Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
Deacon
M y back was against the bouncing door of the throne room to block the guards from plowing it down. Every time they knocked into it, my head rapped against the solid wood.
It was dumb luck the door was at a small landing at the top of stairs—it meant they could not pour much force behind their shoves. I imagined only four guards at a time could push from their side. Even with that advantage, I could hold the door myself for only so long before my strength gave out. My thighs were burning from bracing the door shut, my back shaking.
I shouted at the others, “Get the throne!”
Tiger tried to drag the throne himself, but it didn’t budge until Sarah, Ode, Elizabeth, and Jenny pushed it from the other side. Even with all the help, the throne was too heavy to be easily delivered as my replacement.
Once they finally got it close, Elizabeth grunted, “Put it by the doorknob, so they can’t get leverage.”
They wedged it there, and part of me still didn’t want to move, in case the throne was not enough. But my strength was sapped. I stepped from the door, and it banged against the throne, but did not budge it.
For now.
“What do we do?” Ode asked.
The only other opening of the throne room was the viewing balcony which overlooked the fighting pit of the arena. Smoke hung a stench low in the air. My mouth tasted like ash.
Riot fires, I presumed. Violence was a propellant for more violence, like a raging child that birthed itself. The rampaging city had a voice of its own—screams combined with mad laughter. Though I could not see the brutality and bloodshed, it assaulted my senses.
Looking over the edge of the balcony, I noted the long flags that hung there. They were the signals used to start the fights. Around thirty meters long per flag, they didn’t come close to touching the ground level. If we climbed down them, the drop from the very end of the longest flag would kill us.
But if we can use them to swing into the stands of the arena, perhaps we could get somewhere.
I looked back at my cohorts and did not like their odds.
Ode’s voice was frantic as the insistent banging against the door continued. “Deacon, what do we do?”
“Calm down, Ode,” Sarah said soothingly.
But Ode was verging on hysterical. “Calm down? I just…I just…” She stared at Rex’s fading corpse. The delirium became rage on her face. “I just wish I could kill him again.”
Jenny said, “Well, you did it right the first time, so that’s not an option. How about we focus on a strategy to get out of here and save your life?”
“ All our lives,” Elizabeth groused.
Sarah turned to me. “Why are they trying to get in here, if they already know Rex is dead? It’s not like they can bring him back.”
One of the guards had seen it happen when the door was still open to the hall. Tiger had slammed it shut, and I had braced the door after that. They had pounded on the door ever since.
“They want in for the loot,” I told her. “You have an eye for décor, Consort, and this room is well-appointed. How much did those vases cost?”
She shrugged. “I don’t even know. They were bought by proxies. I just told them I wanted something shiny for the flowers.”
Tiger dumped the flowers onto the floor and slammed the vase against the table. It rang like a bell, instead of shattering. “Your proxies bought solid gold vases for your flowers, Sarah.”
Her jaw dropped in shock. “It’s not just painted to look like gold?”
He shook his head. “This vase alone would be enough to buy a house. You have ten in here. And other valuables, as well. This room…” He shook his head. “If I were a guard, this room would be a gleaming target.”
“And the guards know they will not get paid after Rex’s death,” I added. “So they will line their pockets any way they can.”
“Shit,” Sarah muttered.
The banging at the door suddenly stopped. We all quieted down to listen. Then a new sound came at the door—the clanking of bone on bone. I ran to the door to glean more information from the sounds, but the throne and the door muffled them well. I knelt on the throne and leaned closer to the door to try to hear what had changed.
The door pressed against the throne once more. Only wide enough for two fingers to get through. Or a voice. “Everyone, it’s me, Abyss. Let us in.”
Shock and relief coursed through me, and we all dragged the throne away from the door, and in came the conduits. All but Omen, who was missing. Then we put the throne back in place, just as more guards tried to breech.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Abyss. “How?”
“We are here to serve our queen,” the conduit said. “I stole Omen’s cottage ship to bring us here. After Valor told us of Sarah, Jac, and Omen’s tardiness, I thought you could likely use some help.”
Sarah smiled at her conduits. “I am so grateful for you to come here, all of you.”
Abyss and the others knelt before her. “We were cowardly before. But we found our strength in you, Sarah. What orders would you give us?”
Jenny gawked at the display in front of us—ghostly conduits bowing to her sister and pledging their allegiance. “I’m sorry, excuse me, what the fuck is going on?”
Sarah patted her arm. “Long story. For now, just hang out, Abyss. Deacon, is your gauntlet driver working?”
“Yes, why?” I asked.
“I need to send a message,” she said.
I handed it to her. As I read the communication she created from over her shoulder, I asked, “Are you sure about this?”
She cast me a sidelong glance. “Do you have any better ideas?”
No, I really didn’t, but… “I am unfamiliar with the others you are messaging, but Angeles is an awful man.”
“I’ve got this.” She sent the message out.
I smiled and kissed her. “I believe in you, Sarah. I’m just not sure if the people out there do.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms and arched a brow at me. “So, you’re a little more than her friend , aren’t you, Deacon?”
Sarah looked at me in surprise. “You told them we were friends ?”
I shrugged. “Well, we are friends, are we not?”
She laughed and told her sisters, “Deacon is my companion, which here, means he is my husband.”
They gasped in unison before Jenny asked, “You got married ?”
“ United is the term here, and that’s also a long story,” Sarah said. “I’ll be happy to tell it to you, if we live.”
The door banged against the throne again.
“We need weapons,” Tiger said, glancing around. “That throne is not going to hold them for long. Is there a cache here, Sarah?”
“No. I never expected to need weapons up here.”
The conduits produced spare bone knives for us all. Very proudly, Abyss said, “I thought you might need these.”
“You didn’t happen to think of an exit strategy, too, did you?” Elizabeth asked the conduit very politely.
Abyss shook her head, and the banging ceased again. This time, there were no skirmish sounds. Only deep voices, but we could not hear what was said. Then the door cracked again.
“Queen Sarah, it is I, Xylic,” came a rushed voice. “I received your message and have brought the council. Might we have a word?”
Sarah gave me a reassuring smile then addressed the conduits. “Ladies, move the throne and let only the council into this chamber. Not their guard.”
They did precisely that and, once the council was in the room, they slid the heavy throne back in front of the door. The council members quickly noted Rex’s fading ghost on the floor. Angeles was distracted by Sarah’s sisters, though he pretended not to be.
I stepped closer to them and glared a warning at him, specifically.
Sarah straightened her stance. “Xylic, I wish we were seeing one another under better circumstances, but this is where we’re at.”
The most distinguished gentleman of the group solemnly nodded. “We had caught wind of Rex’s unexpected demise. Our districts are in utter chaos now. We are trying to shield this information from Justice Bateen to avoid an outright scandal. Thankfully, he is preoccupied with preparations for Illiapol next week, so I believe that has bought us some time.”
“I will take all the good news I can get,” Sarah said, then pursed her lips at one of the council members. “Angeles, I suggest you stop eyeing my sisters like that.”
He held his hands up and smiled lasciviously. “Merely appreciating the sights, Queen.”
Abyss suddenly held a knife to his throat. “Appreciate being alive more.”
Angeles’s eyes flashed with anger. “You guaranteed us safe conduct, Queen, what is the meaning of this?” he snarled.
“Safe conduct goes both ways, Angeles, and I will not tolerate anyone who makes my sisters feel unsafe,” Sarah said in a fierce tone anyone would be wise to heed. “Keep your eyes on what’s important and you will be allowed to keep them.” Then she gestured for Abyss to step from the man.
The mood among the council was not good to begin with, and Abyss’ quick temper had not helped matters. Some fidgeted while others looked at each other, as though they would try to escape.
Xylic cleared his throat for attention. “Queen, why did you call us here? I imagine you have a plan.”
She smiled curtly. “I do. You will declare me queen of Faithless. You will use your considerable authority and men to bring peace to my city. Once order has been reestablished, I will create a street patrol to maintain that order.”
The council mumbled among themselves. One I didn’t know turned and asked, “In exchange for what?”
“I believe the future of Faithless is not in bloodshed and violence, not in abuse or cruelty, but in its people, both the living and the dead alike,” Sarah said. “We all want a prosperous Faithless and a prosperous Halla. You men run your districts well. I will support your continued claim to your districts—"
“Is that all you offer us?” he interrupted her.
“It is that, or I can possess each of you into me, the way I did to Rex. You see where that got him.” She pointed to his ghostly body, now mostly faded. “Or, if dwelling as a hostage in my body for the rest of your lives does not appeal to you, then you may follow Rex to the ether. Either way is fine by me. Support my claim to Faithless, gentlemen, or the alternative. It is your choice.”
“And if we refuse all the options?” he asked, even though his voice had weakened in resolve.
She paced between us as she spoke. “Barthen, you are surrounded by a dozen and a half of the deadliest ghosts on all of Halla, all armed and happy to take down anyone I want. More than that, my companion is an accomplished soldier, as well.” She put her hands on her sisters’ shoulders and said, “But my sisters have yet to learn the ways of Halla. They don’t know the rules for ghosts yet, what ghosts need, what they don’t. How to hurt them…they don’t know how to kill your kind just yet, and I can think of no finer way for them to learn than on a handful of uncooperative men who thought they knew better than a queen. I don’t imagine they would get it right on their first victim, either. But I swear to you they will keep trying.”
I was impressed by her sisters’ ability to play along. They both stared the council down, as though they were eager to get started learning how to dispatch ghosts, starting with them.
Barthen’s nostrils flared in anger. “Our guards—"
“Are on the other side of that door,” Sarah said with a smirk. “None of them will have enough time to break down that door and stop me from possessing each of you. Or, if I were to tell my conduits to block the door, your guards will never get in here. They won’t be able to stop my sisters from hacking you into little bits, starting with your fingers and toes and working their way up.”
Elizabeth’s pallor was green, but she stood firm. Jenny glared at the men with impressive vigor.
But Xylic seemed to sense Sarah’s bluff. He had the slightest smirk the entire time she gave her gruesome speeches. But then he knelt before Sarah and said, “May the Moons bless the queen of Faithless.”
The other council members were slow to follow suit, but each of them knelt and repeated his words.
“Gentlemen, rise as my new court of advisors.” They stood, and the tension in the room shifted. She said, “Now, send your men throughout the city to quell the violence. You may accompany them or stay here. As always, your choice. We will meet at Rex’s manor in three days. I expect all of you there, ready to sign a new city charter.”
The other advisors left for the door to return to their men and give orders, but Xylic walked straight to Sarah. Abyss stood by Sarah, with her eyes on him, her hand gripping her bone knife.
He regarded Abyss with a smile, then said to Sarah, “Well played, Queen.”
A smile twitched at her mouth. “How fussy are they?”
He chuckled, looking over his shoulder at the new court. “They’ll get over it. This was less detrimental than when Rex had arrived. He executed four of us, before we agreed to his terms. I do not like seeing Faithless in ruin. None of us do. You will have your city’s order by nightfall, Queen.”
She considered that for a moment. “Do you think I need to worry for my safety with the others?”
“Doubtful, though if you were to execute Angeles for good measure, none of us would mind terribly.”
She snickered and he did, too. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So, now that we are paddling the boat in the same direction, as you might say,” he said amicably, “do you think I might be able to get to know the Queen of Faithless better?”
Instantly on alert, I stepped up to her side. “And in what way would that be, Xylic?”
He smiled kindly. “She reminds me of my daughter who remains on Orhon. Spirited, smart, cunning. Perhaps we could discuss a ruling strategy over banwine sometime? You included, of course. I do not mean to disrespect your union.”
I was relieved to hear his agenda. “That could be agreeable. If my consort is interested.”
Sarah smiled and nodded. “That sounds like fun, Xylic.”
Now that a treaty had been established, I caught Sarah’s eye and asked, “May I see you privately?”
“Excuse us,” she said, and we found a nearly quiet corner away from everyone. “I think it’s going well.”
“As do I.” I was immensely proud of her, and equally worried for our companion. “Now, where is Jac?”