The King's Lover

Chapter 24

           

    Clarisse and Juliet remained staring at each other for another moment, oblivious to the chaos unfolding around them, until Commander Broce leaped from the shadows of the stage and grabbed Clarisse to haul her out.

     It seemed to pull Juliet from her trance, and the queen ducked as an arrow thudded into the throne just it behind her. 

     Kusy darted forward to grab Juliet's upper arm. "We have to go," she said, quickly and urgently.

     Juliet hesitated for a moment, looking out at the crowd. Another arrow flew, and Kusy yanked her down. They hit the floor, but Kusy felt the arrow brush the top of her head.

     Anger flooded her veins, and she stood, unsheathing her knives in one smooth movement.

     "Guards!" She yelled. The guards wearing the royal colors were attempting to fight their way into the throng, but the crowd was thick. The ones closest to the stage looked up at her when she yelled, and Kusy pointed one golden blade at the crowd. "Do not let them escape."

     The guards plunged into the crowd with renewed vigor. Another arrow sped for Kusy. She knocked it out of the way with one knife and narrowed her eyes at the one who'd shot it.

     It was a young woman, with fiery red hair. The woman went pale and took a few steps back as Kusy ran forward and leaped off of the stage, landing on her feet a few steps in front of the woman. 

     Kusy pointed her knife again, this time at the rebel. "Do not move," she snarled, kicking the bow from the woman's hands. "I will kill you."

     "Kusy!" It was Juliet's voice that made Kusy turn to see the queen at the edge of the stage, waving her over. "Come on!"

    Kusy hesitated before running back to the queen, who grabbed her hand and pulled her out. When Kusy protested, Juliet stopped, her eyes fierce. "You are the Crown Princess of Brind. I am the Queen of Trilea. It will help no one if we die. Those are my people in there, and I do not want to leave them, but I won't risk leaving Clarisse on the throne. The rebels were aiming for us, anyway. If we're gone there's a better chance they'll stop. Come on."

    She tugged Kusy along and out the door, which was barred by Krow and another guard as soon as they were through. Kusy spotted the edge of Clarisse's skintight dress disappearing around a corner above, and she flexed her fingers on the hilts of her knives.

     Juliet looked just as angry. "She used the attack to run away," she all but spat. "Coward. I almost had her—she had nowhere to go, no one to fall back on, and..." Juliet threw her hands up in exasperation.

     Kusy was thinking about the crowd, in the moments before the attack started. They must have been waiting for the chimes of the clock to signal the attack, but as it started...

     "How many rebels do you think there were?" Kusy asked, lost in thought. Juliet furrowed her brow as Kusy answered her question. "It looked to be around sixty, yes? There were over four hundred people in that room. You do not attack anyone with that ratio."

     "Maybe they're desperate," Juliet suggested, although Kusy could tell from her expression that she didn't really believe it.

     Kusy shook her head anyway. "No, when they revealed themselves, about double that number shifted, moved. Like they were going to do the same but then stopped."

     "What do you mean?"

    Kusy looked up suddenly at the queen and grinned. "I mean that I think the rebels planned a huge attack today, but when they saw that you were fighting for them, defending them—they hesitated. Over half of them did not attack."