‘to fight back’
A single rosebud was resting in a bowl of water, as per his orders, and Gorrell took it from the little bedside table to twirl in his hand. He enjoyed the light prickle of thorns on his skin, a reminder of the pain and sacrifice that was necessary for true beauty.
She still hadn’t moved, even as he walked across the room and came to a stop just behind her. Delicately he traced the rose across her bare shoulders, and she cringed.
She’s so scared. She doesn’t understand; doesn’t grasp the significance. She is just a girl, after all. She doesn’t realize how good this is for her, how much I can do for her. And she refuses to see how good this is for the kingdom. With her power, I can create the perfect government. I will have complete control. But she doesn’t understand.
I will make her understand.
“You’re extremely beautiful, your highness,” he murmured. “I suppose many have told you that before.”
She did not turn or speak.
“You don’t know how much I love you,” he continued.
Sakura’s heart jumped at those words. As if this twisted and evil man could ever even come near such a concept.
“For so long I’ve watched you grow up in the palace, blossoming into the lovely woman that you are. You never even looked in my direction, of course, but still I watched you. I knew that you were the one, the only one of the Kinomotos that could help me. I knew you would fit perfectly into my plans. You represent everything that I sought to control when I took the rule of the kingdom into my own hands.”
Sakura trembled. When he murdered her parents. In that bed, just a few feet away, he had killed them.
“I know that you’re scared. You don’t understand how much you really want this. Now that you’re back here with me, where you belong, so many good things are waiting for you. I have so much to offer you. I can make you queen, I can give you a life of power, wealth, and comfort.”
Of misery and brutality, Sakura thought. He doesn’t love me. He sees me as something to be used, something that can help him attain his precious power.
“Everything that I do is for you. I’ve arranged everything so that we can be together. And yet you ran. You defied me; you rebelled against me. I was left for more than three weeks to wonder where you were, what was happening to you.”
He was starting to talk a little faster now, his voice becoming more terse and clipped. She shivered, then jumped when he abruptly threw the rose into the fire. It began to writhe and smoke
“Didn’t you understand what that would do me? Don’t you know how worried I was?” His frustration boiled over and he gripped her arm with a sudden intensity. She whimpered.
“You’re hurting me.”
Good, thought Nikolai, and yanked her to her feet so that she stood facing him. She tried to wriggle free but there was no escaping his grasp.
“Why did you run? You upset my plans; you unraveled all of my careful designs! Didn’t you know that when I took control of the palace, that you fell under my control? You became my spoils, princess, you became my property. You had no right to run!”
He was past rage, his eyes as hard as stone. Sakura stared at her reflection in them, paralyzed by fright. She wanted to burst into tears, she wanted to scream in terror. But she was too scared to move.
Nikolai was dangerously close to striking her, right there and then, but with an effort he managed to control himself. He was moving too fast, letting his emotions get the better of him. He must remember to keep himself in check.
But I can’t leave it alone; it bothers me too much when I think about it. She chose to live in the woods like an animal for three weeks, instead of the royal suites that were her home. She preferred the company of a dirty commoner to me. Why?
He leaned in a little closer, and she tried to pull away. But he didn’t touch her, just stared at her with those intense and predaTouya eyes.
“The peasant.”
Her eyes widened a little.
“Tell me about him.”
- - - - -
His hair was hanging over into his eyes, but Li was used to that and didn’t move as he stared at his enemy. Blackstock was doing the same thing, measuring him from head to toe with those steel gray eyes of his. Carefully they drew closer, then began to circle as they prepared for the fight. The colonel was the first to attack. Uttering a sharp battle cry, he lunged forward and slashed at Li. The boy who was born in a rough country cabin blocked him expertly and answered with an attack of his own. Blackstock defended himself successfully and drew back once more.
“You should have taken the chance to kill me when you had it, peasant. You’re about to face a particularly horrible death, one that I will take pleasure in executing.”
Li didn’t answer as he hovered in front of his opponent. The man that he was facing was one of the best swordsmen in the palace, and had years of experience. Li wasn’t nearly as old, didn’t have so much experience, but he was fit and in the prime of his youth. And Wei had often commented how precocious he was with the sword, handling it with a skill as if he were born to it. Would it be enough to compensate?
This time he attacked, cutting with sharp and quick strikes that forced Blackstock to back up, pushing his offensive. But the colonel would not be so easily defeated, and he battled savagely for control of the fight. Together the two of them were moving down the corridor, into the more open space of the large marble stairwell, where many hallways intersected. The stairs led up to the royal suites, and Blackstock was careful to situate himself between them and the criminal. Over and over the equally matched swordsmen engaged and drew back. The peasant and the noble were throwing everything they had at each other, but still neither had drawn blood.
The metallic clang of swords grew fainter in Touya’s ears as he hurried down the long hallway. Time was critical. If he could just push himself fast enough to find the back stairs and run up a few flights, without attracting the notice of any soldiers –
He came to a sudden stop.
What am I doing? I have to get to Sakura…I have to get to the family bedrooms…
He shook his head and started forward again, then stopped. There was something nagging at his subconscious, something crucial. Something that he had seen, coupled with an unpleasant memory.
What did I see? What is so important?
Not at all sure why he was wasting time like this, Touya took a few steps back. He was in one of the more prestigious hallways, where many influential nobles and upper-level military had lived. The walls were lined with lavish portraits, some of his own ancestors. Something about them was tickling the back of his mind, driving him crazy.
I need to run, I need to go find Sakura. I need to get to my parent’s bedroom…just like the men that attacked us on that night. It’s like they came out of nowhere – we should have had more warning.
He took another step back, the wheels in his mind starting to spin a little faster.
Gorrell wasn’t there, in the hallway, when I put Sakura to bed the night of the Midwinter Ball. But he was there when I left the room. Where did he come from?
Like a spark catching flame, it came to him. And then he saw what he’d almost missed when running down the corridor. A tiny sparkle of red magic, nearly invisible, but clear enough to him now that he was looking at it. It was almost hidden in the shadow of the thick wooden frame of a painting, but it was there. Tentatively, the prince pushed lightly on it, but there was no give. Then he gave a really hard shove, and was rewarded by the groan of rusty hinges. The entire painting was moving back from the wall, creating a doorway that led into inky darkness.
Of course. A secret passage. He’s had one from his hallway to ours all this time, he must have known about it for years.
Touya hesitated only a moment before stepping in and pushing the wall shut again behind him. The black was perfectly opaque, he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face. And there was no telling what might be in there. But it was the quickest way to Sakura. And so he reached out to feel the stone wall, comforted by its guiding presence, and started walking.
- - - - - -
The rose was nothing but acrid ash now. Sakura stared at it as she tried to form the words for what she wanted to say. Nikolai was standing behind her, not quite touching, but far too close for comfort. Brought up in the royal court, she wasn’t accustomed to men outside her family being so near. Li was the only other to have been so close.
“He – he was very proud. He would let no one look down on him for being poor. It didn’t bother him that he had no money.”
She paused, and Nikolai had to prompt her.
“Go on.”
She didn’t understand why he wanted to know, and she was reluctant to divulge any of her private feelings to him. But as long as they were talking, then they weren’t doing anything else. She would seek any delay she could get.
“And he was smart. He never learned to read, but he knew everything about living in the wild. He taught me how to find food. And he - ”
She stopped short, and Nikolai cleared his throat impatiently.
“He was strong. He could fight and he knew it, and he wasn’t scared of the soldiers.” She couldn’t help it; a dreamy note crept into her voice. “I don’t think it ever occurred to him to betray me for the sake of his own safety. He didn’t need to; he could defend himself no matter what. He sought to confront life on his own terms.”
Nikolai noticed the change in her tone and frowned. Her trembling had ceased, though she was still tense.
“He may have been born a peasant, but he understood the code of honor that applies to nobles. He could have, but he never hurt anyone that wasn’t a threat to him. And he refused to take advantage of me - even though I wanted it.”
There. She had said it, and she twisted her hands nervously at his sharp intake of breath behind her. Now what would he do?
Nikolai’s thoughts ranged from relief to a stupefied fury. She had invited him? She wanted that lowly commoner to share her bed? How dare she? She belonged to him!
He wanted to take her by her hair and throw her down on the ground for such impropriety, spit on her and call her slut. But his hand was stayed by Salfrek’s words. She was still a virgin, still pure. What did it matter whether she asked him or not?
She was probably just confused, that was it. She was uprooted from her home, scared and unsure of herself, and she had been confused.
Sakura heard his heavy breathing slow again, and felt him relax. Perhaps he wasn’t angry after all.
“Oh, princess. You poor little girl.”
“What?”
His fingers were running lightly through her hair now, and she stiffened.
“You made a mistake, you didn’t know what you were doing. I understand. I forgive you. Living in the woods, you forgot your station in life.”
Now his hands were tracing lightly down her neck and onto her shoulders. With a sick dismay she felt his fingers slide under the straps of her nightgown.
“No. No, I wasn’t confused. I wanted it.”
“No you didn’t.”
“I did,” she affirmed, even though her voice was shaking with fear. “I love him. Maybe he didn’t think he deserved to touch me, but I know he’s more of a noble – more of a man than you are.”
The final slur was more than Nikolai could bear, and he pushed her away with an impatient snarl. She squeaked and backed away from him, hugging her arms to her chest.
“How dare you,” he gritted. “How dare you defy me and speak with such disrespect. I am your king, your future husband, your lord and master. I will not tolerate a comparison between myself and that lying, filthy commoner! He is nothing!”
“He’s not,” she denied. “He has more strength, more courage, more integrity than you have ever shown. He’s worth more than you could ever hope to be.”
His eyes flashed and he raised his fist; she cringed in expectation. But still he managed to contain himself. He didn’t have to hit her; there were other ways to inflict pain.
“He’s nothing,” he repeated. “He left you. He ran when I finally captured you, and he didn’t even try to save you. Just like a peasant, he was only thinking of himself.”
“He ran because I begged him to,” she stated. “I could not watch your men hurt one more person I love. I pleaded for him to go, and he listened. He may just be a commoner, a poor country boy, but I love him with every inch of my being. True love is happiness when your loved one is happy. He is alive and free, therefore I am too.”
She hadn’t even thought about it so many words, but at the conclusion of her little speech, she felt a lift in spirits. This was a strength that she didn’t know she had.
- - - - -
It wasn’t as dark anymore. Touya thought his vision must have adjusted, but there was a definite light source growing, somehow. He narrowed his eyes and thought he could see the subtle signs of a light-spell. His pulse quickened.
In the few days since his trial at the whipping post, the prince had been wondering exactly where Gorrell had hidden his pet sorcerer for all these years. It would have to have been very far away, so as to remain secret, yet the General had never been one for taking long or unexplained journeys. His presence in the palace was constant.
But to hide him right here? Right under our noses, inside the palace? That’s beyond daring. I can’t believe he got away with it.
He shook his head in disbelief, but there could be no doubt that this was not just a secret passage. It had been the home of the old mage for many years, during which he had probably never even seen sunlight.
Touya raised his sword, but no one attacked. There was a curious quiet in this dark passage, almost an expectancy. He was so busy looking for Salfrek that he almost missed the thin beam of red energy that barred his way.
He backed up just in time.
An alarm. A guard-spell. What does he need something like this for? Surely he would have moved out when Gorrell took control. Carefully Touya stepped over the light. Anyone else would have just walked through it and probably received a nasty shock, if not uncontrollable seizures and maybe death. His eyes alone were suited to evading this trap. But why bother guarding an empty chamber? He could see now that there were more of them ahead, growing thicker and closer together.
Touya straightened his shoulders. It was an annoying obstacle, but intriguing as well. What was hidden here, in the bowels of the palace?
Slowly and carefully he began to crawl through the thickening web of magic.
- - - - -
Li never knew he could move so fast. His fighting instincts were taking over again, leading his blade to block every strike, every attack on the colonel’s part. Blackstock was coming at him with fancy combinations that he’d never seen before, but still he managed to stay on his feet and defend himself. He could feel sweat running down his brow and the sides of his face, but he didn’t dare take the time to shake the droplets away.
Gareth sensed he was gaining the upper hand and pushed harder, throwing more vicious attacks.
“Ready to give it up, boy? You’re out of your range and you know it.”
Li didn’t bother to reply, but kept his eyes on his enemy’s face and his blade.
Never allow yourself to be distracted, Wei lectured in his mind. No matter what they say, no matter what verbal attacks they throw, the only thing worth focusing on is the sword.
- - - - - -
“Naturally,” Touya said aloud to the empty chamber. “What else deserved so much magical protection, to be hidden so well?”
He’d come to a larger and more open area, better lit than the passage, and crisscrossed with multiple guard-spells. There must have been a hundred, and with good reason. Resting on a dark obsidian altar were his sister’s Cards.
If I can just get to them and then get to her, everything will be all right.
But it would take time, and he glanced at the stairs cut into stone on the far side of the chamber. They led steeply right up the wall, and if he had his bearings right, they should come out into the hallway of the royal suites.
Maybe I should forget about them and go on.
He took a step toward the stairs, then stopped.
No. I need to get them. I’m the only one that knows where they are now, and I’m the only one that can get past these spells.
Reluctantly he lay his sword down on the ground. He would never be able to get it through these narrow spaces. For that matter, he wasn’t sure how he himself would be able to get close enough to the altar. The floor was alive with magic, and the Cards were surrounded by a thick fence of spells. Unless…
He raised his head to examine the ceiling. It was plunged in shadows, but he could see thick wooden beams across the empty space above him. There was no telling how old this room was and how sturdy they would be, but it was his best shot.
- - - - - -
For a long minute the silence hung heavy in the bedroom, while Sakura watched the General with apprehensive eyes. She didn’t know what he’d say or do now. What she had declared was nothing less than a challenge to his authority over her.
“You are mine,” he said at last. “I have complete control over you now, you are my prisoner. You will never see him again.”
She shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have to see him; I don’t have to be with him. A part of me is with him. As long as he’s safe and free, a part of me will always be free too.”
“No!” he barked. “I have complete control! Every part of you is mine; there is nothing that I will allow you to hold back.”
There was a dangerous glint in his eye and she took a step back.
“I am your prisoner physically, but you can’t touch my soul, Nikolai. You can never possess all of me. I won’t let you.”
Nikolai snapped. This was all his fault, that accursed peasant. How could such a little and helpless girl exhibit such defiance?
In a burst of rage he picked up the stool and threw it against the wall. She flinched but did not scream.
“Stop it! Stop thinking about him! I forbid it!”
Sakura’s heart was thumping fast and hard, but she lifted her chin in challenge. He could do whatever he liked, but he was not going to take away her memories of Li. It was all she had left. And in this unique battle of wills, she sensed that she was somehow winning.
“You think you can defy me?” he raged, and covered the distance between them in two long strides. She tried to slide away, but he was too quick for her, and pinned her against the wall by her shoulders. “Stay still, or I will give you a good lashing like I did your brother.”
He opened her mouth and forced his tongue in, causing her to gag in revulsion. Before she had a chance to bite down, he pulled away with a perverted delight in his eyes.
“Who is stronger? Who is your master, who controls everything in your life? I can do anything, and I can stop you from thinking about him.”
“You can’t.”
“I can. Remove your gown and get on the bed.”
“No.”
“Do it!” He slapped his hand against the wall by her head and she flinched again. But there was determination in those green eyes.
I will not give into my fear. I will not let him control me.
- - - - - -
In the end, it was the elder who proved to be the better swordsman. Snaking his blade around Li’s, the colonel twisted hard and Li’s sword went flying across the room.
“Ha!” Blackstock snapped his sword back to Li, who backed out of the way just in time. But there was no way to reach his sword, nothing that could be done. He was cornered against the banister of the stairwell behind him.
“And now you see,” Gareth panted, “the consequences of your actions. You are no hero, no savior, no one important. Just a lowly commoner who tried to be something he wasn’t. For such a crime against the natural order of things, you will die.”
Li eyed the tip of the sword warily as he placed his hands on the railing behind him. He was breathing heavily too; the day’s activities had left him exhausted. But he wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
“An honorable warrior would allow me to fetch my sword and continue.”
“Not a chance, boy. The code of honor doesn’t apply to such insignificant beings as yourself. And now it’s time to wipe the earth clean of your abomination.”
Blackstock drew his sword back slightly to run him through, and Li reacted. There was no way to get to Blackstock through that sword, so Li reasoned, he would simply go under it.
Throwing himself backwards over the banister, his hands gripped the railing in a sure motion and he slid underneath and across the floor with charged momentum. The colonel never had a chance to scramble out of the way before Li swept him off his feet with a well-aimed kick. When he tried to raise his arm, he found Li kneeling on it, effectively disarming him.
“I am a fighter of the King’s Own,” the peasant snarled. “And if you think taking my sword away is all it takes to kill me, then you never really understood what you were fighting.”
A sharp strike to the throat, and Colonel Gareth Blackstock was no longer breathing. Li watched his eyes roll back in his head, and his head fall back against the floor. Only then did he stand and wipe his brow with his sleeve.
“Now you know.”
- - - - - -
Touya was trembling with fatigue, but he couldn’t let go now. He was agonizingly close, and to fall would mean almost certain death. During his long confinement, he had been able to do his push-ups every day, but nothing else, and now he was pushing his body to its limits. He’d crawled along the beams until he was close enough to the altar, but there was no way he could reach. He would have to hang by his knees upside down, and he wasn’t sure his legs were strong enough. But there was no other way.
And so he swung precariously in mid-air, waiting for his muscles to steady themselves before extending his hand. There was lattice-like network of spells over the stack of Cards, but he thought he might just be able to reach through…
Doing his best not to sweat, he edged his hand through the gap, and felt a thrill upon brushing the surface of the Cards. But he couldn’t quite reach.
Come on, just a little closer.
He strained his arm, willing to make it a little longer, but it was no good. His sister could call them to her hand if she was in the same room with them, but his powers weren’t nearly so developed.
“I need a little help here,” he murmured. “If you can hear me…just a little - ”
There was a breath of cold air on his face, and then the Cards levitated off the surface. He snatched them gratefully.
“Thank you, Mother. I’m going to go find Sakura now. Wish me luck.”
- - - - - -
This feels rather familiar, thought Li, despairingly. There’s just too many of them. And I’m already so tired from all the rest of the fighting that I’ve done today.
His breath was coming in ragged gasps but he continued to push himself up the stairs. Behind him was the entire troop that had been left behind to guard the royal hallway. Upon surprising each other, he had no choice but to continue to run up the stairs. The royal suites had been off limits when he was living here in the palace, but he reasoned it couldn’t be too far to the roof. No one could live over their majesties.
Sure enough, he slammed through a door and found himself on the top of the building. A refreshing spring breeze lifted the damp hair off his face and the stars twinkled cheerfully at him, totally unconcerned with all the violence in the palace that night.
The narrow stairwell only allowed a few men up at once, and in this favored position Li fought back the crowd that had tailed him. After a few bodies had been thrown back, the soldiers weren’t nearly so inclined to come up and confront him. Instead they waited, just beyond the curve of the stairwell, for him to come back down.
It was the logical thing to do. There was no way to get off the roof, other than this exit. Li paced a little in frustration. If only Kero were here. But he could see no sign of the beast anywhere; he must have finally retreated. Too much time had passed; Li needed to find Sakura.
Once before, I left her because there were too many. I will not, I absolutely will not, do it again. Think, Li. You’re smart. You can figure out how to solve this.
Nerving himself, Li walked to the edge of the roof and looked down over the courtyard. This must be the same courtyard, he thought, the one that she escaped through with Kero. Those windows below me, those must be hers or her brothers. And over here are the windows to the king’s rooms. If only I could fly. I could swoop down there through the master bedrooms and –
He paused, standing right over the balcony. The walls were too smooth to scale, but hanging from the roof was the national banner of the kingdom. It was long, tapering down to the top of the royal windows, and it shifted slightly with the breeze.
Of course. Just like I did with the colonel. If I can’t get to her through the swords, then I’ll just go around.
His feet were starting to tingle a little at the thought of it, but this was no time to worry about heights. He slashed at the ropes that secured the banner on the left side and gripped the tough material, wrapping it around his hand.
Here I go.
Sakura fought to keep back the scream as he bit into her neck again. She struggled, but he was so much stronger than she was, and he had her pinned to the wall with his body.
Nikolai savored the taste of her skin as he pulled away from her neck, then traced his tongue up to her ear and sucked on the lobe. Her pitiful resistance was only adding fuel to his lust, but she still had not done what he had asked.
“Do it. You know you have no choice. Go to the bed.”
“I won’t!”
“You must. You are my bride, princess, my lover. I am ordering you to go to the bed!”
There was still a stubborn denial in her eyes, and he ground his teeth. He could pick her up and carry her there quite easily, he could take her any time he wished. But that wasn’t what he craved. He wanted to see her cower; he wanted to see her force herself to submit to him. Like when he forced her to walk away from her brother, without even laying a hand on her.
That would demonstrate his true power over her. She would understand then that there was no part of her that she could keep from him. He would not be denied. He would possess all of her.
“Insolent bitch,” he swore. “You want me to move to the next step?”
He didn’t wait for an answer but tore at the neckline of her nightgown. She shrieked and tried to bolt, but he caught her arm and threw her down on the floor.
“You don’t want to go to the bed, that’s fine. I can do you right here on the floor.” She tried to crawl away but his foot was on the skirt of her gown, preventing her from moving. Her terror was driving him to new heights of stimulation, and he smiled as he prepared to remove his tunic. He’d never dreamed it could be this good.
There was a rush of exhilaration as Li threw himself into empty space, and he had to stop himself from shouting to the stars.
Look at me! I can do this; I can overcome anything!
He braced his feet against the wall and pushed off again, repelling down the side of the palace walls as his weight ripped the banner down the middle. He was going faster and faster as the material split lengthwise, he was barely able to maintain control as he gained momentum.
I’m not going to be able to stop before I hit the floor of the balcony, he realized, but there was nothing that could be done about that now. Pushing off against the bricks one final time, he tucked his body and pushed his legs over his face, executing a backwards roll out in space. He was hurtling downward much faster now, and for a moment he thought he was sure to slam into the balcony. But he had judged the distance correctly, and his boots smashed through the beautiful stained-glass windows of the royal suite. He was going so fast that he had to roll across the floor before he could stop, but he was on his feet and holding out his sword before anybody in the room had a chance to move.
Sakura was on the floor, her eyes marbled in shock as she stared at him. Perhaps she was hallucinating, conjuring a vision of the one man she wanted to see more than anything. But no. He was really there, panting hard but gripping his sword in preparation for battle. He had come to save her.
Gorrell had barely had time to catch up with events and figure out who this stranger was before he realized that Sakura was struggling to reach him.
“Oh no, you don’t.” He knelt and grabbed the frantic girl by her hair and dragged her back towards the wall, away from the invader. “You don’t have permission to go anywhere near him, I thought I had made that clear.”
“Let her go,” the peasant said in a low voice. He took a step closer, but stopped when Gorrell found his sword where he had left it and braced it against Sakura’s throat. She had been squirming and fighting, but with the feel of cold metal on her neck, she froze.
Li looked uncertainly from her to Gorrell.
“Put the sword down, General. It’s over.”
“Don’t you tell me what to do,” the older man threatened, incensed. “How dare you. I take orders from no one anymore! I am your king!”
“I try not to pay attention to authority.” His eyes sought Sakura once more; she was actually smiling through her tears, happiness to see him overcoming even her immediate terror. As disheveled as she was, she looked more beautiful than he remembered. He couldn’t help it, his mouth turned up into a tiny smile. Nikolai saw the look in his eyes and felt a fresh burst of anger.
“Stop it!” he thundered. “Stop looking at her! She’s my property, mine alone!”
Gorrell took a step backward, toward the door. He could feel the rapid heartbeat of his prisoner, wrapped in his arms, how scared and desperate she was. She wanted to escape, and he would not allow that to happen. Not after all that he had been through to get her.
Li watched the General drag her toward the door, then hesitantly took another step.
“Don’t come any closer!” He tightened his grip on his sword and glared at Li.
“Let her go, General. You’re not going to hurt her; I know you don’t want her dead.”
“Uppity peasant,” Gorrell spat. “Do not presume what I do or do not want. The princess is mine, I have absolute power over her. I would rather control her death than let a filthy commoner like yourself put your hands all over her.”
Li bit his lip; the General was starting to look unstable. He might actually be crazy enough to hurt her. Sakura felt her chance slipping away as the General dragged her further back, further away from Li.
“No,” she choked. “Please, Li - ”
“Do not speak to him! He is nothing, do you understand me? You will speak only to me. I am your lord and master, and you will be my queen.”
Sakura saw Li stiffen slightly.
“His presence confuses you, I can see that. You don’t understand how he threatens us, you don’t see how he is a danger to the kingdom. He’s a commoner that carries a sword and defies his king; he’s a criminal. He’s hardly more than an animal, a wolf that attacks my sheep!”
Li seethed and opened his mouth to reply, but Sakura beat him to it.
“I don’t care where he’s from or what his place is in life. I love him. He is a wolf. And I’d rather be his bitch than your queen.”
Wow, thought Li. The General’s face had gone black with fury. It was only with a supreme effort that Nikolai managed to control himself.
“After he is dead,” he said in a low, terse tone, “I will teach you a thousand shades of pain, will make you suffer like you never dreamed you could suffer. Not a day will go by in your life that you don’t regret those words.” She flinched at his tone, but she would not recant. She would not allow him to break her spirit.
“I hope you’re not counting on your colonel to dispatch me,” Li spoke up. “We already spoke tonight. He won’t be coming to your aid anymore.”
There was a fleeting expression of panic on Gorrell’s face before it hardened again.
“You will never escape this palace. There are too many of my men. It was foolish and stupid of you to try and come here.”
“Perhaps,” Li acknowledged. “But Sakura told me something earlier this evening, and I never got a chance to reply. I wanted to tell her that I loved her too.”
Sakura’s sudden intake of breath was the last straw, and Nikolai yanked her right off her feet and felt for the doorknob behind him. He would not listen to another word of this tripe.
“Enough!” he roared. “It’s perversion, a peasant and a princess together! Only I may touch her, only I may speak to her!”
It didn’t matter if Gareth was dead, he would call on the men outside his door. A crowd of them could trap this commoner in this room, kill him if they needed to.
“Nothing will come between me and my bride!”
“Nothing except me,” said someone softly into his ear, and Gorrell dropped his sword at the sudden burst of pain in his ribs. It landed with a thump on the rich carpet, and Sakura followed it a second later. The General’s face was twisted with pain, all the color draining from his face. Touya had not plunged the guard’s knife in enough to be immediately fatal; he had only wanted to hurt and incapacitate. He yanked it out and dropped it on the floor, then grabbed the man by his neck and started to drag him across the room.
“Remember me, Nikolai? The one that you strapped to a post and whipped until I almost passed out?” Vengeance was lending him strength, and he tore the silk drapes off the posts of the lavish bed and wrapped them efficiently around his tormentor, pinning the man’s arms to his chest. “Remember what I promised to you that day?”
Sakura had never seen her brother look so dangerous. She was going into shock, after her ordeal, and she trembled on the carpet as she stared glassily at the scene unfolding before her. Touya didn’t see her, he was so focused on his enemy. It was Li that dropped his sword and ran to her side, putting his arms around her and hugging her close.
“Shh…Sakura, it’s okay. It’s done, he’s defeated. He can’t hurt you anymore.” He took her shaking hands in his, then raised them to plant a light kiss on each palm. Had it been only yesterday that she had done that for him? A lifetime had passed since then. “Sakura, can you hear me? It’s all right. I’m here.”
“You came back,” she whispered.
“That’s right. I told you I would never turn around and leave you in danger, didn’t I?”
She brushed her hand over his cheek, as if she couldn’t quite believe he was tangible, and a hint of smile showed in her eyes.
“I love you.”
“I know. I love you too.” He leant over and brushed his lips over hers. He was unsure; perhaps she had been through too much tonight to consider a kiss. But no. She pushed up to meet him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving herself totally to him.
Gorrell had just enough to time to see that and utter an anguished cry before Touya dragged him out onto the balcony and tossed him over the side. He couldn’t ever remember being so tired, but he planted his feet on the cloth and gripped it securely, then leaned over the railing to glare at Gorrell as he dangled helplessly.
“Don’t!” Nikolai cried, beginning to panic. The prince was hardly recognizable, his features contorted by a lust for revenge. “You can’t do this!”
“But I want to,” the prince replied evenly. “I want you to beg. I want you to cry. I want you to suffer every bit as much as you made my parents and Yukito suffer! And me! And my sister!” He let the drapes slip just a little, and was rewarded by a startled yelp.
“Scared yet, Nikolai? It’s not fun being tied up and helpless, is it? Don’t think I haven’t been dreaming about this moment for the past three weeks. I haven’t had much to do besides think, really, so I know exactly how I want this to happen. I know exactly how I want you to die.”
“Touya, no.” The prince was interrupted from his speech by Sakura placing a hand over his.
“What?”
“Wait. You can’t do this.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t just kill him, Touya, there are laws that have to be followed. You know how Father felt about these things.”
“Our father is dead, Sakura! And it’s his fault! He has to pay!”
“I know. He will. But I came back to Tomoeda because I believe that the written law Father practiced was better than Gorrell’s tyranny. I want to hold myself to that.”
“Listen to her, Touya!”
“Quiet,” the prince snapped. “You don’t get a vote.”
He was utterly stupefied, he couldn’t believe Sakura was talking like this. She saw him looking at the torn neckline of her nightgown and held it closed with one hand.
“You’re actually saying this? Even after what he did to you? Have you seen the scars on my back?” He turned as if to show, and the drapes slipped even more. Nikolai screamed, consciously aware of the empty space beneath his feet. He was beginning to feel woozy from blood loss, and the pain in his lower back was like a burning brand.
“I know what he did to you, Touya, I healed the wounds. Remember?” The hard look in her brother’s eyes softened a little as he looked at her. His little sister… she looked so pure and sweet and delicate when she spoke like this. “You can’t kill him, Touya, not like this. You have to follow the law.”
“I’m the prince, Sakura, the heir to the throne. I am the law!”
She recoiled as if he’d struck her, then looked away, at the stars.
“You sound just like him when you say that,” she murmured.
Bloody hell, thought Touya furiously. Why did she have to go and say that?
He could see the peasant just inside the doorway to the bedroom, watching them, waiting to see what would happen, and wondered what he thought of it all. He was beaten already, he knew it, his sister had done her magic with those eyes of hers. Touya could never refuse her anything when she used her eyes, and he knew, he just knew, that he could not kill Nikolai Gorrell that night.
“Damn,” he sighed. “Fine. But I’m not pulling him up. Li can do it.”
Sakura’s eyes shone with gratitude.
“Thank you, Touya. You know that this is the right thing.”
He muttered something unintelligible, and Li started forward to take the drapes into his hands. Touya was looking in his direction when he saw the sudden red glow on the floor of the bedroom.
“Look out!” he yelled in warning, too late. There was a horrendous explosion in the room, and Li was thrown violently against the railing of the balcony along with Sakura. But Touya, already weak from all the activity that night and leaning over the edge, lost his balance and tumbled right over the side. It was only chance that he managed to grab the marble rail in time, hanging precariously by one hand. Gorrell was not nearly as lucky. Without Touya hanging onto the drapes, gravity found him at last and he plummeted to the courtyard below.
The prince cringed a little as his agonized scream was cut short by a dull thud, but only a little. At long last the traitor was dead, but now they had bigger things to worry about.
“Where are they?” railed the thin old man standing before her. His black eyes flashed with maniacal rage, and even Sakura could see the red haze around him, his anger was so great. “Someone has taken them! Where are they?”
She was bruised and aching, and too scared to pull herself into a standing position even if she’d had the strength. Salfrek looked murderous, and his glare was boring into her.
“Pl-please,” she stuttered. “Be calm. Nikolai Gorrell is dead; it’s all over.”
“Foolish girl!” She shrieked as he shot a bolt of red lightning at her, scorching the marble just by her right shoulder. “You think it matters to me whether he lives or dies? He was nothing! An inconsequential soldier who fit conveniently into my plans. An easy way for my retribution to your father.”
She dared to take a quick glance to her side; Li was slumped over on the floor of the balcony, stunned but not dead. She could see him breathing, though barely.
“I had but one goal. Mastery over the Cards, the last step necessary to become the greatest sorcerer living! And now they are gone! Where are they?” Again he threw another bolt of energy at her, nearly singing her hair. She ducked and cowered, trying to melt into the stone behind her. She was helpless like this, as tired as she was, she had no chance of defending herself against the mage.
“Sakura,” her brother whispered. He was just barely managing to hang onto the railing behind her, but he was pulling something out of his belt, pushing it through the posts. “Fight him. You don’t have a choice.”
It was the deck, her deck of Cards. Never in her life had she ever used them to attack another person, but Touya was right. There were times when a person had to fight back.
Salfrek raised his arms again to deal a lethal blow, but she was too quick for him.
“Shield Card!” An orb of light yellow surrounded the young sorceress, and she rose to her feet, slowly and deliberately. She was breathing heavily, but there was a determined look in her eye.
“I have had enough,” she said impatiently. “Enough people threatening me today, and threatening the people that I love. I don’t know who you are or why you choose to use magic the way that you do, but I don’t care. It ends tonight.”
“You think you can stand up to my powers, little girl?”
“I know I can.”
He pulled back his lips and snarled, then attacked again. The shield wavered a little, but it held, and she did not flinch. The magical lightning hitting the barrier created an unpleasant sizzle, and Li stirred slightly at the sound. His head hurt terribly, and automatically he tried to grip his sword, only to realize that it wasn’t in his hand.
What had happened?
The black faded from his vision and he saw Touya on the far side of the balcony, clambering up and over the railing, clearly exhausted. The prince was taking great pains to remain inconspicuous, and with good reason. It wasn’t a good idea for people of limited powers to get caught in the middle of a real magical fight.
“I will possess those Cards,” Salfrek threatened. “I will let nothing stand in my way!”
“They belong to me,” Sakura answered. “And I’m not giving them up!”
He was more powerful than she realized, and he threw extra force into his bolts. The shield was starting to fade.
Li blinked and tried to clear his vision as he focused on Sakura, standing a few feet away. She looked determined and sure of herself.
“Fiery Card!”
There was a glow of white and pink in her hand, and then, to his astonishment, Sakura burst into flame.
No, he realized, his mind still returning to reality. She hadn’t burst into flame. But she was surrounded by it, cloaked in it like a human torch. She threw her arms out wide and huge wings of fire spread out, then shot forward to engulf Salfrek in the fire.
Li was still dizzy and disoriented, and he tried to push himself up to a sitting position. He was thinking about how he had shown Sakura how to start a fire, how proud she had been to be able to draw a spark from the flintstone. How could anybody be so excited about something like that, when they could do this? He hadn’t realized how much power she actually had.
Salfrek held his palms forward and deflected the flames, though it was a debilitating attack. He stumbled a little before the onslaught but stood his ground.
“You’ll pay for that,” he rasped, and clapped his hands together. With a sharp crack, she felt the floor beneath her tremble, then disintegrate into a hundred chunks of rock. The entire balcony was breaking up.
“Run!” she screamed, and Touya managed to grab hold of the windowsill just in time. There were shards of broken glass still, from where Li had crashed through it earlier, and he gritted his teeth in pain. But there was nowhere else to go.
Li wasn’t nearly so lucky. Still groggy from the blow to his head, he hardly had a chance to move before he realized that he was falling, hurtling downward with the rest of the balcony. He almost yelled out as his acrophobia consumed him in a rush, but a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
Huh?
He was hanging in midair, and when he looked up he was shocked into full alertness. Sakura was holding his wrist, white feathery wings sprouting from her back and flapping slowly as she struggled to pull him up to her. After a moment of stunned disbelief, he pulled himself up and wrapped his arms around her neck gratefully.
“You can fly?” he whispered. She nodded matter-of-factly.
“Sure. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“No!”
“Oh.” She raised her arm to reactivate her shield as Salfrek shot another bolt of lightning at her. “Now you’ve gone too far,” she informed her attacker in an icy tone. “You helped a man betray and murder my parents, you helped him search for me and drag me back to the palace, you stole my Cards from me. But now you’ve almost killed Li. And I will not tolerate that.”
The old man sneered at her.
“Surely you’ve realized by now that I can see your magical attacks coming for me. I’m strong enough to withstand anything you throw at me, no matter how strong you are. And your strength is ebbing. I am fresh; you are not. You don’t stand a chance.”
It was true, she was exhausted after everything else that had happened that day. And using Shield and Fly at the same time was using up a lot of energy. Not to mention supporting Li’s weight –
Li. Of course.
“I need to borrow something of yours,” she murmured. “All right?”
“What?” She didn’t bother to answer as another of the Cards leapt into her hand.
“Move Card!”
It was true, he could see the magic of the Cards coming at him. But that didn’t mean that he could see the objects affected by her magic. He was totally focused on her, concentrating on the flying girl to such an extent that he never saw Li’s forbidden sword twitch on the bedroom floor, then lift off at one end. It was heavier than anything she’d ever tried to move previously, and the strength of the Card was dependent on her own energy. The shield faded completely as she channeled all her strength into the Move Card.
Come on, I know I can do this…
Salfrek was smiling now as he raised his hands for a final and lethal blow. She couldn’t fail now; Li would die too. That thought hardened her resolve, and she clutched at Li tightly, drawing upon a last reserve.
Move, damn it!
Her sharp mental command gave it the final impetus, and Li’s sword jerked upwards and shot through the air. It ran through the sorcerer’s body before the old man was even aware of the danger, and he gave a choking gasp of death.
Red electricity sizzled on his fingertips, but it was too late. Even powerful magicians had to die, and he fell to his knees, then on his side as the life force left him. He would never be the greatest sorcerer living.
The sixteen year-old girl that had defeated him managed, though barely, to hover back to the gaping hole in the side of the palace and land safely on the bedroom carpet.
“Oh Li,” she panted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I – I was so scared…”
“How could you be?” Tenderly he stroked back her damp and sweat-streaked hair. She looked so tired and scared, but more awesome and powerful in his eyes than he had ever thought possible. Even with the bite marks on her neck and the torn neckline, the white satin gown and the wings made her look like an angel. She was an angel. She was like divinity itself here on earth. Then the wings disappeared, and she dropped to her knees.
“Sakura!” The prince crawled through the open window, ignoring his bleeding hands, and hurried to pick her up. “Sakura, are you all right?”
She murmured something and her eyes began to close. Li had seen that before, the night that she tried to heal her brother’s wounds. He knew she would be all right with a little rest. The prince carried her to his parent’s bed and laid her out on the blankets as Li pulled his sword out of Salfrek’s body.
Odd that it killed someone tonight without my help, and I killed someone without its help. I guess I still have some work to do before I become the best swordsman in the land.
He glanced back at the bed. Touya was tipping a small bowl of water that had been by the bed between her lips, and pressing his dampened sleeve to her forehead.
It’s all right, Li thought wearily. The danger is over. She’ll be just fine.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters
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