It was the unmistakable clash of blade against blade that brought me up on to my knees, still half asleep. The room was gray with predawn light. I struggled to my feet, listening for the direction of the threat.
Below, in the courtyard.
The sound of footsteps running along the corridor swept away my confusion. Vida was already crouched with a knife in her hand. Dela rolled off her pallet, tense and ready. I fumbled for my swords, their ancient energy burning into me.
The screen snapped open.
We all froze, gaping at the figure in the doorway.
Ryko.
The faint light from the window caught a thick wet shine across his face and chest. Blood. A lot of it.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE BIG MAN staggered into the room, his chest heaving in ragged gasps. He dropped his sword and doubled over.
Dela ran forward. “You’re hurt.”
“No.” Ryko caught Dela’s outstretched hand and held her at arm’s length. “It doesn’t matter.” He took a shuddering breath. “The Pearl Emperor is below.”
“Here?” Vida was aghast. “Why?”
Ryko’s face was stark in the moonlight. “When I found His Majesty, I told him Sethon killed his mother and brother. He went mad. Some kind of blood rage. He killed two of his own guard—and then he came down here, looking for Sethon’s men. He’s cutting down everyone in sight. Everyone.”
“If he is killed, everything is lost,” Vida said.
I stared down at the moonstone and jade hilts in my hands.
Their pale glow blurred into a vision of the Imperial Pearl sewn into the base of Kygo’s throat. I shook my head, trying to clear the image from my mind. It shifted, but a soft hum settled into the base of my skull.
“We must stop him,” Vida said. “Disarm him. Get him out of here.”
“Disarm him?” Ryko said. “We cannot raise a weapon against the emperor.” He wiped blood out of his eyes “Dela, get Lady Eona to safety. Go, while the fighting is confined to the courtyard.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “We have to stop the emperor.” The hum was louder now.
“We can’t stop him,” Ryko said. “We can’t touch him.”
I tightened my grip on Kinra’s swords. “I can.”
I had already hit the Pearl Emperor once. It was less than a week since I had rammed the heel of my hand into Kygo’s throat to stop him from strangling me. He had thought I was Lord Eon, his powerful ally. When I had confessed I was just a girl, his rage had been terrifying.
I turned to Vida. “Find Solly and get us some horses.”
“From where?” she protested.
“I don’t know. Just do it!”
I headed for the door, but Dela blocked my way.
“Let me pass,” I said.
“No. You must not endanger yourself. Not again.”
“Get out of my way, Dela.” I tried to move around her, but she matched my step.
“If you die, Lady Dragoneye,” she said, “the emperor has no chance of reclaiming his throne.”
A rush of energy—not my own—exploded through me. I slammed my elbow into Dela’s chest, punching out her air. She dropped to the floor.
For a long moment no one moved, then Dela took a rasping breath, her eyes wide with shock. My own astonishment pressed me back a step. The violent energy had come from the swords. From Kinra.
“Stop her, Ryko!” Dela finally gasped.
He backed away. “I cannot.” He looked wildly at me as if I was the one stopping him. Fear bleached his face. “I cannot.”
“What?” Dela’s voice shrilled into disbelief. She lunged for me as I pushed past Ryko into the dim passageway. I ran to the staircase and took the steps two at a time. As I rounded the landing, the muffled struggle in the courtyard separated into loud screams and cries above the ring of clashing swords.
“What’s wrong with you, Ryko?” I heard Dela demand. They were following me. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
“I don’t know! I—I couldn’t move!”
I jumped the last few steps and landed heavily, still unused to the mobility of my healed body. Kinra’s determination was thrumming in my mind, driving me toward the battle. Ryko and Dela clattered down the steps behind me.
“Eona, wait,” Dela pleaded.
I ducked away, fighting a wild urge to raise my swords against them.
“Don’t go out there!” It was the innkeeper at the back door, his face a pale blur of fear. “Come this way, sir. Quick, I have a place to hide.” He grabbed Dela’s arm and pulled her toward the stable yard.
The red flags across the front doorway hung limp in the heavy predawn air, obscuring my view of the battle. Although the sounds of combat were close by, Kinra’s experience told me the heart of the struggle was farther across the courtyard. With a deep breath, I slashed through the flags into the first brightening of dawn.
For a moment, all I saw was mayhem: shadowy bodies strewn on the cobblestones, horses rearing, knots of men fighting. Around me, the clang of steel on steel and groans of effort were punctuated with the screams of frightened horses and injured men. The stench of blood and piss made me step back. Then Kinra’s knowledge surged through the swords and made sense of the melee. Kygo was on a horse in the center. He was not wearing armor, only the white mourning robe I had last seen on him at the palace, the heavy silk streaked with dirt and ominous sprays of dark blood. He did not even have a helmet— his long braid, glinting with jewels, swung from the back of his shaven head as he hacked at anything that moved. Scattered around him, four imperial guards were fighting off soldiers, forcing them away from the young emperor. For all of the uneven numbers, the guards were holding their own.
My eyes were drawn to the pale luminescence at the base of Kygo’s throat—the Imperial Pearl, as big as a duck egg. Along with the hum in my head came a flash of sensual memory: my fingers stroking a man’s throat, stroking the pearl, its smooth beauty sewn into the hollow between his collarbones. I heard him moan with pleasure. Any minute now I would have my chance to rip the pearl from its moorings of skin and flesh. To rend its power from him.
I gasped, breaking the thrall. They were not my fingers stroking the pearl, and not my emperor. Whose memory was this? Whose treason?
There could be only one answer: Kinra. My ancestress.
She had tried to steal the Imperial Pearl. The shock loosened my grip on the swords. For a moment, I considered dropping them—the weapons of a traitor!—but the impulse was lost in the hum of their power, and the certainty that I could not disarm Kygo without them.
Behind me, Dela and Ryko burst from the lodging house. Their arrival caught the attention of the nearest guard, who was fighting off three soldiers. I remembered the man’s lean, deeply lined face from the palace: Ryko’s friend, the Captain of the Imperial Guard. He parried a vicious slice with one sword, swinging the other to meet a low sweep from his right. He outclassed his opponents, but he was tiring fast.
“Ryko!” he yelled. A sword connected with his metal breastplate. He staggered backward.
Ryko charged at the closest attacker and swung his heavy blade down like an ax on the soldier’s helmet. The man buckled to the ground, his sword skittering across the cobblestones toward us. With frightening speed, Ryko jumped over the slumped body and slammed his hilt into the face of the next fighter.
Dela cursed under her breath and grabbed the fallen soldier’s sword.
“Eona, get back inside,” she ordered, and ran after Ryko.
But I did not move; Kinra’s ancient energy was pounding through me. My eyes found Kygo again and tracked the pearl at his throat as he ducked and swung at the men on the ground. Kinra wanted the pearl. It was her calling. Her destiny. Her right.
We had to take the pearl.
We? I gritted my teeth, fighting for control. I was here to disarm Kygo and save him, not steal the Imperial Pearl! I was no traitor, nor would I be an ancient traitor’s slave. My will had been wr
ested from me once by Ido. It would never happen again.
I flung the swords away. They hit the cobblestones, the clang breaking Kinra’s battle cry in my head. But the sharp sound stopped a soldier running toward Dela. He turned and saw an easier target. Raising his blade, he came at me.
Better to have treasonous thoughts than dying ones. I launched myself at the discarded swords, landing heavily on hands and knees. My fingers closed around one hilt; the other was too far away. Still on my knees, I twisted around to face the soldier. In three steps, he’d be on top of me.
First step—he swung his sword.
Second—his blade sliced the air.
Third—I was ready, weapon raised, thighs braced. As steel met steel, the hum of my sword rose through me.
Drop your shoulder and roll.
The instruction was like a half-heard whisper, but I obeyed. The soldier’s blade clanged against the stones where I had knelt just a moment before. His surprise held him over his sword. Through Kinra’s eyes I saw the opportunity and swung at his knees, connecting in a messy crunch of bone and blood. Screaming, he crashed to the ground.
I scrabbled across the blood-spattered stones and snatched the second sword. Again, the hum intensified, burning Kinra’s mission into my mind. It was clear I could not survive without her knowledge—but I had to find a way to resist her hunger for the pearl.
I backed up against the lodging house wall. Before me, the battle shifted and twirled like a court dance, counted to the beat of shrieks and cries. My eyes found the white-robed emperor again, still on his horse, still hacking wildly. Kinra’s energy quickened, her warrior knowledge reading the patterns of combat. We both wanted to reach Kygo, but only she had the skill to carve a passage through the fray. I had to let Kinra lead me through the battle. It was a dangerous gamble: I just hoped that when we reached Kygo, he would be facing Eona, his ally, not an ancient traitor intent on slashing the pearl from his throat.
Kinra found the entry point. It was on the emperor’s right flank: a young imperial guard had cut down three attackers, and a wary space had opened up around him. Still, we needed someone to protect our back. I clamped down on the thought; I needed someone to protect my back.
“Ryko!” I yelled. “With me!”
At my call, he broke away from the clumsy thrust of the soldier in front of him.
“Go,” Dela shouted at him. “I’ve got this covered.” She feinted at Ryko’s opponent, drawing his attack. Nearby, the captain had forced a soldier against the lodging house wall, his blade opening up the man’s belly. Hurriedly, I looked away from the spill of entrails.
“My lady, get back inside,” Ryko yelled, running to me. “I’ll help the emperor.”
“No! Disarm him!” Another image—my hand closing around a man’s throat, around the pearl—broke through my defenses. Gathering my will, I focused on Ryko and resisted the humming treachery of the swords.
“My lady,” he pleaded. “I cannot engage the emperor.”
“Then help me stop him.”
Our eyes locked. I felt Ryko’s massive energy like a second pulse through my body—then it melded with the beat of my own heart as though we were one.
“What is that?” he gasped. “Are you doing it?”
“I don’t know.”
An animal scream cut through the cries and clash of metal. The emperor’s horse reared, its forelegs barely touching the cobblestones before it bucked and staggered. The emperor jumped from the animal and landed awkwardly, folding into a tangled heap of white silk.
“Now!” I yelled.
I ran, propelled by Kinra’s exhilaration. From the corner of my eye I saw Ryko stoop and grab a second sword from the ground. The emperor was already clambering to his feet. His terrified horse kicked at dodging men and flickering shadows. I felt Kinra focus on the Imperial Pearl at the emperor’s throat.
I could feel her fixation on the gem, her need to possess it.
A soldier in unfastened body armor turned to meet me, his swords raised in a classic block. Even before I saw his face, I knew it was Lieutenant Haddo. His startled gaze took in my shape under the thin robe. Then his eyes found mine and I saw shock flare into anger. He lowered his blades.
“Put those swords down, woman,” he shouted. “Get back inside. You’ll be hurt.”
I faltered; the man still thought I was defenseless. In my head, I heard a command: Strike him now.
“Stay close to me,” he added. “I’ll get you to the house.”
Before I could collect myself, Ryko ran past me, swords swinging at the lieutenant’s head. Haddo raised a hasty block, but the force of the attack drove him back toward the horse. The animal reared at the sudden movement, its plunging hooves grazing the lieutenant’s shoulder. Ryko leaped away as Haddo stumbled and fell, tucking into a roll to escape the horse’s stamping frenzy. The maneuver twisted off the man’s unsecured armor and sent it sliding across the stones. Nearby, a soldier saw his lieutenant go down and lunged at Ryko. The islander whirled around and deflected the strike.
I tightened my grip on Kinra’s swords and felt her battle experience flow into me. Give no quarter, her voice whispered. Take Haddo now. I readied my blades. But the man was still on his hands and knees.
“Haddo,” I yelled. “Get up.”
He raised his head at my call, his eyes suddenly widening. “Behind you! Stop! I order you to stop!”
I turned. One of his men was coming at me. Either he didn’t hear the order or didn’t care because he kept coming, sword swinging at my neck.
With Kinra’s reflexes, I angled my blades into a desperate parry. His steel hit mine, the force sending a cascade of pain through my arms. He lifted his weapon for another strike.
“Stop!” Haddo roared.
The man pulled back, startled.
“The islander. Get the islander,” Haddo ordered. The man ran at Ryko.
Across the courtyard, I saw a soldier heading toward Vida. The girl had caught the emperor’s horse and was doggedly holding on to its bridle, all her attention on the plunging animal. As I opened my mouth to scream a warning, Solly ran out of the laneway and clubbed the man with a yoke.
Haddo turned to me with the beginnings of enlightenment. “Who are you?”
My answer was a punishing set of Tiger cuts aimed at his chest. He blocked reflexively, his face sharpening at my borrowed skill. Ahead, the emperor was holding off two soldiers with rage-fueled savagery. Again, I felt my focus drawn to the base of his throat. To the pearl. With grim determination I turned my attention back to Haddo.
The lieutenant had already recovered from his surprise; he met my next barrage of cuts with efficient blocks. I changed tactics, swinging into the circular upper and lower body attacks of the Goat. Our swords connected in a sudden stop, our faces a finger-length apart.
“Are you resistance?” he gasped.
I could not brace against his weight much longer—he would have me off balance. Kinra whispered: Rabbit feints and kicks. Summoning courage, I relaxed my trembling hold. The sudden lack of opposition made him lurch forward. Throwing all my strength into a downward disengage, I jumped free of our grapple. My landing buckled into a fall; once again, I had forgotten the new strength in my healed leg. I scrambled upright.
A few lengths away, Ryko and Dela were holding off three soldiers who had advanced on the unhorsed emperor. Although I was facing Haddo with swords ready, he seemed transfixed by the islander and the graceful man fighting beside him. Then I saw him make the connection.
“By the gods, you’re them.” He rounded on me. “You’re not a woman. You’re the Dragoneye!” As he took another breath to shout the alarm, I lunged.
My sudden thrust stopped him, but his return was quick and strong. He launched into a volley of savage cuts, his anger driving me backward. Suddenly, a devious flick of his left blade sliced across the back of my hand, close to the folio bound above my wrist. The pearls around it snapped up like a striking snake. I cried out, but
it was the show of blood that tempered Haddo’s rage; he had to take me alive, unhurt. He withdrew, allowing both of us a moment to recover. The pearls tightened around my arm, securing the folio and stopping the blood. Was it their mandate to steal the Imperial Pearl, too? I could no longer trust any of Kinra’s treasures. Taking a shaking breath, I readied myself for Haddo’s next attack.
This time his pass was more subdued; a cautious hunt to disarm.
“You must know you will be caught,” he said, disengaging from my low block. “The whole army is looking for you.”
“You serve a traitor,” I said.
“He has the blood, and the right.” He thrust at me, but I turned away the blade, catching his second sword in a lastminute slide.
“Prince Kygo has the true right,” I said, retreating a few steps. “Sethon claims that Kygo is dead. But he is not—there he is, right in front of you.”
Haddo glanced across at the young emperor, who was beating back a soldier with frenzied blows. The Imperial Pearl shone at his throat, a beacon of the truth. Kinra’s ambition flared again. I concentrated through her humming fervor.
Haddo lowered his swords. Cautiously, I matched him. We faced each other, still and watchful, our weapons at the ready in case this strange truce broke.
“Why do you think Sethon wants me alive?” I asked.
“You are a lord.”
“No. He wants to use my dragon power for war.”
Haddo eyed me. “That is forbidden. You’re lying.”
“It is Sethon who is lying.”
Haddo glanced at the emperor again: living proof of Sethon’s lies. Then I saw him focus on something behind me.
“Eona!” It was Dela’s voice.
I risked a glance over my shoulder. Dela was circling the emperor and Ryko. “Eona, stop him! He’ll kill Ryko.”
Kygo’s frenzy had turned on the islander. Although Ryko was valiantly blocking the emperor’s blows, he was not engaging. Neither Ryko nor Dela would raise their swords against their master. Dead and wounded men lay on the ground around them. A quick scan of the courtyard showed only Ryko’s captain and another guard still fighting a handful of soldiers. Almost all of Haddo’s men were down.
Eona: The Last Dragoneye Page 6
