Page 125 of The Concubine King
“We won’t!Just trust me!”
Poyut groaned, but complied, sheathing her sword and following Ethyr up the mountain.None of the priests would stop them, they just had to get to the patio of flowers.If they could get into the Gods’ Realm, they wouldn’t have anyone or anything stopping them from leaving the city.
Already exhausted from the mad dash through the palace, running up an incline was a special form of torture, and it was pure desperation that pushed his shaking legs up and up and up.Poyut, despite being weighed down by a sword and light armor, was doing much better, and it was her hand pulling his that stopped him from collapsing.
The temple loomed over them.They were mere strides from the entrance when the sound of galloping hooves turned them around.
Lyrian yanked his ride to a skidding halt.Poyut shoved Ethyr behind her as the man dismounted, ringing her sword from its sheath.
“Bit predictable, don’t you think?”Lyrian asked, ambling forward, pulling his own sword from his belt and swinging it in a dexterous arch.
“Don’t, Poyut.”Ethyr gripped the arm she held in front of him.“Just go.He won’t hurt me.”
“Are you sure?”Lyrian asked, the pleasant etiquette of his voice sending chills down Ethyr’s spine.It was no different from the tone of all the compliments and niceties and reassurances he’d given Ethyr over the months.
“You wouldn’t dare!”Ethyr replied, trying not to let his uneasiness show.“The gods will kill you!”
Lyrian clicked his tongue, still advancing with slow, carefree steps, the tip of his sword dragging in the dirt road.Poyut stepped back, pushing Ethyr with her, eyes locked on Lyrian with bitterly seething anger.
“If that were the case,” Lyrian said, tilting his head, “they’d be here now, protecting you.But they aren’t.”He smirked with the smug satisfaction of knowing he was right.“They stopped caring about humans centuries ago.Now we’re just toys for their entertainment.When one breaks or gets too old, it’s easily replaced.They don’t have any reason to waste their effort protecting you.”
Ethyr swallowed.
“Ethyr,” Poyut said under her breath.“Go into the temple.I’ll hold him off.”
Ethyr slowly released her arm, taking a step back, gnawing his lip.He didn’t want to leave her, but he also knew he had no help to offer.He’d just be an obstacle and distraction in her fight.
“Poyut,” he whispered, annoyed at the tears that welled into his eyes.Surely any second, more guards would come following Lyrian, and she wouldn’t stand a chance.“I’m sorry.I’m sorry about everything.I should have listened to you from the start.I should have known how lucky I was to have you.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Poyut said firmly.Lyrian charged forward.“Go!”she yelled at Ethyr as she darted forward to meet him.
The harsh impact of their swords echoed down the mountainside.Ethyr stumbled back a few steps, but he couldn’t make himself abandon her.He watched, wide-eyed and helpless, as she parried Lyrian’s first few strikes.Despite him being bigger than her, she didn’t even have the advantage of agility, as he moved with adept speed, forcing her to defend with no opening to take the offense.
But anger threaded her limbs and kept her blows equal to Lyrian’s, not allowing his strength and build to drive her back.Ethyr had never seen either of them in a real fight, and it was as impressive as it was terrifying.The both of them moved with deadly skill and accuracy, blade matching blade, feet matching feet, like some kind of dance.Even Lyrian seemed surprised at how well Poyut held her own, his casual indifference riled up to frustrated effort as he swung and stabbed.
It happened too quickly for Ethyr to catch the mistake.One second, Poyut was pivoting, matching Lyrian’s strike, the next her sword was on the ground and Lyrian’s blade was embedded in her side.He ripped it out.Poyut staggered sideways, shoulders heaving.Even with a gaping wound in her side, she reached for her sword.Lyrian raised his to deliver the killing blow.
Ethyr had no concept of what he was doing even as he did it, rushing forward, colliding into Lyrian with every ounce of force and momentum and weight he could throw.The man fell backwards, raising an arm to shove at Ethyr as they hit the ground together.He caught Lyrian’s forearm in his mouth and bit down as hard as he could, flesh and muscle giving way under his teeth and filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood.
Lyrian yelled out in pain and bashed his hilt into the side of Ethyr’s head.
The burst of ringing pain turned the world black and silent for a few seconds.When the world returned, Lyrian was lumbering to his feet.Ethyr scrambled to his own, tripping over the spinning ground, but still managing to make himself vertical.
“I trusted you!”he spat at Lyrian.“You had the advisor office!Why did you have to do all this?”
“Because,” Lyrian hissed back, adjusting the hold on his sword.“The kingship is a fucking joke.The gods are a fucking joke.You were the proof of it, the living example of what cowardly, weak-willed zealots let this kingdom become.We don’t need the gods, we need a real leader.”
“The advisor has been the true leader for centuries!”Ethyr shouted.
“The advisor?”Lyrian snarled.“Hiding in the shadows, doing all the work, getting none of the credit?At the beck and whim of whatever spoiled priest is king that year?I don’t think so.You’re the last pathetic figure standing in the way of my greatness.”Lyrian shook his head.“I liked you, Ethyr, I did.But you’ve gotten too many notions into your head that make you a risk to keep around.”
His lunge didn’t fully register in Ethyr’s brain.Neither did the strange pressure in his chest, until he looked down at the sword speared through the center of it.
It drew back out.Yet the pressure remained.It was odd; a slow ebb, moving down his torso, down his legs, until they collapsed under him.He didn’t feel himself hit the ground, only heard a distantly screamed “No!”as night sky took over his vision.
He blinked.When his eyes opened, Kiaro was in them.The god’s face was strange, contorted, like he was the one dying.The lump of tangled roots appeared in his hand.He plunged it into Ethyr’s chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
