Chapter Seventy
Saphyra
T he passage opened, unveiling a sea of velvet and silk clothed nobles bathed in the twinkling light of crystal chandeliers. The soft purple of twilight shimmered through the huge windows behind the throne, framing the scene in a whimsical glow. When the door banged against the wall, an ocean of prim faces turned from their card games and tea cakes, gasping as commoners poured through the servant doors to block the exits.
I stepped forward with a cloak of fake confidence wrapped firmly around me that would’ve made my mother proud. Dirty and covered in blood with the crown of Verden secure on my head, I stopped at the top of the stairs overlooking so many people that’d taken their positions for granted. Screams pierced the air, punctuated with gasps and scurrying feet. Chairs fell, and the nobles scattered, trying to move as far away from the intruders as possible.
Edeth shot up from where she’d been sitting on my throne and sputtered. “What’s the meaning of this? Guards!”
My reply caught in my throat, seeing her in that chair, as if it was hers. She’d taken everything from me. My mother, my freedom, my childhood. She’d tried to keep me away from my mates and murder Grey. She imprisoned my people and kept them starved and afraid. How dare she sit there like she was the queen?
The small number of soldiers that’d been inside the throne room shifted uneasily as my loyal guards trained plasma rifles at their heads. Some of the alphas were familiar to me and might not have been a threat, but we weren’t taking chances. The stakes were too high. Success or death, those were the only options tonight.
I grit my teeth against a flinch as a hollow banging came from the door behind me. The guards beyond were trying to get in and realizing that they could not. “Help won’t be coming.”
Jared gave me a big smile after having jammed the locking mechanism, so there was no way to open it from the outside. By the looks of it, all the other doors had been similarly sealed.
“Impossible! How did you escape? Where’s Mik?” Edeth’s face was as red as the paint on her lips, and spittle flew from her mouth as it twisted in a snarl.
Shadow stepped up next to me and upended the black bag he had strapped to his hip earlier. Mik’s severed head dropped out of it with a thunk and made a sickening squelch as it bounced down each step before coming to rest at the feet of a pale-faced Lady Baxter. The countess screamed, her blue eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
I swallowed down the bile creeping up my throat and averted my attention from the grisly mess. That was what I expected to be in the bag, but even expecting it hadn’t prepared me for the reality of a man’s head rolling down a set of stairs.
Violet made no move to help her mother and stayed stalwart at my side. A gaggle of richly dressed women scurried to the unconscious woman, fussing over her. They didn’t seem to be helping much, but they were making a spectacle of it.
Titus cast a questioning look at his wife before addressing me. “Saphyra, really, my dear? This is unnecessary. Edeth has been nothing but helpful and kind while waiting for your return. I’m sure a conversation will clear all of this up.”
Edeth scowled and shushed him, talking over me with venom in her eyes. “More proof of why you are unfit to wear the crown. As I was just saying. She’s a liar and doesn’t respect our culture or values. She’s a murderer and has desecrated our poor, sweet Mik.”
I let her finish. She didn’t know it yet, but she was digging her own grave. “While you were expounding on my shortfalls, did you also explain to them how you were a murderer yourself? One sent here to assassinate their queen, my mother? To hand me over to be bred like livestock in prison? And to give the Imperatrix access to our resources and to fill our halls with their troops?”
Titus puffed out his chest. “That’s absurd. Edeth would never do something like that. All you had to do was marry Lex and everything would’ve been fine.”
There was movement from a far corner, and the Duke of Spectre stood from a table where he’d been sipping brandy. “Is this true, Edeth? Could that be why you sent two companies of my trained soldiers halfway across the planet to investigate an uprising that wasn’t happening? I’d long wondered how convenient it was that you were the one to deliver the order that left the capital, and my wife, vulnerable in the attack ten years ago.” Bitterness and suspicion coated his words. He already knew what she’d done, but he played his part for the other nobles well.
A hushed murmur rippled through the assembly.
“She definitely did do that,” Shadow confirmed and dropped the blood-soaked sack to the ground with a splat.
I ignored Shadow’s dramatic statement. “You put her in power. She had exactly what she wanted. Of course, she was good and kind. She thought she’d succeeded. She thought this was her planet. But it never was. The Imperatrix used Edeth for her own ends.”
She was never the mastermind of her own greed, always having been the Imperatrix’s unwitting pawn. She didn’t need to be smart. It was probably better that she wasn’t. All Edeth had to do was to be here to turn suspicion away from the obvious problems while the Imperatrix used our planet for whatever she wanted.
Titus shuffled up the steps to stand beside his wife, his face pale as a sheet. “Edeth, what is going on, my dear? You said no one would get hurt. Where is my son?”
“No one else would have been hurt if that worthless boy would have done his job,” Edeth hissed under her breath. Her lips pinched together in anger and her nostrils flared. She looked like an angry bull backed into a corner.
She was letting her temper and greed get the better of her. Or was she really stupid enough to think no one would hear her? Did she not realize what she’d just said?
Titus took a step away from his wife. His eyes were wide with disbelief. Gasps and whispers circulated around the room.
Losing track of what we were here for, the shock of what she’d muttered about Lex sunk in. “Are you trying to say Lex knew about this all along?”
Edeth scoffed, dusting off her skirt. “Of course not, stupid girl. That never would have worked. He’s loved you his entire life. His obsession has fueled every facet of his career. It’s like he knew you were his Star-blessed mate before your designation even revealed. Pathetic, really.”
The banging increased, followed by a metallic whine, and the whole wall shuddered. Nervously, I glanced over my shoulder and took a step away from the clamor. “You admit you had this planned, then?”
The nobles needed proof of what she’d done or they would never side with me.
As the sound of machinery from outside intensified, Edeth’s confidence returned and the fear in her eyes dimmed. “I admit nothing, and you can’t prove it because it’s a lie.” With a smug smile, she walked back to the throne and sat down.
The grinding and shuddering from beyond the door grew louder and a fine dust rained down from the frame behind me. Stars, what was going on out there? I needed to hurry. I had a feeling there wasn’t much time before her soldiers found a way in here. “You don’t need to admit it. I saw everything. You stabbed her in the back and handed me to the enemy. You were her friend. She trusted you, and you betrayed her.”
Titus stared wide eyed at his wife. “Edeth, my love. How does Saphyra know how her mother died? You said that you were with her alone in the garden when the assassin attacked. She couldn’t know that unless she was there. And you still haven’t answered me. Where is Alexi?”
Edeth’s eyes rested on the wall behind me, where the vibration continued. The wall groaned and began to shudder.
Realization washed over me. The whole structure was moving.
I froze in panic, unable to believe what I was seeing.
Metal fasteners pinged free and rained down on the landing I was standing on.
I leaped aside just as the wall gave way and the entire section fell inward on top of where I had been seconds before.
They didn’t unlock it, because they couldn’t. They cut through it.
Edeth sneered now that her soldiers had access. “You didn’t really think this would work, did you? You’re surrounded. Stuck in here. I’ve been bringing in my own security for months. Axion was too busy chasing you around to even notice the staffing changes. My troops outnumber you. You’ll never escape this.” Edeth’s earlier concern was gone, replaced with an overabundance of confidence. “Storming in here and demanding that I admit to murder. Shameful. I wanted to do this the easy way, Saphyra. But again, you’ve forced my hand. You could have married any alpha, had a child to carry on your bloodline, and followed instructions. But instead, you chose this. Arrest them all.”
Shock registered on Titus’s face as he backed away from his wife. “What have you done? I trusted you.”
Soldiers streamed through the ragged opening, guns drawn and trained on my alphas and the ragtag groups of civilians. Nobles huddled in the center of the room with panicked looks on their faces, trying to stay out of the path of the troops that were hurrying down the steps.
Shadow moved in front of me as armed troops crowded through the gap in the wall. My guards and the citizens shifted to face the flood of soldiers, but there were so many, and they all had guns fixed on the tool wielding farmers and workmen.
I couldn’t let this happen.
My pulse thrashed wildly in my veins. I wouldn’t stand by and watch them be harmed in my name.
I was doing this to save my people. Not hurt them.
“Wait! Wait!” The sinking feeling of defeat washed over me. I’d be giving up without a fight, but this was no fight. It would’ve been carnage. “No one needs to die today. Throw down your weapons. I came here to help Verden, not see its citizens murdered. I won’t let anyone suffer for my crown. Not if I can stop it.”
There was a pause, and no one moved. Hopeful faces turned to me from every corner, but when they saw that I was serious, the rattle of pitchforks and rifles hitting the floor echoed around the room. Shadow looked at me in shock. My heart broke looking back into those eyes filled with the depths of a starry night. Murder was written all over his stance. He was ready to fight and die for this, but I couldn’t stand to see him hurt, or worse.
My stomach churned, and a cold numbness tingled across my whole body. I raised my hands in surrender. This was supposed to be peaceful, not a bloodbath. We were outnumbered and outgunned. That was why we had to sneak in like we did. We knew we didn’t have a chance against the trained force outside of this room. And now they were inside.
“That’s very noble of you.” Edeth stood from my throne to survey the crowd. “Very noble, but very stupid. I’m bored, and this is taking too long. We really don’t need any of them. Arrest the girl. Kill the rest.”
What? No!
“W-we surrendered!”
My heart seized when, from beyond the jagged hole in the wall, a staccato of blaster fire erupted, deafening me. What was that? Had Lex and Ghost finally made it? Where was Grey? I just saw him by the north exit. Everything had gone so wrong.
Edeth was going to kill them all.
Utter chaos broke out in the throne room. Nobles screamed and trampled one another, trying to escape. Edeth’s forces turned their attention to the turmoil in the corridor, rushing back the way they’d come. My guards picked up their guns, and the citizens grabbed their tools but hadn’t entered the fray until I nodded my assent.
I never wanted this to happen, but Edeth was going to kill them, anyway. Everyone loyal to me would’ve been dead by morning if she had her way. I was na?ve to think differently. I’d hoped for better. I’d hoped for peace. And we would have that, just not tonight.
Blaster fire pinged off the railing beside me and Shadow snatched me up around the waist and dragged me to cover. “Stay behind me.”
I could barely hear him over the plasma bolts zipping past us.
Nobles dove under tables, taking shelter, sobbing. Citizens bludgeoned soldiers over their heads with crowbars and wrenches, knocking them unconscious while Albion’s team laid down cover fire and moved unerringly toward me.
Lanxer stumbled, red blooming across his chest. A silent scream etched on his face as he fell under stampeding boots. I turned away, pressing my bloody tears into Shadow’s back as his body shook with the kick of his weapon.
My pulse buffeted my eardrums, competing with the shrill ringing in my head. Acid boiled in my stomach, and I swallowed past the dry lump lodged in my throat. I couldn’t watch them die, but I had to witness what I’d done. All of this was my fault.
Edeth ran to the corner, barricading herself behind a card table and using a groggy Lady Baxter and the women who’d tried to assist her as a buffer to the carnage. More enemy soldiers rushed out of the throne room into the hall to address the attack that had erupted in the corridor and found themselves directly in the line of a firing squad.
At the head of the advancing force, I caught a glimpse of Lex and Ghost. I felt their exhilaration closing in on me. Shadow swung me away from the wall where I’d been able to see and set me in the corner where Albion and her team made a perimeter. Hot blood sprayed my face when a bullet clipped one of the alphas in the arm, followed by a string of feminine curses, but she didn’t waver and held strong despite the apparent pain.
A dark-haired man with almond eyes and a familiar voice jogged toward us with Violet slung over his shoulder and a pale faced Melody following close behind. “I try to stay out of political squabbles, but you just can’t keep yourself out of trouble, can you?” He set Violet on her feet beside me and bowed quickly. “Your Majesty.”
Before I had a chance to react, he was sprinting into the fray as it spilled into the throne room once again. I looked to Shadow, who was watching me out of the corner of his eye while also staying alert to the rest of the battle. “Was that Maddox?”
He gave a single nod before taking aim and firing at an approaching soldier. Blood sprayed from his head, painting the wall behind him red. The room was roiling with bodies, and the chaos was growing. Nobles were scrambling to the exits only to find that they were locked, and resorted to pounding on the walls, trying to break through.
“We need to get the queen to safety,” Albion said, scanning the battle with her gun.
Violet and Melody were both nodding in agreement, wild-eyed and panting. No doubt I looked much the same. Through the crowd, Edeth and her friends were dragging the card table they’d taken cover behind toward the side of the room. I remembered a hidden passage we hadn’t used near there.
“Violet, is there a concealed door on that wall?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I had a sinking feeling in my chest. Had Edeth left herself an escape? She could easily have planned to leave if anything went wrong. I had to stop her. She couldn’t get away with this.
I slipped under the arm of the guard closest to me and bolted across the room, ducking and dodging terrified nobles. Blaster fire vibrated in the air around me and people shouted my name. I stayed low and scrambled through the panicked chaos.
Edeth was mere feet from me. I had no idea what I was going to do if I caught her. I just knew someone had to stop her from escaping.
A hidden panel in the wall shifted aside and she stood from her cover behind the table and made a dash for it. I sprinted, ready to launch myself at her, but just as I was about to leap, she was jerked to a halt. I skidded a step, nearly toppling her over.
Titus had her by the arm, and I heard what he was saying to her before they saw me. “I trusted you and you betrayed us all. You killed our queen. My wife died that day. And for what? So you could sit at my side and manipulate me?”
“I loved you. They were all obstacles to our future together. A future you enjoyed just as much as I did.” Edeth tried to rip free of his hold, but her pampered beta strength was nothing to an alpha. “But I realized, you were just a weak, pathetic fool.” She resorted to pounding on his chest until he wrestled her arms behind her back for both of their safeties.
In the time it took me to get across the room, the blaster fire had quieted, and a blood covered Lex and Ghost stood in the center of the floor with a pile of soldiers dead around their feet. More lay on their stomachs, groaning, with their hands secured behind their backs. Alphas I recognized as the ones that guarded the hall on my coronation day picked through the restrained troops, freeing some and securing others.
We’d won. With the soldiers’ attention divided, they’d done it.
I couldn’t bring myself to focus on the dead and dying on the ground. There would be time for grief later. For now, my anxiety burned away on a high of adrenaline laced gratitude.
When I turned back, Titus had dragged Edeth to the floor, and they both knelt in front of me.
My voice trembled as Shadow and Albion caught up to me, lending me the courage I needed to utter the words I’d longed to say. “Edeth Knight ne Lochlan, you’re under arrest for treason. Your sentence is banishment. The Imperatrix will punish you in ways I can’t even imagine. There are things worse than death, and I have no doubt you’ll learn that firsthand.”
A thud sounded behind me and I whipped around to find Lady Baxter on the ground again, unconscious.