Kingdom's Fall

Chapter 28, Part 2

Siv drew the bowstring back, bringing it up to her lips almost as if blessing the arrow to make it stay true. Her queen was threatened. So many had made the same mistake, it almost hurt to think of it. How could they hate her? Siv breathed out, taking aim down the shaft. She would release this one from his mistake, just as she had all the others. These Kingdom folk had different hearts.

Her aim skipped as she saw her target. The arrow stayed drawn, and a tremor of protest climbed her arm. The man wasn't Kingdom. He's an Islander. The realisation was clear and sharp in her mind, like lightning through the heart of a storm. He's my son!

No arrow flew to meet Erlend. He reached the queen at a sprint, his spear held low and ready to thrust right through her. As if she was swatting a fly, the queen's hand came up to intercept the spear head, tipping it away from her. Her other hand followed behind it, and he ran onto a blow that sent him flying sideways.

She went after him almost lazily, her smile so wide it looked as though it would split her head in two. The queen lifted the remains of the spear, the head still whole on a length of pole no longer than her forearm.

"All that effort, and this is the best they could do?" The queen held the spear vertical over Erlend's chest, ready to drive it through his body. "Pity." Something deep inside Siv turned over, and the bowstring came back to her lips. She took aim.

The first arrow went through the queen's chest, jerking the spearhead up and away from its target. By the time she turned to face Siv, the second was in flight. It caught her in the eye and stuck fast in her head. There was no third. In the time it took Siv to nock a third arrow and draw the queen was on her, the spear scything round in a killing arc.

Einar saved her. The massive head of his mace swung into the space between them and caught the queen in the stomach, pitching her backwards. The broad spearhead missed its mark and she flew ten feet to land in a heap. Siv looked at Einar and the look he gave her in return told her everything. He looked as though they had been apart for a lifetime.

Every single fibre of the queen's body sang with her fury. They were so weak, these mortals. So weak and so useless and yet they never knew when to give up. There would be no more games, she decided. No more toying with them. She was going to kill them, tear them all to pieces, one after another after another. Even if it took her a hundred years, it would be worth it. Her good eye blinked, and the arrow in the other one grated deep inside her head. More out of annoyance than need, her hand came up and yanked the offending shaft free, a great gout of flesh and blood sailing out with it.

"Thank you, highness." It was Lord Baird, his voice right next to her head. She hadn't seen him coming, and that fact annoyed her more than anything else. A blind side. Even one-eyed, she'd kill them all. Fury gave way to confusion as something round and cold was pressed hard against her eye socket. "Demon!" He said. "I release you! Fight for your freedom!"

Too late, the queen realised that he wasn't talking to her. Something else had joined her in the body, unfurling into the flesh with a rage that felt equal to her own.

What is this? She cried out.

This is the end, it said.

"Go! Go! Do it now!" Aiden dropped the bottle and stepped back, Buloch's men swarming in around the queen even as she started to spasm and arch where she lay. They paused, almost unsure of what they were meant to do. "Gods! Give it here!" Aiden pulled a flask from unresisting hands and tipped it over her, the lamp-oil soaking her and filling the air with a rich, waxy odour. "Light her!" He was shouting now, and he realised that even though they had seen every horror the queen had wrought, they still thought she was human. They wanted to show mercy, and that mercy was going to get them killed. He grabbed at a smouldering match, taking it from one of the men charged with the job, and dropped it onto the queen's face. The men staggered away in shock as she went up, shrieking as the flames took hold. Aiden stood over her, his stomach churning at the smell. It wasn't enough. "Empty the other flasks," he said. "Finish it."