The Captain of the Guard does, and when Rapunzel turns her head and the older man finallyseesher, he issues a string of curses between clenched teeth. “Put away your weapons—”
“No, I don’t think we will.” Quinn’s lethal laugh is devoid of genuine humor.
The Captain of the Guard heaves out a frustrated sigh. “Not you.” He uses his sword to point at his soldiers. “Them. She is the lost princess, you fools.”
In a profound show of respect for Rygard’s princess, the man drops into a genuflect. Hand over his heart, he bows his head. The soldiers follow suit, even letting Adele go to do so. Rapunzel seizes the opportunity to pull her out of harm’s way, dragging my stubborn mother to a far corner of the tavern. There, Rapunzel tucks her behind her back. Adele Stafford, however, isn’t one to be treated like a feeble old woman. She nudges Rapunzel aside, spewing all sorts of insults at the king’s men, with Rapunzel desperately trying to shush her.
The Captain of the Guard rises, and although he tries to rein in his soldiers, they came for a fight. John proved, yet again, how bad a king he is by recruiting the very worst of men for his army. Bloodthirsty men who, even when their captain demands they stand down, they disregard the order.
Foolish men who follow the order of a mad king always die horrific deaths.
This is a proven fact.
And when one of the men charges Wren, Quinn intercepts the attack. He moves like a lightning strike. Nothing more than a blur. While brutal, the first slash of his sword is not immediately lethal. It’s a message—a warning the other men are too stupid to heed. The soldier, his right leg severed clean, gapes in shock for a moment before his wail echoes throughout The Cup and Crown. Weapon slipping from his grip, he clutches his mangled appendage. Hops once. Twice. Falls next to his limb, blood pooling around him as he gropes pathetically for his lost sword. I kick it away, laughing. Satisfaction sings through my veins as I plunge my blade into his chest.
A soldier rushes me. A sweep of my sword opens a deep gash across his midsection. Ropes of intestines spill from his belly in a wet lump at his feet. In a stupor, he peers down in disbelief at the mess. Grapples at his wound as if trying to stuff what’s hanging from him back inside the gruesome cavity. He tips forward. Lands on his knees with his head bowed. His eyes rise to meet mine. Then he looks back down at his entrails on the floor. I bring my sword high, savoring the sweet rush of the moment. Gripping it in both hands, I swipe the blade down hard on the back of the man’s exposed neck. One brutal slash separates his head from his body.
Movement to my right catches my attention, and I see Quinn mutilating the other soldier who restrained my mother. He tore one arm clean from the shoulder joint—as he said he would. Mounted atop the man, Quinn has his thumbs hooked into his eyes, blinding him.
“You were fucking warned,” Quinn hisses.
“Enough,” the Captain of the Guard yells.
No one is listening.
Wren, locked in battle with the last two soldiers, is more than holding his own—if the demented grin on his face is any indication. It’s as if he’s been waiting for this moment for years. I wouldn’t doubt that this fight is for his mother. He still blames himself for arriving too late at Leeds to save her when John’s men ravaged the village. True, he killed the soldier who murdered Mary Kincaid, but it obviously couldn’t erase her death. Nor could it assuage the guilt and grief that weighs heavily on his soul.
It’s almost a shame to end the beauty of the battle when the Captain of the Guard interferes and breaks up the fight.
“I said put your fucking weapons away,” he snarls at the younger of the two soldiers. To the older one, “How dare you disobey my orders?”
The soldiers finally lower their weapons, with one still on the ground. “We were following the king’s command.”
“She is your princess.” The Captain of the Guard gestures at Rapunzel. “You will obey her as you would God himself. Am I at all unclear?”
“No, Sir,” they heave out, albeit reluctantly.
Rapunzel, still doing her best to shield Adele, turns to Quinn. “Will you allow my father’s men to live?”
“On my soul, Princess, I’ll put down my sword.” The sneakysoullessprick falls right into the ruse.
We hadn’t banked on Lansing as our battleground, with my mother caught in our plan. But if this is where it had to happen… We had just hoped for another day or two with her before we parted ways. Fuck. At least get her closer to Newkirk.
When the soldier tries to scramble to his feet, Wren gives him a nasty kick that lands him right back on his ass. My snicker draws Rapunzel and the Captain of the Guard’s attention. Smirking, I shrug because who can blame me for finding humor in the bastard’s pathetic bumbling as he slips and slides in his comrade’s blood?
I walk backward to my mother, never turning my back on my enemy. When I reach Adele, she swats my hands away when I fuss over her to see if she’s hurt. Wren coughs out a laugh at my mother’s sass. I surrender, allowing her to win our little brawl. Quinn, his clothes splattered with his victim’s blood, strides over to stand united with Wren.
Rapunzel, falling into her role of royal captive, sags with false relief into the captain’s supportive arms. “I’m weary of all this death.”
The Captain of the Guard ignores Quinn’s growl, even though the chilling sound sets the hairs on the nape of my neck on end. “As am I, Your Highness.” He casts a stern eye across the carnage.
And if Quinn doesn’t do a better job of controlling his emotions, he’s going to fuck this up because I’m reasonably sure I heard him utter under his breath, “Get your hands off of her.”
Rapunzel places a hand on his arm and smiles up at him. “Are you an honorable man…?”
“Walter,” he tells her. “Sir Walter Pembrook. Captain of the Guard for the royal garrison.”
Rapunzel draws a somber breath. “Sir Walter, these men, my captors, are honorable as well. They have treated me well and have agreed to release me in exchange for my father’s soldiers to cease the destruction of Rygard.”
