CHAPTER 56 A CATAPULTED COMEUPPANCE
Duke Siata stood before the knights that had been placed under his command and let out a weary sigh.
The Troivackian queen had had a plethora of ideas on how to hold off the rebels should they happen to break through the king’s defenses outside the city … But all her methods relied heavily on traps and avoiding as much confrontation as possible. It was not the Troivackian way. The knights would never agree to it, and besides, if they built the traps she suggested and the rebels didn’t break through the king’s defenses, which was far more likely, then they’d all have to dismantle them safely.
The duke let out a soft grumble. He had been content to let Duke Icarus go head-to-head with the queen in the past. While he himself didn’t take as much exception to her, he did strongly believe she had no place advising the army. Even if she said she was basing her stratagem on Daxaria’s when they had won the Tri-War …
She doesn’t understand that this isn’t how things are done, but if I send the men out now, she’ll have no choice but to continue with the tried-and-true defense thathas worked for Vessa for decades. She had to be checked by the physician again, so I should have time … The other noblewomen are waiting for her with their guards, so they won’t know, and Lady Katarina last I heard isn’t fit to fight … This is how it should be.
“Alright, men, I want a quarter of you guarding exterior doors, another quarter guarding the wall with the archers, then the rest of you—”
“Duke Siata, were you momentarily deaf when the queen explained her plans, or are you being treasonous right now?”
Duke Siata froze.
Then slowly turned around to find His Highness Prince Eric standing four feet behind him.
“Your Highness,” he greeted warily while also lowering his voice so the unit of knights behind him wouldn’t hear. “I am merely trying to save Her Majesty’s life. I understand she is moved by her grief to act unpredictably, however, we are talking about the lives of hundreds of people and the stability of the crown.”
“Her Majesty told me her plans, and I agreed that they were well thought out. And I am of perfectly sound mind,” Eric retorted levelly, his dark gaze boring into the duke, who met it with the same expression one might give a child making unreasonable requests.
“Pardon my saying so, Your Highness, but this is a matter outside your jurisdiction.”
“Well, how about this!” A new voice sounded off behind Eric from the shadowy depths in the castle.
Both Eric and the duke turned, but only the prince grinned when he saw the glowing woman approach them.
Kat’s eyes were magically sparkling, her aura was flickering wildly, and she looked as though she was bursting with energy.
She wore her official armor, her sword at her side, Pina perching perfectly on her shoulder.
“How about we ask the knights if they would like to listen to Her Majesty’s orders or yours, Duke Siata, given that if they follow your orders without knowing they are treasonous, they also face charges and title strippings.”
“Feeling better?” Eric asked, his eyes crinkling and his shoulders relaxing as he took in the healthy state of his wife.
“I had an overzealous fire witch try to set me ablaze during most of breakfast time—I feel better than I have in ages.”
Eric opened his mouth at first in concern but chuckled instead before the couple readjusted their sights on Duke Siata.
The man looked as though he were a word away from rolling his eyes at the Daxarian duo.
So Kat didn’t waste a word on him. Instead she stepped before the knights, kissed Pina on the cheek, and held up a hand.
Instantly whispers broke out amongst the men.
“Pina!”
“Gods, she looks cute today.”
“She looks cute every day!”
“But she’s smiling today!”
“Must be because her witch is with her.”
Kat smiled at the men, who no longer stared at her as though she were strange or a nuisance but exactly as though she were one of them, and she felt her already soaring mood rise even higher, even though she knew a great deal of their acceptance was because of her kitten …
“I really need to know what you did to them one of these days …” she murmured.
Pina’s only response was a purr.
Kat reached up and scritched her kitten’s cheek appreciatively before returning her attention to the army.
“Knights of Troivack! Her Majesty has crafted a new plan in order to catch the rebels off guard should they break through your king’s defense! The reason for this is that Mr. Levin, the king’s assistant, betrayed His Majesty and, therefore, knows better than anyone what the court’s go-to strategy would be in times of war!” she shouted over them.
The exuberance the unit had exhibited when Kat and Pina had first arrived died down instantly as they were reminded of Mr. Levin’s treachery.
“Duke Siata here wants you to use the original plan! Now, do you want to follow the queen’s orders and not commit treason by blatantly ignoring her command? Or would you like to catch those bastards off guard?” Kat roared, pumping her fist in the air, which had Pina craning her neck forward as though trying to encourage the men to agree.
Sensing this, Kat glanced at her kitten. “And what do you say, Pina?”
Pina opened her mouth and let out a squeaking mew that was both adorable and also impactful.
“WE FOLLOW OUR QUEEN!”
“AND PINA!”
Kat shot them all a flat look.
“AND PINA’S WITCH!” At least one knight tried halfheartedly to placate her.
After letting out a disparaging breath, Kat gave the knights a relaxed smile that they all returned.
She even spotted Sir Cas and Sir Vohn standing in line to her right, and once she locked eyes with Sir Cas, he pumped his fist in the air and let out a loud “HOH!”
The army soon followed in kind, and so Kat turned and faced the duke, who looked like he was experiencing a terrible headache as he winced against the army’s shouts.
“I think I’ll take it from here, Duke Siata.” Eric clapped a heavy hand on the duke’s shoulder that made the man’s knees buckle. “Though I will say, before you go inside and perhaps have a cup of moonshine … I would’ve thought you’d all have learned by now what happens to those who oppose Her Majesty. If you’d like a reminder, I hear Duke Icarus is still breathing, though he wishes he wasn’t.”
Impressively, Duke Siata did not cower or flinch, but he did submit to a look of utter defeat, as though this recent attempt at undermining Alina were the one and only silent protest he could manage.
With the duke slinking off into the shadows of the castle without another word, Kat gestured with her head for her husband to come forward before once again addressing the knights.
“Alright, everyone! Here’s what we’re going to do!”
Aradia strutted through the abandoned streets of Vessa.
There was a balmy breeze that brushed her cheek that the three sirins flying above her had nothing to do with. It carried the scent of warming earth and softening water …
The first witch smiled to herself.
She’d always liked spring.
Especially after escaping Baroness Elena Souros’s keep …
Poor Tak had had to burrow out of several more feet of rubble for them, then they had discovered a most horrendous stench filling the air. Aradia had recognized that there was a startling amount of garbage that must have been piled up on the floors that had collapsed. To add insult to injury, there was an acidic odor that told her the destruction of the keep had most definitely been intentional.
It was particularly suspicious when they had exited the reeking remains and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Not even an alarmingly massive raccoon that Tak couldn’t stop trying to understand or describe to his allies.
Sure, there was a bit of a hiccup to Aradia’s plan, and the longer her brother remained in her care, the more likely it was that he would figure out a way to escape, but she was determined this time. Her brother would not best her again.
She could live free of his shadow over her once and for all, and to her, that was sweeter than even the faint aroma of spring.
Rather than following the road to reach Vessa at its western gate, Aradia had simply barreled through the city’s wall with Tak’s help and proceeded north toward the castle.
No doubt that was where many of the witches had relocated. If not? Well … she may just have to kill more people than she had wanted to. Unfortunate, but … it was for the greater good.
She reached the castle with a surprising lack of resistance … So much so that she halted in her steps and turned toward Mr. Levin.
“You said they divide their men among the sides of the castle walls while leaving a few inside. Where are they?”
Mr. Levin’s normally sharp brown eyes rested on the castle gates nervously as he thought through the various possibilities.
Meanwhile, there was a loudly clanging bell sounding off to their left.
“Sounds like the unit in the west heard about our detour,” Aradia voiced aloud with her eyes calmly drifting over the assistant’s head. “If they get in my way, I will kill them all. Now tell me, is there another strategy His Majesty could be using? Traps? Boiling oil? The coven was adamant about not helping the king, so I’m doubtful we have a plethora of magic power to combat.”
“W-Well, I … He …”
“You have no idea.” The first witch sighed. “Very well, I guess we’ll have to get new eyes on this.”
Aradia lifted her hand to her mouth and let out a shrill whistle, making the sirins above them dive down to her and hover above as they waited to hear from their mistress.
“I want to know what’s going on inside the walls. If you see any archers, scream.”
The sirins, all three looking identical to the human eye save for their slightly different hair colors, grinned, revealing sets of matching pointy teeth before they took to the skies again, their white robes rippling against the winds.
Aradia watched from the ground with the imp and Tak and shielded her eyes against the sun as she waited to hear their screams or to at least see them again …
They were gone for an exceedingly long time … But then …
An explosion of blue light erupted from within the castle walls, and all three sirins were blasted out of the vicinity and sent flying a league northward away from the castle …
Aradia’s hand and brazen expression fell.
“The house witch.”
Her hand curled around the handle of the dagger at her hip as her mood blackened, and she started to move purposefully toward the gates. She’d now have to leverage her hostage to get in, but so be it.
Things had just become infinitely more complicated.
“There’s my da.” Likon’s soft broken voice was only heard by the imp, Viellen. He hadn’t even noticed the young man return to consciousness or remove his blindfold and work his mouth free of the gag. Yet he was there, squinting against the daylight, his body weak, but his smile filled with confident relief. The imp didn’t have a chance to even think about retying the blindfold or shoving the gag back in place, however.
“Ka?” Tak pointed a finger to the sky.
Confused by what the stone golem was trying to say, Aradia stopped and looked up.
Her jaw dropped.
“What … in the living hell is—”
Soaring through the air as though having been catapulted from the castle courtyard were three figures.
An adorable kitten in the middle, her small paws splayed out with her claws extended, a second cat on her right with a magnificent tuft of chest fur fluttering in the breeze, his body fully outstretched, and lastly, what looked like … a pillow-shaped raccoon careening through the air.
Aradia wasn’t positive, but she was relatively certain the raccoon was shrieking …
And then all three landed on Tak—Pina on top of his head, Kraken on his left shoulder, and Reggie, being significantly less agile and considerably heavier than the other two, landed closer to the golem’s stomach, but managed to grasp onto the vines that swung from its body.
The impact of the raccoon’s landing was loud enough that it echoed down to Aradia and the others on the ground.
The first witch was at an utter loss as to what the possible purpose could be to such a move, until … the golem wavered in the air.
He flickered … in existence in that realm.
Aradia’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
The cats were capable of moving between realms, and if there was another being not entirely of the earthly world like Tak, they could push them back.
She rounded on Tak and shouted up at them, “YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SHOVE HIM BACK ON YOUR OWN! HE’S TOO BIG!”
“That might be the case! Though he’s going to have a difficult time helping you if he can’t see and keeps disappearing.”
Aradia slowly turned back around.
Katarina stood just outside the castle gate, looking perfectly strong and full of magic, grinning and wearing her armor. Her father was standing behind her in the courtyard with his eyes filled with lightning.
“Why is the raccoon involved then?” Aradia wondered bluntly.
“Reggie? Oh, Reggie is a very awkward handicap to have. Take a look for yourself.” Kat jerked her chin toward the stone golem.
Aradia risked a quick glance back to see that the raccoon was swinging on the vines hanging off Tak and he was squealing like a demented child having a marvelous time as he wrapped the vines around Tak’s legs despite them all flickering in and out of the realm.
The first witch looked back at Kat and shook her head disparagingly. “Your father can’t hold the shield forever.”
“That’s true, but we don’t need him to hold it forever. We just need to take that dagger of yours, and we’ll go from there.”
“The sirins will be back soon, Lady Katarina, and furthermore”—Aradia waved her hand casually over her shoulder, and the imp half-lifted Likon, then gave him a small shake—“either let me in and give me five witches, or I’ll cut Likon’s throat here, which would be a great pity.”
The redhead’s jubilant expression hardened instantly.
“You kill him, and I’ll make sure you spend the rest of eternity buried in the ground with nothing to eat, see, or feel, and I don’t care if I burn in hell for eternity for it.”
“KAT, SHE CAN STOP TIME!” Likon suddenly roared, shocking everyone with the strength of his voice. “I DON’T THINK SHE CAN DO IT FOR LONG, BUT—” The imp blurred into a cloud of steam and disappeared with Likon in tow.
The sirin that had remained behind the first witch and who was still levitating the devil let out a kettle-like hiss.
Kat looked at the first witch in alarm at Likon’s news.
Aradia tilted her head casually. “I guess we are at an impasse at least until the rebels break through and we simply camp outside the castle … and that should be in about …” she held up three fingers and counted down, and then sure enough, as her last finger lowered, there was the sound of a trumpet … a trumpet that had been carved of rough bone and not brass like the Troivackian army’s.
The rebels had broken through one of the gates and were coming toward the castle.
Kat stared at the first witch, who smiled. “Sorry, Lady Katarina, I had to be exceptionally prepared. So even with you and your father in fighting shape, I’m afraid you will not win this war. Though I am surprised you don’t want to banish the devil. I fear for the future of Daxaria and Troivack,” Aradia informed Kat disappointedly. “Brendan Devark should’ve known better and one day could have come to his senses, but you … You’re a hero. You save the one, but a queen needs to save the many, even if it costs a few lives. I understand though. You and I … the Gods made you like me after all. Down to the very fact that I no longer feel fear. You know what that’s like, don’t you? Being reckless and taking risks because you don’t fear the possible repercussions. I used to use that to help any poor soul in need, but it means nothing if you aren’t fixing the bigger problems. ”
The first witch’s words made all color drain from Kat’s face, and a ring of magic pulsed in Kat’s eyes.
“I’m nothing like you.”
“Of course you are. Otherwise, my brother wouldn’t have found you so interesting.”
“I don’t casually sacrifice people.”
“You are willing to casually sacrifice thousands of men fighting on the rebellion’s side, as well as the ancient beasts. The beasts are creatures purer than you could ever realize. I wouldn’t be mounting that high horse just yet.”
Kat swallowed, and for a moment it looked like she was starting to doubt herself … until she stared through her eyebrows at the first witch with a demonic smile.
“Well … The way I see it, we have more differences than similarities. For example, I have my family, and better yet a cute cat, while even your allies prefer your brother. I have two kingdoms who love me and will help me become the greatest queen I can be. You don’t even have one person who likes you, which should tell you something, and the fact that it doesn’t is a shame. And just for the record? Neither you nor your brother has anyone to blame for your situations other than yourselves.” Kat pulled her shoulders straight and her sword free, flipping it in her hand, and making the blade ring in the air.
Aradia’s eyes snapped to it and widened in recognition.
Kat grinned. “Even Theodore Phendor crafted my blade first, and that’s how this war will end. With me coming in first, so … Sorry, Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Whatever-Great-Grandma, but … I’d say the odds are actually stacked in my favor.”