A Crumble of Walls (The Kin of Kings Book 4) (38 page)

“
Shazara
!” Cleve yelled, but soon realized the Krepp’s movements were only because of the squirming enemy beneath his legs. This Krepp was already dead, as were so many others.

Cleve sensed movement from another angle and kicked before he had time to look. His boot took the wind out of the enemy he’d first faced. The attacker stumbled backward. A sword came out through his chest as his head whipped back, then he fell forward to reveal Peter coming toward Cleve.

Peter threw the dead Krepp off Cleve’s shoulder and helped him up.

“Watch out!” Cleve yelled, unable to get to the enemy advancing on Peter’s back.

But Rickik was there, jumping and burying his blade deep into the man’s shoulder.

Cleve caught sight of Effie running into the fray. She held a glowing ball of sartious energy as she moved her small body around Krepps and humans. Cleve knew exactly what she was doing, but he couldn’t get there to help her. He, Peter, and Rickik were instantly overwhelmed by a flood of charging swordsmen.

They held their ground to make quick work of anyone trying to go through them, but they could do nothing to stop all the others who went around.

“Effie!” Cleve yelled. If she fell, or even tripped, that mixture of sartious and bastial energy would explode among allies and enemies, and she certainly would die.

But then he noticed the green ball fly overhead. It didn’t go far, but it was well enough into the ranks of the enemies that none of his allies would fall victim to the explosion.

Erupting fire and the tearing of earth mixed together in a gruesome and satisfying sound as bodies flung out. Cleve had just a moment to check behind him to see what kind of damage the cavaliers had done.

His army was in total disarray, horsemen still barreling through the ranks. His side’s psychics, chemists, mages, and the other warriors fought with no pattern or efficiency, merely trying to survive. In just that short glimpse, he saw many of his allies falling, his enemies continuing to push through and circle behind him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Sanya had told Basen that Tauwin liked to watch the battles from atop the castle, but “liked” wasn’t a strong enough description. He stood at the edge of the parapets, drooling as he peered through his spyglass.

“They’ve engaged!” Tauwin announced, sucking in his spit. “The Academy is losing its formation!”

The power-hungry king seemed to assume this marked the end of a long struggle and that Kyrro finally would be his. But Sanya knew better. This would be the end of a long struggle—for Ulric.

Sanya had to resist the urge to grab Tauwin by the legs and throw him off the tower. Without a weapon, she couldn’t fend off his attacking psychic, his mother, and his two guards, but she might be able to take one of the guard’s swords and kill them all if she waited for the right moment.

Kithala and Tauwin’s psychic made this complicated, however. Kithala certainly would get in the way, and Sanya didn’t want to kill her. Meanwhile, the psychic was powerful enough to debilitate Sanya if she didn’t break the bastial energy in the air. But if she did, she would be facing multiple people without the benefit of her best weapon.

If she could take Tauwin’s bastial steel sword instead of one of the guard’s, she would have the best chance. Yes, that was how she’d kill him.

It seemed prudent to wait until the guards were less vigilant. Both appeared nervous from the way Tauwin stood so close to the edge, positioning themselves on either side of the young king so they were close enough to grab him if he started to fall.

His mother was on the other side of one guard, with the psychic on the opposite end. Sanya stood behind them, but she didn’t go unnoticed. The guards, Kithala, and even Tauwin’s psychic kept glancing at her as if wondering what she was doing.

Waiting for my chance.
She was being too obvious. She stepped forward to stand with them, but on the far corner of the tower. Part of her worried it had been a mistake to tell Basen that Tauwin would be up here, as the Academy might have a plan to slay him, getting in her way. But part of her was hopeful they would come, as she wasn’t sure she could do it on her own and escape. She was the only one looking around the other sides of the castle for signs of an attack.

Earlier, she’d given Tauwin a note requesting permission to watch the battle with him. He’d given it a cursory look before handing it back to her and saying, “Fine.” But now, he seemed excited she was there. “Laree, you can’t see anything without a spyglass. Mother, give her a turn so she can see what we’re accomplishing.”

One might think Tauwin had empathy for the girl Sanya was pretending to be, but she knew he was just acting like a child showing off a new toy. Tauwin didn’t merely see Kyrro within his grasp. He thought it was already his.

Looking through Kithala’s spyglass, Sanya couldn’t distinguish from this distance who was from the Academy and who wasn’t. But she could see it was utter chaos. This was certainly bad for the Academy, as their only hope had been to avoid a full-on brawl like this one.

Stanmar had led the charge of horsemen, though his full suit of armor made him look no different than Ulric’s well-trained cavaliers. Tauwin figured the men responsible for ambushing the Academy were loyal to him now, and Sanya supposed that was true. They did, after all, believe Ulric to be dead. This meant Tauwin was the only one who would give them the future they’d come here to claim.

Many were still on horseback, breaking up the last of the Academy’s organized ranks. Terren’s side had many mages, while Tauwin and Ulric did not. But the Academy’s mages were probably stuck in close combat, unable to fire upon their enemies. The only advantage the Academy might still have was its powerful psychics. They likely were the only reason the battle hadn’t ended in a few moments after the initial charge.

Sanya couldn’t discern how she felt about the prospect of a slaughter. It wasn’t pity, more like a longing to be there, to fight with them to the death. She’d never realized how much she would miss combat once she fled the Academy.

She would have to kill Tauwin before the battle ended, before he descended down into the castle where Sanya could become trapped as soon as she showed her true loyalty. Here, she could kill the witnesses and escape to Ulric before anyone knew what had happened. But damn, Kithala was a complication. Sanya liked her.

She gave back the spyglass and took her place behind everyone again. It was almost time to act. She looked around the sides one last time for signs of the Academy.

Suddenly, a shadow came over her. Sanya started to turn when something struck her in the back and sent her hard onto the stone floor.

What in god’s world? It was as if someone had descended from the sky and kicked her. She scrambled to see who she was up against, thinking someone loyal to Tauwin had figured her out. But she didn’t recognize this young man with blond hair holding two swords.

He couldn’t have come up from the hatch leading down to the castle, for it was bolted shut. Had he really come from the sky?

His swords began to float in front of him as everyone turned. Tauwin screamed out a jumble of words, “Wha-how? Kill him!” His guards ran toward the man, who couldn’t have been older than Sanya. He flicked his hand and a sword impaled each guard. They fell, but one grabbed onto the sword buried in him as if trying to staunch his bleeding. The attacker pulled back his hands and the sword came out of the other man and floated back to its owner. But the second sword was stuck, dragging the guard toward the attacker and forcing out grunts from both their throats.

“Stop him!” Tauwin yelled as he tried to get to the hatch.

As Sanya regained her feet, Tauwin’s psychic lifted his arm and unleashed a spell. The attacker screamed as he dropped to his knees.

But the blond young man must’ve had some training resisting psyche, for he was able to get back onto his feet and send one sword floating once more. Everyone but Sanya and Tauwin moved toward him, the two injured guards as slow as snails, Kithala and the psychic quick as cats. Tauwin had his hands on the latch but fumbled with it. He watched in horror as the floating sword turned toward him. The psychic screamed and the attacker and his weapon fell once again. Kithala jumped on top of him. The two guards seemed to have given up, letting their agony take control as they cried out.

Sanya finally recovered from her shock. This person was here to kill Tauwin, and she would help. The psychic ran toward the attacker with his dagger out, Kithala holding the attacker down while her son escaped and closed the hatch after him. Sanya pushed Kithala off, then kicked the psychic in the shin to knock him down.

Kithala scrambled over to the latch as the psychic screamed at Sanya, “What are you doing?”

She stood between him and the fallen attacker, refusing to answer. The psychic’s aggressive expression twisted into fear as he realized he would now have to face them both.

The psychic ran and practically jumped down the open hatch. “Tauwin!” he yelled. “Where are you?”

With only the dying guards left, Sanya pulled down her hood and lifted up her mask. “You ruined my chance at killing him. Who are you?” She pulled the young man to his feet.

“It’s you, Sanya!” one of the dying guards grumbled.

Something changed in the young man’s face.

He knows me.

He jumped back and lifted his arm. Unsure where the sword was at that moment, Sanya‘s best chance of defending herself was to attack him with psyche. She floored him with a spell.

“You must be from the Academy,” she said, thinking aloud as to what to do now.

He squirmed and screamed, but nothing intelligible came out of his mouth.

“I don’t have time to deal with you,” she said, not wanting to kill someone of such power by stabbing him while he was disabled. If they were to duel, it would be on her terms, and it would be epic. She regretted not giving Alex more of a battle when she had the chance, cheating with psyche instead.

She hurried over to one of the fallen guards and pulled the sword out of his stomach. It was shorter than the guards’ swords, easier to run with.

“Save me and I’ll make sure you get away,” the guard grunted. “Wait! I’ll make sure…”

But Sanya was already down the ladder. She didn’t bother to close the hatch behind her. The blond man wouldn’t chase them into the castle.

It took but a moment to figure out where Tauwin must’ve headed. The stables. A horse was the only way he could flee from someone who could fly.

Was that really what he could do? Sanya ached to find out. He hadn’t used bastial energy or she would’ve felt it. And she knew enough about sartious to tell it wasn’t that.
A new energy.
She wanted to learn it.
Just another reason I shouldn’t have left the Academy.

She encountered no one but the usual inhabitants of the castle, but their shocked expressions showed that Tauwin had definitely gone past them. Many of these men and women appeared to recognize Sanya as she rushed down the halls and stairs, yet nobody tried to stop her.

Her long robes impeded her process, so she paused to cut away the bottom half with the attacker’s bloody short sword. She had on flexible leather that ended at her knees. Longing to feel freer, she threw down her silver mask and cut away the last of her robes, leaving her in just a sleeveless shirt to go with her shorts.

She could hear Tauwin on the floor below her and peered over the railing. He’d gathered at least a hundred soldiers to protect him. A few were archers, dammit, although at least there were no mages she could see.

“Send out the flare!” Tauwin yelled at someone Sanya couldn’t see from her vantage point.

She leaned back so as not to expose herself, but someone was staring. He was a mere boy and seemed frozen in fear. His clothing told Sanya he wasn’t a child-servant but probably the offspring of a soldier or someone more important.

She gritted her teeth at him. “Run away and say nothing or I’ll kill you.”

He let out a frightened squeak as he fled.

“The flare!” Tauwin yelled again, starting down the last set of stairs. “The castle is under attack.”

Little did he know that the man in charge of the flare was one of the few who knew Ulric to still be alive. Tauwin would find no help there.

Sanya cursed as she noticed the royal psychic trailing the descending army. This was not a battle she could win alone.

She kept her distance as she followed them out of the castle. It was no surprise to see them run down the main road and straight for the stables. She cursed again.
Tauwin might live to see another day.

Sanya closed the heavy castle door behind her, hoping Tauwin’s exit meant this was the last time he stepped foot inside. She could command the horses with psyche and prevent his escape, so long as she wasn’t seen. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide down this wide road. She could only hurry and hope none of the guards turned and recognized her.

The stables had only two walls and a roof, not including the stalls for the horses. There were only a few of the animals left, the most timid of the bunch most likely, for the strongest had gone to battle. Rockbreak and an unmasked Ulric stood in front of the last of the horses. Tauwin tried to maneuver around Rockbreak, but the giant shifted to block his path.