Page 239 of Of Kings and Kaos
There was a tinge of worry in his tone, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
“We need to be out there,” Ilyas grumbled, his words echoing my own thoughts.
“We do what theKinghas commanded us to do,” Sasori spat. She stood on the opposite side of the room from Ilyas and I, like we weren’t Bonded together for the last sixteen years. As we were preparing to join the Academy soldiers in the courtyard, Sasori pulled Ilyas and I aside. King d’Refan was invoking hisright as the natural commander of his armies and pulled Ilyas, Sasori, and I from battle to serve as guards to the manor.
My muscles twitched from the need to do something—to move, to act, to help my brothers and sisters in arms.
We all saw the barrier fall—heard the feral battle cry of the gods’ army, the thunder of their footsteps as they charged into the courtyard. Their magic flashed and crackled through the night sky, bathing the scene just outside the gates to the manor in the bright orange of fire. Our own soldiers cried out in alarm and fright at the ferocity of the gods’ attack, but it felt weak and feeble.
The worst part of the whole thing was being stuck at the doors to the manor, unable to join the fight. Unable to do anything to stop the cries for mercy, to extinguish the flames that burned through flesh and bone, to repay our attackers in kind.
“Lex, what is happening?” The General’s voice held a panicked tinge—one I’d never heard before. He was always calm and collected, a rock in the rolling tide. To hear his fear was to flay my own heart open.
“I—I can’t see anything, General,” I admitted softly, and the line was silent for a moment.
“Lex, I need you and Ilyas out there. To be where Ican’t.”
General Rohak was sequestered in the Academy for now with his Vessel, reluctant to pull his magic at all lest he burn her out. Her well was small, too small for the might that was Rohak’s magic, and it was clear that his inability to join the fray was weighing on his conscience.
“My team is fighting, General. I placed Ben as point in my . . . absence,” I admitted, and Sasori scoffed. My nails bit into my palms hard enough to draw blood, and I forced myself to unclench my fingers—fingers I wanted to wrap around Sasori’s neck.
Her dismissal of me and my desires as her Mage was more than tiresome and disrespectful—it was borderline mutinous. I understood her need and desire to follow the King’s orders, but we were loyal to the army, to the General.
Or at least I am.More than ever, it was clear that Sasori’s wants and alliances did not align with my own.
Was it always like this?
A thump against the manor courtyard walls followed by the most gut-wrenching scream I’d ever heard rent through the night, nearly sending my back in time to the massacre of the Keepers.
Not now. Not yet.
I cracked my neck, tension bleeding from every movement.
“Fuck this,” I spat, striding away from my sentry position.
“Stop, Lex. You have your orders,” Sasori hissed, her hand darting out and wrapping around my arm, yanking me back toward the manor. I aggressively shook out of her hold.
“We can help her! She’sright there!” I yelled, my cheeks heating with anger at the situation and Sasori’s inability to see reason. She simply shook her head.
“Sasori—” Whatever I was about to say was interrupted by the screams of the woman just outside the gates.
“Oh gods, please.Please, no. Stop! It hurts—” I didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but I did recognize the pain in her words. Her pleas cut off on a mangled scream as the acrid smell of burning flesh floated on the manufactured breeze.
Ilyas gagged, and even Sasori shuddered. I wrenched my arm from her grasp and turned on my heel to face her, just as the door to the manor opened.
King d’Refan stood in the doorway, the lights from inside illuminating the outline of his figure against the oppressive darkness of the exterior, looking nothing like a king. His normal Mage blacks were gone, replaced by thin linen pants and a loosesleeping tunic. His hair was mussed and eyes foggy and red-rimmed, as if he’d just been woken from sleep. His crown was absent, as was all other finery. The only practical thing he wore was a sword—the same sword he’d carried since he and Rohak joined the Academy decades ago.
“My liege,” Sasori said as she immediately bowed low, her braid falling over her shoulder. The scene was almost comical—here stood the supposed leader of Elyria, not dressed for battle, while a massacre raged just outside of his home.
I scoffed and crossed my arms, deciding then that this man was not my king. I’d sooner throw myself on his sword than protect him, fight for him. Ilyas, sensing my distress, rested a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezed hard. I turned my head enough to gaze into his sea-green eyes and saw the same conviction and resolution that was evidently reflected in my own. With a slight nod, I turned away from Sasori and the King.
“Where are you going, Mage d’Talionis?” the King commanded, and I stopped. Sasori had pulled herself from her bow, her almond eyes glowing with hate and frustration.
Join the club, Sasori.
But even now I couldn’t conjure any hate for her—she’d made her choice and I was making mine.
“To where I am most needed, to the place my General directed me. To save the only family I’ve ever known and, if I have time, to save the city you seem happy to condemn to death,” I spat, rage unlike I’d ever known boiling to the surface.
