The Reluctant King
“Amelia,” I assured her, taking her neck in my hands and tilting her chin up with my thumbs. My hands looked huge next to the delicate perfection of her slender neck and face. “Nothing will happen to me. I’m King for a reason, remember? But if these men see a connection between us, they will stop at nothing to get to you. They are merciless like that, single minded and destructive. And that would kill me, more than any kind of magic they use against me, losing you would destroy me. I will do whatever I need to in order to protect you, but I’m not going to give them a reason to purposefully go after you. It was selfish to bring you, stupid and selfish. But know that I will be watching you the entire time. Nothing will take you from me.”
Amelia nodded her response and I felt her tremble beneath my hands. I didn’t know if she was choked up from my open speech and admission of how deep my feelings for her ran, or if I had truly scared her. But either way I was thankful the gravity of our situation had sunk in.
“Be safe?” she asked through glassy eyes.
“Mmm, I don’t like safe,” I whispered, quoting her, before closing into to kiss her.
----
Darkness. That’s all there was in the ancient city of Machu Picchu. Even the empty parking lot was completely shrouded in the black ink of night. The moon was hidden behind cloud cover, the only light appearing in a small window of bone colored stripes. We could all see, our magic keeping the lack of light from being an obstacle. But even so, the stillness of the thin mountain air gave me anticipatory goose bumps.
The magic was strong here, so strong it was nearly choking. The vans had stopped and the clicking and groaning of the engines shutting off were the only sounds in the motionless night. The tiny noises seemed to echo off the mountain sides in the quiet of nothing that surrounded us.
Whatever tourists or human workers had been here during the day were long gone and all that was left was age old stone and the history of kings long buried. And the magic.
There was magic everywhere. Fearful, frightened…. tortured.
And then in other places angry, hateful…. aggressive.
We had converged together. We would meet here and fight. They had the advantage of being here first, but we had the benefit of experience.
And being generally awesome.
Through the darkness my eyes found Silas. He was staring back at me, his gray eyes cutting through the night like a fuzzy television channel. He shook his head once, indicating that his people were not here.
In one regard, that was a good thing. On the other hand, who were the Immortals here then?
“On my lead,” I commanded my van, knowing the second van would wait for my move anyway. “We’ll head into the city. Be ready immediately, we might not make it that far before they attack.” I stood up as much as I could in the cramped van and made a move for the door before pausing with one last piece of instruction, “Be careful with the city. Try to avoid any permanent damage, unless it’s at the cost of your own safety.” And then to Amelia, “Stay with Sebastian.”
She nodded with a resolved tilt of her chin. I loved that she was ready for this, that she wasn’t afraid of what was outside this door.
And hated it at the same time.
I slid open the rusty door and stepped onto the dirt and gravel parking lot. I cringed without realizing it, until nothing immediately came flying at me. I allowed myself to relax with practiced confident aloofness and signaled for the other van to empty with us.
I walked forward, toward the magic and the ancient ruins. Machu Picchu had a vast and haunting feel to it in the emptiness and dark. It seemed to stretch on forever, sprawling across the mountainside and up to the peak. The night seemed to whisper across the thin air, telling the stories of other kings that had died here, warning me not to become another fallen ruler, cremated by the earth beneath my feet.
I breathed deeply through my nostrils and stilled my thumping heart. I dared a glance behind me; I quickly surveyed my group of skilled warriors until my eyes landed on Amelia. I drank her in, deeply, one last time and then I entered through the tall gates and met the enemy I came to destroy.
My team entered behind me and spread out in a protective half circle. We hadn’t all fought together before, but the Titans that tagged along fell into an easy pattern of practiced experience. I refused to let myself look at Amelia, but I felt her magic down from me. It was everything I could do to keep my magic from hers, to stay separated from her just in case they had anyone capable of paying attention.
We stood there, with the parking lot and entrance gates behind us and the layered city before us. Their magic pulsed around us, but there were too many buildings and places to hide for us to pursue them. If they ran we would of course follow, but until then it was safer to wait them out.
I gave Xander a discreet nod allowing him to release the taunting I knew would be coiled tight inside of him. He grinned in reply and cupped his hands around his mouth to project the sound.
“Bad guys! Bad guys!” he called in a playfully mocking tone that had several of us snickering. “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
A muffled cough sounded in the night but was quickly quieted. I nodded again to Xander, giving him a look of approval and at the same time warning everyone to raise their magic and prepare for the battle.
Threat level orange. DEFCON five. Or whatever. It was time to be prepared.
“Look,” Xander continued, displaying how very unimpressed he was so far. “We know you’re out there and we have places to be, things to do, Kingdoms to run. It’s time to come out and play.”
This was about vengeance for too many needlessly dead Immortals.
Movement from behind nearby stone structures caught my attention and I stilled my body in expectancy for confrontation. Out walked two Immortals, wearing grins of excitement and vibrating with aggressive magic. They were large, well-toned, and I instinctively knew they would be challenging opponents.
I argued that they weren’t Titans though and so we had somewhat of a tactical advantage. Still, they weren’t the only two. There were more out there and before too much more time passed I knew we would meet the rest of their gang of merry men.
“Ah, if it isn’t his royal highness, the great King Avalon,” one of the men picked up Xander’s taunting tone and used it against us. “Come to arrest us? Turn us into one of your many minions, weeping at your feet? Kissing your ring?”
His friend sneered beside him and gestured to those around me. “Look how willingly he calls them to be slaughtered. He cares nothing for you,” the man’s tone turned serious and he looked along the line as if meeting each individual in the eye. “He is asking you to give up your lives for a fight he doesn’t even understand yet. And you will do it. You will all do it.” He ended with a note of pure disgust as if I were the worst kind of evil.
This was a new place for me to stand in. I had never been accused of this kind of cruelty before. I had accused others of this same thing, but never once had I been on the receiving end.
It kind of sucked.
And I hope my people knew me better.
“You are sheep,” the first man spat.
A heavy silence hung in the air for only a second before Titus stepped forward to defend me. “We are sheep? We saw one of your men kill another, simply because he was captured. You murder your own brothers to ensure silence, and you accuse our King of being cruel? I will be a sheep; I will gladly follow Avalon even if the course is still uncharted. But I refuse to be disposable for a deranged cause like you are. Give up your futile fight and surrender. Not only will you not win tonight, but you will not succeed at all. Walk away from whatever you have been promised, because I swear to you that you will never get it. You underestimate Avalon, and you underestimate how devoted his people are to him.”
I wanted to hug Titus. It was girly and beyond out of control, but in that moment I wanted to hug him.
I decided to fight instead.
“He’s right; you’re fighting a losing battle. You may still have secrets from us, but they will not matter after we destroy you all. Give up now, come willingly and you will receive something lighter than death. Fight now and you will give us no other option than to stop you.” I offered benevolently in my most Kinglike voice. See? I could be benevolent.
“Not a chance,” the second man growled. “Our cause is worth fighting for.”
There was absolute certainty in his voice, complete conviction. And it actually hurt my heart because I had been where he stood. Hell, I was still there. I just knew my cause was the right one, and that I stood on the side of goodness. He was convinced of something evil and cruel. No matter what his greater hope was, murdering innocents was and always would be the worst kind of evil.
“Your cause is killing your own people?” I questioned, disguising the complete disgust in my voice, hoping they would still change their minds. “Hurting? Torturing? Kidnapping? That’s not a cause, that’s murder. And it’s a path straight to the pits of Hell even if you can defeat me. Don’t lose your life or your soul believing another man’s lies.”
“Dimitri Terletov is not a liar,” the first man ground out.
“Then where is he so that he can defend himself?” I demanded, hating that he wasn’t the one talking to me. These men should know better, they should realize he was sending them to be slaughtered.
“With your sister,” the first man laughed before sending a burst of his magic directly towards my head.
I ducked out of the way while my mind reeled and spun with the realization that Eden, at this very moment could be in extreme danger. I turned around, sending my magic spiraling towards my enemies while I willed myself to focus on this fight first.
The first punch was thrown so to speak and the battle began.
Men descended on us from every direction, ready for a fight, ready to end my reign and my bloodline. I fought back immediately, but only half-heartedly as my mind spun with dangerous possibilities for my sister and her unborn child. And at the same time I fought to save my own life, with only the soft promise that I could feel her still alive. We were connected and she wasn’t crying out to me. That had to be a good sign. The only option was to finish this fight and then find Eden. Until then, my willingness for mercy had run out and each one of these men would be made to ultimately pay for treason.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rocks and ground exploded around me as the two sides of this battle converged into one destructive entity. I sent up a prayer asking for forgiveness as I watched the ancient ruins shatter in the night. I moved forward, meeting the two men that spoke for their absent leader while the rest of my team each connected with another fighter.
I turned so that Amelia would stay in my peripheral, but I had to be honest with myself and admit that I was very proud of how she handled herself. I noticed not only Sebastian but Jericho stay close to her too and this time I could let whatever jealousy remained go and realize he protected her for me.