It looked like all the color had been stripped from her face. Drops of blood were seeping down the front of her dress. I couldn’t tell if it was hers or the soturion’s. But she didn’t appear injured. Only a little bruised.
Branwyn nodded. “Sean’s gone!”
“I know. We’ll protect you. Go upstairs! Lock yourself in your room!”
She shook her head in protest. “Lyriana.”
But I grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward the steps. “Now! Go! And don’t open the door no matter what.”
Branwyn nodded, and fled, the same exact moment Auriel killed his first opponent.
I spotted the group’s turion. He reached into his pocket, reaching for the vadati I knew he had on him. If he called for backup, the house would be surrounded in minutes.
This time though, I was ready. No more hesitation. I pulled my arm back and arced the blade downward with everything I had. One stroke was all it took.
His hand flopped onto the ground, the vadati dropping with a thud as blood spurted from his arm. He screamed, sinking to his knees, pathetically grabbing at the stump where his hand used to be.
I grabbed the stone, wiping the soturion’s blood from it and placed it in my pocket before the other soturion could reach. Another thrust of my blade, and he was dead, too, my sword sinking through an opening of his silver armor. I was getting good at this—finding their weak spot. The spot just above their belts. Like I’d done to Brockton. Like Galen had done to Theotis. I pushed in, and in, and up, using all I had to apply pressure, until the light left his eyes.
I turned back to the one-handed turion, cursing at me and demanding the vadati back. I shook my head, and I ended him as well.
Auriel’s second soturion dropped and he cleaned off his sword on the soldier’s cloak. Sweat coated his forehead, dampening his curls. He turned slowly, gazing at the dead soldiers at our feet.
His eyes met mine. “All good,Meka?” he asked, chest heaving.
I shrugged. “Not a mark on me. Oh. And I got this.” I showed him the stone, letting the clear white quartz roll across my palm.
He nodded, his head bobbing up and down as if in shock. “Good.”
“We need to check on Branwyn,” I said, and immediately, I raced up the stairs, Auriel following on my heels.
“Branwyn!” I knocked on the door. “Branwyn? It’s just us. Me and Auriel. You’re safe now. They’re all dead.”
There was a pause, and then the door to her bedroom opened, very slowly, her stave pointed between my eyes.
I held up my hand. “Just us. I swear it.” I pressed my fist to my heart.
Her eyes moved behind me, searching, scanning, but then she nodded and opened the door completely. We rushed inside, and that pang I’d felt before pulsed through me again. Seeing their bedroom. The room that was evidence of their love, the room so full of their intimacy, the walls that contained their private moments.
My heart pounded. This future wasn’t lost for me. It wasn’t lost for me and Rhyan. Not yet.
“I’m sorry,” Branwyn said. “I should have known they’d come. I should have warned you. Sean left in the middle of the night,” she confessed. “Lyriana, I’m so sorry. I tried to tell him to take his time. To talk to you again. But he’s been—Gods, Rhyan meant everything to him. He thought it was for the best.”
I smiled sadly. I think in my heart, I’d always known he would. That he’d see this through—that he wouldn’t allow such a task to become a burden for anyone else. Only it didn’t need to be this way. But first, I had to make sure Branwyn was safe.
“Why did they attack you just now?” I asked. “I’m the one they’re looking for, but they didn’t come here for me this time. So what other reason do they have to do this to you?”
Branwyn’s face fell. “They’ve been doing that regularly, harassing Sean for some time now. And me, because I’m his wife. Ever since—” She bit her lip. “Since Arianna took the Seat of Power,” she admitted. “We’ve been seeing an increase in Korterian soturi coming around here, asking intrusivequestions. Interrogating Sean and other Glemarians. They want to know why they’re here, why they left home.” Her mouth tightened. “Like they have any right to speak coming from Korteria. The soturi of Ka Kormac here are not under Bamarian control. I don’t think they ever were. But they used to fall in line—or at least appear to. Now it’s all changed with Waryn Kormac as acting Arkturion. He’s given them permission to be their worst selves, to be more hateful, and violent. They see Arianna as an extension of the Imperator. Or the Emperor now, I guess. We’ve been missing real leadership since your father—” she paused and frowned. “I’m sorry.”
I waved her off. “It’s okay. Go on. Tell me.”
“Since we lost your father,Bar Ka Mokan,more Kormac legions have arrived. They’ve been occupying houses, forcing us to give our spare rooms to their soldiers. Sometimes even the main bedroom if that’s all there is. I’ve heard horror stories. Families being forced to give them all of their food, to hand over any resources they have, clothing, medical aid—sometimes weapons. It’s all taken by their soturi.” Her nostrils flared. “They take whatever they want. It’s been happening more frequently in mage households. I think they started in the homes where they didn’t expect anyone to fight back. Where they could easily overpower. But it’s coming to the soturi homes lately, too. They won’t stop because they don’t care about us. They don’t care about anyone who isn’t them. They’ve been focused so far on our friends—those who weren’t born Bamarian. And the soturi of Kavim that, well … Kavim without any hints of nobility. My status has afforded some protection for Sean. But I can see that that’s ending, especially with Avery on the Throne.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, anger building inside of me. I’d been watching Ka Kormac enter the country for years, watching as more and more of their soturi began to occupy the city, the country. I knew it was bad. But I never considered the fullextent of their harassment, of the damage they could inflict on our people. And all along, Arianna had been going along with it. Signing off on it. Worse. She had murdered our father. Had even convinced Meera to abdicate to her.
I’d known since that night, since I saw the tattoo of the black seraphim on her arm that Bamaria would suffer. But I didn’t think things would change this much. I didn’t think she’d burn our country to the ground, all while offering the remaining burnt embers to Ka Kormac.
With her help, our enemies had conquered Bamaria, and they’d done so without lifting a single sword. Now, it was poised to fall. All because of her. I had no idea how far her betrayal had gone.
