The Radiant War

Chapter 27a

     “Someone has to tell the King,” they heard one of the guards say as they reached the gate.

     “The King knows,” said the Princess. “He's always known.”

     “That's a lie!” The same man protested. “Why would the King be party to the death of his own kingdom?”

     “He's been adopted. He's going to become a Radiant himself.”

     “It's true,” said Darniss, puffing as she tried to get her breath back. She was neither young, like the Princess, nor did she have military training. She was an elderly woman and she didn't have the energy for these exertions. “You have to believe it.”

     “It's impossible! It's ridiculous! It can't be true!”

     “What about Bostel?” someone else demanded. “You killed Bostel!”

     “He had it coming for a long time,” said the guard who'd killed the Captain. “I shoulda done it weeks ago.”

     “Don't you get it, you idiot?” added the first man. “You killed the Captain! That's a hanging offence! And we're all in on it!”

     “Not if we arrest him, and them.” Another man pointed at the Princess and the Brigadier. “We tell ‘em Briggs acted alone.”

     “We all shot at the Radiant! We're all in the shit!”

     “We gotta decide quick,” said another man. “They're here.” He pointed at the first group of guards that had followed them from the palace. They were pulling up, aiming their weapons at the fugitives. “Listen, we tell ‘em Briggs acted alone. The Radiant can't tell anyone what really happened...”

     “The King already knows,” said the Princess. “He's an adoptee, He’s in constant telepathic communication with the Radiant. He already knows what you did.”

     “You're lying!”

     “No, she's not,” said the Brigadier. “The King knows what you did. Your only hope is to run while you can. Disappear into the city.”

     “You're trying to turn us against our own people...”

     Then there was no more time for words, though, as the first group of guards closed in around them, and they were pointing their weapons at the gate guards as much as at the fugitives. “All of you, put down your weapons!”

     “It was him!” said one of the gate guards, pointing at Briggs. “It was him who shot Bostel...”

     “I said put down your weapons!”

     The Brigadier saw the moment the gate guards made their decision and he threw himself at the Princess, throwing her to the ground just in time as the shooting started. Bullets flew above their heads and men fell on both sides, one just a few feet away from the Brigadier. He leapt over and snatched up his gun, then used it to shoot the three palace guards closest to him. Someone else was shooting close behind him, and he looked to see that Darniss and the Princess had also snatched up guns, both of them using them confidently and accurately.

     All royals, all across the human world, were trained in combat, of course, in case an assassin made it past their protection details, and Princess Ardria had proven a better student than most. Seeing Darniss with a gun in her hand filled him with grave concern, though. He toyed with the idea of killing her. She couldn't be trusted, and cold blooded murder was justified in defence of the royal family of Helberion. She'd saved the Princess’s life back in the palace, though. She seemed to have thrown her lot in with them, for the time being at least, and having another gun on their side might be the difference between life and death. He would watch her, though, and he would gun her down without hesitation and without regret the first time she did something he didn't like.

     The surviving palace guards were running for the fence, where the massive granite columns of the gate posts would give them some cover. Darniss, the Princess and the Brigadier ran for the gate, and the gate guards made room for them. “Guess we're traitors now,” one of them said unhappily.

     “You're rebels, fighting to overthrow a corrupt regime,” said the Princess.

     “Hell, yes! I like the sound of that!”

     More people were running from the palace. Guards and messengers on their way to the other guard posts to send reinforcements. “We've got to move,” said the Brigadier.

     “How? They've got us pinned down!”

     “We've got to rush them. Once they’re down we'll have a clear run out into the city.”

     “You don’t decide what to do! You’re the enemy! We're at war with you!”

     “We're all at war with the Radiants. We have to fight them together.”

     “Those aren't Radiants out there! They're our own men! Toman and Garner and Phil...”

     “Those men are trying to kill you. Appealing to their friendship won't save you.”

     “This is all your fault! Everything was fine until you came!” He swung his gun around to aim it at the Brigadier. The Brigadier grabbed his wrist and twisted it, making the man yell and drop it.

     “He's right!” said another man, though. “It's all your fault!” Before the Brigadier could stop him, he ran towards the palace guards, his hands over his head. “I surrender! I'm with you! I'm...” There was a shot and the man fell dead.

     All the other gate guards were staring at the Brigadier in shock and horror, waiting for him to tell them what to do. “We do the same,” he said, “but we go shooting.” They nodded nervously.

     The Brigadier turned to the Princess. ”You stay here,” he said.

     A look of anger flashed across her face, but then she nodded. In a combat situation, only the reigning monarch had the authority to override the ranking military commander, but the Princess wouldn’t have argued with him in any case. Lives were lost when the chain of command was unclear. There had to be no doubt in anyone's mind who was giving the orders.

     The Brigadier examined his gun, found it was almost empty. One of the gate guards handed him a box of ammunition. He nodded his thanks as he reloaded his gun, then shoved a handful of bullets into his pocket. Beside him, Darniss and the Princess were doing the same, shoving spare bullets into the tops of their stockings. The palace guardsmen were still shouting at them to surrender. They both ignored them.

     When he’d finished, the Brigadier turned to Darniss. “You stay close beside me,” he told her. “If you acquit yourself well, I will appeal to the King to have your death sentence commuted. At the first sign of treachery, though, I will kill you. Do you understand?” She nodded, swallowing nervously.

     The Brigadier turned back to the gate guards. “Ready?” They nodded again. “Okay. Let's go!”

     He led the way, running out from the cover of the guard post, already firing before be had a target in his sight. The sound of the gunshots made the palace guardsmen shrink back in fear, which gave him the time he needed to move to a place where he could see them without getting shot. He used up the last two bullets in his gun shooting two of them, then ran into them, throwing a group of them bodily to the ground. He heard knives being pulled from their sheaths as they struggled to throw him off, felt a pain in his side as one of them was thrust into his flesh.

     He half expected to be fighting alone. Half expected the gate guards to hang back from attacking their own colleagues. Men they knew. Men they had joked with and fought alongside for years beforehand. Friends, battle brothers. People they might have given their lives for under other circumstances. If that had been the case he would have died there as the palace guards stabbed and shot him repeatedly. The Princess might have come after him, defying his command rather than suffering recapture and cursing, and he might have lived long enough to see her being shot down, her beautiful face contorted with pain and fury even as the gun roared in her hand with the determination to sell her life dearly. It would have been a glorious end to both their lives and he would have died without regret. It wasn't to be, though, as the gate guards, understanding that their King had betrayed them and that their only chance for survival lay with the Brigadier, followed him into combat.