Dark Queen

xxviii.

     Before Zora could react, Jurauk had already rammed a fist into a guard's helmeted head and taken his sword, holding it up protectively. "Stay back!" he ordered, shifting so that he was in front of her. Zora peered around his shoulder, drinking in the whole scene. A swarm of men clothed in black flooded the hallway, enclosing Gregori's small entourage.

     "To the King!" one armored figure shouted, right before he was gutted by a silent assassin. Metal clanged on metal, and the sounds reverberated throughout the room.

     "Quickly!" snapped Pyter. He stood safely behind the wall of black-clothed men, watching as more royal guards fell to their blades. "Kill him before the others notice something is amiss."

     Zora's hopes soared. Would this day be the end of Gregori's tyrannical reign? Unconsciously, her fist tightened on the back of Jurauk's shirt. He was in a fighting stance, ready to fend off any enemies, but the men in black only had eyes for their target.

     "Drop your sword, Gregori, and accept your death!" Pyter declared, pointing his own weapon towards his brother. All around him, members of the Royal Guard were dropping like stones, red smiles on their throats.

     Zora expected Gregori to surrender. He was severely outnumbered. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed maniacally.

     "My foolish elder brother!" he crowed. "How this pains me, to see my own blood raise a bland against me."

     "You are not worthy to be my blood," said Pyter as the assassins parted to let him through. "You are a frigid, soulless being who sent his own sister to be eaten by the Nefari!"

     "Ha! Are you still blind? I only got rid of her so I could wait for this day to come. You wouldn't dare attack me with your little sister still here, right? But now that she's gone, there's nothing holding you back." He gave a low laugh. "Wouldn't this be a story? The previous crown prince attempting to usurp the throne of its rightful ruler?"

     Zora had to manually restrain the raging Nefari before her. Even she felt faint. "Wait!"

     "Bastard, if it hadn't been me you encountered, you would've been ripped to shreds!" Jurauk was livid.

     "Shhh," Zora said, pulling him away from the scene. "Pyter has Gregori cornered. There's nowhere out for him." Inside, a storm raged. So all this time, she'd been a liability for Pyter. He was afraid to make a move...because of her? Had he been worried Gregori would use her as leverage against him?

     She turned her attention back to her brothers. Pyter stood right in front of Gregori now, and with a shout, he swung his sword towards him.

     When Gregori smiled, cold dread washed over Zora.

     Thunk! An assassin staggered forward, an arrow in his back, before his knees gave out. There was whistling as dozens of arrows were fired downward. Pyter looked up, thunderstruck, as an arrow hit the floor by his foot. He raised his sword and began slicing away as more volleys rained down upon him.