Chapter Forty-one

*Riley*

Riley screams as the tribute who killed Orelia drags her across the ground by her hair. Riley kicks at the ground, trying to get her footing. When she finally does, she pushes herself up, but the woman uses her momentum against her, launching her into the corner of a ninety-degree wall, then grabs her hair again and pulls her head up to look at her.

The woman holds her short sword in front of Riley, but not the way a sword should be held. She’s holding with only her thumb, ring, and pinky fingers together, her index and middle fingers raised. She’s giving the sign Corrlin told her about, the Pecuro.

“Listen to me, princess,” she says. “My name is Charissa and we’re in the middle of a coup. We don’t want to hurt you. These weapons are fake. None of the women here are going to die. We’ll explain later. For now, you have to play dead. And try to make it look convincing.” She says it as though she doesn't think Riley can pull it off. 

Charissa presses the tip of the sword into Riley’s stomach. It partially collapses on itself and a slit opens in the blade, oozing fake blood onto Riley’s dress.

When Charissa steps back, Riley twists her face into a pained expression. If she’s going to do this, she’s going to do it right. Knowing it’ll be a giveaway if the “wound” is showing for too long, Riley crawls forward. She digs her fingers into the ground and pulls herself forward, trying to make her arms shake to give it a better effect.

Looking up at the back of Charissa’s head, Riley reaches out as if to grab her, then collapses.

“No! Riley! Riley, get up! Please, Riley, please! No!!”

She hears her brother’s voice ring out throughout the arena and her heart breaks, but she can’t move. The next thing she knows, the sounds of fighting break out around her. Riley concentrates on not moving a muscle, on barely breathing so everyone thinks she’s dead.

When the Sultan calls out that Charissa has won the Chariot and that Krishan will come to collect the bodies, she starts to get worried. What if the guards realize they’re all alive? What if they decide to kill them on the spot, Charissa included? How does it help the Dehaka, having all of these women play dead?

Riley had too many questions and no way to ask them. She hears footsteps around her and feels herself being picked up by two Krishan who carry her out through one of the docks. Once they’re away from the eyes of the crowd, she’s set on the floor and can tell by sound that others are being set down around her, then movement all around.

“You can get up now, Princess,” says Charissa’s voice, right next to her ear. 

Riley opens one eye and looks around to see everyone, including all the Krishan, showing her the Pecuro. Riley stands and tries to look dignified, though she's covered in fake blood and dirt. 

"Here you go, Princess," says one of the Dehaka, holding out a shirt and pants. 

"Girls!" says Charissa, and they surround Riley, their backs to her, so she can change without the eyes of the men on her. Riley changes quickly, thanking the other tributes as they move away from her. 

"So, what now?" Riley asks Chrissa. 

"Me winning the Chariot was step one. The victor is usually taken to a room and allowed to rest before meeting the Sultan, so we have some time before I'm expected to be there."

"Our next plan," says one of the Dehaka guards, "is to remove certain officers and government officials that are loyal to the Sultan. You don't mind getting your hands dirty, do you, Princess?"

"Just give me a bow and tell me who to shoot," says Riley. 

"This is a quiet mission," says the same Dehaka. "We will split into two groups. Princess, you will go with myself, Charissa, and half of the remaining tributes. Your group will take the east wing of the palace, while the other take the west. I know who is to trust, but never forget to trust anyone who shows you the Pecuro."

"Right," says Riley, nodding, while looking around. She turns to Charissa and asks, "Where's Orelia?"

"She's dead," Charissa says with a frown. "Once her mother was killed, I knew she would not be able to carry on the mission. I did not want to kill her, but there was too much riding on it."

Riley didn't like Charissa's stance with this, but she couldn't argue it. Not with the way Orelia was laying on top of her mother's body, crying.

"Alright," says Riley, "let's get going then. Who's our first target?"

"He is a man called Kenjin Cote," says the guard, "he is the lieutenant of High Commander Corrlin. Kenjin is loyal to the Sultan and will not betray him." 

"Then he shall fall in the name of the Dehaka!" yells Riley, raising her sword into the air. The rest of the tributes shout in unison with her until the male guard with them silences them with a shushing sound. 

"We are still being watched, so we must be careful. Princess, it might be best if you hang back while we handle the Krishan."

"Screw that," says Riley. "Give me a bow and arrows."

"If anything happened to you, the Emperor would surely—"

"You don't need to worry about me," says Riley, cutting off the Dehaka's words, "I can take care of myself."

"Alright. We will separate then and meet back in the throne room."

The tributes nod to him and everyone breaks into their respective groups. 

Riley follows the Dehaka down a corridor. When they reach the end, he peeks around and pulls his head back before leaning in to her and whispers, "There is a guard in this corridor. You wait here and I'll take him down."

"No need," says Riley. 

She pulls an arrow from her quiver. Though it's full, she's gentle enough to pull it silently out. She notches the arrow, takes a deep breath, and steps around the corner. It takes her only a second to find her mark. She lets the arrow fly and it pierces the back of the Krishan's neck. He turns, groping at his throat, but he can't make a sound.

The Krishan takes a step towards her, then stumbles into the wall where he slides down. Without him blocking her view of the corridor, Riley sees another man at the end. She notches another arrow and is about to let it fly when she sees him holding out the Pecuro. She nods and he relaxes, obviously grateful she isn't going to shoot him. 

"Let us move on," says the Krishan behind her, looking impressed. Riley gives him a nod and follows him down the corridor again. They turn right, then left, then go up a winding staircase that opens to a large corridor lined with stained glass windows. Four Krishan are marching down toward them and spot them. 

"What the—” one of them says, staring at Riley in disbelief. "It is a zombie!"

"Not quite," says Riley, pulling her bow up. With a quick shot, she takes down one Krishan, but the other three advance on her. She throws herself backward, both to avoid their spears, and to give room for the half dozen tributes and the Dehaka soldier to come up the staircase. Of the three remaining, two try fighting but are killed easily. 

The third throws his spear down and starts running down the corridor in fear. 

"We cannot let him go," says the Dehaka soldier. 

"I know," Riley says regretfully. She raises her bow and takes the Krishan out before he makes it halfway down the corridor. She didn't want to kill him, but they couldn't risk him raising an alarm. 

"Where to n—" Riley starts to say, but Charissa cuts her off. 

"Princess, watch out!" 

Riley's instincts take over. She steps back from the stairs to see a Krishan coming up then, thrusting a sword at her. Riley holds her bow in both hands and thrusts it forward, placing the bow and string around the blade. She uses the metal part of her bow to knock the sword to the side as she brings a foot up, connecting it with the Krishan's chest. He's launched backward into the wall as Riley steps forward, grabbing the handle of his falling sword.

The Krishan aims a right hook at her, but she ducks and twists her body while simultaneously swinging the sword under her arm and thrusting up, impaling the Krishan behind her. Before he can yell, she twists her body against and stands, pressing her hand to his mouth. He groans into her palm as life drains from his body. He slumps over to the ground, dead. 

Riley pulls the blade from him and looks it over. It's curved, razor sharp, and sturdily built. 

This'll come in handy, she thinks. 

"I'm really glad Charissa had you play dead," one of the tributes says. "You probably would have killed us all."

"Please," says Charissa condescendingly, but ruining the effect by smiling, "I could take her."

"Don't count on it," Riley says with a wink. Turning to the Dehaka soldier, she adds, "Let's go."

"After you, Princess," he says, gesturing down the hallway. Riley smiles as she moves to the front of the group. This Dehaka went from judging her ability, to being impressed, to letting her lead. "Just tell me where to go."

As she creeps through the halls of the Khal Majal, the Dehaka giving her direction, she and the tributes take down seven more Krishan and two more Dehaka men join them. 

"This is the room," says the man who led her here. He'd introduced himself as Starlin as they made their way here. "Inside is Counselor Kenjin. He is loyal to the Sultan and will reject Rija as the ruler of Sandalia."

"Don't enter until I give the signal," Riley says as she positions herself in front of the door. 

"What signal is that?" asks Starlin.

"You'll know, trust me," Riley says, moving to stand in front of the door as her companions split into two groups and stand on either side of the door. 

Riley raises her foot into the air and kicks next to the handle, breaking the door in. Inside, she hears a gasp and she enters the room. 

An older man sits behind a desk, looking up at her as though she were a ghost. Three Krishan stand between Riley and Kenjin and behind him stands a Krishan whose face is covered, like the SOAs of Midoor, except they're known as Xenites here. 

The Krishan run forward to engage Riley but she jumps on to a small table in the middle of the room and jumps over them, placing them between her and the door. The Krishan back away from Riley, their backs to the door. 

"You're surrounded, Princess," says Kenjin, his shock at her appearance has abated. He looks amused, wearing a twisted smile. "You are foolhardy to the extreme. Kill her."

"Oh, no," Riley says sarcastically. "I'm so scared." Then she laughs. 

"You think to take out all my men by yourself? Perhaps you have never faced a Xenite. Do you even know of their training?"

Oh, Riley knew. Xenites were raised from birth as ruthless killing machines. What's more, they're always drugged and feel no pain. They don't stop moving until they're dead. 

"It would take a small army to take him down. But I don't see an army."

"You mean this one?" Riley asks loudly. Nothing happens. "That's the signal, guys!" She yells toward the door, rolling her eyes. 

Starlin and the six tributes rush in and engage the three Krishan as the Xenite steps around the desk, heading for Riley while pulling out a long, curved sword. Riley raises her own and everything seems to fade around her as her focus sharpens on this one man. 

The Xenite swings his sword high over his head and brings it down, but Riley blocks his blow with her own sword. As he raises his blade for another attack, Riley swings her blade, aiming for his stomach. The Xenite steps backward and repositions his sword to thrust at her. Riley rolls to the side and springs up, changing her focus to Kenjin, who's stood up and backed against the wall. She lunges, aiming a thrust at him. 

Kenjin moves out of the way and Riley's blade hits the wall as the Xenite lifts Kenjin's desk with one hand and it tips, crashing against the wall. The Xenite advances, his sword positioned for another thrust, and Riley gets an idea. As the sword nears her, she deflects it with her own blade. The Xenite is strong, but he's slow and he can't stop his own momentum as the tip of the blade is moved toward Kenjin. 

The Xenite falls forward, having been thrown off balance by Riley's block, and the blade becomes buried in Kenjin's stomach. 

"You idiot!" yells Kenjin. "Kill her! Kill them all!"

The Xenite tugs on the blade, ripping it from Kenjin's stomach. Stupid thing to do, really. Now he'll die much faster. In his distraction, the Xenite didn't notice Riley step forward, giving her time to thrust her sword into the Xenite's stomach. She rips it out, but the Xenite only turns to look at her as Kenjin falls to the ground.

The Xenite seems entirely unfazed by the blood spilling from the wound in his stomach as he takes a step toward Riley, ready for a new attack. As he swings his sword again, Riley has an idea when she remembers Aaron telling her about his fight with Criston. Riley ducks and swings her sword up. She feels it connect with flesh, but it's so thick, she can't get the blade all the way through. She rolls to the side and stands, looking at the Xenite. 

Her sword is lodged in his wrist, his hand limp, his sword fallen to the ground, but he isn't crying out in pain. He doesn't even seem to feel it. The Xenite steps forward and grabs Riley by the throat with his uninjured hand, lifting her as if she were a rag doll and throws her across the room toward the tributes now standing over the bodies of the Krishan. 

They try to catch her, but she simply flies into them, bowling them over. Riley is up first, her bow in her hand. She fires arrow after arrow at the Xenite as he advances on them. Not wanting to risk taking time to aim, most of the arrows become lodged in his body, but he barely seems to feel them. 

When the Xenite is two feet away, he reaches out with his injured arm, giving Riley another idea. 

"Help me!" she yells to the person next to her, though she isn't sure who it is. She moves forward, grabbing the handle of the blade and finds Charissa next to her, grabbing the handle too. Together, they free the blade from the Xenite's wrist, take a step back, and thrust it through his chest, burying the blade in his heart. 

The Xenite stumbles backwards, the eyes visible in the slit of his mask growing wide and dimming as the life drains from them. He tries to take another step backwards, then falls, landing on his back with a crash.

***

"And that's pretty much it," Riley says to the group as they sit around a table in the hotel, eating breakfast. "We came to the throne room after that, and you all know what happened next."

"Oh gods," says Olivia, her hand over her mouth. "I'm glad the Dehaka found me after you were all captured and took me to safety."

"I am, too," says Aaron with a smile. Riley catches Milo roll his eyes, but doesn't think anyone else does. Though she doesn't truly believe Olivia is entirely innocent in what happened between her and Aaron, Riley doesn't think Olivia is a terrible person. 

"I'm just glad nobody died," says Milo, "well, nobody from Midoor, anyway." He sits beside Aaron, pulling on the binding cuff preventing him from using his powers. Piper tried to take it off this morning, but nothing seems to work. 

"You're not going to be able to pull it off," Piper tells him. "Just wait until we get back to Middor and I'll work on it then." Milo nods with a frown and leaves the cuff alone. 

Piper still looks weak, though she healed her wounds this morning. Riley watches Piper for another moment, at the way she's starting past Milo to look out the window, a look on her face like she's doing some hard thing. 

"We're leaving for Middor right after breakfast, right?" asks Gavin. 

"At once. I've had enough of Sandalia," says Aaron through a wad of half chewed toast in his mouth. 

Riley glances over at Oswald and Exavier, who are sitting with the rest of their guards at a nearby table, but then Gavin takes her hand. 

"You're sure it's okay if I join you?" he asks. "I've always wanted to see Midoor."

"Yeah, it's fine," says Riley. "It'll be nice to spend more time with you." Gavin smiles and leans in to kiss Riley. 

Right after breakfast, the group heads to the western road leading out of Sandalia where we find Sultan Rija waiting for us on a camel's back, his lower jaw bruised.

"Ah, Emperor," he says with a bow to Aaron. "I wish you all a safe journey."

"Thank you, Rija. I will send a counselor here as soon as I return to Midoor along with a group of soldiers. My counselor will help you to change laws to reflect Theo's policies."

"It will be done," says Rija. "It was a pleasure to meet you all," he adds, his eyes lingering for a fraction of a second longer on Milo's face. 

"Everyone, let's move out!" Aaron calls out to the group at large. The camels they borrowed from Rija start moving and as they enter the desert proper, Piper incants and a large black shield appears above their heads, protecting them from the sun. 

*Piper*

Three days after the return of the emperors to Midoor, Piper leaves the palace just before midnight wearing a hooded cloak. As she makes her way through the streets of the Upper Ring, she meets nobody. She approaches a building, still under construction from the Red Hand's last attack. She glances up and down the street, but sees no one as she ducks walks inside.

Standing in the center of the room, Piper whispers. "Are you here?" When there's no answer, she raises her voice slightly. "Phoebe?"

Phoebe walks out from a back room and looks her sister up and down, then asks, "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," says Piper. The two sisters stand in silence for a moment, neither seemingly willing to break it. It's Phoebe who does. 

"What do you want?" she asks, looking wary. "Where are the emperors?"

"They're not here. It's just me, like I said. I'm here because…" Piper hesitates, unsure for a moment. "I'm here because I want to help you take them down."

Phoebe's eyes grow wide, surprised. "And what makes you think I'd believe that?"

"Phoebe," says Piper, taking a step forward, "you saved my life. I threw myself in front of Milo and neither him nor Aaron even thanked me. What's more, their relationship is so fragile. Milo fell for the Sultan the moment he laid eyes on him and betrayed Aaron."

"The old man?" asks Phoebe, disgusted.

"No, Rija. He wasn't faithful to Aaron. I care about Midoor. I'm thankful they legalized magic, but I'm worried. Aaron has already taken over two provinces within Pensia. He's becoming so powerful and his and Milo's relationship is so fragile. I don't think they can be trusted to rule."

Phoebe doesn't look convinced as she says, "I'm going to need a little more than your word. Milo is a powerful advocate and having you on my side would be a huge help. That's why I tried to have Aegor kill him first before Aaron. I think Milo could have broken the binding cuff, if he'd entered his ascendent state."

"I thought that's what it was. Maybe this will convince you: I told Milo I couldn't break his binding cuff. He's still wearing it and is powerless. We could go to the palace right now and take him down together."

"I have much bigger plans now, sister."

"You don't want to kill them?"

"Oh, I do. I really do. But I've dared to dream bigger and am working on those plans instead."

"Then tell me and I can help you."

"No, I don't think we're there yet. I'm sorry, but I still don't trust you. You'll be on my side before the end of this, I'm sure. Convince me you're on my side and when the time is right, I'll ask you for your help and we'll destroy them together."

Piper smiles at her sister and says, "There's nothing I want more."