But Bermin was moving faster.
Ignoring Keris, he reached for Zarrah’s ankle, cursing when she kicked him but then catching hold of her boot.
Keris let go with one hand to use his knife to slash at the Prince, but the weapon only glanced off the man’s leather armor.
“Cut the ropes!” Zarrah shouted, struggling to get free of her cousin’s grip. “Hurry!”
Keris sawed at another rope as Zarrah warred with Bermin over her boot above him, the bridge jerking from side to side, doing its best to spill all three of them into the water below.
The rope abruptly snapped, and everything dropped with a jerk, a single remaining mooring
stretched between cliffs the only thing holding them above the water.
And Keris hanging nose to nose with Bermin.
“Stab him!” Zarrah screamed from where she dangled, but his knife had been lost to the water below.
Bermin reached for Keris, fingers catching hold of his sleeve. “You’re going to kill us both, you idiot!” Keris shouted, but Bermin only grinned.
“I will go to the Great Thereafter with honor because I do so sending you to hell.”
His fingers tightened on Keris’s sleeve, clearly intending to use his weight to rip both of them from the bridge and send them plunging to their deaths.
Then an arrow sliced between them, severing the last remaining rope.
For a heartbeat, Bermin’s grip on his sleeve kept them together; then the fabric tore.
Keris sucked in a desperate breath as he and Bermin fell away from each other, his fingers squeezing the rope as he dropped with terrifying speed toward the water below.
His fall ceased with a jerk that nearly pulled his shoulders from their sockets, his body swinging into the cliff wall, the impact nearly breaking his grip on the dangling end of the bridge.
Zarrah.
His eyes shot skyward, finding her clinging to the tangled ropes and boards of the bridge just above him.
A roar of fury stole Keris’s attention. On the opposite side, Bermin hung from the other half of the bridge. He was climbing, massive arms bulging as he raced toward the top, where his two remaining soldiers peered over the edge.
“Climb, Keris!” Aren yelled from above. “We need to get off this damn island!”
Ignoring the pain in his arms, Keris dragged himself up.
Thunk!
Zarrah cursed, and Keris risked an upward glance to see an arrow embedded in the wood next to her hand.
“Climb!” he shouted, again cutting his tongue, blood dripping down his chin. But it didn’t matter as
“Bermin is pulling arrows out of corpses,” Aren shouted. “Shoot the soldiers, not the Prince!”
Faster.
The rough boards tore the skin from his hands, but Keris didn’t feel the pain. Felt only the fear of having gotten so close, only to lose her in a way that there would be no chance of rescue.
Spitting blood, Keris sawed at one of the three remaining moorings, laughing wildly as it snapped and Thunk!
Another arrow sank into the planks, nearly striking Zarrah’s hand. She lost her grip, dangling from one hand as Keris climbed up beside her. Bracing his shoulders against the smooth rock of the cliff, Bermin’s face twisted, seeing Keris’s plan, and he crawled along the bouncing length of boards andhe twisted the bridge so that the boards obscured their shots. “Climb. Keep behind the boards.”
“What about you?”
“I’m right behind you.” Every inhale he took was filled with her scent, her wind-whipped hair brushing his cheek. “Your people need their rightful empress.”
“Why does everyone keep calling me that?”
“Because it’s the truth.” But this wasn’t the moment for revelations. “I’ll tell you why when we’re out of the thick of this.”
She hesitated, then began climbing.
Thunk!
He gritted his teeth as Bermin tried to shoot them through the planks of the bridge. Above him, Zarrah had reached the top, a Valcottan man holding a shield out to protect her as she climbed over.
“We’ve got you, girl,” the man said. “You’re safe now.”
As Keris neared the top, Aren, who was using a corpse as a shield, reached down to haul him over.
“We control this side,” he said. “All the soldiers are dead, and we’ve started moving the wounded.
Bermin stands alone—Lara shot the other two dead.”
Keris barely heard, his eyes searching for Zarrah. Daria and the Valcottan man had her, were drawing her away, the bodies and shields of their fellows blocking her from Bermin but also hiding her from Keris’s sight. Without a backward glance, they started down the path to the stairs that would His fingers tightened on Keris’s sleeve, clearly intending to use his weight to rip both of them from take them to the guard tower and the pier beyond.
“Lara said he’s the rebel commander,” Aren said. “They joined forces to take the pier, but that’s all I know.”
“He’s out of arrows,” Jor said, jerking his chin across the channel. Bermin stood among the fallen, his face lost to shadows, though Keris could feel the man’s rage. Alive, which meant he’d have to face his mother’s wrath for his multitude of failures.
Eyes on Bermin, Lara approached, a bow hooked over her shoulder, her face and hair splattered with blood. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
His eyes shot skyward, finding her clinging to the tangled ropes and boards of the bridge just above She gave a tight nod. “Let’s go, then. The rebels’ other ships lured off the navy, but they’ll have seen the signal fires and realized it was a ruse. We need to be gone before they reach the pier.”
The Ithicanians backed away from the edge, then turned to follow Lara, only Aren remaining. The other man cast Bermin one last appraising look, slung his arm around Keris, and tugged him forward.
“We did it. It’s over.”
Why didn’t it feel like it was over?
Keris’s skin prickled.
Turning his head, he watched Bermin’s shadow rooting among the corpses. Then the massive man straightened, arms lifting in a familiar form, the outline of a bow just barely visible.
There was no time for thought. Even if there had been, it would have changed nothing. Keris twisted out of Aren’s grip and stepped between him and Bermin.
Thunk!
The wet noise filled his ears, and Keris’s heart plummeted. He hadn’t been fast enough. He’d brought Aren here. He’d put him in danger.
He’d gotten him killed.
Bracing himself, Keris turned to find Aren standing before him, unharmed—
And that was when the pain struck.
Burning agony that raced down to his fingertips, and Keris slowly looked to find an arrow jutting out of his shoulder, the purple fletching stained dark with blood.
“Shit!” Aren snarled, reaching for him. “Lara! Keris is hit!”
“It’s fine,” Keris muttered. “I’m fine.”
He dropped to his knees, only Aren’s grip on him keeping him from falling over, his ears filling with Lara’s scream. Then his sister was in front of him. “No no no!”
“It’s not that bad,” he told her. “I just need to pull it out.”
“Aren, don’t let him pull it out.” Lara’s eyes were full of murder as she stood, moving past him at a run.
Where was she going?
Blood roared in his ears as he abruptly realized her intent. “Aren, stop her!”
The Ithicanian king was already in pursuit. “Lara, no!”
Keris twisted on his knees, the world swimming as he watched Lara pull an arrow from the quiver As Keris neared the top, Aren, who was using a corpse as a shield, reached down to haul him over.on her back, nocking it in her bow. “Lara!” he tried to scream, but it came out as a croak.
She loosed the arrow.
It soared across the deadly gap right as the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, illuminating the arrow as it sank into Bermin Anaphora’s throat.
“Lara said he’s the rebel commander,” Aren said. “They joined forces to take the pier, but that’s all
“It’s not that bad,” he told her. “I just need to pull it out.”
“Aren, don’t let him pull it out.” Lara’s eyes were full of murder as she stood, moving past him at a run.
Where was she going?