Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
The sea of celebration is thrown to the side of the creamy streets as we charge across the cobbles.
Our horses’ hooves hit the ground like thunder, the breath in my lungs slamming like warning bells.
I breathe hard, leaning forwards and urging the horse faster and faster as we head for the Patricelli family home.
As the stallion skids to a stop by the front door, my heart drops to my stomach when I see the guards crumbled on the floor by the door.
“NO!” I scream, dropping off the horse and sprinting inside. I burst through the main hall and find Taio collapsed and bloody on the steps. His eyes are glassy, the puddle on the floor still growing. I drop, pressing my hand to his neck. Still warm but silent.
He was only killed moments ago.
I sprint down the hallway screaming.
“Kaz! Kaz, where are you!” I shout at the top of my lungs, Giulia following right behind. I throw open the doors and search the empty rooms, my breath clawing at my throat as I pray I’ll find that cheerful little boy alive and cowering under a sofa or behind a bookshelf.
My pulse is pounding in my throat as I rake my eyes across the familiar furniture, finding three more Red Sands mercenaries dead on the floor towards the orangery.
I sprint into the room, Giulia just behind as we see the assassin closing in on Kaz.
Kaz has a bloody blade in his hand and he points it towards the assassin with those gappy little teeth gritted in determination.
“No!” I shout as the assassin dives for Kaz, dodging the boy’s attempt to fight him off. Kaz throws himself backwards and the knife cuts across his face, catching his brow and left cheekbone. Kaz hits the floor, howling as he clutches his face, blood seeping through his fingers.
I sprint forwards, throwing myself at the assassin as I tackle him to the ground. I slam him into the tiled floor of the conservatory. The assassin kicks me off with ease and raises his dagger high to strike me.
“No!” shouts Giulia, racing over to grab him. She clutches him around the neck and tries to haul him back. He turns the blade around and sinks it into her arm, eliciting a shriek from her as he throws her off.
That’s when Idris finally catches up. He explodes through the door like a hero, panting furiously, and grabs Kaz’s dropped sword. The assassin gets to his feet, turning to face him, bloody dagger still in hand.
Idris grits his teeth and moves swiftly, but this man knows the footwork. He’s already bested several of the Red Sand’s best.
I grab a chair from close by and swing, hitting the assassin from behind, knocking him to the ground. Idris closes the gap, driving his sword through the killer’s stomach. The man garbles through bloody lips before falling to the floor, dead.
Panting furiously, Idris grips my shoulders.
“I’m good, I’m good. Giu—”
Fighting to control my breath, I look at my sister who holds up the gaping wound on her arm, fingers trembling.
“Here, here, let’s wrap it. The doctor can see to it—” I say, reassuring myself more than her. She looks pale – so pale. Her breathing is shallow; the shock must be setting in.
“Kaz? Kaz!” shouts Idris, crouching over the boy. He’s entirely unconscious. I look over to him, fear panging through me as Idris scans him. His fingers work methodically over the boy and he frantically shakes his head.
“That wound shouldn’t do this!” Idris yells, gesturing to the long slice on the unconscious prince’s face.
Then I turn back to Giulia, and note the blue tinge in her lips.
The wound will kill if the blow doesn’t.
I scramble towards the assassin, furiously tearing through his pockets.
Tears stream down my face as I search and search.
I pull out a small pot of something and open it up, peering down at the unfamiliar poison.
Idris picks up Kaz’s small form and puts him next to Giulia, keeping our wounded together.
“There has to be an antidote. There has to be!” I shout, ripping through the pockets once more.
“Renza, Renz…” Giulia collapses back to the floor, cradling her bloody arm.
“No! Hold on! Hold on, Giu!” I scream as my quivering fingers find a vial. I pull it free, holding it up.
“Antidote! Antidote!” I proclaim. Idris’s eyes go blank and his face drains of blood.
“Is there more?” Idris is almost pleading.
“Just this, I checked—”
“Renza.” Idris’s voice catches as he looks to Giulia and then to Kaz, unconscious on the floor, both fighting for breath.
Horror pools like a cold sludge in my bones. I shake my head, fresh tears welling in my eyes.
“No. No.”
“It’s not enough for both.” Idris’s voice cracks.
“No. No!” I scream, my fingers clutching the little bottle in my fingers.
I look at the liquid in my hand, my gaze travelling to the unconscious child.
If this boy dies, Coari will abandon us.
They will wage war on behalf of their fallen prince.
The city that failed to protect him. Honour demands justice, and the entirety of Halice will pay that price.
Perhaps Tahira will be able to stay her stepfather’s hand, but after the stunt we pulled with her people, compounded by the grief of losing her beloved brother…
Halice would fall. The Holy States wouldn’t come to our aid. And likely nor would the other Independent States. Halice would be conquered and swallowed up. Nouis would get what he wanted after all.
But Giulia, my sister. My partner through the whole of my life. The best of our family, the kindest, and arguably the strongest. My golden sister.
Tears roll freely down my cheeks, my entire body trembling as I kneel on the floor of this orangery. I look across to my sister getting paler and paler as Idris gets to his feet.
“I’m going for help. There’s still a chance!” shouts Idris, running to the door. I rock over my knees as I gasp for breath and pray for a miracle. I look at the vial in my hands, then at the prince whose death will doom the entire city, and then at the sister who means the entire world to me.
I have to choose. If I don’t act, both will die.
I have to choose.
How do I choose?
“Renza…” Giulia manages to whisper. I race to her side, holding the vial of antidote.
I’m not Maestrus anymore. I’m not even an Electi. I’m not a leader; it’s not my job to save this city anymore. I just saved us – again. I deserve to be selfish. I can’t lose her. I can’t!
“Here, here,” I breathe, unstopping the vial. “You’ll be okay. Idris will find something for Kaz in a moment.”
Giulia takes the vial in shaky fingers, then turns her beautiful blue eyes in my direction.
“No, he won’t,” Giulia says. With her last bit of strength, she throws herself sideways, twisting her wrist and pouring the contents of the small vial through Kaz’s parted lips.
“No!” I shriek as Giulia drops the vial. Her hand falls to the floor. I grip her tightly, shaking my head furiously.
“For Halice,” Giulia whispers. “For you.”
Her blue eyes close.
“Why!” I scream at the top of my lungs, cursing Fate for the world to hear. Tears stain my cheeks as my breathy sobs cling to my throat. My stomach churns and my heart collapses inwards.
I scream again, my grief robbing me of any coherency.
She’s so pale, her breaths so shallow. Blonde hair spills over my arms like the last rays of the sunset. Her bloody arm is cradled against her chest. She looks like she could be sleeping, were it not for the blue wave marring her lips and the grey smears appearing around her eyes.
“Hold on!” I plead with her, rocking her back and forth. “Please hold on, Giulia. Please, please, please.”
Let Idris find a miracle.
Please Fate, please don’t take her from me. Don’t take my sister, my family away.
Giulia is fighting, her breath wheezy and hitching. Her head begins to spasm, face twitching. Her laboured breathing is the worst sound I’ve ever heard. My entire spirit is shattering, hearing her fight so hard, clawing for every second.
“No! No, please, Giulia. Hold on,” I beg, holding her tighter as she gets paler and paler.
The only sound worse than Giulia’s torn breathing is when it stops.
“NO! NO!” I scream, desperately shaking her, begging her to breathe for me again. She doesn’t respond. Her chest doesn’t move. I grab hold of her arm, desperately trying to find a pulse. There is only stillness. Only death.
My wails could shatter the glass, my heart crumbled and broken as I cradle my sister’s lifeless body in my arms and fall apart.