“Why won’t you fight me, boy?”
Wardley pushed him back before landing an ugly scratch across Xavier’s cheek. “Because you were my friend and I don’t want to kill you!” he screamed. “I don’t. But if you come near her again, I will!”
Xavier laughed. “You couldn’t.”
A deep growl penetrated the room as Bah-kan strolled forward.
“I could, and I will!”
Without warning, Bah-kan launched himself at Xavier with terrifying speed. The entire room seemed to pause as Bah-kan’s and Xavier Juflee’s swords clanged together, a sound so loud that Dinah felt it in her chest. Bah-kan brought his massive sword sweeping down toward Xavier, who narrowly avoided its blade by leaping and bouncing off the wall. With his momentum propelling him, Xavier pushed Bah-kan forward and brought his heart-studded blade against his opponent’s throat. Bah-kan answered by flinging Xavier against a wall and bringing his own blade down, just missing Xavier’s head. Xavier moved to the side just in time, and Bah-kan’s sword buried itself in the wall. With a roar, he quickly yanked it out, sending a shower of tiny pebbles over them both. Again and again, their swords met and released, and Dinah felt dizzy watching them, both so skilled, the best fighters she had ever seen, circling each other like lions.
The fighting continued around her. Ki-ershan bested the Heart’s second-in-command with a quick slice to the belly, while one of the Cards killed three of Dinah’s best Spades. Wardley stepped backward and easily dispatched a sneaky Heart Card who was quietly moving toward Dinah.
She smelled the blood all around her. Outside, there had been the sky and the soil, things to ground her in the fight. Here, in this tiny space, the reality of battle was so much more suffocating, so much more potent.
Wardley severed the arm of a Heart Card before plunging his sword into the dying man’s stomach. Cheshire’s daggers found a few necks, the men staring down bewildered and confused before falling face-first onto the floor. Sir Gorrann battled with two Cards and succeeded in knocking them against each other, his blade plunging through both of their shoulders. They fell to the ground with whimpered cries for mercy. It turned out even the highest Cards could be brought low by war. Sir Gorrann, panting with effort, raised his sword above their heads before looking at Dinah.
Dinah shook her head. “Give them the mercy they ask for,” she commanded. Sir Gorrann stepped back. She watched as her men quickly gained the advantage and dispatched the rest of the king’s guards. Many were given mercy—and some were not.
Soon only Xavier and Bah-kan remained fighting, both spattering blood on the slick stone floor. Xavier’s head wound was bleeding; Bah-kan was oozing blood from a gash at his side. Weariness had overtaken them and their strokes became slower and more desperate. Even the wounded Cards watched in awe, each man aware that this was the best duel they would ever witness.
Xavier looked into Bah-kan’s face. “I know you,” he hissed. “Stern Ravier, once a notorious Club but now a traitor and a Yurkei, all dressed up in feathers. Tell me, do you have little traitors at home, with some whore Yurkei wife?”
Bah-kan landed a blow to the Knave of Hearts with the blunt pommel of his sword, knocking the man backward. Xavier’s shield scuttled across the room.
Bah-kan shook his sword and roared. “I was born a Club, but I will die a Yurkei, full of honor and glory. And when I die, I will rise up with the cranes and shit on your grave!”
Xavier leaped forward again, his sword raised overhead. Dinah saw the opportunity that had presented itself. Bah-kan, moving quickly now, brought the sword up through the man’s ribs. It exploded out of his back and the Knave of Hearts slumped forward onto the blade. Bah-kan stepped back and roared, his attention diverted to his own pleasure a moment too soon. Xavier, a loyal Card unto his death, saw his moment and with his last burst of energy plunged his sword through Bah-kan’s neck. They both fell to the ground, entangled in death, their blood mixing on the ground.
“Bah-kan! No, no!” Dinah gave a scream of agony as she pushed Xavier’s body aside and cradled Bah-kan’s massive head in her hands. His eyes looked up at her in alarm and disbelief. “Oh, Bah-kan, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She gently kissed his forehead. His eyes blinked rapidly as he smiled up at her through the blood, which was all over him, and all over her. He was heavy in her arms, her great warrior, the great Club, a man who had lived—and died—twice.
“My queen,” he mouthed, his throat gurgling. He began speaking rapid Yurkei words. His eyes blinked once before they looked blankly up at the ceiling, his chest rising no more. Dinah bent her head over his, her cheek resting on his still face. There was silence in the hall, even from the Cards whose lives had been spared. Tears dripped off her chin, smearing the white paint that covered Bah-kan’s face. She wiped them away.
“He will have a warrior’s funeral. We’ll bury him in Hu-Yuhar, his true home.” She turned to the Cards who lay wounded near Sir Gorrann’s feet. She kicked one in the side, and he grunted in pain before she curled her fingers around his chin. Her black eyes bore into his. “You will keep this body safe and unblemished, do you understand me? If anything happens to him, I will come for you, and my mercy will be just a memory.”
The two men stared up at Dinah, their faces full of terror. They nodded. “Yes, my queen.”
Nine
Dinah took a deep breath, tearing her eyes away from Bah-kan’s still form to look at the men who surrounded her: Cheshire, Wardley, Sir Gorrann, Ki-ershan. Her eyes met Sir Gorrann’s. They mirrored hers at the moment: the hunger for vengeance, the promise of it so close at last. She was weary with grief, and her hands shook from emotion and exhaustion. She knew what must be done, what must be said. It filled her with fear, but the anger inside her held down her doubts, the taste of it like metal between her teeth. She turned to the men.
“I alone will fight the king. I will not have anyone else die for me today. It must be me. Otherwise I could lose my claim to the throne. Do you understand?”
Wardley stepped forward and grabbed her roughly, his hands squeezing her shoulder blades together. “Dinah, I will not let him kill you.”
“People will not respect a leader who sends others to do her bidding. Isn’t this why I fought in the battle in the first place? I will show all those people in there”—she pointed her sword toward the door—“that I am not afraid of a king who has worn out his rule.”
“Dinah . . .” Wardley’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t lose you today. Not now. We’ve come so far.”
She gave him a small smile and reached up to trace his cheek. “Wardley . . .” Her fingers left his face to touch the bare spot upon her head where her crown normally sat. “Obey me.”
Wardley dropped his head, hands clenched at his sides.