Chapter 236

Across the room, Eli heard a shout and a roar of laughter. He could hardly let the situation distract him, but his head flickered in that direction for a moment, and he saw Danyen on the ground, grasping his middle. Drake was there and ended the laughing soldier who’d stabbed Danyen, but the Representative looked seriously wounded. Looking around the room, as he saw Vin trying to take advantage of his distraction, out of the corner of his eye, Eli spotted a member of his own guard who had just finished a man off. “Nen! Go to the infirmary and fetch Armant, as quickly as you can!”

Eli hardly had time to see the guardsman nod in understanding before Vin’s persistence paid off, and his sword caught Eli in the left shoulder. It was a glancing blow as Eli dodged to his right, but this wound was deeper than the last and hurt more. It was not enough to slow him, though. Eli came flying back at Vin with a vengeance, thinking of his comments about Kit, how he had beaten Cassius, and how helpless he had felt tied to that pole in Rona’s chambers as Vin and his partner meted out the punishment Rona had assessed upon him for winning the joust.

Vin’s face wore a cocky grin that highlighted the jaggedness of his scar. Eli wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face. He feigned to the left but then came back to the right, sliding his sword up underneath Vin’s arm and back around, stroking up with his weapon as Vin’s came down. It caught near Vin’s elbow, and Eli twisted the blade and lifted at the same time. The Queen’s Guardsman’s face mutated into a grimace as he screamed and attempted to pull his arm free of the sword that had bitten in deep, to the bone. Vin’s weapon hit the floor, clattering a few times before Eli kicked it away and dragged his own sword free of Vin’s arm. The Commander of the Queen’s Guard went stumbling backward, clutching his forearm as blood spurted through his fingers.

With no weapon and a substantial wound to the arm he used most, Vin was running out of options. Desperate for another weapon, he looked around frantically, his dark eyes wide. Eli couldn’t give him the opportunity to find another sword. He closed in as Vin continued to back away.

Eli saw Cassius pull his sword out of a body that lay on the floor at his feet. Now free of his foes, Cassius cut Vin off from the other side. Still looking for an escape route, scar face turned again and tripped over the body of one of his fallen comrades. “This isn’t fair! It’s two against one!”

“Was it fair when you and your troop beat the shite out of me?” Cassius asked, not showing any mercy. Vin tripped again and fell to the floor. Eli stood back as Cassius centered the point of his sword right over the man’s heart.

Suddenly, Vin was no longer the confident, powerful leader of the guard, but rather a sniveling child on the floor. He seemed to be trying to die with dignity as he shouted, “Do it then, you bastard!” but the sobs emanating from his voice cancelled any sense of poise the soldier might’ve commanded before he’d been wounded and lost his weapon..

“Ending you would bring me the sort of satisfaction I’ve been longing for since you made that horrible comment about the princess in the kitchen.” Despite his words, it seemed as if Cassius was wavering slightly in his resolve. Eli took a few steps closer, considering stepping in.

He didn’t have to. “What are you doing? End him already!”

Eli turned his head to see Kit running over, blood on her hands and gown. His heart thumped out of his chest, until he realized it wasn’t hers. “He deserves to die! For everything he’s done to our people. Don’t let his tears fool you!”

Thinking to benefit from the princess’s presence, Vin attempted to roll out from under Cassius’s sword, using his injured arm to shove the blade aside. Eli was there now, his sword drawn, and as he moved to jab his weapon into the man’s exposed side, Cassius brought his around as well, thrusting the tip into Vin’s neck. Both men were unmerciful, pressing down with their full strength until it was clear Vin would not recover.

“You are ruthless, Princess,” Cassius said, turning to face her after pulling his sword from Vin’s body, blood dripping on the floor.

“Sometimes one has to be.” Kit’s eyes lingered on the body of the man she’d hated so desperately as his blood stained the marble floor. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts, and Eli watched each measured breath. “Would he not have been tried and convicted for his crimes? Why prolong the inevitable?”

It was clear she felt the need to justify her decision, though no explanation was needed. Eli agreed; Vin deserved to die. Rather than answer her question, he asked, “How is Danyen?” His eyes landed on the spot across the room where Armant was bent over the Representative who was leaning against a wall, Drake beside him.

“He will recover. Armant is patching him up. The sword punctured his side but missed his internal organs, fortunately,” she explained.

“Well, then, let us proceed.” Cassius waved his arm toward the dais where Jecob stood near the throne, a group of revolutionaries in front of him working to open the door. Though a few guardsmen were still alive, lying on the floor in various states of injury, none fought on. Eli assumed there would be more within the queen’s chamber, but not enough.

“Get the battering ram!” Jecob shouted. Several men dressed in Eastbury’s colors ran out into the hall and returned with the timber they’d used to force their way into the throne room. Eli wondered what Kit thought of seeing Jecob here, but now was not the time to ask.

Kit wiped her hands on her gown, leaving more red streaks across the fabric. While her hands were not exactly clean, they were not as soiled as the others’. “Are you ready?” Eli asked her.

With an assured nod, Kit followed the men with the battering ram to her mother’s chamber door, ready to force her way into the room and onto the throne.