Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TYNAN
The sun was just about to appear on the horizon, when I lowered myself from the window and quickly descended down the wall.
The air appeared thicker, fuller with scents and early morning sounds.
I could hear the sleepy shuffles of feet on the walls, the guards were changing shifts.
I only had an hour or so before my absence would be noticed.
I climbed the wall and entered the city.
Swiftly, I passed through the massive labyrinth of apartments and tiny storefronts.
In the alleyways were half legal businesses operated by people that moved through the shadows to avoid the greedy eyes of city officials, and the deepest, darkest dens that harboured all types of various vices known to men.
I crossed the busy street, avoiding the prostitutes, drug addicts and drunks, and arrived at the familiar corner with the crooked building.
When I walked in, everyone was still asleep.
“Rise and shine!” I greeted.
“What? What happened?” Frid sat up on the bed, and immediately covered herself up with a thin blanket.
Each of them had beds in separate corners of the room that served as the kitchen, dining area, and bedroom. The walls looked like they were about to collapse inward, and the smell of the place was an odd combination of moisture from the water pipes and the pervasive stench of cooked pork.
I walked past the beds, pushing Victor's legs out of the way.
“Hey, fuck off,” he muttered.
Sol sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“It’s time,” I said, picking up a piece of crust from the dried out loaf of bread that was still sitting on the table.
“Why? What changed?” Frid wrapped her shoulders in her blanket.
“We talked and she’s coming with us,” I said.
“Bullshit,” Victor mumbled.
“Shush. Let him talk.” Frid hissed.
“She doesn’t want to stay. I suggest you pack your things. It’s time to leave.”
“What things?” Victor placed his head back on the pillow and covered his face with the bed sheet.
“Can you just. Stop. Talking for a minute!” Frid threw her pillow at him.
“You fucked. Didn’t you?” Sol’s voice sounded loud and clear.
“What?” Frid’s mouth opened wide.
“Careful, you’ll catch a fly.” Victor smirked.
“How did that happen? When? Where?” Frid ignored him.
“It’s not important. We need to go.”
“Hell no. We need to know. We’ve been stuck in this hell hole for months. We deserve to know.” Victor finally sat up.
“I can always sense these things.” Sol was putting on his suit with a satisfied grin on his face.
“Hurry up, will you? I want to be off in an hour.” I approached the basin and quickly washed up.
The plan was simple: I would return to the palace and get Alina out the same way I had been sneaking out since I got there.
Once in the city, we will meet up with the rest of the group, and wait until nightfall before heading into no-man’s-land.
It was the easiest way to slip away unnoticed.
While I could risk my own life, and I knew my friends would not be intimidated by any altercation with the city guards, Alina was not a fighter. I could never put her in danger.
I hurried back through the filthy streets, eager to see the girl that held my heart, and my soul, in the palms of her small, delicate hands.
My head was still buzzing after the night we spent together.
It was a completely new and unfamiliar territory.
I could clearly feel the bond between us, the connection that would never falter.
I could see her still asleep, wrapped in the blanket I tucked around her shoulders before leaving.
The sun was already out, when an unexpected flash of worry, or fear, made me stop and look up at the palace.
Something was not right. I ran, avoiding the street sellers, food carts, and women in thick, loose skirts.
Panic hit me when I felt a flash of pain through the bond. The next moment I shifted.
My wide wingspan pushed the people out of my way and created havoc before I soared up, but I only had my eyes on the window on the fifth floor, seventh from the left.
It was still open. I could not get there fast enough.
Behind me, I could hear the palace guards, and several arrows pierced the air beside me when I burst into the room.
I searched the bed, the floor, every corner. She was not here. I moved to the bathing room, yanked open the closet. She was gone.
Something exploded in red and purple inside of my head as I threw the door open leading to the hallway.
“Kent! They took her to the queen's apartments. I saw them take her.” Mayer shouted just as a group of guards assembled in the corridor, swords raised.
I moved further down the hall, closing the distance between me and the armed men. The line of soldiers shifted slightly, some of them were clearly not prepared to face me.
“I’ll give you one chance to leave,” I said in a calm voice.
“Drop your weapons, Kent,” someone shouted.
I did not plan to waste any more time. Without any effort, I jumped and kicked off the wall, rotating my body in the air, and released three of my daggers almost at the same time.
When three of the soldiers fell to the ground, one by one, I was already by the front line.
Frozen by a sudden bout of stupor, my next blade easily took out soldier number four.
Quickly recovering, I collected my knives that were still dripping with blood.
The next moment, I had to avoid a direct strike from a sword, then kicked the attacker in his groin, before slicing his arm.
The wound was severe enough to stop him from fighting, but not bad enough to kill him on the spot.
Next, two men received slashes right below their knees as I crouched between them. Then I slowly stood up, watching the remaining group that no longer looked so eager to fight. They eyed the gruesome injuries I generously bestowed on their friends.
“You fucker. I always knew you were off.”
The familiar voice came from the opposite corner. It was the soldier, whose name I never cared to remember, that tried to ambush me with a couple of his friends. Slowly, I turned my head in his direction.
“I was the sword fighting champion in my division. If anyone can take you out, it would be me.” He kept talking as I stepped closer.
The hall was filled with pools of blood and the groans and cries of the defeated. I stepped through the bodies, closing in on the last guard.
“You’ll regret ever coming at me,” the soldier warned.
I could clearly hear the uncertainty at the edge of his voice.
“I will spare you if you show me where the queen's apartments are.”
“I’m not showing you shit!”
I took off my knife, then my arm stilled by my side.
“You're a freak!” He clenched the handle of his rapier with both hands.
The next couple of moments were a blur of explosive actions. I sprinted forward, avoiding the swing of his blade. I took two quick steps up the wall and rotated my body in the air, while releasing two of my daggers that landed precisely in each arm of the guard.
“You fucking stabbed me!” the guard squealed from where he fell on the floor.
“Where are the queen’s apartments?”
“Don’t . . . Don't! I’ll tell you everything,” he whimpered.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Mayer approaching me.
“I didn’t want you to be involved in this.” I gave him a side eye.
“Too late,” he responded.
His shoulders were slumped forward, but his face was a mask of somber determination.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I returned all of my attention to the man who was rolling on the floor.
“Well?”