Stars May Fall (Stars May Burn #2)

33. Annabelle

ANNABELLE

T he moment the smaller prisoner was pulled through the side door, I knew he was my brother. I knew the fashionable, lazily worn clothes and the gangly legs. I knew the way he walked.

Lyrason must have had his own guards with Clarence, ready to take him prisoner at a moment’s notice. I blew out a breath. At least, he wasn’t dead like Stirling. Yet. Being too young to inherit the throne was likely the only reason he was alive. And the fact that Lyrason wanted to control me. I hoped Venerick was still alive.

As Lyrason pulled the sacks off the two prisoners’ heads, the second prisoner, Callum, spat straight into his face. I was warming to that man. His gait was unsteady, and his hair was matted with blood that was also smeared across his forehead. His clothes were dirty on one side as if he had been dragged here.

Gregane rewarded Callum with a sharp blow to the back of his knees, sending him to the floor. Hard. He grabbed his hair and forced him to keep kneeling. Callum winced. His skin was pale. I wondered how hard they’d had to hit his head in order to take him prisoner.

I stood up, keeping my crossbow trained on Lyrason. His eyes narrowed on me, and he held up his hand as dozens of crossbows angled themselves to my chest and head. “Don’t shoot her.”

He smiled and clasped his hands in front of him as if we were having a normal, polite conversation. “Annabelle, my dear, let’s end the theatrics. It was nice of you to come and save me the bother of finding you.” He drew a knife in his hand and, with two quick strides, grabbed Clarence’s hair to pull his head back. Lyrason held his knife to my brother’s long, pale neck. My heart pounded against my ribs.

Lyrason smiled at me. “You have two options. One, you can stop drawing this out unnecessarily and getting people killed. Come down, and agree to marry me. Such a move will ensure a peaceful transition into our new monarchy. Two, you can shoot that crossbow, which will deflect against my shield, and I will slit your little brother’s throat.”

I swallowed, trying to think clearly. The many soldiers in the room were meant to be on my side, yet they followed Lyrason. Without him, they’d crumble. But he had Clarence. He would only have to move his hand an inch and my brother would be dead.

Kasten’s voice came low and measured from one side. “Keep calm. Don’t let him get to you. Stall for time if you need to.”

I licked my lips. Father had killed so many to keep one son alive. I couldn’t fall into the same trap. If I was to be queen, I had to put the kingdom first. I had to. I couldn’t let Lyrason take the throne or thousands more would die.

My fingers sweated on the lever which formed a squeeze trigger. I aimed between Lyrason’s eyes. Did I have the strength to do this?

And what if the reason the second bolt had got through the kryalcomy shield was not due to the yadum, but due to blows in quick succession? Maybe the shield could only block so much at once.

I spoke while barely moving my lips, keeping my aim steady. “Kasten, I want you to aim an arc of kryalcomy straight at Lyrason. As powerful as you can.”

His head whipped around. “It’s not discriminate. Clarence and Callum will be caught in the blow.”

My heart rate increased, but I stuck to my plan. “Do it on my command. Clarence should be behind Lyrason’s kryalcomy shield. Callum should be behind Gregane’s. They’re so close together. Jared, fire at Lyrason a second after Kasten’s attack. Aim for his chest.”

Kasten’s voice was tight. “You realize this might end up in Callum and Prince Clarence’s deaths? Are you really prepared to gamble with their lives?”

My hands shook slightly. “Yes, because I’ll do anything to save my kingdom. Now!”

Kasten swore, turned, and swiped his blade through the air. A blinding arc of silvery light sped down into the center of the room.

As I’d hoped, Lyrason lifted his hand to shield his eyes instead of cutting Clarence’s throat. I aimed where I predicted Lyrason would stumble back and fired.

Kasten’s arc hit Lyrason’s shield, and a blinding explosion filled the entire room below us. The walls shook, and I stumbled as the gallery tipped. Cracks appeared up one wall as islands of plaster crumbled down.

As the bright light cleared, dust clouds drifted across the air. I saw a swathe of fallen bodies across the room. Kingdoms, the starstone was powerful. Lyrason was crouched on the floor, a crossbow bolt in his belly. The second bolt was embedded in Clarence’s shoulder where he knelt, sagging to one side. Gregane was knocked to the floor, splayed on his back but already rising, apparently unharmed. Callum had disappeared.

Before I could take stock of the full situation, Kasten fired another wider arc down, the silver energy felling half the soldiers on the opposite side of the room. “I’ll get Lyrason before he can recover.” He turned behind us and shouted to Sophie, “Stay away from the fighting.” Then he unhooked a grappling hook from his bracer and attached it to one of the chairs before flinging himself from the balcony and descending into the chaos.

I shook myself back into alertness and looked over the balcony. There was no way I could get down to the floor, and plenty of enemy soldiers were still standing. I looked back at Lyrason who hadn't risen from his sitting position. Gregane was crouched over him. The two seemed to be arguing. Clarence was discarded, lying beside them, his fingers pressing down on his shoulder around the arrow, though there didn’t appear to be much blood. Even from here, I could see the pain on his pale face. He was so alone.

My poor brother. My confidence trembled.

Sophie

I’d watched the scene unfold from the shadows at the corner of the rail, my hands pressed to my mouth. So much fighting, death and disloyalty. I didn’t understand how Kasten and Annabelle could be so composed. I couldn’t be any more out of place. This was Kasten’s world, and I was bewildered in it. I was small and lost.

I closed my eyes and composed myself. No, just because I couldn’t fight, didn’t mean I couldn’t be useful. I had to be brave.

I opened my eyes to a bright explosion that forced me to look away. When it cleared, I saw both Lyrason and Prince Clarence had been shot by bolts. I leaned forward in alarm and clutched the gallery rail. Prince Clarence clutched at his shoulder. Even from here, I could see his face growing pale and his breathing become shallow and rapid. He collapsed back, his hands still on his shoulder. He didn’t seem to be breathing heavily, but he was going into shock. Many people died from such a wound even without the blood loss or a vital organ being pierced. I had to help him.

Kasten looked me in the eyes from across the balcony. “Stay away from the fighting.” He leapt over the rail without hesitation, using one of Callum’s grappling hooks. My heart clenched with worry, and I tried to fight it. My husband would be fine. He had the power of the starstone. I looked at the mess of soldiers below. Kasten wouldn’t make it to Clarence any time soon. And the prince needed help now.

Kasten wouldn’t like it, but I was stronger than he thought I was, and the need was dire. If I didn’t act now, poor Clarence could die a painful death.

I patted the medical supplies in my white leather bag to reassure myself, turned, and ran for the main door. The key was in the lock. Meena was already at my back. She raised an eyebrow in question. I had a feeling she was going to end up telling me off again. “Stay close,” I whispered with a smile that was both apologetic and pleading. “We need to save Prince Clarence.”

Meena didn’t hide her worry but nodded.

I turned to the maids, Tilly and Dorothea, apologetically. “I don’t know the palace well. Can you get me as close to Prince Clarence as possible while avoiding the soldiers and the fighting? I want to treat his injuries if I can get the opportunity.”

The two women looked over my shoulder with uncertain expressions. Tilly turned to Dorothea. “I’ll take her. You stay with Princess Annabelle in case she needs you.”

I smiled my thanks and let myself be led down the main corridor, Meena close behind me. The thick blue carpet muffled our footfalls. There wasn’t much to hide behind, but the corridor was deserted. All of Lyrason’s soldiers must have been occupied by the fighting inside.

We turned a corner, and Tilly pointed to a closed door in the wall. “That door leads to the center of the throne room, but if you go through, they’ll be sure to see us, my lady. What should we do?”

Meena stepped in front of me, so she was between me and the door. “I can’t defend you from all those soldiers,” she warned. “Some of them might have kryalcomy devices as well.”

I debated while my heart thudded. Then the door handle started to turn. I pushed Tilly to one side, and we hurried behind the nearby floor-length curtains bordering a window while Meena hid behind the opening door itself. I peeked between the folds and gasped. Soldiers were dragging a large cage out of a side room. From inside, the angry shrieks and violent rattles could only belong to a halfsoul. Was Lyrason going to set it loose on the room? Or would he be able to extract more vitality from it if he brought it closer?

I shook my head. Those were problems for later. We waited for the cage to be pushed through the door and the soldiers to be out of sight before we left the cover of the curtains. They hadn’t closed the door into the throne room behind them. From a safe distance, I dared to peek at what was happening on the other side.

Annabelle

My heart thudded so hard, and my chest ached as I watched my brother’s agony. He was out of my reach. Kasten was clearing soldiers rapidly, but he was still too far away.

Lyrason started gesturing wildly, and I focused on his lips. It seemed he wanted to pull out the arrow in his stomach while Gregane was shaking his head and holding up his palms. I frowned. I supposed Lyrason couldn’t heal using the vitality from the halfsouls while it was still buried in his body. But if he pulled it out, the blood loss might kill him before he could heal.

Either way, he seemed to be in barely any pain. Just how much haemalcomy he was using? Why wouldn’t the man just die?

Lyrason seemed to win the argument, and Gregane turned from him, rising and running to a side door. Gregane shouted at some guards, and they entered the throne room pushing a large cage on wheels, covered by a blanket. It rocked as if something was inside it, violently trying to get out. I straightened and raised my crossbow once more.

They wouldn’t…not here…

Gregane pulled off the blanket to reveal a caged halfsoul. As soon as it could see the people around it, it threw itself at the bars and screeched. It looked like Lyrason wanted more vitality for when he pulled the arrow free.

I licked my lips and aimed for its heart, but I couldn’t get a clear shot; the solid top of the cage protected much of its body from my elevated angle.

Gregane grabbed a weakly struggling Clarence and started to drag him over to the cage. I changed my bow’s aim and shot at Gregane, but the two were moving too much in their struggle for me to aim centrally, and the flash of Gregane’s kryalcomy shield deflected it far away.

In response, Gregane pushed Clarence between us, using him as a human shield in addition to his kryalcomy one. I swore and looked down for Kasten, hoping he was close enough to rescue Clarence. But he was still too far away, cutting through line after line of densely packed soldiers.

No, no, no! I’d never felt more useless.

Gregane presented Clarence’s arm to the halfsoul. My brother kicked and flailed, trying to escape. The halfsoul bit him. I covered my mouth in shock.

Clarence fell backward, and I watched as he rapidly lost consciousness, his limbs shaking and becoming rigid. Lyrason hovered beside him, breathing deeply, then reached to pull the arrow from his own abdomen. Anger and grief bubbled hot inside me. I’d managed to keep my emotions under tight control since I’d heard of my parents’ deaths, but now barely anything was holding me together.

I had nothing to hold me back now.

I fired at Lyrason, the bright white explosion shattering my arrow. I fired again, as quickly as I could load. Jared fired too.

I only needed one bolt to get through or at least delay them long enough for Kasten to reach them and finish this.

As the next explosion cleared, I saw Lyrason had pulled the bolt from his stomach. His tunic was drenched with blood, and a second bolt had injured his arm. Gregane was flapping around him.

Kasten was getting close now.

I fired again. When the explosion cleared, my heart plummeted. Lyrason and Gregane were gone, leaving only a bright smear of blood to show where they’d been lying. I let out a cry of frustration. We had been so close.

Kasten finally reached Clarence and fitted a bracelet around his wrist. At once, Clarence’s muscles relaxed, his expression becoming calm, though he remained unconscious.

An inhuman screech made me turn. Somebody had left the halfsoul loose. I blinked. Lyrason would do that to his own men? Even when he needed vitality and a distraction to cover his escape, it was shocking to see how little loyalty that man had.

I shot at the halfsoul and missed. I reloaded as fast as I could and shot again, this time finding my target square in the chest, but not before another person had been bitten. I cursed. Things were becoming more and more out of control.

And wild beasts were always the most dangerous when they were injured.