I wiped the blood off my hand, then held it out to Naima. She hesitated before coming out, but she finally did, and we started running down the street.
We rounded the corner, Naima’s house finally in sight, and a small Omte guard came out of nowhere. He had jumped out from between two houses, and now he was charging at me. I pushed Naima behind me, using my body as a shield.
The Omte raised his sword at me, so I blocked it with my own. Since that move would only leave us at a standstill, with him pushing his blade toward me while I pushed back, I kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back.
Moving quickly, I stabbed him through the chest before he had a chance to block me. I pulled my sword free, and he fell to the ground.
That was when I looked down the street again, and I saw Rutger Abbott standing in the middle of the street. His sword was drawn, and he had the rigid stance of a H?gdragen. His face was much harder than Kasper’s had ever been, but he had the same eyes as both Kasper and Naima.
I stepped out from in front of Naima and whispered, “Go to your dad.”
Rutger had to have seen enough to know that I had just killed an ally of the Kanin kingdom. He walked toward me with cold deliberate steps. When Naima ran to him, he hugged her, but kept his eyes on me.
I was terrified about how this would play out. If Rutger believed the lies that Mina had told him, he would blame me for Kasper’s death and believe me to be an evil traitor. With that in mind, he might very well want to kill me, and I did not want to fight Kasper’s dad in a battle to the death.
“Go in the house,” he told Naima.
She did as she was told, rushing toward the relative safety of her home, and leaving Rutger and me alone in the street. At least for a moment. Other guards would surely be coming soon.
“Thank you for protecting my daughter,” he said finally.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect your son,” I said.
He lowered his eyes. “Go, and finish this for him.” That was all he said before he turned and walked back toward his house.
I looked back over the roofs of the cottages around us, toward the palace looming over everyone and everything, and I started running toward it, my legs moving as fast as they could.
SEVENTY
conspire
On the way to the palace, I tried to avoid as many main roads and conflicts as I could. Not only because I wanted to get there as quickly as possible, but also because I wanted to avoid killing any Kanin if I could help it. And it was a bonus if I ended up not getting killed myself.
Still, I’d had to kill two more Omte soldiers before I found myself in close proximity to the palace. I crouched down next to Astrid Eckwell’s mansion, with the body of Simon Bohlin in the snow beside me.
On my way here, I’d seen Simon, with his head lolled to the side, bleeding from a fatal wound in his stomach.
For a nearly year we’d dated, until I’d broken up with him because I was looking for something more casual. He had been a great tracker, though, which was one of the things that attracted me to him. We’d grown up together, and he’d always been kind to me in a school where a lot of kids hadn’t been.
I couldn’t leave him in the middle of the street to get crushed under ogres’ feet, so I dragged him to the side of the house. I knew I couldn’t move all the bodies, that I couldn’t save everyone, but I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Simon out like that.
Leaning with my back against the cold bricks of the mansion, I tried to catch my breath and gather myself. I didn’t have time to mourn Simon or anyone else who would die today. Not if I wanted to save Ridley and stop Mina.
I looked back out to the street, where the fighting raged on, just in time to see Ember, fighting her way through the crowd. Behind her was Linus Berling, and while he wasn’t doing an amazing job, he was holding his own fairly well. He hadn’t been killed yet, but he did appear to be bleeding from his arm.
Ember finally managed to break free from the fighting, and Linus chased after her, following the path she’d made. They ran right up to the mansion next door to Astrid’s, diving over the fence and running around to the back door.
If I wanted to storm the palace, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone like Ember at my side. She was a quick, strong fighter, and there were going to be many more guards left to face.
I decided to go to Ember and see if she would help me free Ridley. I ran around the back of Astrid’s house, and then I jumped the neighbor’s fence. I wasn’t sure if I should knock or not, but since Ember had just gone in through the back door, I decided to try it for myself.
As soon as I pushed it open, Ember was there with her sword in my face.
“Oh, jeez, Bryn.” She sighed and lowered her weapon. “You really need to start knocking.” She opened the door wider for me, letting me in.