"Get your ass down to Nadea!" Greykin screamed at me over the piercing ring in my ears. I nodded, mouth open in shock, as another crash of fire, power, and lightning shattered into the side of the castle wall and sent us both to our knees again. Bits of sharp rock and gray dust sprayed into the air and fell down upon us. The big man was up before me and looked over his shoulder at the hundreds of troops that scurried around the top of the wall like frantic ants. He turned and yelled something to them and then faced me again. His glare was disapproving when he noticed that I hadn't gotten to my feet yet.

I was just so tired. My body was sore and exhausted from lack of sleep. It had been almost two days since the attack started. I had been running errands for Nadea and Greykin since I got here. My feet were raw and blistering and I was only able to spend half an hour every day scribbling frantic notes so that I would remember the details of our siege.

After leaving Grandfather I arrived back at Nia against a current of fearful refugees that were fleeing the city as the horde of Losher could be seen in the distance. They surrounded the pearl white city from the east, and within a few days we were under siege.

Greykin bent down and scooped me up in his thick arms. Another magic spell of power collided into the walls. Greykin ran through the small quake it caused as we descended a set of stairs, through a courtyard, and into the massive doors of the main Planning Room. All the soldiers we passed wore a grim look of fear and desperation on their faces. No one knew how to combat magic, and the Losher forces easily breached the outer walls of the city in less than a week with the aid of their Ancient allies.

"The south and east walls are cracking," Greykin said as he sat me down on a purple chair that everyone else had been too tense to use. The king, duke, Maerc, and the other generals glanced up from the table and then looked back down at the map of the city. Greykin wasn't delivering them news they didn't already know.

I looked over the sparse room, once filled with fine works of art. Nadea sorted through a small stack of loose papers and scrolls, her smooth brow wrinkled in frustrated concentration. She wore finely crafted leather armor that seemed to hug her lean shape with efficient curves. The prince was on the other side of the room, conversing with a few of his personal guards. Like his father and the duke, he was wearing light chain mail with the purple and orange trim of the Nia Kingdom. His nose had been set after Nadea broke it, but it still looked red and irritated. His hair was put perfectly in place and he smiled slightly as he whispered to his entourage. Unlike everyone else here, he seemed confident we would get through this. I wished I could have a taste of the wine he was drinking to calm his nerves.

It looked like Nia was about to fall.

The Losher Kingdoms were composed of over a dozen small clans that constantly made war with each other. Their land was made up of thousands of miles of grass, mud, and high desert that made them a tough and hardy people. They were excellent bowmen, horse riders, and their constant bickering amongst their own kind gave them a thirst for blood that was unmatched among the warriors of the other kingdoms. Luckily, Nia had been safe from an invasion because they were so fond of fighting amongst themselves and because of the steep mountain range that separated the borders. When they arrived to circle the castle, I used one of Nadea's spy glasses to observe them for my writings.

They looked far different from what I had imagined. Their leather armor was dusty from travel but still well kept, their hair was pulled back into short ponytails with the tops of their scalps shaved clean and tattooed. Losher did not allow their women to fight in battle, but they could come to tend to the horses. These women were as tall and dark as their men, but possessed a savage beauty and elegance that made me want to learn more about how their culture worked.

The city had been a frantic ant hill under a flood before the horde arrived, but its insides twisted, churned and grew feverish as our worst fears turned into reality.

The Losher forces didn't have any sort of siege weapons, so we wondered how they planned to rout us. Even if the Losher forces didn't have the ability to destroy our walls, no one liked the idea of being trapped like a rat under a bucket.

Then the Ancients had shown themselves, and the power of their magic.

"Paug! I need your help!" Nadea yelled from across the room. The king, duke, and some of the guards stopped what they were doing to watch me scurry over to her. She was looking at ancient scrolls. They looked to be faded labyrinthine maps with carefully placed notes.

"How can I assist?" I thought that Nadea would have been happy to see me after I arrived back in the castle. I had run to her room within a few minutes of giving my horse to the stable boy. She answered her door after I almost broke my fist knocking on it for two minutes. It looked like she had been crying, but there were no tears on her face, just an expression of deep worry and fear. She yelled at me. Then when I cried, she wrapped her arms around me and grieved with me. We were both afraid of what would happen when we were under siege, but there was still hope.

That hope had been dashed quickly.

"This is a map of the ancient dungeons and sewage systems that run under the castle and the city. I need you to help me study them to determine if there is a way for the people to safely flee the city." She handed me one and I looked closely at it. It looked like the scrawling of an imprisoned madman.

"How old are these?" My brain hurt from just the few seconds I looked at the complicated, faded parchment.

"Many hundreds of years. I asked the servant managers about the sewer system, but the people they employ to keep them clean, the people that know the underground the best, have left the city. We have to figure out a way through the tunnels. I don't think we will last more than another day." Her voice faded into an urgent whisper as she met my eyes over the map.

"I'll try, Nadea." I noticed that there were no more explosions from outside the wall. Maybe I was looking for a way to get out of this arduous job. "Did the magic stop?" I asked a little too loudly.

"Sire! The Ancients wish to speak to you again!" a soldier yelled as he ran into the room. there was a cut over his eye where a sharp piece of flying wall had probably grazed him.

"Let's hear what they have to say," the king said with a sigh as he left the table. I had never seen anyone so tired. He put up a valiant effort to encourage the troops, but I could tell his happy blue eyes had lost much of their luster since the Ancients kidnapped Jessmei. I hoped the princess was okay. If she was here right now we would all be in much better spirits, even though it wouldn't have changed the outcome. She was probably safer where she was, I thought dismally.

I looked to Nadea as she carefully set down the scrolls and followed the group of men up the staircase, through the throng of soldiers in the inner courtyards, and up another long flight of steps to the edge of the wall. I guessed the Ancients would talk to the king about surrendering. It was going to be the same message they brought two days ago, when they had walked just short of arrow range on the grassy fields before the walls of the city. Their presence created panic amongst the soldiers and citizens. We hadn't realized that Ancients were working with Losher. We hadn't realized that they organized the disbanded clans into one of the most capable military forces that had roamed our land in the last one hundred years.

The four Ancients that led the Losher forces were powerful mages that ripped massive holes in the side of the city wall in only twelve hours. The army lacked siege engines because they didn't need them.

The king adjusted his cloak around his muscular frame before he reached the edge of the walls that gave us a view of the sacked city. We had moved most of the citizens that remained into the walls of the castle when the hole was made in the outer wall. There were probably still many out in the city, trying to avoid the Losher troops that were looting and raping.

"Greetings King of Nia," the silver-haired man said from the distant street below us. He didn't have to yell, some sort of magic made his voice easy to discern. I had a feeling that everyone on the walls heard him. The man stood with three women that wore dark blue robes, he wore silvery armor that looked similar to the armor of the Ancient who had interrupted the banquet. It had seemed so long ago, but it had only been five or six weeks. I remembered how Kaiyer fought against them and easily won. I wished for the thousandth time that he was here right now.

"What do you want?" the king yelled down over the wall. I worried that the wind had taken his voice and dashed it against the distant city, but the Ancient seemed to hear the words.

"Your army is defeated, your city sacked and ruined. You have lost, fair King." The man smiled a careful smile and the brisk winter gust made his hair flow out from his body like a silver flag imitating ours.

"I don't see you inside the castle walls. I don't see you standing over my dying body. We are not beaten," the king yelled down. "We are Nia. We do not fall in any battle." I had to applaud the king's bravado. I stood up a little straighter after the words sang out of his mouth and I began to think that we might win this. Then I slumped over as I realized how hopeless it was. Their magic was so powerful. We were like children trying to unsaddle a fully armored knight.

"Our empress is benevolent, good King. She understands how proud you and your people are. She has made numerous requests to partner with you and has been refused. Yet still she would like to offer you a truce one last time as a token of forgiveness and gratitude. She believes we can work together to offer a bright future for your people and hers. I have a written agreement and terms." He reached his hand out to the right and one of the blue robed Ancients placed a scroll case in it. "I believe that you will find them very agreeable given your current circumstances." He held his arm out straight as if to hand them to the king. The position seemed odd considering that the king was on the wall more than eighty feet above him.

"I am not interested in your empress's terms. I have read them before and they are unreasonable."

"She has made slight alterations in this one, King of Nia. Please send a runner down to retrieve them or lower a rope so that I may attach it. I believe that you will be pleased by this offering.”

The king seemed to debate internally a moment before he answered. In that brief span I found myself so curious that I almost spoke up and advised him to take it. I knew that Kaiyer had hated the Ancients more than anything. I still recalled the horrible things he said that they had done to humans in his time. But surely anything was better than death, and death would be our fate in the next few days. The walls wouldn’t hold against their magic for much longer.

“I will go and get them Father,” Nanos said from the king’s side. The king turned to his son briefly and then sighed.

“No. Drop a rope. I don’t want you getting close to those monsters.” He gestured to Maerc and within a second or two there was a thin line being extended down the steep castle wall.

“You have made a wise decision, King of Nia. Please continue on this path and agree to my empress's truce. It will guarantee the safety and future of all of your people.” The Ancient’s voice was a gentle song being carried on the breeze. I couldn’t help but feel lulled by his charm. Then I suddenly remembered the grief on Kaiyer’s face as he told me about his father and brother being murdered.

“I will need a month to debate these terms and give you an answer,” the king shouted down after he grasped the lacquered scroll case.

“My empress cannot allow that much time. She requires your decision before the sun sets today.”

“That is impossible. You cannot expect me to decide in such a short time. I will need a month to meet with my advisors and generals.” The king’s voice gained strength and resolve as he spoke.

“I will give you one week to come up with an answer. I believe that you will make the choice to accept the terms. You love your people and accepting is the best solution for their happy future.” Several of the guards on the wall nodded their heads in agreement as they heard his honey coated voice. Coldness grew in my stomach at the thought of them agreeing with what he was saying without even viewing the terms themselves. The king might be forced to agree or else he might have a riot on his hands. The Ancient didn’t wait for a reply; he turned and quickly walked into the city.

“Fuck that asshole,” Greykin said loudly before he spit off the edge of the wall. A few of the soldiers laughed, but more of them looked worried as they turned to the king.

“Let’s see what revisions they made,” the king said under his breath as he made his way down the stairs. Despite the fear in my stomach, I couldn’t help but feel excited about the process I would be able to witness as the king, duke, and the generals discussed the future of the kingdom. No matter what the outcome, I would document it so that future generations would learn what happened during this war.

The group moved back down the stairs as thousands of worried soldiers and servants watched. I was concerned that someone might yell out to accept the terms, but no one did. Morale wasn’t that bad yet. Before we reached the large wooden doors that led to the Planning Room, a hand grasped my shoulder. I turned around to face the prince.

“Don’t you have something else to do? This will be an important meeting and we don’t need you there. Maybe you should go eat what is left of the sweet cakes.” He wore an ugly smirk across his otherwise handsome face. He looked so much like Jessmei, but the differences in their personalities were great. His small following of finely dressed young soldiers looked at me with disdain from behind him. We were in the back of the group and I turned around in panic, looking for anyone that would allow me to be in the meeting. I didn’t see Nadea or Greykin, they must have already entered the room.

“I am supposed to observe and document the decision process.” I pointed to my small leather-bound book. My voice quivered and cracked as it tried to wiggle past the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat.

“Just document it out here from the hallway once we reach a decision,” the prince said over his shoulder as he led his men into the room. The door was closed and as he reached the handle to pull it, the thick piece of oak swung outward and Nanos was forced to jump aside. Nadea eyed him coldly and looked past his group to me.

“Come on Paug,” she said. My breath came out in a slow sigh. I looked down at the ground so the prince couldn’t see my smile and I started to step around him.

“I don’t think we need the boy in here. I sent him to his room,” Nanos said to Nadea as he held out an arm to keep me from advancing.

“I can only think of one boy that shouldn’t be in this meeting. Unfortunately, he is the king’s son,” Nadea said without smiling. I was surprised she said it so calmly. I looked up and saw Nanos’s face turn red.

“Listen bitch,” he spat as he stood up straight and clenched his teeth. “You better hope that my father accepts these terms, because if he doesn’t I am going to make a point of showing you how much of a man I am before we are all butchered.” His hand grasped the hilt of his sword as he whispered.

“Remember when I broke your nose? How about I break it again?” Nadea said as her cool demeanor cracked and she stepped out of the room and toward the prince. He shuffled back in fear at her sudden movement and almost tripped over the man standing behind him.

“What the hell is going on?” Maerc said as he poked his head out of the door. He looked around at everyone and probably figured out what was about to happen. “Get your asses in here. Paug, the king has a question for you.”

We filed into the room. The king sat with his face in his hands. The scroll case lay opened and the duke was reading the parchment it contained. I took an empty seat on the right side of the room by Greykin and Nadea sat down next to me. She smiled at me as her hand squeezed my shoulder. The duke finished the document and then passed it over to Maerc. I couldn’t read his face.

“Paug, you spent many hours with Kaiyer before he died. What can you share with us about how he viewed the diplomatic policies of these Ancients?” Everyone looked at me.

I stood up and cleared my throat as I put my thoughts together. I tried to envision myself speaking as confidently as Kaiyer would if asked the same question.

“He spoke of them often. He absolutely despised them and believed that they were depraved monsters that deserved to be wiped from existence like vermin. He would say that he would rather die than agree to whatever terms they would propose to us.” I took a deep breath as my brain wheeled to think of more to say. I noticed the prince had his arms crossed from his chair and was glaring at me with disdain.

“Hand him the scroll when you are done, Maerc,” the king said. The blonde man nodded and passed it over to me. His face was twisted in thought, like he was trying to solve a puzzle. As serious as the situation was, pride welled up through my body at being given such importance. The king was so interested in my opinion he wanted me to read the scroll even before Nanos.

The paper felt waxy and thick in my hands. It was very high quality and the script written on it was the most beautiful writing I had ever seen. It looked less like words and more like art that had decided to become communication as an afterthought. Nadea and Greykin read the document over my shoulder as I set it down on the table in front of us.

King Nia,

I thank you for taking the time to read this treatise. It is my wish for our people to live together side by side in peace, and I know that peace is something that you also desire. Unfortunately, sometimes peace can only be obtained by force. I know that you also understand this to be true.

My people have led a tragic and horrible existence. We have been hunted as animals and have lost more kinfolk than we would want anyone to imagine. We are looking for a home. Places to grow families, laugh, and enjoy a peaceful livelihood. Your land can perfectly accommodate our small civilization. We do not require much, just a harmonious coexistence with mutual respect. Here are the items I ask for in order for us to cease our attack:

Surrender of your forces to my general. Shelter and food for the Losher forces during the term of the winter. They will return to their lands at the beginning of spring. An oath of loyalty to me, sworn before your citizens, generals, dukes, advisors, and notices sent out to other leaders indicating this. Use of half of your castle and a quarter of your city for my people. Use of ten thousand of your soldiers that I will hand pick. These will report directly to my generals and will be compensated at the same pay scale you currently have established for them. Twenty percent of your tax revenue. A position on your Council where I am granted votes that carry the weight of three.

Of course, nothing can be offered for free, so I offer you the following benefits:

You will continue to manage and run your country as you see fit. Only in voting Council will you even know of my presence. You will continue to manage, train, and control your own military. You will continue to manage your own trades and merchant groups in the same effective manner that has brought your country so much wealth. Your beautiful daughter will be returned to you alive and unharmed. I will teach you and whoever else you wish how to harness magical energies. These abilities could grant tremendous power to your family and country. My kind shall never harm a citizen of Nia, save in self-defense.

It is difficult to properly communicate feelings of sincerity across a mere piece of parchment, but I hope with all my heart that you can see the benefits of this treaty. You are sacrificing very little and allowing us to live in peace. Please accept my offer. I look forward to meeting you in person and working together with you toward a bright future in which all of our people can flourish.

With fondest wishes,

Telaxthe

Empress of the Ancient People

I looked up at the king when I finished. He raised an eyebrow, seeking my feedback.

“Kaiyer would say that we should not trust her,“ I said with as much confidence as I imagined my dead friend would have. Given the current situation, this treaty was almost too good to be true. She had no reason to give us anything and would be perfectly capable of enslaving all of the citizens of Nia her armies left alive. This meant that one of three things was true: she actually was a kind and benevolent leader who wanted to live in peace with humans; she knew something we did not about her forces or ours that meant she was not actually capable of winning this war; she was lying and being overly generous in her proposal in order to manipulate the king and take advantage of him somehow. I wanted to believe the first possibility was correct, but I knew Kaiyer would bet it was the last.

“Let me read it,” the prince demanded as he rose from his seat and walked over to grab the parchment.

“These are similar terms to what she already offered us,” the duke remarked as he leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“What do you think, Brother?” the king asked earnestly.

“She will give you back Jessmei, she seems to want everything to remain how it is now. Offering her three votes in the Council will give her considerable clout since there are only nine seats.”

“If this is what she offered before why didn’t you take it?” the prince asked in astonishment. “This sounds amazing. They will teach us magic?”

“I agree with Paug,” Nadea said. “This is too good to be true. Even if what she writes is true and she fulfills her part, she will have wormed her way into our government and castle. What if she changes her mind once our forces have been integrated? We might as well just kill ourselves.”

“Why is she offering this right now? She has already won. Our walls can’t hold out much longer, and once they fall we will be outnumbered against Losher’s horde and the magic.” Maerc’s face contorted as he wrestled with the problem, echoing my thoughts. For a second I wondered where his son Runir was. I hadn’t seen him in the last few days and I hoped that the handsome young soldier was okay.

“She probably wants peace. Her words do seem sincere. I think you should consider this Father,” the prince said in earnest.

“I will need to discuss this with the Council,” the king said as he turned to look at Maerc and Nadea’s father. I knew that they each had a seat on the Council along with various merchants and guild representatives.

“It will be easy to call an emergency meeting,” the duke said as he got out of his chair.

“Have them assemble here in this room. Also, can someone get me water? I am parched. Everyone, let’s take a recess and meet back here in half an hour,” the king said. The room cleared out except for the king, Nadea, Greykin, Nanos, and me.

“You need to agree to their terms Father,” Nanos beseeched again. “It is the only way to have peace and to get Jessmei back.”

“This doesn’t make much sense, Uncle,” Nadea said from her chair. “They have us where they want us, why are they negotiating now? Maerc is right to think there is something strange about the situation. The Ancients are not to be trusted, as Paug so wisely reminded us.”

“I agree. We have to discuss it with the Council. More than anything, we need to buy more time. I am going to see if I can get another few weeks from the Ancients. I want Jessmei returned more than you all can guess, but I can’t risk the kingdom.” The king’s face looked haggard and lost when he spoke his daughter’s name.

“This is foolishness! What if they take back their offer? We are going to all die here, for what? Pride?” Nanos got out of his chair angrily and glared at his father and Nadea.

“Watch your tongue, lad,” Greykin said as he suddenly seemed to take interest in the conversation. I wondered what the big man would do if the choice was only his. I knew that he loved the royal family, and Jessmei especially. Would he throw away the kingdom to have them safe? How safe would Jessmei really be if she returned to a home under even partial Elven rule?

“Shut up, old man. If you would have done your job correctly, Jessmei would still be here and wouldn’t be a bargaining chip.” Nanos walked toward the door as if to leave but Greykin stood up abruptly in his chair and moved in front of the young man. The prince was tall but only came up to Greykin’s chin. There was no mistaking the look of malice on the Old Bear’s face.

“Enough you two! I’m sure the empress would laugh if she saw us fighting amongst ourselves. Take a walk, relax, and return in half an hour with a clear head. I need both of you to be thinking about killing our enemies, not each other,” the king said from behind them. Nanos looked fearfully at Greykin before he stepped around the big man, opened the door, and walked out.

He hadn’t even shut the door before a massive boom of thunder and screams echoed through the hallways. Greykin was already standing, but the rest of us shot to our feet in surprise. It sounded like one of the Ancients’ Fire blasts had been set loose inside the castle's innards. The alarm started ringing its deafening cry of anguish.

The prince ran back into the room, his face painted with terror.

“The Losher soldiers are in the castle!”

“How is that possible?” The king pulled out his sword and ran to the door. I noticed it was the same one Kaiyer used during the banquet a lifetime ago. Before the king could get out of the door, Greykin moved in front of him and exited the room. The big man was the guardian of the royal family and he probably felt that this was his moment to atone for what happened to Jessmei.

“We have to get all of you to safety!” Greykin yelled over his shoulder as he led us down the long hallway toward the Royal Quarters. We didn’t see any soldiers, but we could hear screaming and the sounds of swords pounding against shields and flesh as we ran the many hundreds of yards of maze-like stone passages that led to the north part of the castle.

“What about my wife?” the king yelled toward Greykin.

“She’s with her group of guards in the Safe Quarters. We are heading to meet them. There is enough food and water in there for us to last a month.”

I noticed that everyone held a weapon in their hand but me. I had never seen Nadea use her slim long sword, but it looked like a perfect reflection of her body, thin, beautiful, and deadly. The prince was carrying a heavier broad sword with a protected guard over his hand. I just had my small leather bound book of notes, a pocket full of ink vials, and two feather quills. Then I remembered that I had a small pen knife I used to trim my quills. It was about the size of my thumb, but it was sharp.

I was terrified that I would have to use it.

We turned the thirtieth corner and I was completely lost. Suddenly the group skidded to a stop. I peered around Nanos and Greykin to see three Losher soldiers finishing off two of our men who were dying on the stone floor of the Great Hall. The Losher warriors looked up from their deeds at the same time as we stopped. They let out a piercing battle cry as they rushed toward us.

The one in the lead lifted up his curved blade to crush Greykin’s skull, but the big man slammed it aside with a grunt of rage and swung his axe as a counter. The axe blade caught the Losher man in the place where his neck met the shoulder and it bit deeply into the leather armor, spraying a crimson rain over the king and the second Losher warrior who were about to engage each other.

The king jumped out of the way of a shallow swing that the Losher soldier aimed at his midsection and countered with an overhand thrust with his ornate golden sword. The Losher man expected it and got his sword up in the way, meeting the king’s blow with a loud clap of metal. The Losher warrior was at least twenty years younger than the king and his body was hardened and muscled from combat. He leaned forward and kicked a foot out toward the king, connecting with his chest and knocking him back into Nadea.

The third Losher soldier saw his friend butchered by Greykin and tried to cut the big man’s legs off with a low sweep of his curved sword. Greykin was too quick though and he moved back enough so that the tip of the blade just scratched harmlessly off of the chain leggings that the axe man was wearing. With the same movement, Greykin screamed and slammed his large body into the Losher warrior who had kicked the king. The big man's attack pinched the soldier against the wall and Greykin got two head butts into the younger man’s nose before falling back to defend against the other attacker.

Nanos advanced a quick cut, but the Losher man just danced away with a return swing that was a good foot from hitting the prince. The prince fell back so quickly from the assault that he stumbled into me and we both tumbled to the ground in a mess of arms, legs, and curses.

By the time I made it to my feet, the king and Greykin had dispatched the last Losher soldier and finished off the one stunned with the head butts. The big man’s head was bleeding from a gash at his hairline, but it might as well have been water for how he treated it. The king looked pained by the kick to his chest, but appeared otherwise uninjured.

“Everyone unharmed?” Greykin asked as he eyed us. I nodded and looked to Nadea as she also nodded. “Let’s continue.” Too late I realized that I had forgotten to grab one of the fallen soldier’s swords.

We ran another hundred yards and I wondered again who had made this castle so big. It was like its own city. My chest was burning and I wished that this siege played out like it had in my mind. I would have arrived in the castle and told everyone of my desire to stand with them. They would have been happy to see me, the Losher forces would have failed to breach the walls and we would have remained safely inside, laughing them off all winter, then our reinforcements would have shown up just in time to rout them. The worst thing I would have dealt with was a few weeks of hunger and Nanos speaking to me.

I heard screams and turned to see half a dozen Losher soldiers down the hall. I was the last person in our little caravan of retreat.

“Behind us!” Nadea yelled before I found my voice. Greykin looked over his shoulder.

“Keep running! We are almost there!” the big man growled as he turned back toward the king and prince. I picked up my feet and tried to ignore the harsh pain through my lungs.

We ran for another ten seconds and I couldn’t help but glance back over my shoulder. The soldiers were gaining ground on me. I could see their insane hatred and I knew they were going to catch me and not merely kill me, but make me suffer a slow, tortured death. Fear grabbed around my heart like a frozen chill. It spread through my body, to my chest and arms, and to my hips and legs. My feet were like pieces of stone as I tried to move them faster and faster. It seemed that with each one of my steps they were advancing two on me.

Then I tripped.

I was too busy looking behind me and not where I was running. I screamed in terror as I went down and scraped my knees and palms. My book went flying and I knew that I was about to die. It seemed like I stayed on my hands and knees forever. My blood and heartbeat whooshed into my ears as if telling me it would be the last thing I would ever hear.

“Get up!” Nadea screamed into my ear. Her left hand yanked me up off of my knees and to my feet like I weighed less than one of my books.

“Keep running!” Greykin screamed at us as he stepped past me, in between the half dozen Losher men. I looked into his face and saw a calm determination. His eyes were focused intently on the advancing mass of men.

“Go now. I’ll hold them. Protect the king,” he whispered when he turned his head slightly to look at Nadea and me. He raised his shield and axe as Nadea yanked on my arm again. The king and Nanos were far ahead of us and I watched them turn a corner to the right. We set off again and I heard Greykin shout over screams and blades.

“For Nia! For the king!”

I didn’t turn around.

“We are almost there,” Nadea said over her breathing after we had turned the corner the king and prince had taken. “Next left turn and we are there.” I looked at her tortured face as she ran next to me. Mine probably looked the same way.

We made the right turn after the fleeing pair and went down another forty paces into an open room. Then we stopped. The king was on the ground in a quickly growing pool of blood. Nanos was standing over him with a bloody sword.

Nadea and I stared in shock for almost ten seconds until Nanos noticed us out of the corner of his eye and turned around to face us. His face wore its usual expression: a sneer.

“He never listened to me. I was his firstborn, the heir to the kingdom, and he never gave a damn about what I thought. Now I am the king. I’ve already made a deal with the empress. She extended me the same one she did to him,” he said as he looked down at the fallen body of his father.

“You fucking bastard!” Nadea said with disgust and hate. “You’ve doomed us all and killed your own father.” Her body was shaking with rage.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You always got what you wanted, everyone thought you were so talented, so smart, so capable, and beautiful. Your father was always so proud of you and my father wished that I hadn’t been born.” Nanos sniffed his nose in disgust, or maybe it was to hide tears as he started to realize what he had done.

“You are a coward. Your father never felt that way about you. But if you wish to never have been born, I am more than happy to grant that.” Nadea got into a relaxed fighting stance and took a few careful steps toward Nanos. The young man looked a little shocked that Nadea was going to attack him but he quickly grinned in satisfaction.

“I was going to offer you safety, Cousin, but I think I prefer this. I’ve always wanted to kill you.” He crouched down into a low slung stance and waved his sword in the air in front of Nadea.

They circled each other for a few moments. I wondered how long it would be until the Losher men killed Greykin and came to find us. I realized that I couldn’t even help Nadea, I had no weapon besides the pathetic knife in my pocket, and I even dropped my book when I fell earlier. The prince advanced suddenly and lashed out at Nadea with three quick cuts. Nadea blocked the first two and retreated out of the way of the third one. I didn’t know who would win this fight. Nadea was strong, quick, and deadly. However, the prince still outweighed her by probably fifty pounds and trained every day. I guessed Nadea could use her sword, but I had never seen her practice with it. I had never felt so useless. I couldn’t help my friend survive this. Just like I couldn’t help Kaiyer, Jessmei, or Greykin.

Then I noticed the king’s golden sword on the ground, its blade partially submerged in the pool of blood coming from the king’s dead body. It was on the other side of Nadea and Nanos, but maybe I could get there and use it. Maybe I could finally help one of my friends when they needed me.

Nadea feinted forward and Nanos took the bait; she bounced back lightly and then struck forward again, fast as a striking snake, and made a shallow cut across the prince’s right upper arm.

“Fucking bitch. You cut me!” he screamed as he scurried back and looked down at his arm.

“I’m going to cut your heart out and eat it you spineless idiot!” Nadea thrust her blade toward his chest with the words. The prince may have been injured, but he blocked her strike and pushed it away from his body. Then he sprinted forward and slammed his shoulder into Nadea, pushing her away and knocking her to the ground. I took this as my chance and ran behind the prince as he pressed forward an attack. Nadea flipped herself easily to her feet and twisted around three of the prince’s strikes like she was a dancer evading the dirty grasps of a hated suitor.

I reached down into the blood and grabbed the king’s hand-and-a-half sword. It was heavier than I expected it to be, but my fear must have given me strength enough to hold the weapon. Nanos had his back to me and I stepped forward, moving the sword back in both my hands like I was going to chop down a tree with its fine blade.

“What’s this?” the prince said with a chuckle as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “The little mouse wants to die too?”

“Leave him alone, Nanos. I am the one who will kill you,” Nadea said as she pressed another thrust. The prince parried this one in much the same way as her previous attack. Nadea seemed to have expected this though and she stepped to her left, turning the blade at the last second and bringing it up to make a deep cut across his chain armor and into his chest. The prince screamed and fell back toward me. I took the opportunity and swung the sword with all of my might.

I was so foolish. I didn’t know how to use a sword. If I would have even spent five minutes training with Greykin during our two-month journey together, he would have told me that I needed to at least keep my eyes open when I swung a blade.

They did open when I made sudden contact against Nanos’s back, causing him to scream. The blade only marginally penetrated the chain mail, but it took his attention away from Nadea. I think I was too scared to smile at the young man but my heart was racing with joy. Nadea quickly closed in from behind the prince and raised her sword. I was finally able to help her. I wasn’t a burden. Kaiyer would have been proud of my bravery.

I didn’t expect the balance of the blade and it spun me around easily as the prince turned and slammed his sword against it. Something hot tickled my stomach and I looked down to see Nanos’s blade sticking a good six inches into the right side of my abdomen. I felt the warmth and pain slowly spread through my body. Then it seemed to spill out of me when Nanos yanked the blade away.

I heard the king’s blade crash into the stone floor. Did I drop the weapon? I looked down at the blade and my chest. Was blood supposed to come out that quickly? It almost seemed like I was pouring a bottle of wine from the inside of my shirt. It collided with the stones like rain falling against the castle walls, some of it mixed with the king’s on the ground and it formed an ocean of red-colored glass.

The pressure of the floor was suddenly on my knees. I hadn’t remembered making myself kneel, but I felt so tired. I wanted to lie down for a while. Nadea screamed my name, but it sounded so far away. I hadn’t realized that my eyes were closed. I opened them to see her fighting against a group of men. They wore brown and gray armor and had skin many shades darker than hers. She cut one across the face with her blade and a shower of red blood flew across the room, then she stabbed another through the chest. I felt myself smiling. She was so beautiful. I wished that Kaiyer was alive to watch her.

I tried to turn my head but only my eyes moved. They made contact with the prince's eyes and I saw the look of sadness in the blue orbs. Then he looked up to watch Nadea dance with the men. I remembered her at the banquet in the purple dress. I remembered how Kaiyer looked at her then, he would have asked her to dance, even though I didn’t have the courage to speak with the Dove Herald. If I was going to die, then maybe I would meet him in the afterlife. Maybe Greykin too. When Grandfather died I would see him as well.

I thought of Grandfather sitting at home waiting for my return. He would get a letter, or maybe hear news about the fall of Nia. I imagined his big blue eyes filling with tears like when my mother had died. Now he would have no one left.

I had been so selfish to leave him. I coughed and tasted copper in my mouth. It was wet but I felt thirsty. Suddenly the warmth turned to coldness and I shivered.

My eyes opened again and I saw Nadea tackled by a man almost twice her size while other soldiers began to kick her body when she landed on the stone tiles. One of the men raised his sword and thrust down into the pile of twisting shapes. Everything became colder, like the ocean during the winter months.

I was running on the sand toward my mother. I had to tell her something. She looked to me with a smile and she said words that I couldn't hear. The sun was setting across the ocean and she had to squint her eyes and raise her hands like the brim of a hat to look at the piece of children’s beach treasure I was showing her. I didn’t know if it was a shell, or a rock, or twist of seaweed, but I found it tremendously interesting. Sitting next to her was Kaiyer. His face formed a relaxed smile, the one that made me think he had just woken up from a good dream.

I grinned back at both of them as the sun continued to set into the glowing ocean. I was so happy that we were together.