Page 153 of A War of Three Kings

Behind us, a man jumps onto Caitlin’s pedestal. “Let’s rid ourselves of a mad king!” he screams, and the crowd churning toward the palace roars in agreement.

It is an effort to move against the current of people. Many have picked up weapons: axes, butcher’s knives, planks of wood. Their bodies tug at us, and multiple times, I am forced to throw up air shields to push them back. Abruptly, we break through their number into an alley that leads neither to the gates at the wall nor to the palace.

We dash into the stillness of the priestesses’ sanctuary. The quiet of these walled-in gardens is eerie when the city outside is in such turmoil. Barked orders in masculine voices and the rattle of chain mail float to us as we near its center.

I break the tree cover first, and hundreds of soldiers whip around toward me, their numbers swarming around an activated portal. I put up my hands in a disarming gesture as Edmund steps out of the ring of his warriors.

He slaps me on the shoulder, then calls for a servant, who rushes toward Caitlin with her armor. Caitlin pulls off her loose robe in a single motion, revealing the leather leggings and tunic beneath. A servant helps her dress quickly and hands her a blade.

Around us, Appleshield soldiers are disguised as commoners, wearing simple tunics and trousers in neutral tones, but hints of chain mail show at their collars and hems. They are well armed with swords and shields. A group pulls crude battering rams through the portal.

They will be the true force attacking the gates from within, wolves hidden among sheep.

Cyprien powers up a portal that leads to the closest Sanctuary of Magic at Seaport, near the ocean just outside the city. I place my hands on the moonstone gate, with Drake crouching next to me to do the same and Klara on the other side.

We pour our raw magic into it, overloading the structure of the crystal and forcing a new path of trajectory on the gate. Igrind my teeth with the effort. It is like rolling a boulder up a steep hill.

We push and push, liquid fire searing through me at the amount of raw power leaving me, until that tunnel cutting through space bends, arching in an unnatural curve from where we stand to the portal on the other side. When the center of the arc is closer to the palace than the Seaport portal itself, the tunnel of magic finally lets go of its original destination and snaps to the portal within the palace library with the signature of Seaport.

Drake lets out a breathy laugh. I double over, my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. Sweat beads across my face, stinging my eyes, and I wipe it away with a sleeve.

The portal before us will now lead us right into the palace.

Edmund puts a hand on my shoulder and stares at me with a feral intensity. “Go get my daughter.”

Chapter 41

Aldrin

Istep out of the portal and into the palace library, and guards immediately swarm us. I laugh as my sword cuts clean through one man’s neck, his head tumbling to the ground while his body folds over behind it.

My sword clashes with the next soldier’s, metal scraping against metal, but I am taller, stronger and far angrier. He crumples under my attack, blood spurting from multiple wounds.

More guards channel into the room and I send out a wave of sharpened spikes of air, slicing through their flesh as I spin on my heel and skewer the soldier attacking my back.A blind wrath boils within me at their audacity to try to stop me from getting to Keira. I will kill anyone who comes between us, including that mad king.

Bolts fly across the room, accompanied by the clacking of a handheld crossbow working behind me, and I know Caitlin has entered the library. I slice through the hamstrings of a guard who charges me, and Drake runs his sword through the man’s chest while wrapping ropes of air around another’s throat and choking the life out of him.

At my side, Klara wrenches her sword free from where it is lodged in a woman’s chest, then pulls a dagger from its sheath at her thigh and tosses it straight into the throat of a guard running away from us.

All of a sudden, there is no one left to fight, with only a ring of bodies around us. Their blood seeps across the marble floors, channels of it streaming down the grout, toward the many bookshelves. We make quick work of closing the portal, then run out of the library, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind us.

Keira, I am coming for you.I thrust the thought to her, down that slowly awakening bond.Where are you, dear heart?

Her voice comes to me as though from very far away.The throne room. Finan is holding me hostage. My power…very little has come back to me.

We are coming,I promise, my rage hitting new heights as I swing my sword through the air in preparation for the blood I truly want to spill.

I immediately turn left as we hit the corridor. Niall smuggled the palace blueprints to us weeks ago, and I memorized every inch of the place. With each corner we turn, at every intersection of corridors, I expect to find palace guards charging at us, but there are none. We race along halls that are completely empty.

A chill runs down my spine. I have a bad feeling about this.

I lead my people through a corridor lined with glass windows. They peer down into the city from a rise, giving a full view of the immense, barricaded gate that leads to the main entrance of the palace.

We all slow to look at the fight below.

One side of the wall is swarming with the angry mob, holding weapons high and banging against the wooden gate. Edmund’s men are there, bringing their rams up against the barrier. The other side has palace guards pressing their shields against the gate, while others launch arrows into the crowd from the wall.

Edmund’s war party has drawn many guards to the wall, but it looks like most have abandoned their posts in the palace. We didn’t plan for that.

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