I wait for the impact, the pain, but none comes. Instead, Lennard cries out and falls to the ground. A crossbow bolt is buried in his stomach.
Another snap and whistle, and a second bolt appears in the side of Wadestrom’s rib cage. The man collapses, sliding off Thorin.
My head whips around, and when I turn, there’s Saeth. He has a crossbow in one hand and a dagger in the other. A little girl is strapped to his back, soaking wet and shivering, her hands pressed tight to her eyes. Nook is behind them both, half soaked in mud.
“Can I look yet, Da?” the little girl says, her voice bright and innocent.
“Not yet.” Saeth snaps another bolt into his crossbow, and then his aim shifts to the last remaining guardsman. “Put it down. Now.”
But Sommer doesn’t lower the weapon. He’s breathing fast, and he looks from Lennard to Wadestrom and back to me. His face is so pale beneath the hood, his expression a bit stricken.
I put my hands in the mud and push myself to my feet. My heart is pounding, making it hard to breathe. I thought the revolution was the worst part. The consuls working against me. But I was wrong.
It’s this.
“For nothing but silver?” I say, and my voice is rough. “Really?”
“No—no, Your Majesty. It wasn’t—” His voice breaks, just a little.
“Don’t be such a baby,” Lennard growls from the ground. He’s curled around the bolt, and his voice is strained. “Just shoot him. He left us like this. He’s going tokillyou—”
Thorin has made it to my side, and he kicks him in the shoulder. Lennard cries out, then coughs blood onto the ground.
The girl gives a little yip.
“Not yet, Ruby,” Saeth says, his voice as calm as if we’re not surrounded by bleeding bodies and traitorous guards. “Just put your head down.”
The first time I spoke with Tessa, she kept challenging me about the state of my people. She kept insisting that I couldn’t judge people for doing what they had to do to survive. I stare at the men surrounding me, all of whom swore an oath to me once, and I still don’t know if that’s true.
He left us like this.
Do they feel like I abandoned them? Like I was poisoning my subjects, then abandoned the most loyal ones to starve?
This isn’t at all what I expected to find. I want to reverse time and begin this night again.
No, if I had that power, I’d reverse time and begin my entirereignagain.
Sommer has gone a shade paler, maybe at the sight of the blood, at the realization that he’s the only one still standing.
“Forgive me.” He throws down his crossbow and runs.
Saeth raises his arm to shoot, and I grab hold of his sleeve. “No,” I cry, aghast.
He looks at me. “Your Majesty. He’ll find others.”
My stomach rolls. I feel like I’m going to be sick. Over his shoulder, the little girl is peeking through her fingers at me.
I wish I had my brother.
Corrick has an edge that you lack.
I want to press my hands into my own eyes.
Thorin sees my hesitation. “I’ll bring him down,” he says, and without waiting for an answer, he sprints into the darkness.
I inhale to issue an order tohold—but I can’t. They’re right. My stomach gives a violent clench, and for a terrifying moment, I’m worried I’m going to be sick right there in the muddy clearing. But Saeth has already turned to Nook, who’s staring at everything with wide eyes, and he’s giving the boy clear orders.
“See if Francis is breathing,” he’s saying. “Get him on his back. I’ll check Reed.” He looks toward the trees and whistles, then raises his voice. “Leah!” he calls. “You can come out.”
