Chapter 42 #2
The scars littering her arms were a testament to her strength, her fight. He didn’t know what had become of the person who dared cut her up, but knowing Adelaide, they’d gotten what they deserved.
Theo eyed his bulging knee, but Adelaide’s quick breaths had him pushing through. Amaris leaned over Esaias, attempting to rouse him.
“Get him out of here,” he shouted to her.
Theo turned from Amaris and her fearful expression. He couldn’t let his mind wander to the shrinking oceans as her irises filled with darkness. He stood, palming his sword. Theo charged, blocking Sephardi’s next strike.
“What are you doing?” Theo pulled back, and she readied her stance.
He stood by Adelaide’s side, both angling their swords and waiting for Sephardi’s next move.
She scoffed and jerked her head to flip the short strands out of her eyes. “What should’ve been done the moment you found her.”
This was about Amaris.
She pulled her second sword from its sheath and lunged. It was a mix of blades and arms as the three of them battled across the deck. Theo pressed forward and further drew their fight from Amaris and Esaias.
He didn’t allow himself to think of the soldiers lurking below or Amaris dragging Esaias across the deck.
All he thought about were Sephardi’s next moves and anticipating where she’d strike.
Nothing made sense. Theo aimed for Sephardi’s weaker side, but she parried, gritting her teeth against his blade.
Why was she doing this? His mind thought back to the tower with Esaias and Adelaide. They’d said Sephardi had been working Gris’s sentry duty. Had she been the one to tell his father of Amaris’s escape attempt?
Theo stepped between Adelaide and Sephardi. “Help Amaris get Esaias out of here.”
Adelaide opened her mouth to protest but spied them unarmed and unguarded on the deck. They needed her. With Adelaide at their side, he knew they would get safely off the ship.
Theo threw himself into his next swing. “You were the one to poison her!”
“Should’ve known a bit of herix wouldn’t have been enough to kill her,” Sephardi seethed. Her next series of strikes hit hard and strong, weakening Theo’s stance. This wasn’t her.
The grip he held to keep the beast at bay was weakening. He felt the creature begging to show itself. “Why?” He took a breath and a chance. He twisted his sword and disarmed her of one of her weapons.
Another strike of her sword sent Theo’s teeth chattering, but he kept up his guard, breathing through the trembling in his arm from the wound still dripping blood. His knee ached as his feet shifted back and forth.
He needed to get back on the offense, but his mind reeled. Betrayed again. How many more friends would he bury? How many more deaths would be on his hands?
“The realm is changing.”
Theo couldn’t believe what was coming from her mouth. “Sephardi, please tell me you haven’t sided with Deavopan.”
“They’re willing to do what must be done.”
“This is madness!”
She lunged, swiping a gash into his thigh. He didn’t wince, but she forced him back, moving with speed. She was older, wiser, quick with her sword. Years of training and fighting were at her back, but Theo had his strength and his will.
“No, what’s crazy is trusting a woman you found in the middle of a forest, covered in blood,” Sephardi rattled on.
Theo forced the pain growing in his body back and sucked in a breath. He needed to disarm her. She was skilled and deadly with her blade, but he couldn’t kill her. She was his friend.
Sephardi didn’t let up on her attack. Her breaths were even, and her footing was solid. She wasn’t tiring, but Theo felt the fatigue riddling through him. He couldn’t keep up.
“Who else wants her dead?” he yelled.
“Not everyone sees what I do.”
Theo felt disgraceful for having any bit of relief. She’d acted alone, but why at all? None of it made sense.
With his rambling mind, Sephardi twirled her blade, sliding down his and ripping the hilt from his grasp.
She kicked his chest, sending him backward against the deck.
She straddled him, pinning his arms to the ground.
Her fingers pressed against his wound and a gasp escaped him.
The pain in his arm spread up his neck. The cold barrel of one of her pistols pressed against his temple. Now, he really hated guns.
“I don’t want to kill you.”
“How long?” he gasped.
“You don’t know her, Theo. None of us do—what she is.”
What she is? What did Amaris have to do with siding with Deavopan? “Amaris is a mystique. She’s saved countless lives. She isn’t a threat.”
Theo let out a cry as Sephardi further pressed her fingers into his wound. To keep his tunneling vision clear, he puffed out short breaths.
“Is she?” Sephardi slid her gun to Theo’s jaw, slowly forcing his chin up. A clap of thunder overhead had her grimacing, and her hand trembled. She shook, the muscles in her arms flexing. She didn’t want to kill him. Theo saw it in her eyes. She held back.
“Sephardi, put down the pistol,” he panted. “We can go inside—”
“Quiet!”
Theo writhed beneath her as her fingers dug into his shoulder.
He was going to black out, or Sephardi would shoot him.
He wouldn’t know if Amaris got Esaias off the ship.
He wouldn’t live to see Adelaide grow into the woman she was becoming.
She would marry the prince, because Luther would never stand up for her.
Amaris would be carted off to the dungeons, even after what she’d done, the people she’d saved.
He cheated death during the war. He should’ve died in Rongstad with the torture he’d endured, the amount of blood he’d lost. The river should’ve taken him.
Once Sephardi pulled the trigger, he would stand before Kedes, but he knew After didn’t wait for him.
He would be swallowed into the cracks of the realm to be eaten by the burning fires within.