I simply wasn’t fast enough.
The guard sliced down, but not in the direction that I had expected at all.
Thatanyof us expected.
His sword flipped mid-slice, and aimed for one of the soldiers, and cleaved his head from his shoulders
“NO!” There was no way to tell who screamed it.
The sword, though, didn’t stop. He continued the arc and sliced through another neck.
The shock on Carolee’s face was the last emotion she would feel.
Vitasscreamedand leapt for her, catching both her body and her head before they hit the floor. He kept screaming, tears crowding out of his eyes.
“Stop screaming!” the king yelled. “Stop!”
Vitas didn’t even hear him. I barely heard the words. My own tears were for Carolee and the pain on Vitas’s face.
I glanced up at Roran. His face was wet, but his countenance was dark, angry, vengeful.
“Shut him up!” the king screamed again. “Shut. Him. Up!”
The soldier with the sword came at Roran.
I threw myself in front of him. “NO! Stop! Stop. I’m the Breaker.”
“Kimber!” Roran barked.
“No one else is going to die because of me!” I turned back to the king and stepped forward. “I am Kimber Raven, Mistress of the Temple of the Lost God and Breaker of the Spine.”
Odom, next to the dais, visibly jerked.
He stood and walked forward. “Welcome, Mistress Breaker. You have spared the others’ lives.” He looked beyond me to where Vitas was still wailing. “Put her in the fountain.”
“No,” I begged. I tossed a look over my shoulder. “Let them go, let them take her home. I will stay.”
“Kimber!” Roran growled this time.
“Of your own accord?” The king walked toward me.
“Don’t do this, Kimber,” Roran hissed in my ear.
“Carolee just died because I didn’t act fast enough.” I spun back to the king who was now almost directly in front of me. “Let them go. Turn their weapons back over to them. Let them take her home. Drop them at the Chasm. I will stay.”
He clapped once. “Delightful! Delightful!” Pointing to two guards, he motioned to Carolee and Vitas. “Drain her into the fountain. Let them take the husk back if it means that much, General Odom.”
The man in the gray sprang forward. “Sire.”
“Take them to the Crossing. Make sure they have their weapons back there. Let them go. Get them out of my sight.”
“Sire.”
He snapped off a salute.
I had only seconds.
“Roran.”
