“No,” Mikail says, still watching Euyn burn. “Wei must’ve arrived in the harbor.”
“Wei?” Aeri repeats.
Mikail nods, barely able to care. Sora stares at him and then takes a deep breath. She stands straighter, raising her chin.
“Armor,” Sora says. “We need armor.”
We all look around at the dead and dying guards. We’re gonna have to take it off their corpses, which is fine—they don’t need it. But if I’d known that was the plan, I would’ve been cleaner.
We walk around, sizing up our closest fits as the bonfire continues to burn. I wipe some blood and bone off the one that’s closest to Aeri’s size. She gives me a small smile, and I help her get the armor strapped to her body. I grab my closest match, but these guys were all built like Euyn or Mikail. The chest armor barely fits my shoulders, and it’s not like the metal gives. Fuck it, though. It’s better than nothing.
Bells chime so loud, it’s hard to think. It feels good to have armor and weapons, but we still have to get out of this palace. I pick up the axe, ready to chop our way out of here.
“Shouldn’t we try the doors?” Aeri asks. “Maybe they’re distracted with Wei and we can slip out.”
“But the guards couldn’t get them open.” Sora points to the guard Mikail impaled with two swords. He’s still alive and moaning.
“Maybe the captain has a set of keys,” Aeri suggests.
Mikail strolls over to the body of the captain. “It’s a good thought.”
I watch him like a hawk. He can’t be this okay—he just can’t be. But I’ve never understood this guy. Maybe he really is fine, or maybe grief looks different on everybody.
Mikail rifles through the captain’s pockets and reaches into his breastplate. He holds up a set of keys and then flips them to Aeri.
“Give those a try,” he says.
She nods and begins to work on the lock.
Sora walks up to Mikail as Aeri tries one key after another. She’s been staring at him, too.
“Are you…okay?” she asks.
He breathes out a laugh. “No, and I won’t ever be, so there’s no sense in dealing with it now.”
I guess that’s fair enough. There just ain’t the time. Sora stares, tears in her eyes, but she nods.
“I’m really sorry, Mikail,” she says.
He nods. “I… Me too.”
Aeri gets the door unlocked with a click. Once she has it, I cup her soft face in my hand. She looks at me, her lips parting in surprise. I lean in and kiss her. Because if I’m going to die, it’s going to be with her kiss on my lips.
Then we both turn and look at Sora and Mikail. We’re ready.
“The ones we hate die first,” Sora says.
Mikail nods, lifting his sword to salute her. I bang my axe on the ground, and Aeri inclines her head.
I move in front of Aeri to be the first one out the door. Fuck, this sucks. I take a breath before I turn the knob. This is it. There ain’t no way we’re all just walking out of here, but at least I’ll go down protecting Aeri. There are worse ways to go. Worse ways to live, too.
I throw open the door, muscles rigid but ready. I come through, swinging my axe, expecting to hit blades and bodies, but there’s…nothing. Not a thing. I look around. There’s nobody inside. Not one guard or a servant. No stuffy swells. No one.
“What the fuck?” I whisper, then shudder. Where is everybody?
A cold breeze blows through the empty great hall, making the flags flutter, but there’s not a breath or a sound aside from the three people behind me.
Mikail is over my shoulder, and I feel his confusion. I thought the entire palace guard would be out here waiting for us. I don’t want to meet them, but where’d they all go?
