The Prince of Exiles (The Exile Series) (42 page)

“Leah!” He shouted at her, shaking her. “Are you here? Are you with me?”

She locked eyes with him, and he saw that she was back, her mouth set in a grim line.

How much blood has she lost?

“Let’s go.”

They turned and ran down the right hand branch, and after a quick loop it took them back toward the walls on the north side of the city.

They passed shambling groups as they went and told them all where to go – the younger members they recruited to help them comb the city, and before long they had a pack of nearly twenty. They continued shouting directions, even though soon they could barely speak, so hard was it to yell over the sound of the constantly advancing flames. They came across a number of people who had fainted from the smoke – these were lifted onto the shoulders of the younger men and women they’d gathered with them, and taken toward the Yard.

“What’s over there?” Leah asked, pulling him to a stop. Raven looked, and saw a large park, an area that had been cultivated with grass and trees.

And standing in the middle of it, looking nearly a hundred strong, were a group of Roarke citizens, confronting a smaller band of Kindred Scouts, headed by a man in red armor.

“AUTMARAN!”

The man at the head of the Kindred forces turned and squinted through the haze; when he saw Leah and Raven his mouth dropped open in a look of absolute shock.

“How in the –
what
in the – how – you –”

“It doesn’t matter!” Leah called to him as they ran forward. “We’re here, we’re helping, we’re organizing a fallback –”

“THERE WILL BE NO FALLBACK!”

Raven’s head whipped around at the harsh bull-like quality of the voice, coming from the group of Roarkemen in the center of the park. A tall, well-groomed man was standing at their head – the same one that had been arguing with Autmaran when they’d left the city months ago. Next to him, carrying an ugly spiked cudgel, was a huge bear of a man dressed in an old Imperial infantry uniform, and behind them were nearly a hundred men dressed in the Imperial red and black of Roarke.

“It’s the Governor,” Autmaran said quickly to Raven. “He’s refusing to come with us. He says we started the fire, says he’ll stay here, it’ll be safe because it’s an open space –”

“
Wood and grass burn!
”

“I know!” Autmaran said. “He won’t listen!”

Raven glanced over the heads of the Imperial men and saw advancing flames on the other side of the park – the fire was catching quickly. They didn’t have much time before the whole park was surrounded; they had to get these people out
now.

“Look,” he said quickly to the Major. “We’ve been telling people to meet at the Prince’s Yard – they’re saying it’s an open space large enough for people to gather.”

Autmaran was nodding.

“It is – the thing is huge – but it can’t hold the entire population. It just can’t. We’ll need another solution soon.”

“Like
what?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet! The first thing we need to do is get the Governor to come with us, if he comes, then we won’t have any trouble with the citizens.”

He rounded on the man again and strode forward, holding his arms out to either side.

“Governor, throw down your arms! This is not the time for foolishness, we need to get the people to safety –”

“Your trickery won’t work on me again!” The tall, thin man yelled back, stepping forward and drawing a sword. A flurry of motion, as a hundred other swords were drawn from sheathes as well. Raven’s heart leapt into his throat.

“We know you set this fire!” The man continued. “And we will fight you to keep these people safe from Kindred rule! We are loyal to the Empire! The Children will come to save us!”

“ARE YOU INSANE?!”

It was Raven who’d spoken, surprising even himself.

“This city is burning because Tiffenal, Prince of Foxes, set it on fire to make an example out of all who live here! He did it to send a message to
me
and to the
Kindred
, that the Empire is willing to kill everyone and everything that stands in it’s way!”

“Who are you?” The big bear of a man standing next to the Governor asked.

Raven took a deep breath and pulled himself up to his full height.

“I am the Prince of Ravens, the Lord of Death, the Seventh Child of the Empress.”

Jaws dropped, and some men went to their knees. Raven felt sick, but said nothing. If worshiping him meant they’d do what he needed them to, then so be it.

“Don’t listen to him men!” Roared the Governor. “The Raven fights with the Kindred now! He is an Exiled Prince, a man that none of the true faith follow! Stand strong – this is a trick!”

“If you stay here,” Raven said, speaking to the men now, ignoring the Governor, “you will all die! Do you not see the flames? You are in danger here! Come with us, we are gathering, and we
will
find a way out of this city, for both Kindred and Roarkemen!”

“Do you agree to such a thing Exile?” The big man with the cudgel asked, eyeing Autmaran now, looking fearful despite his obvious strength and position. “Do you stand with this one – you will lead us, all of us, to safety?”

“I have led you for months now,” Autmaran said, looking around him, glancing quickly at all the soldiers, giving the impression he’d met everyone’s eye even though such a thing wasn’t possible. “I didn’t bring these men or these swords to fight you. The city is burning around us! I want to save everyone that I can, and I am standing here,
pleading
with you, to come with me. I guarantee you asylum among the Kindred – you will be safe among us!”

“I say so too!” Raven called. “You have my word – upon the Empress!”

The following silence was punctuated only by the sound of the conflagration around them, and Raven, even through the smoke quickly filling the park, saw men watching him with hopeful eyes.

“Good enough for me,” said the big man wielding the cudgel. He lowered the huge piece of wood, and turned to the ones behind him.

“The Empire has abandoned us!” He roared. “If we want to live, we need to help this man and his companions in
whatever way we can!
Is that clear?”

A huge resounding affirmative came from the gathered crowd, and immediately the soldiers broke ranks and came forward.

“STOP!” Cried the Governor, but no one listened. A few stayed behind, barely a handful, but even they looked as if they were questioning such a decision.

“Listen, all of you!” Raven said quickly, knowing time was of the essence. “Get to the Prince’s Yard, it’s where we’re gathering, we
have
to get as many people out of the city as possible. Spread the word to anyone you see, and help carry the wounded and the old, everyone must be evacuated!”

They moved as one, well trained Imperial men who knew how to take orders, and were off at a quick march down the streets, fanning out, helping those they found, shouting into open doors, finding everyone they could.

“What do we do after we have them all gathered?” Leah asked quickly, looking from Autmaran to Raven and back again. “Where do they go?”

“Where is the Yard located? Is it near –?”

Raven cut off and looked back to the park. The Governor and his remaining men were gone.

We haven’t seen the last of them
.

“It’s near the south wall,” Autmaran said, kneeling quickly, drawing a quick, lopsided version of Roarke in the dirt and ash at their feet.

“We’re here,” he pointed. “The Yard is here, and the closest gate is here.”

“That’s too far,” Leah said immediately. “We can’t move that many people there – we’re running out of time.”

As if on cue, a nearby roof collapsed, sending a column of flame into the air with a roar, showering sparks down on them, forcing them to run back up the street. Raven looked over his shoulder as they did, just in time to see the edges of the park catch fire from the embers, the dry grass burning quickly with a sickly yellow light.

“What else can we do besides make for a gate?” Raven asked.

“It’s the only way out!”

“It’s close to the wall,” Leah said. “Is there a way over?”

“No, the walls are built to be unscalable, and they can withstand a – ”

Autmaran stopped in his tracks, looking shocked. Raven and Leah stopped as well, only to have him surge forward again, grabbing them, speaking low and fast.

“Go to the Yard, gather everyone, and move them toward the wall, I’ll meet you there.”

He spun and turned to his men.

“FOLLOW ME – TO THE CASTLE!”

He turned and ran down another road, his red cape flapping out behind him, making him look like another flame, dancing among his brethren.

Leah and Raven raced down the streets, following the last of the Roarke citizenry, feeling the heat build behind them, knowing that the moment of truth would soon be upon them. Screams came from behind them now, and Raven knew they came from the throats of men and women who hadn’t made it out of the fires in time.

A figure detached itself from a street in front of them, screaming as it burned like a torch. An arrow took it through the eye, shot by a Scout who had doubled back to help those in the rear. Raven felt the man’s life fade, and was almost sick as he breathed in the burning stench of cooked flesh.

They reached the Yard soon after and saw it was filled with thousands of men and women – the area itself looked as if it had been a huge horse track surrounding a sand field before the Kindred had taken over – and they could see a wall at the end of a long street just beyond it.

And everywhere else around them, ringing the Yard, reaching into the black, smoke-filled sky, was fire and death.

“EVERYONE!” Raven roared, speaking as loudly as he could, “WE HAVE TO MOVE TO THE WALLS! THAT DIRECTION, THAT’S HOW WE’LL GET OUT!”

He pointed and gestured, and Leah shouted and yelled as well, motioning and waving. The big bear of a man with the large cudgel saw them and took up the shout, cursing and swearing at the people to move faster, the soldiers of both Kindred and Roarke shepherding them all in the right direction.

“We’re leading them out of the only safe place back into a city soon to be burning,” Raven said to Leah. “Shadows and light, I hope Autmaran has a plan!”

“He does! Trust him!”

Raven turned to look back behind them, making sure there was no one there that they had left behind – no, the streets were empty.

BOOM!

Everyone ducked and cried out in alarm as the sound wave exploded through the city, tilting the flames toward them in a rushing wind, even putting some of them out, leaving Raven nearly deaf.

The explosion had come from the wall ahead of them.

“Shadows and light what in the seven
hells
was that?”

“It sounded like an explosion,” Leah said, looking shocked.

Raven reached out and grabbed a passing Scout.