Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“No. Stay off the ground.” I dismounted and drew my sword.
Storm took off again, blending in with the darkness and the smoke.
I pulled my sword out of my scabbard, spun it around my wrist, and then entered the castle through the side door. Once I was inside, I heard the shouts of the men higher up, barking orders to one another. “Where are you, Rutherford?” I took the stairs and went up, jumping across the broken gaps from the cannonballs my men fired. I moved farther up, sweeping through abandoned corridors until I finally made it to my destination.
Rutherford looked out the window as he watched his city burn down around him. Despite his uniform and the crown of jewels upon his head, he looked nothing like a king. His home was under attack, and he chose to hide inside rather than lift a finger to stop it. He refused to surrender because he was pinned under a thumb far bigger than his.
But even if surrender were an option, I wouldn’t take it.
This motherfucker deserved to die.
“Coward.”
The men who guarded him turned at the sound of my voice, too busy looking out the windows to notice the assailant who had just entered their territory. “Your people need you—and you stand there and do nothing.”
It took him a moment to turn and look at me, to face me like a man. When he finally did, there was no anger, no spite, nothing at all. As if he’d known this was coming. Had known long before I took Delacroix. “This is all pointless. It doesn’t matter who sits on the throne, who calls himself the King of the Kingdoms. Because there is only one ruler—Necrosis. They can’t be defeated, and now you’ve doomed us all.”
“You doomed us when you allied with them for power. Necrosis wasn’t in my lands when my father sat on the throne. The only reason they’re here is because you invited them. You’re the coward.”
He looked out the window. “You don’t understand what you’re up against.”
“I’m the one who’s been fighting them for nearly twenty years. I know exactly what the fuck I’m up against. I’m going to kill every single one until this land is rid of their evil. I’m going to do what you should have done.”
“What I should have done?” He turned to look at me. “What about your father? Why didn’t he do it?”
I gripped the hilt a little harder.
“He could have marched on Necrosis decades ago. He could have saved us all. Only, he didn’t. Don’t pretend your father wasn’t just as selfish as I am. He only looked out for himself, and you know it.”
“My father never would have allied with Necrosis.”
“Because he didn’t need to. He already had everything.” He turned to face me, and this time, he stepped toward me as he left his sword in his scabbard. “He had everything, while we had nothing. My family was killed by Necrosis. My friends… Everyone I ever cared about. I told your father this, straight to his face, and he didn’t give a shit.”
I was proud of the blood in my veins despite all this, because I knew if I’d asked my father to champion this cause, he would have done it. If I’d asked him to fight for the freedom of everyone, he would have given his life for the effort. “It doesn’t matter now. I’m here to do what neither of you could. I’m here to remove this fucking parasite from our lives forever. You can still help me, you know.”
He stood there and stared, as if it wasn’t possible to do anything else. “I can’t.”
“Because of him?” I asked. “He’s not here.”
“He’s not in this room—but he’s here. And if I betray him now, he’ll take my soul, not just my life.”
“I’m going to kill him, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“It can’t be done.”
“Watch me.” I spun my sword around my wrist. “Where is he?”
“The last I heard of him, he went to the cells to kill a prisoner.”
“This is your final chance, Rutherford. Coming or not?”
His men stayed at his side, not that it mattered. When the castle crumbled, they would all perish.
Rutherford looked out the window again. “You’ll still kill me if I help you.”
I should slay him where he stood for the coup he’d staged against my father. But he wouldn’t survive the night anyway. I would rather he watched his kingdom crumble around him until he was crushed under stone than give him a swift death. “You’re right.” I turned to the stairway and made my descent, the castle shaking every few minutes as the battle continued. Where cannonballs broke through the walls and destroyed the staircase, I had to jump clean over and nearly roll the rest of the way.
I went down another level and stopped at the next hole in the wall. The staircase was still intact, so I could stand there and look at the fires and smoke. A man stood on the roof of the next level, dressed in all black, taking in the view. He didn’t wear the armor of the guards, didn’t carry himself like he was an inferior.