“FOR CALTOTH!” The man’s blade struck out three times more as Darren’s father stumbled and fell, blood spraying from his lips as he hit the ground with a thud.
I was still running as the room became chaos. Mage Mira was the closest to respond—she was able to cast what my magic could not. A bolt of lightning and Lord Tyrus went down without a fight. Before I had even reached the king, she had already sent two swords piercing his front to back.
Blood was dribbling from the man’s wounds like a fountain, coating the tiles in red. Funny, how a Caltothian’s blood was no different than a king of Jerar.
“Protect the Crown! It’s an attack!” Commander Audric was running forward to see to the king as half the regiment on duty formed a circle around the two princes, the other half to their fallen king.
“Uncle!” Wrendolyn was running toward Duke Cassius in the crowd. She was sobbing and her eyes were crazed.
I fought the crowd, trying to push and shove my way toward the girl. Someone needed to protect her. I wasn’t sure where the three Caltothian guards were.
“Wren!” I screamed her name. “WREN! NO!”
A servant snagged the girl’s arm and another appeared, a quick draw of the blade, and then she was on the floor. A river of scarlet trickling from her neck, blond curls tinged in red.
I was chasing the servant as Duke Cassius and two of his men dropped to the princess’s side. The Pythian ambassador’s bellow shattered my heart. I pulled up short when I cornered the first. It wasn’t a Caltothian in disguise.
It was one of the lower city guards I’d seen during my apprenticeship. A rebel, I realized belatedly as he pulled out his knife. The rebels are working with the Caltothians.
I had to warn the others. “Rebels!” I screamed. “They are here!”
My hand shot underneath the folds of my robe and I blanched. My dagger wasn’t there. I reached for the sheath by my thigh. Empty. My outfit tonight had been for show. I’d spent all day in the infirmary; I didn’t have a single weapon on me.
And my body was still healing. I was weak, sluggish. I had bruises speckling my arms and a bandage to the chest.
And no magic.
I wasn’t the hunter; I was the prey.
The man’s panicked expression turned sly, as he seemed to recognize the same. And then I was thrust aside as Paige’s sword gut him from chest to belly, bowels and blood spilling out. A putrid stink filling the air.
I had to fight every instinct not to vomit.
“We’ve got to get you out of here!” My knight started to pull me away—one hand on my wrist, the other gripping her sword.
“Wren—”
Her voice grew thick. “She’s gone, Ryiah.”
“But the healers—”
“With the princes.” Paige was dragging me across the floor, both eyes flitting back and forth, checking our surroundings for safety.
“Where’s Darren?” Panic clawed at my throat when I didn’t see him or his brother at the front.
“He got his brother out. Marius and some of the King’s Regiment are guarding them in the eastern tower.”
“Ryiah!” Ella rushed forward and stopped just an inch before Paige’s blade impaled her throat. My friend shot her a reproachful look. “Paige, it’s me. I’m here to help you, fool.”
“Sorry.” My guard looked apologetic, but didn’t avert her gaze from the crowd. “I don’t trust anyone right now.”
“Ella.” I grabbed my friend’s arm. “There are rebels, you’ve got to warn Commander Audric—”
“They already know.” My friend pointed to the exits, and there was another scream behind us. Her pupils dilated. “He blocked off the room until they can identify everyone in the attacks. The only ones leaving are foreign dignitaries and the Crown. You aren’t safe here, Ry. Princess Wrendolyn—”
Paige cut Ella off. “She already knows. Help me get her out of here. If they went after the Pythian princess, Ryiah would be the next logical target.”
“But the others!” I protested. “What about—”
“You are more important.” Paige’s reply had an edge. “Ella and I will return when you are safe.”
I had never felt so useless in my life. I let them lead me through the maze of people, all the others begging to be free of the room. Safe. Not only was I without magic, and weak from injury, but I was also a part of the group others risked their lives to save.
I had trained my whole life as a warrior. But in that moment I was the damsel-in-distress.
Chapter Fifteen
Nine dead. On the final night of the Candidacy the new Council of Magic was brought into its official reign by the blood of a king of Jerar, a young Pythian princess, four high-ranking Crown advisors, two prominent noblemen, and one poisoning attempt on the crown prince—now new king of Jerar—himself.
Never in the history of Jerar had so many important lives been stolen away in the course of an hour.