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  “How many people are here?” Bethany asked.

  “Seven hundred or so,” Arrago said. He smiled. “This is the largest ball of the year.”

  Bethany grimaced. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “My protector,” Arrago said in the deepest voice he could manage. It just made Bethany roll her eyes. “Say, how are you going to fight in that dress?”

  “It’s just tacked together. A couple of tugs and it’ll rip right off.” Bethany sighed. “It’ll break Lendra’s heart if I have to do that.”

  “Yes, we wouldn’t want to ruin the lace. Hey, I thought Brennus wasn’t letting the kids here tonight. What’s she doing here?”

  Bethany turned to where Arrago was pointing. “Lanessa should be guarding the east wall, not in here. Head over to Edmund. I’ll take care of this.”

  Chapter 12

  Bethany marched through the crowd of dancers, dodging the moving bodies as best as she could while not losing sight of Lanessa. Myra caught Bethany’s eye and looked in Lanessa’s direction. At the sight of the young elf sneaking around the guards in back, hoping to go unnoticed, Myra walked over to Brennus and leaned toward him. He looked over sharply, nodded once, and put his hand on his sword.

  Bethany ignored several attempts to stop her to converse. She had Lanessa in sight and wasn’t going to let her slip away. She’d not wanted to believe any of the apprentice knights would be capable of this, but after Malachi, she didn’t know anymore.

  Lanessa disappeared around the corner, where the stairs were. She wouldn’t know how many vowed Knights were upstairs in the balcony. Bethany turned to take the stairs and collided with Darien.

  “Darien!” Bethany shouted.

  “Lady Bethany!” He shouted back and that’s when Bethany noticed he was covered in blood. His hand was pressed to his side. “Help. You have to help. Lanessa attacked us on the wall.”

  Darien fell against Bethany and she grabbed him. One of the guards quickly assisted and they dragged Darien to the back wall, behind the stairs. Bethany began tearing at her dress, and passed the shredded silk to Darien.

  “Darien, hold this hard against you.” She looked at the guard. “We need a healer. Now. Is it just Lanessa?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I...I ran here as fast as I could after her, but...”

  “You did good, kid.” Bethany stepped out of the skirts of the dress and kicked it to one side. The guests around the back door stared at her, some in shock, others in disgust, and many more in confused fascination. “Rest now.”

  Bethany pointed at one of the staring young women and said, “You! What’s your name?”

  “Miss...Miss Isabella Rivers, your ladyship. I am Sir Edmund’s cousin.”

  “Press the cloth against his wound until the healer gets here.”

  “Um, my dress...”

  “I’ll get you a new one,” Bethany said. She pointed at one of the guards who’d arrived to help and said, “Sword.”

  He handed Bethany his sword without question. She sprinted up the stairwell, past stunned guests who’d seen Bethany moments ago in silk and now in plate and leathers.

  “What’s wrong?” Kiner asked from the top of the stairs.

  “Lanessa. Darien’s been stabbed.”

  “On it,” Kiner said. The music stopped playing as most of the orchestra dropped their instruments and unsheathed their swords.

  Lanessa had climbed up the upper railing and was aiming a crossbow at...at her. Bethany froze in her tracks. She couldn’t get out of the way. If she jumped over the railing, she’d fall to her death. It was at least two floors straight down on to a marble floor. There was nothing to break her fall. If she ducked out of the way, the bolt could hit someone on the dance floor. The plate could take a heavy blow. It might only dent the metal. It might not pierce clean through.

  Bethany stood firm as Lanessa pulled the trigger. Kiner dove to knock Bethany out of the way. They collided as the pointed tip hurled at them. And bounced off an invisible barrier, falling harmlessly to the wooden balcony floor. Kiner and Bethany tumbled to the floor and stared at each other in confusion.

  “Did you do that?” Kiner asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Bethany said.

  The Dowager screamed, “A sword! He has a sword! He’s going to kill us all! Save us, Apexia!”

  Bethany jumped to her feet and saw the Dowager pointing at a tall man. He was wearing the livery of the royal house...and his hat was knocked askew, revealing pointed ears.

  “Malachi. Dammit. I’ll get him.”

  Kiner shouted orders at the orchestra knights to stop Lanessa, and he raced down the stairs after Bethany. The crowd nearest them was screaming and trying to rush the doors, but the guards had barred them shut to keep Lanessa inside. The crowd further down the dance floor had no idea what was going on, other than what probably appeared to be a scuffle.

  Malachi turned to run, but the old lady, Apexia bless her heart, fainted directly into his path of escape and tripped him. Several of the nobles grabbed Malachi and several other women screamed. Lendra and Her Grace were out of sight.

  Bethany marched over to Arrago, where a ring of guards surrounded him, and shouted up at the rafters, “Lanessa! Give yourself up. This is over.”

  Arrago pointed. “There she is!”

  Lanessa dangled from a banner high up on the wall above the balcony, crossbow still in hand. She pulled herself up onto one of the statues of a former queen mounted on the wall.

  “Get her!” Bethany shouted. “Take her down!”

  There wasn’t a safe way to aim a bow at her; there were simply too many frightened nobility. Many were trying to rush past the scene, while others were happily standing around to get a better position. Bethany pushed that irritating reality to one side and focused on protecting Arrago. And, well, herself.

  One of the guards standing behind her groaned and fell to the floor. Bethany whirled and discovered there were about a dozen archers in the upper balconies. All pointed at her and Arrago.

  “Lady Bethany, stand down,” a man called out from the upper level.

  It would take a minute or two for the knights to reach all of them, spread out as they were. They must have come through a chimney to get to some of the upper ledges, where statues were mounted.

  “Who are you?”

  “Friends of the bandits who attacked you on the road.”

  Bethany growled. “This is a lot of fuss to kill a few people. You should have blown the palace up. Would’ve been easier.”

  “That was the original plan, before you stopped us,” he shouted back. Several high-pitched wails broke out. “But we have orders to complete, so here we are.”

  “Stand down and we won’t kill your people,” Bethany said. She had a room filled with hundreds of frightened people. She had to keep him talking long enough to get her own folks into position.

  “You’re going to kill us,” Lanessa shouted.

  The fact that they’d been planning to burn the palace sent chills through Bethany. She’d wanted to believe these were slavers or bandits, but they weren’t. They were under orders. The knights were coming after her now. They would kill all of these people just to stop her. That didn’t make sense.

  She saw guards take down more archers on the balcony. Only three remained up on the ledge, where the statues looked down upon the dancers. There’d be crack shots in the room in moments; they’d take out the archers. She just had to keep them talking.

  She could hear fighting outside, beyond the doors now. Whoever had barred the doors was fighting the guards. They wouldn’t last long, unless an entire army was out there. Some bratty, untrained twits from Wyllow were no match for battle-hardened vowed knights.

  “I won’t do it in front of the guests, though,” Bethany said. “Get down. Now.”

  “No.”

  The three archers who’d not been captured unleashed their arrows. Bethany sucked in a breath and flicked her arm in the air. She
had no idea why she did, until the arrows crumbled to dust around her. She’d never been able to do that before Apexia’s grace had touched her. But ever since that day on the battlefield when Apexia’s words came to her, telling her how to use her Power, Bethany had learned a lot about what it meant to truly be a god.

  “Killing me is harder than you think,” Bethany snarled.

  ****

  There were times in Arrago’s life when he knew Bethany was more than a mere mortal. He suspected that, if he lived a thousand years, she would still surprise him. Still, things had changed after Apexia’s death. He’d known it about himself, too. There was a hum in his head, tugging for him to act out in certain ways. To behave differently and oddly from how he’d normally act.

  And Bethany’s action set that humming on edge.

  Knights and guards, along with random peers, pounced on Arrago, knocking him to the floor. He struggled to breath from under the dogpile. The crowd panicked and rushed the barred doors, pushing against the guards and crushing anyone in their way.

  The commotion stopped when Bethany laughed. A loud, rich laugh full of genuine amusement, which echoed strangely throughout the hall. An impossible sound for a mere mortal’s voice. Bethany stood there, sword in hand, laughing with shameless mirth.

  “Put your weapons down. I’ll only ask once,” Bethany said.

  Then the wave hit him. DROP YOUR WEAPONS.

  Arrago didn’t flinch when Lendra’s words shook the room to its core. He pushed away from his guards, who covered their ears and screamed with agony. All of their guests were reduced to their knees, their panicked voices dying in the buzz of the Lendra’s order.

  The fact he wasn’t flinching scared him more than anything else in that room. He wasn’t affected. He saw Kiner on the balcony; he had the same stunned look that Arrago knew was on his own face. Lendra stood next to Bethany now. Warrior sisters. He picked up one of the abandoned swords from the floor and stood next to the sisters.

  Lendra let up the pressure only when the last three attackers fell from their perches. The doors flung open a moment later, and a blood-splattered Jackson stormed into the ballroom. “Is the king alive?”

  “Very much so,” Arrago answered.

  Jackson nodded and walked up to them. Arrago’s guests, most still on their knees, leaned away from Jackson in either fright or the fear of getting dirty. “Twenty elves and about a dozen humans attacked us. They barred the door and we had to fight through them. I can’t find that annoying little fucker Bethany brought with her from Taftlin, though.”

  “Darien, shit. I forgot about him. He’s been stabbed,” Bethany said.

  “He’s alive,” the Duke of Arsenia said, approaching them. He held a sword in his hand. “Though the silk dress holding his innards in place died in the struggle.” He held his hand out to Bethany, and she shook it.

  “Thank you, Your Grace,” Bethany said.

  “No, Lady Bethany. Thank you. You saved the King today.”

  Arrago glanced at Bethany and said, “Actually, I believe they were here for more than just me.”

  The aftermath of the fight was soon over. They kept the dancers inside the ballroom while servants and guards alike carried the bodies out of the palace. All in all, four guards were killed, two knights injured, and eleven apprentices, including Darien, were seriously injured. How he managed to drag himself across the courtyard bleeding like he did, Bethany didn’t know. But her opinion of him greatly increased.

  The elves who’d attacked them weren’t most of her escort, as she’d assumed. She didn’t recognize most of them, but Kiner did. He snarled and spat when he saw their faces. “Traitors,” he called the living ones who’d been dragged away.

  The terrified crowd eventually recovered, and the cries were replaced with triumphant shouting and calls for war. Most of those who’d attacked were elves. That wouldn’t stand.

  Arrago asked Bethany to join him on the dais to address the crowd. “I have been in Taftlin for a week investigating several members of the peerage. A rumour reached me that they were working with elves to fund a rebellion against the King and Prince Henry.” She pushed as much scorn and disgust into the word elves as possible, and it wasn’t difficult for her to do that. They’d sent children to kill her. They were risking war to settle their petty problems.

  “Earlier tonight, one of the palace militia, Jonas, discovered enough black powder in the cellars to blow this entire wing of the palace into rubble.” She paused for the crowd’s reaction. “I have been working with the Duke and Duchess of Arsenia, plus the Dowager Duchess, along with many other members of the nobility to ensure this plan didn’t unfold. There are also several servants who worked tirelessly to protect you all tonight. All under the King’s orders, of course.”

  Arrago stepped forward and said, “The guards have removed the traitors who attacked us. They will be severely punished. Enemies of Taftlin and of peace have stripped Lady Bethany of her rank and power in hopes she couldn’t stop this plot.”

  The crowd grumbled. Not surprising, considering her introduction into the ball originally. She’d never considered they thought of her quite in those terms: defender of Taftlin.

  “But taking away all of those things from Lady Bethany didn’t take away her duty. Lady Bethany’s actual job was to escort Ambassador Lendra to the Imperial Palace. That would be her final act as a Silver Knight. Here, she would take on the role of Royal Guard captain and train Taftlins to protect Taftlin.”

  Stunned looks filled the room, along with a growing buzz of excitement.

  “Who better than a war hero and a woman blessed by the hand of Apexia to become captain of the Royal Guard?” He smiled at her. “And who better than the woman who became my wife. Earlier today, Lady Bethany and I were wed in a private ceremony here at the palace, attended by several members of the nobility. So, may I present you your new Queen. Who picked up a sword to defend all of us tonight.”

  Bethany lowered her head to hide her smirk as the court erupted in surprised gasps. There were several giggles and shouts that broke out before cheers broke out. Lord Rayner quieted the crowd and said, “Majesty, if you would be so kind, please tell the court of your nuptials.”

  Bethany stood quietly as Arrago enthralled the court with his tale of their marriage, and that any foreign power sent to hurt Bethany would be attempting the assassination of Apexia’s daughter, the Queen of Taftlin, and the love of the King’s life.

  Chills spread through Bethany as she saw the determined expressions on the faces of those present. She was Elorian; they should not have accepted her. But they did. What’s more, they would now fight for her. She was theirs. Politics had never protected her before. It had been the military and her friends that had taken abuse to protect her. Now, Arrago had outmaneuvered the Elven Council and Jud, and whoever else was behind whatever “this” was, and had drawn the line in the sand.

  “No more will the Queen of Taftlin sit in the shadows under piles of silks. She will be a warrior, like in the old days of our history. Together, Bethany and I will protect this great country of ours with every drop of our blood. And let me send a message to the Elven Council right now. The next time you send assassins after the king and queen of Taftlin, send an army because it means war!”

  “Checkmate, you fucking assholes,” Bethany whispered as the crowd erupted in celebration.

  Epilogue

  Bethany reclined in the plush chair in her bedroom and nodded her head approvingly. “I hate the Imperial Palace, but this room isn’t too shabby.”

  Arrago leaned against the bed post and crossed his arms. “Well, you are just a half-elf. I didn’t want to elevate you too high above your station.”

  “Why do I get my own room?” Bethany asked. She waved a hand. “It doesn’t bother me, but why do I need one?”

  “You can’t stay with me.”

  “Why not?”

  Arrago shrugged. “There’s twenty-two state rooms in the palace. I have to fill
the rooms somehow.”

  Bethany held up a boot. “Tug.”

  Arrago rolled his eyes, but did as she asked. She offered up the other foot and he pulled that one off, too. “I have servants that’ll help you undress.”

  “I’d rather slap myself repeatedly in the face,” Bethany said cheerily. Her smiled faded.

  “I know that look,” Arrago said.

  Bethany sighed. “I need to find Erem.”

  “I know. How can I help?’

  Bethany shook her head. “I don’t want you to get involved.”

  “I’m already involved. How can I help?”

  Bethany pushed herself up from the chair and walked over to the fireplace. A small fire burned in it, just enough to take the dampness out of the air. “I’ve been writing letters for a year now, but as long as I was in Wyllow, I couldn’t do much. Jud had me completely cut off. He wouldn’t let me go back to the temple because that’s where all of my allies were. People who were loyal to me.”

  “Surely there was someone in Wyllow on your side.”

  Bethany shrugged. “Yes, but not as many as I thought. There are only Knights and apprentices in Wyllow and most aren’t life soldiers. They’re all getting their requirements in the service out of the way to go on and do whatever they want afterward. They didn’t understand about war and conflict, and what we were all doing up here in the north. To them, I used my position to lead a war for my own purposes. And Apexia withdrew her blessing as a punishment.”

  “That’s a bunch of crap,” Arrago said. He pushed himself up from the bed post and spoke emphatically. “Torius and Aneese both gave their blessing.”

  “And they are both dead,” Bethany said bluntly. “The council wouldn’t be able to get away with this if either of them were alive.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “I wrote to Jovan and invited him and his parents to Taftlin. I also wrote Queen Marcia a few times now. She seems nice.”

  “Yes, she was married to my former betrothed.” Bethany quirked a smile. “Should I be worried that she’s going to steal you away from me, too?”

  Arrago snorted. “Not likely.”