Queen Yavara Ch. 45

"The assassin's half-bow was hidden in the embassy." Yavara said, "She'd stayed there overnight, and used it to hide during the search. Soraya told me every nook and cranny of the city was turned over, but you obviously wouldn't dare order a search of the embassy. When Zander investigated the site, he found food cans, opium needles, and a broken vial that contained remnants of a transformation potion. He found a hair that turned out to be human."

"An orgy of evidence." I said.

"Zander was suspicious as well, but he'd been tracking communications between the Highlands and Alkandra. Matthew was calling Leveria every day. Adrianna, I know you like him, but he was never truly your friend."

"Your Highness, you must see that he's being set up by Leveria. She wants you to start a war with the Lowlands." I almost said, but caught it on my tongue. If I said that, I might convince her it was true; Yavara held my opinion in high regard. If I did that, then Alexa would've died for nothing. If I confessed, then we would both have died for nothing. I was but a piece on Leveria's gameboard, and I had to finish my move. I had no choice.

"I can't believe it." I mumbled.

She looked at me. "He says you did it. He says you must've framed him using his sigil. You were the only other one with access to both a mirror and the embassy."

I looked back at her. "You think I would kill one of my own for Leveria? Have I not shown to you personally that I would die for them?"

She looked away, an expression of shame on her face. "I wasn't accusing you. I know you love them more than anything. It's why you betrayed me to help Elena." She sighed, watching the prince scribbling away at his desk, "I have to execute him, Adrianna. There is no way I can let him live. How will I explain that to King Dreus?"

"Tell him the truth."

"He denies it, of course. Even with all the evidence I presented, he says it's an Alkandran plot, that you must've framed his son for some reason. I can't get ahold of Leveria, and neither can he. Even Elena hasn't been available for nearly a week." She chewed on her lip, "I'd hold him indefinitely until a solution could be reached, but Eva told everyone. I can't wait much longer. The people demand justice."

"Are you asking for my counsel?"

"Yes."

I took one breath through my nose, then another, and let them both out through my mouth. "The Lowlands will never forgive you if you kill him, but Alkandra will never forgive you if you don't." I looked her steadily in the eyes, and said, "I will never forgive you if you don't."

ELENA

"Zander sent me to Feltianas to kill Percian Feltian and take his place in the Noble Court." Verto explained, "Zander knew Percian would soon be called to represent his family. His father was so frail."

"Zander sent Gorlok over the border to terrorize Feltianas." I said, watching Verto wrap Sofia's body in bloodstained bedsheets.

"I don't know anything about that." Verto said, "Zander just wanted his man on the court."

"And you thought you could just take over a nobleman's life without anyone noticing the difference?"

Verto shrugged. "His father spent considerable capital ensuring that his son's homosexuality stayed a secret, and so Percian stayed a secret to most everyone. Women were paid off to tell tall tales about Percian's exploits, while Percian himself wasn't allowed to leave the estate. His only contact with someone his age was Sofia Droughtius, who was his arranged betrothed. Perhaps his father hoped spending enough time with a woman would cure him of his gayness."

"How did you learn so much about him?"

"I had to be a bit of a bastard." He chuckled, "Even I felt a little bad about what I did. He was a young lonely gay man; the easiest of marks. I transformed into a dashing young high-elf, hopped his estate fence, slipped past is guards, and climbed into his bedroom window. After the first night, he was in love with me. He told me everything about himself, and I observed him carefully throughout, picking up on his mannerisms and speech affectations. After a week, I'd learned all there was to know about Percian Feltian. I knew him better even than his own mother. So I killed him, ate him, and donned his visage."

I looked at the wrapped corpse on the bed. "Then Sofia came to you."

"Yes," Verto looked at the corpse fondly, "For all that she was a schemer and a manipulator, it shocked me how she could not see that Percian was hiding himself from her. I guess we all have our blind spots. It made it very easy for me to impersonate Percian, because even Percian had impersonated Percian their whole relationship. When Percian's father abdicated, she came to me, seeking an ally. Well, perhaps not an ally; more like a lacky. Percian was very meek, and keen to do whatever she said. She told me about you, and she told me about Lucas Ternias."

"What did she tell you?"

"She feared that her family was on the brink of collapse following her father's disastrous defeat at the Tundra. She knew the only way to secure her family's standing was to make a powerful ally, and the queen was so disgusted with her father that Sofia dared not broach her. It was Ternias who saw the opportunity in Sofia, but really, it was you he wanted."

"We were both too smart to trust each other."

"So he tried to get you a different way." Verto inclined his head to Sofia's body, "He knew you were the only one who had the charisma and resources to collect the nobles, but he also knew you didn't have the inside relationships to make the initial contact. He sent Sofia to you. She was an insider, she could get you meetings with Huntiata and the Feractian barons, and you could do the rest." Verto smiled wickedly at me, "He also knew you wouldn't be able to resist virgin Highland cunt. She got her hooks in deep, didn't she?"

I glared at him. "Very deep."

His smile softened. "You're not evil enough to play this game, Elena. Sofia was as ruthless as they come, and she played you like a fiddle."

"And you let her."

"I tried to get you alone to warn you, but you stubbornly wanted to have a threesome and fuck me in the ass instead. The next day, you left Bentius." Verto sneered, "For a woman, you sure think with your dick a lot." He picked up Sofia's body, and shouldered it, "If I had known you were in mortal danger, I would've acted sooner, but I wasn't sure until tonight what Ternias's intentions were."

"What are they?"

"There was a vote in the Noble Court while you were gone. Leveria proposed that we follow Ternias's plan to attack the Highlands, and Ternias was the deciding vote. He killed the proposal. It was only then that I realized he'd just been tying Leveria up in pointless arguments to prop you up. Once you'd collected all the nobles he needed, he'd have you murdered, and Sofia would become the leader of your faction. He would then coopt your position of peace as his own, demand a vote of no confidence, and have Leveria forcefully removed from office with the aid of Huntiata's watchmen."

"Huntiata has said he'd never vote for a lasting peace."

"Haven't you convinced him otherwise?" Verto smirked, "Ternias knew you could be very convincing. It was why you needed to die tonight. Your faction would vote as you vote, and Ternias didn't think you'd vote for no confidence."

"And Sofia? Why did she go along with all this?"

"She would become Ternias's queen. Ternias would abandon Jonias, and Sofia would abandon Percian. A match made in hell if there ever was one."

I ran my hands through my hair, my mind pulling in ten different directions. "So... the threat has passed then. Sofia is dead, and Ternias cannot hope to claim my faction."

"You really think Ternias trusted everything to the unsure fingers of a noblewoman?" Verto asked, "She was the bait. You were supposed to be dead fifteen minutes ago. I had to kill five assassins just to get into this room. Your guards are all dead, and the manor is surrounded. If you open that door, you'll die. If you look out that window, you'll die. They're waiting for Sofia to leave the house, and if she doesn't, they are going to burn it to the ground."

ADRIANNA

Yavara closed the door behind me. I waited until I heard her footsteps fade down the hall, then I approached Prince Matthew. He continued to scribble away at his desk, not looking up at me even when I stood five feet away.

"It's rather ironic," he said, still writing on his parchment, "that being trained at a young age to defend against telepathy has doomed me. My only savior is the unfettered truth, and yet, Queen Yavara refuses to believe the truth in my mind. I wonder what she would see in yours?"

I didn't answer.

He dipped his quill in some ink, and continued his script, the chains around his wrists clinking. "I am penning a letter to my older brother, Arthur. He was the only man who knew me for what I was, and loved me all the same. That was, until I came here. Then I found love all around me, and most importantly, within me. It was you who did that, Adrianna."

Again, I didn't answer.

Matthew still did not look at me, ensconcing himself in his writing. "The past fifty days have been the best of my life. No longer did I wake dreading the day to come. No longer did I stand terrified in the corner, afraid of showing others who I am. You set me free, and for that, I am eternally thankful." He looked at me then, his bloodshot eyes full of tears. "And you have torn that all from me. All the love I've made has turned to hate, and those I once thought of as family now wish me to die. How long have you been grooming me for this fate, Adrianna?"

"I never wanted this."

"But you have it!" He spat, his voice tight with panic, "The sacrificial lamb to save the Highlands from itself! I loved Alexa like she was my sister, and you killed her! You killed her!"

"No, you did."

His face fell. "Even now you have no shame. Do you fear listening ears? Would they even believe what they heard?! I am guilty because I am an outsider, and it is unfathomable to everyone that the real outsider is you!" He shot out his hand to point the finger, but the chains caught it, allowing him only to gesture accusingly at the floor. He stared at me with eyes full of hatred, then his finger began to quiver, and his expression became one of terror, "Help me, Adrianna," he squeaked, "tell them the truth! Yavara will be merciful to you! She will understand why you did it!"

"I would never do that to Alexa."

"But it was done!" Tears streaked down his cheeks, their tan hue now pale with fear, "Don't do it to me too, Adrianna."

I took a step toward him. "There is only one way I can help you. You need to confess."

"I will never!"

"Tell them Leveria tricked you. Tell them you didn't know it was an assassination, but you must tell them something."

"I would rather die than admit to this!" He snarled.

I stopped before him, and took his shaking hands in mine. I looked up at him gently. "Are you sure, Matthew?" I whispered.

The terror behind his quivering lenses belied the truth. "No," he whimpered, "Adrianna, I don't want to die."

I stroked his hands with my thumbs, and said, "You are going to, Matthew."

He wailed, dropping to his knees before me. He took my hands in his, and brought to his lips, kissing the rings on my fingers. "Please, Adrianna," he groveled, "please don't let them kill me."

I ran my fingers through his locks. His beautiful thick hair was falling out with the stress, tainting him in the bloom of his youth. "Do you know how orcs kill traitors?" I asked him softly, "I saw it with my own eyes when I was a ranger. They cut off the traitor's cock and balls, and feed them to him. Then they cut off his fingers and toes, and feed them to him. They put spikes through his hands and feet, and tie weights to the end, then they lower him onto a pike, and impale him through the anus. When it comes through his clavicle, they put him on a spit, and roast him. He screams for a day before he cannot scream anymore, but he lives for much longer. They don't waste the cooked flesh. They sustain him with himself."

Matthew had gone deathly still when I finished. His breathing was short and fast, his skin prickled with goosebumps.

"If you fight this, if you demand a trial, it will only serve as a spectacle to raise Alkandra's anger. Furia will convict you, but she will not be able to sentence you. Yavara will take that duty upon herself, and she will listen to the will of the mob she rules. No one deserves to die like that, Matthew. If you confess, I will beg Yavara to be merciful to you. A quick beheading in the stadium is hardly anything at all, really. It's a short walk of embarrassment, then you kneel on a padded surface, put your head down, and close your eyes. No pain. When you next open your eyes, you'll be with your ancestors."

He stayed still for a long time, the weight of my words seeming to bow him. When he next looked up at me, his expression was nearly that of astonishment. "Adrianna," He said softly, "you are an evil woman."

I nodded, a tear running down my cheek. "I know."

ELENA

Verto had Sofia's crossbow in his hand. He was pressed against the wall next to the door, and I was across from him, two daggers in my hands. He nodded to me. I grabbed the knob, twisted it, and took two successive breaths. Then I threw open the door, and Verto fired the crossbow. Someone screamed, and I rolled through the threshold, sprang into a leap, and sunk my daggers into the opposite sides of a man's neck. I ripped them out, squirting red over my face, and I spun, letting his body fall behind me to catch three crossbow bolts that had been meant for my chest. I whipped around, pivoting on the balls of my feet, and I flung one dagger across the hall. It hit the assassin square in the chest, and he gurgled, clutching at the wound.

Verto was moving down the hall in a flurry, his sword singing through flesh and metal. He took one man's head clean off, put his blade through another's stomach, then spun and ducked as an axe sailed over his head. I caught it as I rushed after him, and tossed it end-over-end to its owner. It caught him between the eyes, and he stumbled like a drunk before pitching forward, and splitting the rest of his skull against the floor.

"Left!" Verto shouted. With out looking, I threw my other dagger to the left, and hit the man in the shoulder. I brandished my sword before he even registered that he'd been struck, and I sliced clean through his throat. Blood spurted from the smile in his neck, and he went down to reveal the man behind him, a crossbow aimed at my face. He fired. I raised my sword. The bolt clanged off the metal, and I was on him half a second later, cutting his hand off, spinning, and taking his head too.

We sprinted into the main hall, and slid to a halt before the threshold.

"How many?" I asked.

He sniffed the air. "Fifteen."

"Shit." I dared a peek around the wall. The wide landing was bathed in the moonlight from the ceiling window, and before it, the winding double staircase went into pitch darkness. Twenty feet from its base was a cellar trapdoor, and from there, a passage that went into the adjacent alley.

"They're not going to shoot until we're in the light." Verto muttered, loading his crossbow, "Ten feet to the stairs, twenty to the floor, ten more to the trap door. Five seconds, Elena. No more than thirty footsteps or they'll pin you."

"We could go over the railing."

"You do what you want. I'm going left." He took a deep breath, "Ready?"

"Ready."

We charged into the light. I dove, rolled, and was struck in the forearm. I ascended into the shadows, ripped out the bolt, and sucked the poison from the wound. I didn't have time to worry if I got it all. A glint of light danced before me, and I ducked before the sword cut through my face. I put the point of my blade into his soft belly, then heaved forward, toppling him backward. I ran after, my feet thundering against the steps, the man before me threatening to send me sprawling forward. He screamed as he caught the bolts that were meant for me, and I leapt over him when he went down on his back, and sliced blindly through the air. I cut into meat, and someone shrieked. A blade dug into my ribs, and I screamed. Twirling, I danced through the darkness, ducking and leaping on instinct, guessing where the strikes would land from years of practice. I guessed right on enough. I killed one man with a slice through his throat, chopped another's hand off, whirled forward and opened a man's belly to spill his guts onto the floor. I slipped on the entrails, and went sprawling forward, my sword flying out of my hand, but the handle of the cellar door filling it. I threw it open, drew a dagger, and launched it blindly into the darkness below. A scream answered, and I dropped before the whistle of a blade that nearly cut my head in two.

My feet hit the soft parts of a man, and my victim grunted. I pulled the last knife from my belt, and ended him before leaping out of the way. A figure crashed atop the man's corpse, and sprang forward just as a salvo of bolts was launched from the trapdoor entrance.

"It's me!" Verto gasped as I prepared to stab.

"Were you hit?"

"I was, several times." He groaned, "But I'm immune to most poisons, and those I'm not immune to, Highland assassins would never think to use."

We backed away from the square of dim moonlight that shown from the trapdoor. The dead man at the bottom of the ladder wore the crest of House Straltaira on his helm. Jasonian, I believed his name was.

"He must've hidden down here." I said, "I killed him."

"Don't feel too bad. Any of your men who still live are the ones who betrayed you."

"Or he was just trying to sneak some wine out of the caskets."

"Isn't it easier on your conscience to believe me?" Verto asked, "Come on, let's get out of here before they light the place on fire."

We ran through the back passageway, and stopped before the secret door into the alley. I looked through the peephole, then opened the door, and held my guard's body out. A dagger was immediately imbedded in his head, and I snatched the assailant's hand, and hauled him off the top of the doorframe before Verto put a dagger in his eye. We rushed through the alley, took a sudden sharp turn onto Flower Street, and dove into the river. We were carried swiftly downstream through the refuse of Bentius, passing through tier after tier of city walls before we managed to haul ourselves out at one of the outlets. We were well out of the noble district by that time, and into the merchant district. We hid behind a butcher shop, catching our breath.

I had never seen Bentius like this. In all my life, I'd had servants who went to the lower wards of the city, and I had only left the noble district to travel quickly by carriage down the main promenade and through the gates. Up in the noble district, it felt like I was atop the city. In the merchant district, it felt like I was in it. Castle Bentius loomed hundreds of feet overhead, backed by the imposing triangle of Mount Tinsar. The great manors of the noble district were obscured by a high wall, and the tiered districts moved down the grand hillside like great steps. The merchant district was one of the lowest tiers, and not a place I could ever be seen in. I could walk without a veil in the noble district, where all knew who I was, but past those walls, I was a monster.

"Here," I said handing Verto my coin sack, "buy me a habit of the Holy Mother, a thick veil, and gloves. I cannot be seen in this place."

"You can just buy habits?" He inquired.

"Where do you think nuns get them?"

"The church?"