53. Divide and Conquer
53
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
*Kieran*
“That was quite a speech,” Father says coldly, coming to stand within inches of my face. “You’ve certainly spun quite a tale.”
He’s saying this for the benefit of those around us, I know. The fury blazing in my eyes is a sharp reminder of the truth of my words. When he deems someone a threat, there is no stopping his atrocities, and I’ve just made myself public enemy number one.
“I should have known this would all be too much for Prince Kieran,” he shouts louder, for the troops to hear. “He’s been off ever since The Haze. I suppose being mated to your own flesh and blood can cause any man to lose his mind.”
“She’s not my sister!” I spit. “You kidnapped her!”
Anwen pulls me back before I can swing on my father. Family or not, there are men in this crowd who would still see a punch in the face as an act of treason. I can only pray to the goddess that I’ve convinced enough of the men to join me.
“As you can see,” he chuckles sadly, waving in my direction, “my boy has lost his way. Nothing he’s said can be taken as truth. The Haze muddled his brain.”
“You’re lying,” I spit at him.
“And you’re a traitor,” he says lowly, just loud enough that only I can hear. His tone is dangerous, murderous, and I know that he wouldn’t be above stabbing me here and leaving me to die. He won’t, though. There would be too many witnesses. He’ll wait to deal with me at home.
“Prince Kieran is clearly unfit to lead this kingdom,” he turns back to the crowd. “My son Anwen is now the crown prince. You will take your orders from him. Anwen,” he calls to my brother, “since you’ve already got Kieran restrained, take him into custody.”
My brother’s grip tightens around me, and I see my plan fall apart in an instant. Anwen is smart when he wants to be, even kind on occasion. But he is also fiercely loyal to my father. He’s always resented my position, and this is finally his chance to usurp me. My father would have known this. It’s why he sent Anwen on this mission here in the first place. I can only hope King Cole will reach Escuro and warn the others.
“No,” Anwen says quietly, surprising both me and my father. He lets go of me completely and faces me. “I believe Kieran.”
The silence is deafening; the only sound is the wind blowing through the trees. The men clearly don’t know what to do, who to believe. Anwen taking a stand against Father might just be the support I need to turn the tide.
“I stand with Prince Kieran!” he shouts, raising his fist in defiance.
There’s shouting again, and many fists raise in one accord. My father reaches for his sword, but I grab Anwen’s hand and start running, mind-linking with him to tell him to shift–and fast.
“Run!” I call back to the men who’ve protested with me. The moment they see me shift, they do too, and we are a blur of fur, taking off as fast as we possibly can.
There’s no way for me to know how many men are with me. I run as hard and as fast as my legs can take me, and soon I’m flanked by my closest friends. I’m relieved that they’ve made it safely away from anyone who is still on my father’s side, and I turn to see my brother just a hair behind me, keeping pace.
I’m the one who knows the way, and the group behind me understands that there is no slowing down between here and Escuro. I have no idea what will happen when we arrive. I don’t know how far ahead King Cole is, but I know that behind us is certain death. The king retains control of enough troops to kill us. Just when the fear threatens to swallow me whole, I hear the flapping of wings.
It’s too dark in the night sky to see what’s coming, but the creatures are flying in a tight formation so close together that they block out the light of the moon. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of the creatures, and they fly overhead, completely ignoring us.
It isn’t long before we hear the howls of pain, but we keep running.
“Bats,” Anwen cheers in his head. “I’m still linked with Father. He’s warning his men not to get bitten.”
“A gift from King Cole,” I tell him, and I would laugh if I could. Wherever he is, he knew we would need backup. We keep running, but Anwen tells me that the bats have slowed Father’s group of soldiers down. They’ve given us a chance.
King Cole must not be too far away, which is a relief. The moment we cross into Escuro, he can help us regroup. Even if most of the army followed my lead, my father will not stop until every last one of us is dead. I can only hope that the soldiers in Escuro have prepared in some way. There weren’t many from what I could see while I was there, but they were passionate. They were just as bloodthirsty for my father’s men as he was to destroy their kingdom.
It won’t be much, but it’s the only advantage we have. My father doesn’t know that anyone is left in Escuro. He doesn’t know that Raven has powers, and at least with her and King Cole on our side, we’ll have some help.
Even with the help of the bats, I know we must push on. We’ll likely have to run all night to stay out of my father’s clutches.
‘What do we do now?’ Lucian asks from somewhere behind me. ‘Do you have a plan?
‘We have to take out the king,’ I tell him, wondering if I’ve accidentally mind-linked with anyone else in my tired state, but it’s nothing these men won’t have already guessed. We’re in a position to kill or be killed.
‘They’re still fighting the bats,’ Anwen confirms, giving me some peace of mind. ‘How much further is it to Escuro? It won’t be safe to stop until we’re there.’
‘We’ll run as long as it takes,’ I hear an unfamiliar voice, a soldier behind me, I’m sure. ‘We’re with you, Prince Kieran.’
‘We stand with Prince Kieran!’ I hear a chorus of voices shout.
It’s going to be a long night, that’s the only certainty. There’s nowhere for our large group to hide, and I don’t know if we have the numbers to fight on our own. If we’re powerful enough to win.
So I run faster, pushing my body harder than it’s ever been pushed. I am pure adrenaline, imagining Raven, and how happy I will be when I finally have her in my arms again. She started all of this. As much as I wanted to be the one to kill my father, maybe it’s right for us to be together when it happens.
‘So,’ Anwen starts, linking with me again. ‘Blanca isn’t our sister?’
‘Her name is Raven,’ I correct. ‘And no, she isn’t our sister. And you better start being nicer to her now. She’s my wife, and I’m not going to put up with any shit from you.’
‘I promise, I promise.’ He laughs. ‘Goddess, what a weird day. I had no idea when I woke up that I’d be running myself ragged for my former sister turned sister-in-law.’
‘It just sounds weird when you say it like that,’ I complain, annoyed with my brother but grateful for the distraction.
In a few more hours, we’ll be in close enough range that I’ll finally be able to mind-link with Raven again. I wasn’t expecting to be back so soon, and definitely not under such precarious circumstances, but the realization makes me feel like I’m flying.
This time away from her has been hell for so many reasons, but soon, she’ll be back in my arms. Hopefully not long after, my father will be dead, and all the danger will pass. It doesn’t seem like I’m asking for too much with that request.
‘I’m sorry, by the way,’ Anwen continues, pulling me from my thoughts. ‘I’m sorry for how I treated her. How I’ve been treating you. There’s probably more of Father in me than I would care to admit.’
My heart hurts for my little brother. It’s been a whirlwind of a day, throwing everything he thought to be true into chaos. Still, he’s by my side, choosing me over our father. It’s more than I could have hoped for. When this is all over, I could probably stand to be a little kinder to him too.
‘You’ll have to apologize to Raven,’ I tell him. ‘As far as I’m concerned, I owe you my life.’
‘Then we better make sure that you live a long time because I plan to cash in on that for several years,’ he jokes.
I can’t help but laugh at this, the joke lifting my spirits. We’ll be at the border soon, and then we’ll have backup. I’ll have Raven. No matter what happens after, we’ll be much stronger when we’re together.