Chapter 19 #2
When Castian began to take ill once more, likely due to the exertion and worry, Anelize helped him up to his room, settling him in bed and giving him a medicine she’d concocted that appeared to help with the pain radiating through his body.
It granted him a bit more feeling in his right hand and leg.
Though, she knew that the state he was in was one that would remain permanent, if manageable.
There would be no true cure for the illness he had.
And Anelize had the sense that the prince knew that.
Nevertheless, the worry line between Castian’s brows as he slept only made hers grow before she eased out of his room and hurried down to the stables once more.
Well over an hour had passed since Aeric and Adan rushed out of the tavern.
Idris was nowhere to be found by the time she finished helping Zara with the children, and she hoped he’d also had the sense to investigate what all was happening outside the same as his brother. That they were together.
Taking a seat on the stool, she listened to the screams that went on and on.
The more she waited, the more she felt herself gradually going sick with worry.
Waiting for the sound of Adan’s harsh tone and fist pounding on the door to be let inside.
For Aeric to stride into the stables in that silent way of his.
They never came.
The screams had yet to cease, and eventually she thought she even heard a familiar voice cry out. It was likely that her mind was merely playing tricks on her. But the longer she waited, the more she couldn’t push away that gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“They are going to kill me,” she muttered as she glanced toward the door and stood.
Raids.
That was what awaited her when she followed the direction where Aeric and Adan had gone. They were raids.
Multiple Watchmen marched down the streets she passed, keeping close to the walls to avoid being seen.
The Watchmen were everywhere, some appearing to be searching with their depthless eyes, while others held weapons in their hands at the ready.
Like roaches, they were scattered all over the port district.
It wasn’t until she slid through an alleyway that she heard the sound of a woman shrieking nearby.
Too close. Anelize sidled up along the wall and peered around the corner.
Along a row of half-timbered homes, she spotted Watchmen kicking down doors and ordering the inhabitants to get out.
Belongings were tossed out onto the street, trinkets and papers and clothes were all littered along the cobblestones.
Men and women, and children alike, had been put on their knees in a line with their hands bound by wooden shackles behind their backs.
Trembling in fear as several of the king’s men kept watch.
A man who tried to run was swiftly cut down by one of them and a woman screamed in horror.
It was chaos in its purest form.
It was just as Adan had said.
History repeating itself.
A massacre.
The sound of hooves clacking along the cobblestones caught her attention and she saw a Watchman with a severe face, beard, and cold unrelenting eyes arrive atop a black horse.
He dismounted and handed the reins off to one of his men. He surveyed the detained folk before one of the Watchmen said, “These are the ones that were reported to us, sir.”
“Rebel sympathizers,” the bearded Watchman said, his voice lacking any sort of emotion. “Do you know what the price of treason is for those who would ally themselves with Elvir’s sworn enemies?”
No one spoke, not even the men before him who stared stone-faced ahead.
“Anyone who dares try to ally themselves with the rebels will be met with a long, drawn-out end. You will wish for death before I shall grant it to you,” the Watchman sneered, holding his hands behind his back as if he were the ruler and his subjects were the ones kneeling before him.
Trembling from the cold and uncertainty of their fates.
But they knew.
They all did.
“Have them tested. Take the men and women who prove powerless to the whipping posts,” he ordered his men before they began stalking toward them.
“And the children, sir?” one of the Watchmen asked, looking uncertain as he glanced to the sobbing boys and girls who tried desperately to cling to their parents.
His next words sent a chill down Anelize’s spine as he ordered, “Kill them. They’re of no use to us. Better to rid ourselves of the pups before they can think themselves wolves.”
The men and women screamed in protest as they were hauled onto their feet, dragged kicking and screaming away as their children cried out for them.
Children.
They were nothing more than children, and he wanted to kill them all.
Anelize pushed away from the wall, fueled by her outrage as she stepped out of the alleyway and onto the street.
Several Watchmen who noticed her tensed.
Releasing the prisoners when they saw her, their apprehension evident on their faces.
Her training with Adan could only do so much against more than one person, but at the very least she could try to let the prisoners escape.
Perhaps save their lives if they ran fast enough.
The bearded Watchman shifted his depthless gaze to her. His lips parted, a command for her to stop where she was, or an order for his men. He never had the chance to speak, for there were several voices coming from all directions that bellowed at once, “To the pyre with you, Watchmen scum!”
A sudden burst of fire soared across the sky before landing mere feet away from the ground at the bearded Watchman’s feet. The men all stepped forward, glancing down at what appeared to be a blazing stone covered in an inky black substance before looking around.
The men and women, seemingly forgotten for a brief moment, rushed toward their children and urged them to run.
The bearded Watchman glanced up at the rooftops of the homes around them before he unsheathed his sword and called, “Who dares—”
The blazing stone suddenly burst, like a spark before the flames sputtered and then roared to life, releasing a thunderous boom that engulfed the Watchman in a furious, scorching heat. It swept past them and down the street like a wave of pure flame.
The force of it was so sudden as heat and wind clashed around her and sent her flying through the air, her back slamming hard against the wall behind her.
Windows rattled and exploded against the oppressive pressure of the flames, causing shards to scatter all around.
Their sharpened edges sliced into her arms and cheek before she covered her face to shield herself from the destruction.
Pain bloomed across her body as the flames died as quickly as they’d been born.
This time when screams and groans of pain reached her, she knew what to expect when Anelize glanced up.
Seeing that most of the Watchmen on the street had been turned into nothing more than ash, while others writhed in agony from the severe burns that had consumed their bodies.
A horrific gasp escaped her as she heard more Watchmen bellowing nearby, footsteps rushing toward the street, growing closer and closer.
Other voices followed, masked men and women all running past her, some appearing out of nowhere as if they have been hidden away on the rooftops nearby. They yelled in their victory as they continued pushing down the street.
Anelize barely had time to stagger to her feet before stumbling back into the alleyway, barely avoiding being seen by a large group of Watchmen that stormed past, chasing after the rebels.
A searing pain on her shoulder made her glance down to see that the flames had caught her in the explosion of power, burning through her tunic and skin.
She crossed opened courtyards and gardens until she stumbled across a narrow path between two buildings, barely enough space to pass but she managed to inch her way until she reached another empty street. The distant sound of the bells of the Old Church tolling falling over the city.
The sound of steel clashing against steel made her tense as she turned toward it, followed it until she heard it much louder this time, coming from another street. Just as she saw the billowing smoke trailing up into the graying sky.
When she rounded the corner, she stopped in her tracks as she saw a house had been lit on fire, the flames licking up the windows and opened doorway.
A man laid on the stoop, half of his body consumed by the fire while the other was covered in blood from horrendous slashes running over his face and neck.
A sea of crimson running over the steps.
To her left, pressed along the wall, a young mother was holding a small child in her arms on the ground, petrified as a Watchman as tall as a mountain waged a battle against a rebel.
Not just any rebel.
Aeric.
Blood ran down the side of his temple as he dodged the attack the Watchman sent him, their swords clashing so hard that sparks flew against the sharp edges of their steel. The Watchman grunted but did not relent as he pushed Aeric back with brute force, making his boots slide against the snow.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you, Vedran. Just as I did in killing all your little friends before you. When I’m done with you, I’ll go after the rest of your ilk,” the Watchman growled, casting his attention over toward the terrified woman and her child.
Aeric’s eyes flared with rage as he suddenly moved and attacked once more. Pressing all of his weight into his attack this time to parry the Watchman’s sword and land a bone crunching punch toward his face.
The Watchman screamed as blood poured from his nose, loosening his grip on his sword long enough for Aeric to run his sword through the Watchman’s side, sending him to the ground.
Aeric stalked toward the man as he groaned and seethed in rage, his hand brushing over the snow in search for his sword.
Anelize hurried toward the woman and her child, helping her stand, before saying, “Go. Get out of here.”
“T-thank you,” the woman stammered before turning and running as fast as her legs could take her and her child to safety, only casting one sorrowful look toward the burning house, to the man lying on the steps. Then she was gone.
“For such a mighty Watchman, you sure talk too much,” Aeric drawled as his boot landed on the Watchman’s hand, crushing his fingers before they could graze the pommel of his discarded sword.
Aeric raised a bloodied hand as the flames from the house fell away from the crumbling walls.
Answering his call as they swirled and spun around his hand, the red flames changing to a vibrant blue.
When he spoke, there was no warmth in his voice as the flames wound themselves around his sword.
“You forget, steel is nothing to fire. And what is a man met by both?”
The Watchman’s scream was consumed as Aeric thrust his blade into his gut, the flames washing over him like a great wave, slowly ripping into flesh and bone.
When it was done, there were only small blue flames flickering in the snow around a black, soot-stained spot where the man had once been.
Aeric stumbled back as he released a weary breath.
“Aeric!” Anelize rushed to his side, supporting him before he could topple over.
His eyes, tired from the conjuring and the fight, found hers before they widened.
“Anya? What are you doing here?”
As if she’d somehow managed to bring him back to life, he turned and placed his hands on her arms, inspecting her. When his warm palm brushed over the burn on her arm, she flinched.
“You’re hurt.” He quickly dropped his hands, frowning when he saw her wound, his anger evident as he said, “I told you to stay inside. What were you thinking?”
“I couldn’t stay knowing what was happening. I saw what the Watchmen were doing and had to—”
“Do you even understand what it would mean if you were killed? How important you are?”
Anelize grinned. “When you put it like that, how could I forget? Don’t worry, I’ll get that book yet.”
Aeric’s eyes narrowed on her, gripping her uninjured arm to stop her. He made her look at him before he said, “That’s not what I meant.”
She blinked.
“What…what is it you mean then?”
Aeric stepped closer. His mask was still in place, but it was his eyes that showed such emotion that she hardly needed to see his face to gauge what it was he was feeling.
The desperation. The pleading in them. The wanting she did not truly understand.
Because she was afraid to know what it truly meant.
Only none of that mattered.
Not as Anelize saw the Watchman standing mere paces away from them at the end of the street, too late. Not until he sent an arrow flying straight through Aeric’s heart.