The rocks split into two groups, and one went left, the other right. The two men didn’t have a chance to even raise their swords.
More screams filled the tunnel.
“What the fuck is going on?” the man from behind the door asked, opening it farther.
“Wrong move, dumbass,” Lucie told him.
The pebbles fell to the ground as the man stepped through the door. Another five were rushing behind him. The guys on the ground were still rolling around, holding their faces and bleeding. Lucie kicked the one on the left hard.
The man at the door unsheathed a sword. “I ain’t killed a woman before, but I always wanted to.”
“Today’s your lucky day, then.” Lucie grinned.
She started tapping the fingers of her left hand in the air, and the guard’s belt buckle unlatched. Lucie made a pulling motion, and it ripped free from his trousers. He stared down, unable to comprehend what was happening.
The belt flew into the air and wrapped itself around his neck, tightening as the other guards reached the doorway. The man dropped his sword and started tugging at the belt. His face was turning a bright red.
“Help,” he croaked.
Five more guards filled the outer room.
“LET HIM GO!” one shouted, staring at the first man.
“Sure thing,” Lucie responded.
She moved her hand to the left and the guard flew through the air, slamming into the wall head-first. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and Lucie relaxed the belt on his neck.
Five left.
“Y’all want to run off before you end up like the rest?” she asked.
“I-I know you,” one said. “You run that damn restaurant, doncha?”
“Wait a second. You are from New Perth, and you joined up with these jackasses?”
“Woman, I joined the winning side. Too bad you didn’t.” The man pulled a large knife from his belt.
Lucie hated him worse than the rest. He’d betrayed his people and his kingdom to join up with psychopaths. She’d done her best not to kill many of these men, but she just didn’t give a damn anymore.
Fire erupted from both hands, long streamers of flame. They wrapped around the man’s legs and spread upward, setting him ablaze. His screams drowned out any other noise.
Four left.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” Lucie mumbled.
She raised her hands, and all the dropped blades on the floor rose into the air. She sent them flying forward, doing her best to only maim. Rendal might kill indiscriminately, but Lucie wouldn’t.
The blades plunged into the remaining four men’s legs and they collapsed just like the rest, their weapons clattering to the cobblestone floor.
Lucie looked around her. Eight men lay hurting, and one was smoldering—the traitor.
“Too damned old,” she said and walked through the open door.
She saw what she needed quickly enough. Two cages, the Honor Guard split up in them.
Or what was left of it.
Quite a few of them must have died.
Eisen stood at the edge of his cage, his hands on the bars, peering out to see what was happening. “Father and Mother in the sky, is that Lucie?”
“Aye, it is. Decided to break you boys out,” she quipped as she walked forward. She reached the middle of the room, a cage on either side. “Unless you’d rather stay in here? I hear the Rendal chap is a pretty good host.”
“I’d rather drag my nuts through glass,” one of the others said. Only a second passed before he added, “Sorry, ma’am. I’ve been in here too long. I shouldn’t speak like that in front of a lady.”
Eisen looked at him. “You’ve never been to Lucie’s restaurant, have you, Charlie? This woman says things that’ll make you blush until you turn purple.” He looked back at her and nodded to the guards behind her. “They got the keys. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
“Twelve of you,” Erin mused. “Not bad.”
“There were more,” Eisen said, “but we lost some of our brothers.”
The group was on the edge of town at Mac’s Lodge. Lucie had brought them all there after the escape, and Mac had been glad to help. The lodge was empty anyway. No one was traveling in or out of New Perth right now.
Rendal might come looking sooner or later, but for now, it would work.
The twelve men of the Honor Guard and Erin’s group sat in the Lodge’s lobby. A bar and a piano were against the wall, but both were silent.
“What’s the plan?” Eisen asked. “Why are we here? Lucie risked a lot to break us out.”
Erin trusted the man; trusted all of them, actually. Lucie had explained what the Honor Guard meant in New Perth. These people were just below the Right Hands, and their duty was to protect the Prefect at all costs. That was why some had died despite Goland peaceably giving over the kingdom.
“Riley is returning,” Erin said. “She and William are coming back, and they’re bringing Worth and some others with them. We need to be ready when they get here.”
“She’s alive?” Eisen asked.
“She is.”
Brighten spoke up. “We don’t know that for sure.”
Erin turned to him. “What I do know for sure is that if you speak like that again, I’m gonna put you over my knee and spank you until you sing me Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. You understand?”
She looked back at Eisen.
“He’s scared of his own shadow. We’re workin’ on it. The reason Mason is back is that Riley bested Rendal. However, he somehow…I don’t know exactly. Infected her or something. They’re working on fixing that, and once they’re finished, she’s coming back.”
Eisen nodded. “I know Riley well. She’ll be back. What can we do?”
“I’m new here,” Erin explained. “I don’t know anyone or anything. I’m lucky to be alive, and lucky Lucie has helped me stay that way—”
“Hell.” Lucie scoffed. “That’s a damned lie. The woman singlehandedly broke us out of prison, and now she might save the kingdom. I ain’t got nothin’ to do with any of that. Just showed her a few alleys to turn down.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “She won’t take the credit she’s due. Anyways, I don’t know this place. It’s not my home, but I do know that Riley is going to need help when she gets back. The kingdom will need to be ready to revolt when she faces Rendal. That’s where we come in.”
Eisen nodded, understanding now. “We’re going to prepare the people.”
“Exactly. All these bastards who have the city under their thumbs are going to be in for a hell of a shock when we’re finished.”
“When do we get started?” Eisen asked.
“No time like the present.”
“Agreed.”
Erin looked at Brighten, and the boy’s eyes widened. “Would you do me a favor, Eisen?”
“What’s that?”
“You mind carting Brighten around with you? We’re going to toughen this boy up or die tryin’.”
Eisen looked the kid over, a smirk coming over his face. “Yeah, we’ll take him. By the time we’re finished, he’ll be able to eat nails.”
Brighten swallowed. “Most days I wish I’d never met any of you.”
Erin grinned. “Oh, that’s not true. You looooooovvee us.”
“I’d like you to tell them what you told me earlier, Harold. Please, the former Prefect will definitely want to hear this.”
Rendal sat at Goland Ire’s old desk. Goland stood in front of it, his son by his side. Harold was behind the two of them.
Rendal had been shocked to hear the news. He just couldn’t believe it.
“First, a small group of prisoners broke out three days ago. That group you came here with, Mason,” Harold explained. “Next, an older woman who used magic broke out the Honor Guard.”
Harold fell silent, and Rendal let it sit for a few moments. He, of course, knew who the woman was: Lucie. He’d thought she didn’t have it in her anymore, but th
e Honor Guard and her little group of wannabe heroes had escaped.
“You two hear that? We’ve had multiple breakouts over the past few days.”
“I’m sorry,” Goland replied. “I’m a bit hard of hearing, actually. What was that?”
Rendal knew the bastard was toying with him. “You’re going to be hard of pissing if you don’t quit.”
Goland grinned but said nothing else.
“If I had to guess, this little group of sixteen people thinks they might start some kind of revolution. Which, truth be told, is fine with me. I’d quell it in hours if they actually did anything. So far, they’re hiding. What has me bothered is that this is happening at all.”
“Well, Rendal, we’re both very sorry you’re bothered,” Goland responded.
“I’m sure you are, and that’s why you’re here. I know how sorry you must be, and I also know you’ll want to help me.”
“Oh, of course,” Goland said. “Whatever you need, we’ll do. I mean, would you like us to go door to door and kill the citizenry so that there’s no chance they can ever rise up against an unwanted, uninvited, and uncrowned ruler? My son and I would be happy to.”
Rendal looked past them at Harold. “If I murder him now, will it help things?”
“I think it may harm your plans, your Grace.”
Rendal nodded. “You’re lucky Harold is here to keep me in line; otherwise I’d snap you like a twig right now, Goland. No, you’re not here to go door to door and murder, but you are going to tell these damn fools that any attempt at an uprising will result in the total destruction of the city.”
“I’ve given you enough, Rendal. I’ve given you a kingdom. It’s your job to rule it, not mine. If you can’t keep the citizens from hating you, that’s on you.”
“You’re not getting it, are you? I’m not asking you; I’m telling you. We’ve already posted signage. Tonight, you and your pretty son here are going to stand in Kingdom Square and announce it.”
“Do you think you can rule through fear?” Goland asked. “Is that your plan? To sit atop your throne and threaten to kill anyone beneath you? How long do you think that kind of leadership will be tolerated?”
Rendal grinned. “As long as I want it to be. Don’t you see? Everything I’ve asked for has come true. This will too, and you are going to help. Be ready at six this evening, Goland. You’ll tell them that riots and uprisings will be met with force, then I’ll speak, then we can all go home, okay?”
Goland sighed. “Yes, Your Grace.”
“Atta boy. You’re a smart man. Keep it up, and you might actually die of old age. Harold, you can take them away now.”
Harold led the two men from the room, leaving Rendal by himself. He stood from the chair and went to the window behind him, staring out at the kingdom. He liked looking down from this vantage point. He could see so far, and while New Perth didn’t have the sheer grandiosity of Sidnie, it was his now. All his.
Rendal wasn’t dumb, though, and he was wondering why Goland was agreeing to all of this. Sure, some of it could be that he didn’t want a massive purge of all the citizens. He could be protecting them. But Goland wasn’t a coward; the correct thing would have been to go to war, lose, and then die.
Yet he hadn’t.
And now he was going along with Rendal’s commands, just another servant to be called and given direction.
Why?
Riley.
That was the only answer that made any sense. They were expecting Riley to return, and that was why Goland kept listening to him. Gave up the kingdom. Would speak this evening. Riley was alive and had somehow reversed the spell he’d put on her. And sooner or later, she’d come.
Looking out at the bustling kingdom, Rendal nodded to himself. That was the truth.
Riley was coming home, and Rendal would need to be prepared when she arrived.
The crowd before Mason stretched for what looked like miles. He was sitting on an elevated platform next to his father. Rendal had yet to arrive, but Harold stood to their right.
Mason had never seen so many New Perthians at once, and he wasn’t exactly sure how his father was going to make his voice heard. They filled the square and stretched out onto the three roads that converged there. They lined the streets farther back until Mason could hardly see them.
“Rendal is on the way,” Harold said to Goland as a page scurried from his side. “Now, you see this?”
Rendal’s lackey held up a large cone in his right hand, something Mason had seen earlier but paid no mind to.
“You know what it is?” Harold asked.
“You want me to yell in it to get the word out, is that right?” Goland responded. “I truly hope you two conquerors don’t think we’re so dense as to not know how to use such a thing.”
“Look, old man. You don’t have to yell into this one. Artino set it up. The handle here? It holds amphoralds, which power it. You speak into it, and your voice is going to boom out to all these people. No need to scream. Artino calls it an ‘amplifier.’”
“Fine,” Goland said. Mason knew his father understood amphoralds due to their trading with Sidnie.
Mason looked to his left and saw Rendal walking up the platform. He wore a red robe, having changed the former Prefect’s royal purple to it, and a new Honor Guard followed him. Mason had no idea who they were, only that they weren’t Eisen and the group that had served before.
Rendal stopped in front of Goland, and the Honor Guard continued across the platform. There were twenty of them, all dressed in red, matching their leader.
“You ready to do my bidding, Goland?”
“I’m out here, aren’t I?” he asked.
Mason wished his father would stop the constant antagonism. He hadn’t said so, because his father would only tell him he was old enough to do as he wished, but Mason understood the terror that Rendal could bring if he wanted. The pain.
“Just making sure we’re on the same page,” Rendal responded. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Please, Riley, if you’re out there, hurry back. We need you, Mason thought.
He said nothing. He didn’t move.
His father stood and stepped forward. Gone were the trappings of royalty. Now the man wore a jailhouse uniform—gray pants, and a fraying gray shirt. He didn’t look like a Prefect, but rather a homeless man—except for the way he held himself. Mason was proud of his father. His back was rigid, and his chin was high.
He passed through the false Honor Guard, the soldiers hardly making any room for him. Mason wanted to spit in each of their faces. Rendal followed him.
Harold handed Goland the amplifier, and he put it to his mouth.
“Thank you all for coming out here,” he started, his words carrying easily over the crowd. The voices beneath him quickly hushed, and in his brief pause, silence reigned. “You know who I am. Goland Ire. You knew my father, or of him, and you know my son. I’m here now to tell you that the world has changed, and very quickly. I’m here to tell you that for the time being, we have a new ruler. Even I must respect that. I’m asking you all to do the same.”
Goland looked down at his feet. Mason could tell his father was angry and wanted to fight, but he knew that he couldn’t.
When he spoke, his voice remained the same—calm and determined.
“Some of you out there may be thinking of fighting back. Of trying to revolt. I urge you with everything I have in me not to do so. I urge you to remain peaceful and to accept that things have changed for now. If you have ever cared for New Perth or for me, you will do this.”
Goland lowered the amplifier and looked at Rendal. “Anything else?”
Only those on the platform could hear him.
“No, that’ll do,” Rendal responded. He stepped forward and extended his hand. “Give me that and go sit back down.”
Goland handed it over and then moved to his seat next to his son.
He patted Mason’s leg gently and leaned over to him. “I’m going
to make sure that bastard dies one way or another. I’ll hire a prostitute to murder him in his sleep if I have to.”
Goland chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.
Mason cracked a smile, the worry leaving his mind for a second.
Rendal put the amplifier to his mouth.
“I’d like to thank Goland for coming up here and saying those words. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Rendal Hemmons. I am the new Prefect, and that’s not going to change. It’s good that you all get used to it. It’s good that you see the same wisdom Goland has, because if you don’t, only pain will befall you.”
Rendal looked into the air, and Mason followed his gaze.
A dozen orbs floated across the sky, black things with green circles around them.
“Look up.” Rendal’s voice boomed out across the expanse, and the crowd before him did as he commanded.
Everyone saw the orbs.
“I want you to know that any uprising, any revolt, any unrest, will be met very harshly. I can be a loving Prefect. I can bring magic to this old, backward kingdom, and I can give you riches you’ve never imagined, But...” He gestured upward with his hand. “I can also destroy it all. Each one of those orbs contains fire—more fire than you can imagine—and they’re floating up there, waiting for my command.”
Rendal grinned.
“Indeed, they’re floating because of me.” He looked over the crowd. “Don’t make me let loose that fire. Don’t make it rain down on you and your children. On your parents. On your loved ones. Go home. Live your lives. Be good citizens of New Perth, and wait for the riches I’ll bring to you. Otherwise, the things you hold dear will be stripped from you.”
Goland leaned over to Mason. “Yes, son, I’m going to enjoy watching him die. Hold faith. Riley’s coming, and this fucking bastard is going to get what he deserves.”
Night had come, and Rendal sat with Harold atop the castle. He didn’t want to be in his chambers anymore, so the two had come to one of the flat places on the roof. Rendal had made sure chairs were in place at a spot that would give them a beautiful view of the kingdom.
Hand of Justice Boxed Set Page 62
