even to offer his aid after realizing what was going on. But he would not stand by and allow the tragedy that Justin's triumph would be, even if he did somehow mean well at least for the rest of the world. The prophecy should be averted not just any way, but the right way—the destruction of the evil, not those innocents who might cause its terrible potential to be fulfilled. He walked into his house only to feel a rock-hard arm wrap around his neck and jerk him off the ground, depriving him of breath.

  "Will you look at all that soil on the floor?" a harsh voice said in his ear. "I wonder why you made your new home so filthy—and to think, you tried to deny the effectiveness of my plan. Ha, I knew you deceived me. I am a genius, and blessed of the gods—of course my 'foolish' idea would succeed!"

  Laughing, Prince Victor threw Evan across the room without effort. Instinctively grabbing at his surcoat to try and stop himself from falling, the prophet only managed to rip off a piece. He scooted back to bump up against the far wall, begging the powerful man who had him at his mercy, "Please don't kill me. I'm trying right now to preserve the world we both live in, and if the prophecy comes to pass, everyone-"

  "Enough, little man," Victor said with a sneer. "I didn't come here to kill you. But whatever else you're doing will have to take a back seat, because your task from now on will be to show me my path to what I deserve. And before you think about trying to trick me again, consider how uncomfortable you might be having to spend the rest of your life out of favor with your master."

  #

  Rose trudged into the bedroom, carrying a sleeping Jacob and Amber one in each arm. She'd taken to wearing a wig Finn had custom made to look like her own hair, for her to use until it grew back. Keeping the kids in sight all day had not been going well. Amber had gotten bored out of her mind during the less visual lessons on magic Rose gave, and her play/bothering of Jacob quite disrupted the learning environment.

  "Can't we just leave them with your mom again?" Finn asked she put the twins into bed. They couldn't even make love now, as they feared the children waking up at an inopportune moment. "Bringing them everywhere is getting ridiculous, even if we are taking turns, and it might actually be better if they were in hiding, instead of here in a place Justin already knows."

  "No, Finn. We don't know how good he'd be at tracking them down especially with his magical powers, and if he found them with my mom as their only line of defense..." She couldn't even finish that awful thought, and continued as she gazed lovingly at her little angels, "They'll be safer right here."

  He smiled. "We are certainly strong protectors. They'd be even safer if they were protected and hidden, though."

  "You mean you want us to go into hiding with them? I don't really think that's such a good idea..."

  "Why not?"

  "It just seems irresponsible to abandon the center again when we have no idea how long it'll even be before Justin tries again. So what are we going to do, hide forever until he finds us—if he ever does? I'm not too keen on giving up our whole lives over this nonsense."

  Finn gave a hearty nod. "I wouldn't be thrilled about going into hiding either. I just thought you might want to for the kids, so I proposed it, but I'm glad you don't."

  Rose frowned. "I wish he would listen to us. There must be some way of saving him from this curse."

  As she walked over to their bed and laid down next to him, Finn wiped a tear from her cheek. "You still want to save him, don't you?"

  "Yes, of course. Why do you think I didn't let you kill him? It's because of us he's like this. Because we led him to The Lost."

  "It was probably fated to happen," he tried to comfort her, "and we just got swept along for the ride."

  "Maybe, but I don't intend to let fate have its way so easily."

  She coughed painfully, still suffering from her wounds, and Finn spat, "I'd rather just kill him, and make sure he can never harm you again."

  "I understand, and won't fault you if you judge that's what needs to be done in battle. I love you too, and would kill anyone I have to for the sake of our future."

  He looked with admiration at her determined face. "You've already proven that. So you think you can walk when we go to Sierra's parade tomorrow, or will I have to carry you?"

  "What the hell kind of question is that?! I've been walking around for days, lugging around our kids a good bit of the time, and you think I can't handle a parade? But since you mention it, maybe I should take it easy and make you carry me and the kids."

  "What, you think I'm not up to it?" he asked with a grin.

  "I know you could do it. I sure don't need it though, but that would be a nice image..."

  "To capture in a painting? Well, I'll send for that painter who did our last one tomorrow." They laughed together, and for a while, were able to forget the cloud of danger that hung over them.

  Chapter 10

  One moment, Sierra had been riding proudly down the street on her white stallion beside Prince Lawrence, confetti raining down as Rose, Finn, and the other survivors of the Jugeld campaign marched behind them. The next, she was throwing herself sideways into Lawrence, knocking him from his mount for a reason unknown until the crossbow bolt aimed for his chest sprouted in the top of her shoulder. Landing on her side, she caught another shaft directed at the regent from above before soldiers ran to form a protective wall of shields over them. Rose looked up to see a red-caped man holding a repeating crossbow retreat out of view on a nearby rooftop while many parade watchers broke out into screams and ran in all directions. She would normally have tried to do somethin
g, but now only pushed her kids behind her and looked to Finn to see if he meant to act. Jacob and Amber wailed, terrified by the noise and the fear of the crowd infecting them. Bringing them had obviously been less than ideal, and she feared that in the chaos it would take both her and Finn to protect them.

  "Victor!" Lawrence said, having regained his feet. Did he think his brother had done this? Then Rose followed his gaze up, to see Prince Victor push the red-caped assassin back into sight across, and against the edge of, the roof. Their swords were locked as the man stared in fear and apparent shock, then Victor threw an elbow that clubbed him down. His sword came down and back up with a spray of blood.

  "How much you want to bet he's putting on a show, with his accomplice the unknowing sacrificial lamb?" Finn muttered.

  Rose thought it quite plausible. "Sierra," she asked the lady knight, "are you all right?"

  She broke the head off the bolt through her trapezius muscle and pulled it out. "Puny arrow, I've had much worse. Goddamn Victor, though."

  The royal in question stepped out of the building on whose rooftop he had dispatched the shooter, wiping his sword. "What are you doing here?" Finn demanded while Rose comforted Jacob and Amber, who thankfully seemed to already be recovering. "Aren't you supposed to be banished?"

  Victor ignored him and addressed Lawrence instead. "Well, brother?"

  The regent looked conflicted, but Rose already sensed he would waver. If he adhered to the letter of the law regarding banishment, the next step for one who defied the edict would be death. Especially since Victor had just "helped" him, she didn't expect him to go through with that. "Your sentence is on hold," Lawrence said, "until we've gotten to the bottom of this assassination attempt."

  "What?!" Finn shoved an unprepared Victor to the ground. "He didn't even save you, she did! All he did was kill the assassin he probably hired!" Victor scrambled to his feet and leveled his sword at Finn, who drew his mace with a deadly gleam in his eye.

  "Enough!" Lawrence said. "There is no proof for such accusations. You two,"—he pointed at a couple of plate-armored guards—"escort His Highness to a suitable room pending further investigation."

  "But, but... tricky asshole," Finn spat.

  Clutching the top of her shoulder, Sierra shook her head. "If he gets his position back..."

  Rose wasn't usually the boldest when it came to things like this, but right now rage bubbled up inside her towards Victor and she felt a need to act. She ran in front of the departing prince, cutting him off. "So you just happened to be here when an assassination was planned, and in exactly the right place to intercept the perpetrator?"

  Victor sighed. "I heard somebody would try to kill Lawrence today. Thus I snooped around, caught sight of a suspicious character, and followed him to, well, his inevitable conclusion."

  "And you waited until after he shot twice before intervening?"

  "I took a wrong turn trailing him, so that delayed me briefly."

  "No it didn't," Finn said.

  Lawrence walked to Victor's side. "Again, enough. All shall be made clear after the truth about the assassin is uncovered."

  Rose spread her arms in frustration. "And you're going to let this man who tried to steal the throne, and who you banished, stay near you until then?"

  "He is my brother." Lawrence looked at Victor, who bowed his head as if in shame. Some act, Rose thought. "I... believe he will not harm me. We have all done things we regret, haven't we?" They strode past, her unable to stop them.

  She walked back to Finn and Sierra, who said, "He's making a huge mistake."

  "Yeah, you don't need to tell us that." Rose paused. "But Victor spared Matthew. Hopefully that means he isn't completely ruthless when it comes to his kin."

  "And you think if Sierra had been a hair slower, he would cry rivers for Lawrence or not declare himself the rightful regent?" Finn asked.

  Rose found herself rather incapable of giving Victor her endorsement. "He had a man killed too," she recalled. "That conspirator in Matthew's kidnapping who Carl murdered—curse how these corrupt royals get away with more just for their blood."

  "On a more pleasant note," Sierra said, "I have a gift for you two. I was going to wait until after the parade, but since that seems to be canceled..."

  "What is it?" Finn asked. "I hope it's nothing like that magic urn from last year." That one, they'd opened up only to be attacked by some incorporeal monster. If not for the alchemically treated lead core of Rose's sword, they would've been in big trouble.

  Sierra laughed and assured him, "No, I'm not giving you any more monsters." She reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled two beautiful gold and emerald rings. "I know you might not be impressed, but these aren't just pretty jewels—they belonged to my brothers, both of whom died fighting for this land."

  Rose blinked. "Are you sure about this? You barely know us..." Besides their recent excursion into Jugeld together, Rose had only talked to Sierra a bit during the tournament where they'd fought each other years ago, and Finn not at all.

  "And? You already saved my life and the lives of my men when you defeated Rexxon. Besides, I know you well enough to feel your kindred spirits. I'll be delighted to have you as my allies when we have to battle for this country again."

  "You mean if we have to." But in her heart, Rose felt like "when" might be more appropriate.

  Sierra looked in the direction of the castle where Victor had gone. "I have a feeling..."

  "Thank you for the gift, then. We'll accept it."

  "Hey, don't presume to speak for me!" Finn protested. "But aye, I will too." Trying on his ring, he complained, "It's kind of snug. As in, I can't put it on."

  Rose chuckled. "Mine's fine. You're just getting fat."

  He showed her the difference in girth between his finger and the ring. "Rose, I might actually have to lose bone size to get it on."

  "Try putting it on your pinky," Sierra suggested.

  "It... almost fits."

  "It's on there," Rose said. "Though I hope it'll come off again."

  Sierra stared as Finn tried to remove it and struggled to do so. "Sorry, my brothers weren't so large. I'm glad it's at least working out for you, Rose."

  She grinned. "I am a woman. Even if every other part of me is huge, I still have... not overly thick fingers." Seeing Sierra looking a little white, Rose said, "You should probably get some rest. See you around, Golden Knight? Thanks again for the ring."

  "Goodbye," the woman said, waving at them as she walked away, her men following.

  "Nice, huh?" Finn remarked. "We get rings and Victor probably gets a province?"

  They headed home with kids in tow, and Rose patted his arm. "There, there. He'd get a province back. We got rings we never had. And they're more than just rings, remember?"

  "Yeah, yeah. You and your girly symbolism."

  "It's good for us to have another pair of matching things. A symbol of our iron bond, which can never be broken... even if I made that misstep one time with Brandon."

  Finn frowned and admitted suddenly, "You weren't the first adulterer among us, you know. When we were apart just before you fought Prince Wilner, I..."

  She felt her neck grow hot with anger, but took a deep breath and calmed herself. It would hardly be worth it to begrudge him for that after all these years and besides, right now they had much more pressing issues to deal with. She touched her husband's guilty face. "It's alright, Finn. Thanks for telling me, but it doesn't matter—we're even now, after all."

  "You really don't care? But I beat the crap out of you when you betrayed my faith, remember? That was hypocritical of me, at least."

  "Yeah, and now you count it as a fight you won against me though I didn't even try to fight back, being so guilty. But I can forgive it all, because our love and the good times we've enjoyed together far outweigh the bad, right?"

  "Of course, Rose. But since it seems like we tend to do badly when we get separated... let's never be separated again."

>   "I would love that."

  Finn's revelation didn't hurt their relationship much even in the short term, for they were soon back to chatting about humorous situations in their lives as warriors and parents. A few days later, they heard the news that Lawrence's would-be assassin had been identified as a loyal servitor of Baron Prouw, Sierra's chief rival for appointment to the post of Lord of the South. No connection could be drawn to Victor and he was predictably, if disappointingly, restored to his command in Jugeld. At least Sierra remained Lady Lord of the South; that would have been a most injust demotion.

  Rose wanted to search for Justin, but without much in the way of ideas where he might be, there was little they could do except wait for clues to turn up. They tried to carry on with their normal lives, which went easily enough at home, but when Rose got a message from Alicia asking her to come by and talk, making a decision was a little harder.

  "Should I go?" Rose said to Finn. "Considering how cryptic she's being, she might have something important to tell me, but I don't want to drag you away from the center just for a little talk—but if we separate, we won't both be there to protect the kids."

  His eyes told her he shared her concerns, but he replied, "Go. Like you said, it might be important—she might even have some information that could help us out of this whole mess."

  She had told Alicia about the situation, and the duchess was pretty well connected. "Who should guard the kids? Should I take them, or should they stay with you?"

  "You take them. They'll enjoy another visit to Weith, like they did the first."

  "But it feels safer here. There'd be more chances for attacks in the open out there."

  He kissed her and smiled. "Yeah, but we both know you're the better fighter and maybe more importantly, faster. Besides, once you're there, you'll have Alicia to help out protecting them while I wouldn't."

  That was a point. She snuck out of Gustrone in the back of a wagon with Jacob and Amber, hoping to lose any tails, and traveled to Nacin. Her ship ride to Weith held no surprises, though stormy weather provided an annoyance she took in stride. Upon arriving at the duchess' house she was let in by the guards, only to hear the click of a crossbow after walking past them. She spun, catching the bolt shot at Jacob without great difficulty, but her heart pounded with terror at the threat to her son nonetheless. One of the guards lay dead, his throat slit, and the other now aimed his crossbow at Amber, who stood farther off. Does he work for Justin? But why would anyone—he might be of The Lost.