I heard a cough, and my gaze fell to the bottom of the steps, upon a figure on her knees, facing away from me.
Harlyn.
Her head was lowered, and a sword was clutched in her hands. As far as I could tell, no physical harm had come to her … yet. But no doubt, Endrick had control of her heart and he would use her against me.
Indeed, as I came closer, he stood and smiled. “It was a mistake to come, Kestra. But since you are here, I would like a demonstration of your abilities. Let us begin.”
Whatever Kestra and Joth had intended in their attack upon Endrick’s palace, it seemed to be working. Because of the dark night, I was nearly at the palace before I saw the Ironheart bodies, already covered by a thin layer of snow. Death’s blanket.
I shouted immediate orders for a search to be conducted for Rosaleen, or for any other Alliance members. I could not bear to do the search myself. I hardly could tolerate riding through it.
Until this moment, I had known they were capable of terrible things, including what I’d seen them do to the smaller group of Ironhearts before. But I’d also hoped that would have shocked Kestra back into the reality of how quickly and deeply she had descended. Instead, she must have embraced it. I only hoped at the end of this, she’d be successful as Infidante. That at least would be some small justification for what I was seeing.
At the end of the row of the fallen, Joth sat alone astride his horse at the entrance to the palace gates, hands casually crossed in front of him, waiting for us. That concerned me.
So I raised a hand to call our soldiers to halt, then rode forward alone.
“Is she inside?” I asked.
Joth nodded. His eyes were heavy on me, unyielding.
“Alone?”
He shrugged, a half smile on his face. “Depends on how you define that word.”
“The people Endrick cursed in the forest, are they with her?”
His smile faded into a grimace. “Yes, some of them.”
Then the rest were out here, probably surrounding him right now, though I couldn’t see or feel their presence.
“Let us help.”
He snorted. “You are mice attempting to help a giant. At best, your help is interference.”
“We want the same thing you do.”
“And what is that?” Joth laughed aloud. “Or who is that? I’m afraid you are too late to have any chance with her again. Kestra has connected her powers with mine, which will connect her heart with mine in ways you’ll never comprehend. When her quest is complete, I will finish my own quest, and rule upon the Scarlet Throne, finally providing a home for my displaced people.” He chuckled again. “So I suppose you are correct: We do want the same thing. But I do not need your help to get what I already have.”
He raised his hand in a gesture toward me, and I felt the
energy of some invisible force rushing toward me. I began to race my horse away from it, shouting, “Now!”
The distraction had worked. While Joth had talked with me, the Brill had moved into position, armed not with disk bows or swords, but with instruments all tuned to the same piercing frequency. Drawing bows along their strings, the hum was loud and vibrated into my heart, causing an ache that made me clutch at my chest, but at the same time, the invisible force of the half-lives had ceased to press upon me.
I gestured for the cavalry and the Coracks to ride forward, which they did, though the riders appeared to be in some degree of pain from the relentless vibrations. We pushed through it, directly past Joth, who sat helpless as he tried to adjust to the realization that his half-lives could not function as long as the vibrations were playing.
“Stop this!” he shouted. “You will not help her this way!”
Finally, Joth rode toward us with such fury in his eyes that I knew whatever happened next would be bad. At least his focus was on us and not on his half-lives.
“Go with your cavalry.” Eying me, Tenger crossed his horse directly in front of Joth’s, the Coracks lining up behind him.
Joth called to Tenger, “You should not challenge me, Captain.”
“Perhaps not.” Tenger straightened up in his saddle. “But I am a captain here. Which means I will die if necessary to protect my rebels.”
“As you wish.”