“He was thrown from that cart!” a man said.
“Get to safety!” Paxton told the townspeople before charging forward again.
Was Aerity alone inside that carriage? If not, who was with her? Rozaria? He shook his worried thoughts away and urged his horse into a gallop, gaining ground. “Stop them!”
They were nearing the edge of the town when Paxton’s horse was at the cart’s door. He swiped for the handle, but couldn’t reach.
“Aerity!” he shouted. Nobody responded, but up ahead Konor leaned to the side and peered back with wild eyes. Paxton urged his horse forward until he was riding alongside Konor. The man kicked out, landing a blow to Paxton’s horse’s neck. His horse faltered one moment before righting himself with a huff. Paxton leaned and grasped Konor by the back of his tunic. The man spun to try and grab Paxton, but Pax yanked with all his might, sending the man flying from the cart with a holler as he rolled on the pebbled path behind them.
Paxton tried to grasp the reins of the cart but couldn’t reach. The cart horse spooked and turned abruptly up the hill. “Whoa, whoa!” Paxton cursed as the carriage tilted and then toppled over. Screams sounded from within the carriage, and the horse reared with a great whinny.
Paxton yanked his horse to a stop and leaped down.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said a low, seductive voice that he knew all too well.
Paxton slowly turned to face Rozaria, who had walked out from behind the very last house. The severe look of betrayal in her eyes, paired with the utter calm of her body, sent a tremor of apprehension to his core. Paxton said nothing and did not move, though his eyes darted to see who else might step out at any moment.
The door to the toppled cart opened at the top and a brown-haired woman’s head rose. Rozaria called out to the woman in Kalorian, and whatever the woman said made a triumphant laugh spill out of Rozaria. Her eyes gleamed at Paxton.
“We have your precious queen, hunter. It seems all your hard work was for nothing.”
His head jerked toward the toppled cart, and he watched as two women tried to pull Aerity from the doorway. She struggled and then gave a strangled scream as one of the women apparently used magic to subdue her. His love, his queen, was in the hands of Lashed, being dragged roughly away.
Never had he experienced such blinding dread. There was no telling what torturous actions they were capable of in their offended rage. From the triumphant look on Rozaria’s face as she stalked slowly forward, she knew he was afraid. She stopped just short of an arm’s length away from him.
“I pride myself on reading people. Nicola tried to warn me, but . . .” She tilted her head. “I know at least part of you felt what I felt, isn’t that right?” Her smug smile made him clench his fists. “I understand you at a level that no Unlashed woman ever could, don’t I, hunter? Indeed, I believe part of you truly did hate your king and want him gone. So what weakened you, hmm? Was it the attention of a pretty princess? What did she promise you? Lands? A grand boat to fish your life away? A place in her bed?”
“She is more than a pretty face,” Paxton said, unable to listen to another word. “She is compassion and integrity at its finest.”
Rozaria sneered and shouted, “You have allowed the weaker parts of yourself to win out! For that, you will not be spared. And neither will your queen. But first she will belong to Vito.”
He felt his face harden, and Rozaria chuckled darkly.
Paxton surveyed his situation. The two women were pulling Aerity away from him, toward the houses. Down the path he could hear hooves and voices. Help would arrive soon, but that almost made him more nervous. It wouldn’t take much to make Rozaria snap. She continued to stare hard at Paxton as she spoke loudly to her women in Kalorian.
They stood eye to eye as the women tugged Aerity toward the door of a far house. Paxton had his bow and arrows and his daggers. In the time it would take him to reach and ready one of those weapons, Rozaria could have her hands on him. However, he did have one thing that could reach her in a hurry. The women were nearly out of sight.
“Oh, hunter,” Rozaria began, but he did not allow her to finish.
Paxton pivoted and whipped his leg out with all his might, sending a kick straight into Rozaria’s mid-chest. He connected, hard, and she flew with an umph, landing on her back. She was gasping for breath when he pulled his bow out and nocked an arrow, pointing it straight down at her. Before he could let loose, a whizzing sound and sharp sting burned the side of his arm.
It was a deep gash, and his right arm suddenly lost strength; he couldn’t grasp his bow as tightly. He looked up to see Nicola with a bow, another arrow pointed directly at him. She rushed forward, caught between wanting to keep the arrow aimed at him and wanting to bend down to care for Rozaria. If she took one hand off that bowstring, Paxton would throw a dagger with his good hand.
Rozaria panted something in Kalorian, clutching her ribs as she pushed to sit up, and then stand. She wore a mask of maliciousness, as if every ugly thing inside her had surfaced and was now showing.
From behind Paxton, sounds of Harrison and the guards neared. Rozaria pointed at Paxton and snarled a word in Kalorian that he recognized: “Shoot!” Nicola pulled back her bowstring, but Paxton ducked and rolled, feeling his bow and quiver dig into his back, then he leaped to his feet and took off toward the side of the house where Aerity had been taken. He darted side to side so as not to give Nicola an easy target. An arrow missed him, and another. He heard her scream of frustration as he rounded the corner out of view.
Chapter
51
Each time Aerity struggled, she felt a burning sensation in her skin where the women held her wrists, and something inside her would burst into pain, or she would simply not be able to breathe for a moment. They’d also done something to her jaw, locked it so that she could not open it to scream. Their power over her was terrifying.
Inside the house was dark. The women shoved her to the floor and turned to go. She felt her jaw release once their hands were off her. They left her in complete darkness. Aerity scrambled to her feet just as a flame was lit. And then another. And another. Prince Vito and two guards—one of whom was Martone. They were in a single-room house with only one door. Aerity lunged for the exit, but Martone grabbed her around the waist and flung her into a chair.
Martone stepped away, leaving her in the chair while he blocked the door and the other Kalorian stood in front of the single, curtained window on the side wall. Her eyes went to Vito, who stood too close, watching her with lazy amusement.
“I was always good at hide-and-seek, you know. And I appreciate a good game as much as the next.” He walked forward and leaned down into Aerity’s face, grasping the chair arms on each side of her. His breath was sour. “But I am quite done chasing you now.”
His eyes lifted from hers at the sounds of tromping feet, shouting, and arrows whizzing. It sounded as if they were fighting just outside the cottage. Aerity opened her mouth to scream, but Prince Vito struck her with the back of his hand, slinging her face to the side in a starburst of pain. She brought a hand up to her mouth, tasting blood where her teeth cut her lip. Aerity pressed away from him in the chair, shaking uncontrollably as she said, “You can kill me, but you will not win this.”
A slow grin came to his face. “Death is too kind for you now. You will be my wife. You will serve me in every way.”
“Never.”
“To keep your brother alive? I think yes.”
Donubhan . . . Aerity turned to a statue under his scrutinizing gaze. Seas no. Vito began to chuckle as she envisioned the Isle of Evie under attack, and Donnie being captured by these monsters. If they had him, they had the entire royal family.
“The first thing we did,” murmured Prince Vito, “was to shave those vile red curls from his head with our sharpest blade.”
Aerity shut her eyes and her body convulsed. She couldn’t take it. Outside voices were getting closer. The prince looked at the spare guard and orde
red in Kalorian, “Bring the cart around now. The fighting wasn’t supposed to get this close.”
The prince turned his head to steal a look outside as the guard left. Aerity took the opportunity. She lunged forward and brought her knee straight into the prince’s crotch as hard as she could, but instead of him doubling over, it was she who cried out at the blast of pain in her knee. He wore some sort of protective metal covering. He swung again, this time hitting her ear, making her entire head ring. Aerity screamed, and Vito laughed once again.
“We can keep going,” he said as she cowered. “I’m enjoying this very much.”
When the ringing had almost stopped she stood, bracing herself, and faced him. Outside the door, a vicious, animalistic roar split the air, causing Prince Vito’s eyes to widen.
“I thought the beasts had remained on royal lands,” he said to Martone. Aerity’s hopes rose. If it wasn’t one of their creatures . . .
Something crashed into the door like a battering ram and sent it flying clean off its hinges, sliding to the middle of the room. Furball stood on his hind legs, his mane touching the ceiling, and roared so loudly it shook the walls. Prince Vito’s face transformed from his usual look of smugness to an ashen pallor.
Aerity pointed at the prince and yelled, “Attack!”
Furball’s paws stretched wide, his bright, sharp claws shining in the candlelight, but he was distracted when Martone brandished a sword. Furball swiped out in a fast movement that sent Martone’s hand, with the sword in it, flying across the room in a gory splatter. The prince backed away against the wall as Furball leaped onto Martone, and Aerity ran out the door.
The house next to them was on fire, blinding, hot, and loud. A cart tore up next to her and the prince’s other guard jumped down. An arrow swooshed by and the guard gurgled wetly as the arrow pierced his neck. He fell to the side, swiping at it.
“Aerity!” Paxton ran forward, bow in hand. Her eyes went straight to the stained, torn sleeve.
“You’re hurt!”
He shook his head. “Mrs. Rathbrook healed me.” He looked to the open doorway.
“Prince Vito’s in there,” Aerity said. “Furball attacked Martone. And, oh, seas . . . they have Donubhan!”
Paxton put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find him.” He nocked another arrow and sidled next to the doorway, peering in. His eyes went from side to side before stopping, a deep frown etching his face.
“Furball come!” he shouted. His eyes went to Aerity. “The prince must have fled through the window.”
Curses! She looked in, and sure enough, the room was empty with nowhere to hide. The window was wide open, with scratch marks from where Furball had apparently tried to give chase but couldn’t fit. Martone’s carcass lay in the middle of the floor. Aerity covered her mouth and backed away.
“Aer!” Wyneth’s voice rounded the corner of the burning building. She, Vixie, and Mrs. Rathbrook appeared, flanked by Harrison.
Paxton grasped her arm. “All four of you need to get in this cart and go north to cross the lake. I’ve got to find the prince.”
Aerity swallowed hard, sick at the thought of Pax facing Vito, but somebody had to stop the madman.
“Wait.” Harrison sprinted up, pulling something metallic from his waist and handing it to Paxton. “Smoke bomb.” Pax took it and ran to search behind the house.
Seas be with him.
Aerity hurriedly waved a hand to the other girls and they ran faster. Furball came through the door, his jowls dark with blood, just as Wyneth halted, breathing hard. She made a horrified face at the gore covering him.
“Good boy, Furball,” Harrison said, earning a satisfied grunt from the beast. “Now, let’s go. Ladies, in. Furball will have to run beside us.” Aerity took his hand and climbed up. It was identical to the one she’d been in before, and it gave her a shiver to remember. The other three climbed swiftly in, and the cart lightly dipped as Harrison took his spot at the reins. “Hang on!” he shouted.
But there was nothing to hang on to. They grasped the seats and one another as the carriage shot forward, bumping over rocks and tilting upward from the slant of the hill. Aerity’s mind went to Paxton trying to find Prince Vito, and she clutched her stomach. She hoped he could get a good shot so he wouldn’t have to be within arm’s reach of the man. Seas, keep him safe.
Hand-to-hand combat did not suit Tiern. He’d been fine shooting arrows from behind an overturned market table. In fact, a sense of calm had come over him, causing his aim to be steady and more accurate than ever. One after another, he took down Kalorians. But when he’d shot his last arrow and saw a soldier preparing to shoot the youngest Zandalee, Zaleek, from behind, he snatched a dagger from his waist and sprinted, plunging the knife into the man’s neck.
Nay, the crunch and blood, coupled with the dying man’s last struggle to fight, was not Tiern’s idea of fun. Perhaps that made him less of a man, but so be it. Zaleek seemed impressed enough. When she spun to see Tiern taking the Kalorian down to the ground, wiping his dagger on his trouser leg as he stood, Zaleek had waggled her eyebrows up and down before turning to fight again.
Tiern didn’t have a sword like the soldiers battling around him, so he didn’t dare attempt hand-to-hand with the enemy. He ran about, collecting arrows, trying not to wince at the sounds of ripping arrowheads from dead bodies. Getting lost in a sea of forward-moving fighting, Tiern grasped a branch of the nearest tree and hoisted himself up. He shot his quiver full of arrows, aiming at Kalorians who were about to take down Zorfinans, and picking them off one by one in rapid succession. One of them pointed up at him, and another turned to shoot. Tiern hunkered down and the arrow stuck directly into the branch beneath him. He quickly took down that Kalorian before he could aim at him again.
From his vantage point he could see a horde of Lochlan soldiers battling the three monsters in front of the west commons. Roaring and snarling ripped through the air, but the sheer number of Lochlans attacking were enough to overpower the creatures. A surge of excitement burned through Tiern.
After another half hour of fighting alongside the Zorfinans, the enemy was cleared out of the market area, so the allies moved forward, toward the castle. The ships had truly saved them, taking out hundreds of Kalorians and distracting them while the Zorfinans stormed the southern gates to attack from behind.
When Lochlan and Ascomannian vessels docked and soldiers came flooding out, it didn’t take much longer to overcome the Kalorians. Together, the Lochlans, Ascomannians, and Zorfinans raised a cheer that seemed to go on forever. All that was left was the castle, which appeared strangely unguarded, no archers or soldiers anywhere in sight. It made no sense to Tiern. They should have been heavily guarding their prince.
As military leaders began shouting orders, their remaining troops spread out around the castle. Those who had shields held them up against possible assailants from within. Tiern watched as the elite soldiers and the Zandalee moved up the front steps, opened the doors, and rushed inside with war cries. He held his breath, waiting for an onslaught. He peered up at the balcony and parapet walkway, then the rooftop, all empty. What in the lands of Eurona was going on?
After ten minutes, Zandora came to the doorway and shook her head, looking vexed. He climbed the steps to her.
“It is empty,” she said.
“But how?” he asked. “Surely someone would have seen them come out.”
“Do you know the location of the underground shelter you spoke of?”
He nodded. “Follow me.”
He’d not been there himself, but he’d heard the others talk about it. He, Zandora, and five other Zandalee readied their bows and pulled the bowstrings taut as they took the steps down to the cellar. When they came to the back pantry room and it was empty, he motioned toward the chest. Still holding his bow, he slowly lifted the lid with his boot and flung it upward. Seven bows pointed down the empty shaft.
Tiern climbed down first, with Zandora behind him. The
y both unsheathed their daggers and kicked the panel door open to see a long, dim, empty room. They walked inside through the beds and disarray. The other Zandalee joined them. And then Tiern’s eyes landed on an open chest at the end of the room. He ran to it.
Once again the seven of them pointed their bows down into a shaft with a ladder. Tiern looked at Zandora.
“I didn’t know about this one. There must be tunnels out of the castle.”
Zandora exhaled and shook her head. “He has escaped. We must send warning.”
“If it’s not already too late,” Tiern said.
Paxton could feel the prince’s power, that zing of heat along his skin. If he could feel the prince, he was certain the man could feel him too. Paxton couldn’t believe his luck that he might find the Kalorian leader without his guards. This would be his one and only chance to kill the man.
Nearby burning houses sent shadows leaping and falling along the ground and trees and smaller cottages on the outskirts of town. He held his bowstring taut and tried to steady his ragged breathing while he searched. As he neared a cottage, the feel of Lashed power became even stronger.
He’s hidden within, Paxton thought. He wondered what makeshift weapon the devious man might have crafted for himself. He thought of the last house, and how the prince had escaped through the window. Paxton snuck around to the back of the cottage and found a window the same size as the other had been. He nodded to himself and went back to the front.
He felt at his waist for the black powder smoke bomb Harrison had given him. He backed away from the house, lit the wick between his fingers, watched it burn halfway down, then launched the thing straight through the front window’s shutter.
Paxton sprinted around the cottage to the back and crouched, arrow pointed. It was much darker back there without the firelight. Within seconds the window was being pried open by thin hands and the prince’s coughing face was peering out. Paxton waited with his heart in his throat. His instinct was to shoot, but he needed to find out where the young prince was being held.