He might have yelled, he wasn’t sure, but Shi’chen surged forward in a desperate attempt to reach the ledge. The guard behind him slammed the butt of his spear into his back, causing him to sprawl forward. He landed hard on his hands, scraping them on the stone, but he didn’t feel it as he stared at the empty space where Lai had just been.
En’shea seemed entirely unperturbed by the half-elf’s disappearance over the ledge, nodding to the guards. “Bind him.”
The guards reached for him, but despite the shock that seemed to have flooded his entire body, without having to think, Shi’chen had already grabbed the dagger from his boot and swung it, catching one of the guard’s hands across the palm. The man stumbled back with a yell of pain, clutching his hand. The other guard was Lieutenant Hin-De’rra, who rushed forward with her blade unsheathed, and he caught her swing with the dagger, sweeping his leg under her to knock her to the ground. Hin-Ni’rae suddenly surged at him, and Shi’chen threw the dagger, catching the half-goblin in the arm. It was not enough to stop him, but it distracted him just long enough for Shi’chen to kick the spear one of the guards had dropped up into his hand and spin it to catch Hin-Ni’rae across the throat with the point of the blade. Blood flew as the man fell, but Shi’chen barely had any time to think about the fact that he had just killed him before Hin-De’rra was on her feet and lunging at him with her sword again.
Shi’chen knocked the blade away with the spear, his feet quickly moving over the stone floor, carefully avoiding the slanted ledge. He could tell she was driving him backward toward the remaining cluster of guards still standing. He let her push him back another step before he launched at her, catching her off guard, shooting his spear forward to catch her in the chest just below her throat with a sickening, wet sound. He jerked the spear back to catch it close to the metal end, the blunt wooden handle flying back to catch a guard behind him in the face as he lunged for Shi’chen.
He pivoted, swinging the spear around in a slash that caused the guard to stumble and lose his balance, which gave Shi’chen an opening to strike the guard in the side, just above his hip. The guard went down with a crash, and Shi’chen pulled the spear free just in time to knock aside a blade before the guard who had thrown it turned tail and sprinted out of the room and down the stairs.
The only palace guard still upright was the one he had caught across the hand with his dagger, who was on his knees, cradling the hand to his chest. Shi’chen moved toward him, spear poised to strike downwards, but the man held up his wounded hand pleadingly. “Mercy, Captain, please!”
Shi’chen froze, feeling blood rushing in his ears. He had fought other guards many times, but it was always just sparring and training, not killing. He realized with a start that the guard on his knees was not much older than he was, and that made his stomach lurch into his throat. He forced the feeling down, taking a step back and turning the point of the spear away from the young man as he struggled to breathe, not from exertion, but because his heart was beating too fast in his chest to allow him to take a bigger breath.
He suddenly heard the slap of slippered feet on stone, and he turned to see En’shea dashing toward the doorway. He threw himself after him, slamming into En’shea from behind. En’shea stumbled on the stone landing and almost pitched down the stone steps, but Shi’chen caught him by his bound wrists to stop him. He debated just throwing En’shea down the entire flight of stairs, damn the consequences, but if he was dead, Shi’chen had no leverage against Hi’jan. So, he hauled En’shea back, tossing him to the floor again. He grabbed the gag from where it dangled around En’shea’s throat and pulled it up to tie it over the Emperor’s eyes.
“Are you going to kill us, Cousin?” En’shea asked, but the question was more curious than anything. Shi’chen didn’t answer, giving him a shove back against the wall. He moved over to retrieve his dagger from where Hin-Ni’rae lay in a pool of blood from his slashed neck, slipping it into his boot. Hin-Ni’rae’s spear lay discarded to the side, Lai’s rapier still attached to the point where it had been hooked. Without realizing it, he dropped to one knee, starting to shake, his breath catching in a gasp that turned into a single sob. How was it possible that Lai was gone, just like that? And it was his fucking fault. He should never have let Lai come with him; he should have been the only one putting himself at risk. His heart ached, and then shattered into a million tiny shards in his chest when he realized he was going to have to tell A’bbni once he found him. That was going to hurt more than anything, breaking his brother’s heart.
All he wanted to do was scream and cry until the entire Keep echoed with his voice, but the thought that Hi’jan still had his brother somewhere forced him to his feet again. He took a deep, shaky breath to stop any more sobs, closing his eyes for just a moment until he was sure the tears inside him would not fall. He untangled Lai’s rapier from the spear and attached it to his own belt, then picked up one of the dropped spears as he started back across the room. Two of the fallen guards were not moving, a few more laid where they fell but were still alive, moaning or crying out in pain, but he could not bring himself to care. All he felt was numbness that was creeping outward from his chest into his limbs.
The young man with the wounded hand had crawled over to Lieutenant Hin-De’rra, who was lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from the wound in her chest. Her breath was coming in gurgling gasps, each one pumping a gush of blood out of the injury. There would be no saving her. He picked up a short sword, moving over to hold it, handle-first, to the young guard. “She is dying. Show her mercy,” he said, his voice low and flat. The young man looked up into his face, almost without seeing him, slowly taking the sword from him.
Shi’chen crossed to grab En’shea off the floor, hauling him to his feet by the back of his collar. He did not look back as he dragged his cousin out the door and started down the stone steps. Behind him, Hin-De’rra’s agonized breathing suddenly ceased.
“Do you wish to know what we did to your traitorous Commander?” En’shea asked as Shi’chen shoved him down the steps, not letting him fall but not doing much to stop him from slipping either. “Do you want to know how your Commander screamed, Captain? She screamed for days until she was begging us for death.”
Shi’chen gritted his teeth. Whether or not it was true, it wouldn’t change what happened. Commander Ahea’a was dead, and his memories of her would not be swayed. En’shea laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls, eerily reminiscent of his laughter when the twins had been tortured only a few levels below them. Each inhale felt like he was in a windstorm, trying to breathe in a pressure that threatened to crush him.
After a few seconds of silence and several more steps, En’shea’s prim, nasal tone broke into his mind again. “Was it worth the loss of your brother’s fuck toy? We hope we get to see when you tell him, Cousin. We think that will hurt more than anything Commander Hin-Ve’ssa can do to him. But we could always be proven wrong.”
Shi’chen was glad they had reached the bottom of the stairs because he could not stop himself from slamming En’shea face-first into the wall, pressing the shaft of the spear across En’shea’s shoulders to hold him there. The breath left the Emperor with a gasp, a trickle of blood running down En’shea’s cheek to drip onto his yellow and gold silk robe. But still, he laughed, the sound strangled as Shi’chen pressed him against the wall.
Chapter twenty-four
A'bbni
A’bbnididnotwantto admit how much his cousin and Ba’shea had rattled him, but there was no way for him to ignore it. The thought of Commander Ahea’a’s suffering was bad enough, but then to imagine such a fate inflicted on Lai or Shi’chen was enough to send him into a panic that he was not sure he’d be able to get out of. So instead, he made himself sit against the wall and focus on each breath and the sounds around him. His mind kept wanting to drift, but he would force himself to concentrate, staring at the cracks in the stone under him or at the lines on his palms until he was sure he would not start screaming.
Eventually, he was able to calm himself enough to retie his hair and give a cursory search to Mii’ra’s body to see if there were any other potential weapons on her. He found nothing, and while he was angry over what she had done, he took a moment to ask the gods to bless her for her final attempt to stop En’shea’s reign. The smell of blood and death was nauseatingly familiar, and he could not bring himself to move her body from where it had fallen. Instead, he curled in the corner closest to the door where he could not be seen by anyone looking in.
He heard Hi’jan pass by the locked door several times, giving orders to his guards, though he did not hear Ba’shea’s voice again, which worried him. The Emperor had ordered the uprising to be contained and ended, no matter the cost, and A’bbni buried his face in his knees, knowing that Hi’jan would have no qualms about killing the civilians who dared to defy his commands.
Then everything went somewhat quiet again. The shadows through the slitted window were starting to lengthen. It had to be later in the afternoon, he thought, wondering how much longer it would be before the citizens would protest in the streets.If,he reminded himself. It was certainly possible they could change their minds and decide not to risk it, and that would be it. Shi’chen and Lai would fail in their attempt to capture En’shea, and he would lose them both forever. He had to trust in everyone else, and that thought by itself was terrifying.
A’bbni jumped when he heard the door lock click. Hi’jan stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and glancing around until he found A’bbni curled in the corner. He was alone this time.
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” he asked, and A’bbni glared back at him. “Trying to turn your Cousin against me.”
“No more than your grandfather trying to use my brother against me,” A’bbni said, getting to his feet as anger surged in his chest. “You are nothing but a coward.”
Hi’jan laughed and took a few steps toward him. A’bbni forced himself to stand his ground, glowering at the taller man. “You have a little more spark in you now, little mouse. I’m feeling generous, so I will give you one chance to save your brother. Name me to rule by your side, and I won’t kill your brother today. As long as you submit to me, I will let him live. And if you ask me nicely, on your knees, I’ll even give your little half-elf whore a quick death.”
“Go fuck yourself,” A’bbni hissed.
Hi’jan laughed. “I see your brother has had an influence on you after all. Of course, you do not have as much fight in you as he does.”
Suddenly he was in front of him, his hand wrapping around A’bbni’s throat to push him back against the wall. A’bbni gasped, trying to bring his hands up to push Hi’jan away, but Hi’jan’s hand slid from his throat to grip the back of his neck in a touch that froze A’bbni in place as Hi’jan’s fingers dug into the base of his skull under his hair. “Tell me, what do you think your brother would do to get you back?”
His fingers tightened on A’bbni’s neck, making him wince. “He will not give up the Emperor to you,” he hissed, aware that his heart was beating loud enough in his chest that he could hear it in his ears.
