The First Queen

27 - Besieged Part 1

Aliana took my hand and tugged me out of the way of a stray arrow that lodged itself into the flagstone behind where my head was and I gasped.

"I thought you said it was an unarmed riot..." Aliana panted, ducking behind a column.

"Athena said they were unarmed!" I huffed, weaving beside Aliana as I surveyed the wreck before me.

Commoners had axes and swords and bows and the palace gates were red with fire and crackling under the heat. Dozens of the guard were lying lifeless on the floor, discarded and trampled on by the advancing citizens who were surging against the ambushed Royal Guardsmen.

"They're obviously not!" Aliana screamed as an arrow slammed into the stone beside her shoulder, "These aren't government regulation weapons!"

"How do you know that!?" I gasped, the clashing of steel and the howls of pain the most prominent noise in my ears.

"You know that my title is Merchandise Overseer, correct?" Aliana hissed, eyeing me through the small distance between us.

"No! How did I not know about this? I thought you were only in the council because of the Whitemane name!" I yelled over the commotion and Aliana rolled her eyes.

"This isn't the time to argue! We need to get out of here!" She shouted but I shook my head.

"I can't! I need to stop this!" I declared but Aliana cocked a brow and scoffed.

"How can you be so naive!?" She growled, "You're going to get your head cut off!"

"I'm not leaving until this gets solved!" I hissed at her and dived to the ground, wincing as I peeled the longsword from the corpse of a royal guard and hefted it into the air.

Aliana let out a disgruntled groan before stepping out of her place behind the column and snatching a dagger from the waistband of her dress, "Fine. I'm not leaving you alone here so I'll have your six."

"...Where-- How do you keep a dagger in there?" I muttered and she shrugged.

"Mistress Xanthe taught me a thing or two." She answered and I nodded, observing the cluster of agitated masses and Royal Guardsmen.

"Where to first, Cap'?" Aliana smirked, nudging my shoulder and I rolled my eyes, narrowly dodging a chunk of wood flung in my direction.

"Any bright ideas, Killjoy?" I asked her and this time she rolled her eyes.

"I say we get The Nine Hells out of here and bar the doors in the kitchens!" Aliana suggested.

"Why the kitchens?" I groaned and she shrugged.

"There we'll have enough food to last us a week or two!" Aliana replied and I cocked a brow.

That's... Actually kind of smart.

Aliana opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by a commoner near us lopping off the head of a Royal Guardsman, the blood painting Aliana's dress and skin an eerie crimson and she squealed at the top her lungs like a banshee.

Her eyes went red with rage as she rounded on the attacker, "This dress was made of Threyan silk! You monster! Burn. In. The. Hells!"

She slammed her fist so hard into the anarchist's nose that he collapsed to the floor in a daze and she let out a guttural growl that actually made me fear the gossipy, prim countess who surrounds herself with courtesans as friends.

"Okay, maybe we should leave..." I stuttered, grabbing at Aliana's shoulders and directing her away from the massacre.

"How dare that scum!? Does he know how hard it is to get Threyan silk this far south!?" Aliana hissed, glancing over her shoulder every now and then as I guided her through the hallways, "I'm going to kill him. Mark my words, Elia!"