Part 29 (1/2)

Looking around the room, I realized that it was full of dead bodies, and Viktor's expression had turned to an angry scowl. We'd killed all but three of his men, and Konstantin was dealing with two of them.

The third ran at me, and I lunged at him, driving my sword through his stomach. Then Ridley shouted a warning, and before I could even think, his cage clattered to the floor mere inches from me.

I ducked out of the way just in time. I narrowly avoided getting crushed by the metal enclosure, but I dropped my sword in the commotion. The cage bounced over the bodies and crashed into the wall.

I ran over to help Ridley open the door, but as I did, his face blanched with horror.

”Bryn, watch out!” he shouted, and I whirled around just in time to see Viktor behind me, carrying a b.l.o.o.d.y sword.

SEVENTY-FIVE.

reprisal I felt the sharp point of the blade tear my clothes and pierce the tender flesh of the left side of my abdomen, just above my hip. I staggered back, my eyes scanning the floor for a nearby sword. Konstantin was busy on the other side of the room, finis.h.i.+ng off the last of the men, so he couldn't toss me a weapon.

Viktor sneered at me, and I spotted my swordthe handle red with blood, lying a few feet to my left, directly beside the birdcage. But before I could make a play for it, Ridley kicked open the door to the cage. He climbed out and stepped toward Viktor, blocking Viktor's access to me.

”Enough games,” Viktor growled at him. ”It's time to finish this.”

He lunged at Ridley, but Ridley dodged to the side and grabbed Viktor's arm. He twisted his wrist back, and even after Viktor dropped the sword, Ridley kept twisting until the bones in his hand and wrist finally made a loud cracking sound.

Viktor was bigger than Ridley, but he was also older and out of practice. And I knew that Ridley wouldn't let him get the best of him again.

Viktor let out a loud pained groan, and Ridley let go of him, allowing Viktor to stand up.

”I thought you were going to finish this, old man,” Ridley growled at him as Viktor staggered back away from Ridley.

”There's still time,” Viktor a.s.sured him with a sick smile.

Ridley moved toward him and kicked his feet out from under him, and Viktor fell back onto the bodies of his fallen men. He lay at an awkward angle, with his back curved up over the bodies and his head on the cold stone floor.

Ridley jumped on top of Viktor and grabbed him by his greasy hair, and he slammed his head into the floor three times. He wasn't deadnot yet anywaybut he wasn't really moving either.

”That was for Bryn,” Ridley said as he got to his feet.

The scar that ran along my temple seemed to throb in sympathy, the one that Viktor had given me when he had bashed my head into a stone wall.

Konstantin had killed the last two men, and he stood on the other side of the room, catching his breath. With Viktor incapacitated, Ridley turned his attention to me.

”Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes darting down to where my blood was staining my s.h.i.+rt.

”Yeah, it's just a flesh wound.” But it did hurt far worse than I was willing to let on. Then I motioned to him. His s.h.i.+rt was unb.u.t.toned in the front, revealing dark bruises all over his body. ”Are you okay?”

”Hey, hey,” Konstantin said, interrupting us.

When we looked over at him, he tossed his sword to Ridley, who caught it easily. I turned back to see that Viktor Dlig had gotten up and was stumbling toward us. Blood streamed down the side of his face, but he'd picked up a sword and managed to wield it with his shaky left hand, the one that Ridley hadn't broken.

Ridley stepped away from me and walked toward Viktor. Viktor tried to lunge at him, and Ridley countered by easily knocking the sword from him. Viktor stood before Ridley, with his head high, and began to laugh.

”What's so funny?” Ridley asked.

”I should've killed you the second Helge brought you in,” Viktor said through his laughter. ”I could've split you in two, just like I did your idiot father.”

And that was the last thing Viktor ever said, because Ridley stabbed him in the stomach. Viktor stumbled back and collapsed onto the throne. He let out a few more raspy breaths before expiring.

”And that was for my dad,” Ridley said.

”He would be proud of you,” I said, trying to comfort Ridley.

He turned back to face me, and I stood up as straight as I could, with my hand pressed against the wound Viktor had given me. Ridley's eyes were dark, and he put his hand gently on my face.

”You sure you're all right?” he asked.

”Yeah.” I smiled up at him. ”As long as you're okay, I'm okay.”

Konstantin took his sword back from Ridley and wiped the blood off on his s.h.i.+rt, then turned toward Ridley and me. ”Shall we move on? There's still plenty more enemies to take down.”

SEVENTY-SIX.

chambered The fighting had moved into the main hall of the palace. As Ridley, Konstantin, and I ran down the narrow corridor from the throne room, we could already hear the clash of swords. Baltsar and Bekk were fighting alongside other Skojare and Trylle allies against twenty or so Kanin guards and Omte.

Before we left the throne room, I'd torn off a strip from the white curtains and tied it around my waist, putting pressure on my wound to stop the blood loss. That helped some, but I could still feel myself moving more slowly than I should have. But I pushed myself on, refusing to quit or fail now, not when we were so close to defeating Mina.

Ridley had grabbed a sword, and when we reached the main hall, he joined the fight without missing a beat. Nothing that Viktor or Mina had done to him slowed him down, and I wished I had the time to admire that about him. Or admire anything about him. I wanted to relish the fact that he was safe and alive again, but an Omte soldier was trying to stab me.

I started fighting beside Ridley, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Konstantin running. He raced down the hallway toward the private quarters. I dodged the attack from the Omte soldier, and then I took off after Konstantin, running as fast as I could to catch up to him.

So far, the private wing looked untouched. The pearlescent tile wasn't stained with blood. The ivory drywall covering the stone had no holes or dents. None of the furniture was broken and none of the paintings were torn.

Konstantin had stopped where the hallway T'd, looking in both directions, and that's when I reached him.

”Where are you going?”

”To find Mina.” He looked down at me. ”I should finish this on my own. You don't need to come with me.”

”Of course I'm coming with you,” I insisted. ”I want her dead just as badly as you do, and you don't know what she's up to.”

”Yes, I do. She knows she's losing now, and she's going to make an escape.” He turned to the hallway to the left, jogging ahead, and I went after him. ”She's in her room, gathering everything she needs to start over.”

The Queen's chambers were in the top of the tower on the south side of the palace. On the stairwell just outside the landing were two dead Hogdragen soldiers, both with their throats slit. These were the first bodies we'd seen in the private wing so far.