Sleepers (16 page)

“I heard what you said.” Her voice sounded like a frog, croaking in the night sky.

“You know I didn’t mean it,” I said, pulling a comb out of my pocket. The guard had forgotten to pat me down, distracted by my comments. The comb wasn’t the only surprise I had hiding in my cloak, but it was the only tool I needed now. “Have they been giving you enough to drink? You sound awful.”

“Thanks.” A smile cracked the lines in Mags’ face. “I have been drinking. I don’t know if it’s enough.” I tried not to think about how much she’d aged in the last week as I combed through her hair. Every couple of minutes I dipped the comb in her mug of water, making it easier for it to separate her waves into a presentable hairstyle. I wouldn’t have her march in front of her subjects looking a mess.
Mags was
every inch a queen and deserved to be presented like it.

“Did you talk to Aric?” she asked. “Is he going to help us? Is he going to get Trevin?”

“I talked to him last night. He was a little drunk, I think because he didn’t know what to do about your impending execution.”

Even though I was behind Mags now, still combing her hair, I could feel her head move. I knew a smile had sprouted on her face.

“And of course he said he would help us,” I said. “Did you think he wouldn’t?”

“After the way I treated him? Denying him his son and turning him away? Why should he help me?”

“Because he loves you,” I answered. “If he loves you, he’ll forgive you.”

I paused for a moment, the comb stuck at a knot. Would Bryden feel that way about me if we ever had a chance to talk again?

“Everything okay?” Mags asked.

“Yeah, just fine,” I said, going back to work on the knot in her hair.

A few minutes later I was done. Her hair didn’t shine like it used to, but it was presentable. Maybe she didn’t look like a queen, but she didn’t look like a prisoner either. Mags turned around and her bright smile nearly erased any of the grime on her body or hair. No wonder the king had chosen her for his wife. She didn’t need gowns or fancy hairdos. Mags had what it took to be a queen in her smile.

“You’d better not do that when the guard comes,” I said, “or he’ll know something is up.”

“I won’t. I promise. I just can’t believe I’m going to see Trevin again so soon. And to think he’ll be with his father, his real father. How did you pull this all together so quickly?”

“With Bryden’s help. He’s amazing.” My voice cracked. Mags’ eyes crinkled in the corners and she cocked her head to the side, studying my expression.

“You love him, don’t you?” she asked.

I nodded, holding back the tears I’d sworn to myself I’d stop.

“That was quick, but I know you Lianne. You lead with your heart, you always have. I hope he realized you’re an amazing girl and understood everything you’ve sacrificed to be here today. All these years we both thought it would be Kellan. I guess my life isn’t the only one that’s changed.”

Mags opened her arms and I stumbled into them, burying my face in her hair. I had my best friend back. I wanted Bryden back too.

I pulled back quickly as the guard’s heavy boots stomped down the corridor.

“It’s time,” Mags said, a grin taking over her face

I nodded.

Just as quickly as the smile appeared, it disappeared from her face. A scowl took its place and furrowed brows edged out the twinkle in her eyes.

I wanted to say something, to act like I was consoling her, but I’d told the guard I didn’t care about her anymore, so I had to keep up my part too. Mags had already given her physical appearance over to what was supposed to befall her. I had to do the same.

“You ladies ready?” the guard asked as he unlocked the door. It wasn’t the guard who had let me in this morning, but the guard who had helped me out last night. Mags began to moan so realistically I felt goose bumps travel up my arms. I grabbed her elbow and pulled her through the doorway.

She kicked and scratched at me, leaving what I was sure would be bruises and wounds that would take days to heal. The guard grabbed Mags around the waist and hefted her up over his shoulder. She kicked him and tried to bite his neck. I was impressed. Most of the time we’d been together she’d been in bed heavy with child or nursing a new one. I didn’t know Mags had it in her. It was hard me for me to keep my composure.

The guard wrapped an arm around her legs, stopping her from kicking him. “You’d better stop it now. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Mags quit her tirade against him and looked up at me from over his shoulder. She winked and I winked back, sure no one was looking.

This was going to work, I just knew it. Nothing could go wrong now. We were too close to success.

I covered my eyes as the bright sunlight streamed through the doorway. The walkway led directly to the execution platform, the place where Mags was to lose her life. Instead we were prepared to turn the world upside down, provided Bryden followed through with his promise. He wasn’t the one I had to worry about. He’d always done everything he said he’d do, which is why I was so worried I would never see him again.

I heard the low roar of the crowd outside. Had the whole kingdom shown up to see the queen killed? My stomach flipped over and the fires began to burn. I’d been afraid that would happen, but I had to remember what Bryden had taught me. I had to control myself or my magic might overpower me. This was a time when I had to rely on my years of training as a fighter, not my moments of training in magic. I didn’t know enough to control it or to use it usefully.

I thought of Bryden and when we kissed in the meadow. I felt the fires peter out as the memory of his lips on mine reminded me how to calm myself. I was grateful he’d taught me that one lesson. The memory was so powerful I could carry it with me anywhere.

The guard stopped walking and set Mags down.

“Don’t fight now, pretty little queen. Don’t give the king the satisfaction. Remind him why he chose you.”

Mags turned back to me, her eyebrows raised. I
winked,
glad we’d had the luck to get the nice guard. I hoped Mags kept that in mind when she saw whatever Rotlar had planned for her. She wasn’t alone and soon she would have Aric with Trevin safely in his arms at our meeting point. Nothing could hurt Mags now. Our plan had to succeed.

We shielded our eyes from the glaring sun as we ascended the stairs to the platform. The king sat in a throne, but I couldn’t see around him or Mags and the guard. I craned my neck, trying to see what he had waiting for her, but my attention was pulled away when Mags began to scream.

The chills raced through my body and the flames flickered back to life. As she continued to wail, her body shook violently and the guard grabbed her arms behind her back with one hand not letting her get away. I still couldn’t see what had upset her, but I knew Mags well enough to know she wasn’t acting anymore. This was real.

“Behold your lover,” the king boomed. The crowd yelled and cheered as he swept his hand out to the side. I craned my neck, but still couldn’t see around Mags and the guard.

“What’s going on?” I yelled. But before anyone could answer, Mags fainted and crumpled to the ground.

That’s when I saw what the king had on display, Aric’s severed head on a table.

Then an explosion rocked the dais.

I jumped forward and covered Mags’ head as the explosions continued. The dais rocked, but held solid. I knew this was our chance. Bryden was supposed to wait until Mags was on the block, but Aric’s death warranted a change in our plan. I’d have to think fast to keep up with Bryden.

“Mags,” I yelled in her ear, hoping she could hear me above the deafening noise of the explosions. “We have to go now.”

I tugged on her shoulders, trying to pull her up off the ground, praying she’d come to her senses quickly.

“No,” she moaned, still lying on the ground. “If they have Aric, where’s Trevin? I can’t leave without Trevin.”

I glanced around, and saw Albree on the dais, on the other side of Aric’s bloody head, holding Trevin.

“He’s alive. He’s with Albree and I’m sure he’s safe. We need to run now.”

I tugged on her again, but her limp body refused to cooperate.

“Why bother? Aric’s dead. Trevin’s in their custody. I might as well be dead too. You know I’ll never hold him again. Never get to be his mother.” Tears streamed down her face. “They’ll never allow me to see David and Matthew either.”

“You don’t know that. If you die no one can ever tell Trevin that you tried to be with him. You have to stand up now and run while Bryden makes the explosions. It’s your only chance to get away. We can figure out later how to come back and get Trevin. David and Matthew will always be cared for as long as they are still considered heirs to the throne.”

Mags’ eyes lit up. I knew she realized I was right. She needed to fight or die. She made the right choice.

She struggled to her feet, turned to Rotlar, her husband and king, and yelled, “I’ll get my son back. Never underestimate me again!”

Then she ran down the stairs and off the stage, swallowed by the confused masses. Before I could join her, I felt a hand on my arm.

“Let her go,” the guard said. “Both of you can’t get away and it’s more important that the queen is free.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. I swallowed hard and nodded my head. He was right, but my heart was yelling at me to run. He squeezed my arm and I knew I could take him down in one movement, but I stood still. There were too many guards and an executioner with a heavy axe. I couldn’t take them all. I couldn’t do it alone.

For the first time that day I wished Kellan was by my side, only because I needed someone to fight with me. But I didn’t see him anywhere. I didn’t even know if he knew about his father’s death.

Albree held Trevin tight in her arms as she cowered next to the throne, probably wondering when the next explosion was coming. But no more occurred, Bryden must already be gone.

“What was that?” King Rotlar bellowed and gestured wildly at his guards.

The guard let go of my arm and stepped forward. “An earthquake, sire. I don’t know what else it could have been.”

“She got away,” the king said. “How could you let this happen?”

He pounded his fist on the solid gold arm of his chair. He quavered, just like the other times he was angry. I’d seen him this way more often than I cared to admit and it never ended well.

“The boy must die then.” He glanced over at Albree crouched on the stage with Trevin in her arms.

“No!” I screamed. “You can’t kill a baby. He did nothing wrong!”

Albree stood up and rearranged Trevin so he was cuddled into her chest. I held my breath, hoping she would agree with me. That for once she would do what was right. A sneer spread across her face and she patted Trevin’s bottom.

“Where do you want me to put him?” she asked the king.

“Albree!” I screamed. “What are you doing?”

The king laughed and took the baby from Albree’s willing arms.

“Ugly little thing, aren’t you?” he asked.

The fire in my belly sprang to life and I didn’t try to control it. He’d crossed the line killing Aric, ordering Trevin’s death was beyond reproach. Why didn’t anyone else try to stand up to him? Were they all too afraid? Were they all as demented as him?

“You can’t do this,” I yelled, running toward his throne, but the guard caught me and held me back.

“I can do anything I want, Lianne,” Rotlar said, noticing me for the first time. “Haven’t you figured that out yet? If I kill this baby then my former queen will have no reason to ever show her face in my kingdom again. Problem solved. Also, I don’t know what my new queen would think about caring for a child whose blood wasn’t royal.”

“New queen?” I asked.

Albree stepped forward. She’d been huddled over Trevin and I hadn’t noticed the glimmer from her hair. The royal crown sat upon her brow. “Make her bow,” she said to the guard and pointed at me.

His hands pushed down on my shoulders, but I resisted. I would never bow to Albree. Never. But my legs buckled when he kicked the back of my knees. I fell to the platform, my head hanging down and I looked at the wooden slats under my knees. The breaks between boards dug into my legs as he continued to push down on my shoulders.

The fires burned and licked upward.
Albree the new queen?
It was all wrong.
Mags was
free, but things were worse now than before. There was no escape for any of us and the king was drunk on his own sick power.

I didn’t want the fires to stop. I wanted them to consume me, to give me the power I’d craved so much over the last week. My blood burned through my veins, feeling as if my whole body was fire.

I looked up at Albree and said, “You will never be queen.”

She laughed at me. “It’s too late, you know.
Mags is
gone and he’s already asked me to take her place. We consummated it last night and now he’s mine, the throne is mine, and this kingdom is mine.”

I lifted my hand off the wooden slats and aimed my palm at her. A gust of wind blew Albree close to the edge of the platform. Her screams pierced the shouts of the crowd and everyone fell silent. The guard let go of me and raced to grab Albree’s arm as she teetered on the edge of the platform. It was built high so everyone could see the executions.
High enough that a fall off of it, at the wrong angle, could be deadly.