Love is the most powerful force in the world. That love can do anything.
- Cassandra Clare
Aunt Sabel recognized the voice perhaps, because she stopped dancing around in pain. And when she turned, both Alexandra and she caught the man's face. He was right outside the Cell- but when they saw him, he unlatched the low door and entered. Behind him stood more than a dozen Ethorian guards, with their as-tall-as-Alexandra spears.
Aunt Sabel's face contorted with rage, 'Nicholas!' She shrieked, 'My son, what are you doing here?!'
Alexandra would have collapsed if she was not chained to the chair. Nicholas? Nich-o-las?!
This man- Nicholas?!
Alexandra didn't recognize him at all! Where was the sour, pale- sick looking nine-year old she had allegedly killed? This person- was mightily different.
'I won't let you do any more madness, woman!' He growled. How had the change come about? Aunt Sabel said that - that he had asked her to take some revenge on his behalf!
Not everybody is dim-witted like you! Mind disparaged, he of course said that to send his mother away! What else should he have done?!
Alexandra couldn't help agreeing. Definitely there had been a LOT of change in Nicholas. Physically - yes, why not! He was nothing like the old boy. Lean, strong-looking and - if it was within decency to admit that - handsome. He was nothing like Aunt Sabel. And on a person's face, only a reflection of their true, inner self, showed. What Nicholas was inside - was how he appeared outside.
'Nicholas!' The Aunt said, in a firm, commanding tone, 'Get out of this. It is none of your business!'
'You've fed me enough nonsense!' He barked back, 'What had you told me? This cousin of mine is a black smudge - that I should keep away from her, lest I too got tainted?! You told me that she was a witch in hiding! And what else did you feed me? That she is unloved, she is useless, her own family considers her a burden?! I spoke your intolerable ideas to her - it would have made anyone angry! Your mad beliefs had maddened me, they are the reason I've been your pawn for this long! You asked me to play along in this dirty game with Doveland. You wanted your revenge, you destroyed my life for it!'
'No!' Aunt Sabel cried, somehow sounding really anguished - 'It is not so! I love you, my dear! You are my son!'
'I have always been your son! But you never became my mother! For you, I am nothing but a bridge to get your revenge. For you, I was a burden! Until you found out you could use me to dictate over Doveland. Then - all of a sudden - I became valuable? Is that motherhood?!'
'Nicholas, who has been telling you these! They are not true, son! I-'
'Not everything I say had been fed to me! This is my choice! You were sure Alexandra was going to come - I was sure too! I knew she would come. And the day she did - I would get rid of you. End the mess you have made!' Nicholas clarified - interrupting his mother.
Alexandra couldn't help her lips curling upwards. Nicholas - the final card. Until now, it was unturned. Nobody knew in whose favor he would be. Now, it was clear.
Nicholas favored her. Nicholas - with whom it had all started - was the one who would end it.
'Nico-' Aunt Sabel began, in a pleading voice - it surprised Alexandra how she was capable of doing that - one minute: menacing, ready to torture and kill. The very next: pleading, motherly, innocence dripping through her voice.
However, Nicholas was her son. And Aunt Sabel's son, surely knew how to deal with Aunt Sabel.
'Enough! Get her!' The twenty three year old commanded his guards. They hesitated.
'I said.' He repeated, a voice full of suppressed rage, 'Arrest Queen-mother Sabel!'
Queen Mother. Not Queen.
The guards moved a bit, Aunt Sabel shrieked, 'No! I am the Queen! Don't you dare move another inch!' But the guards didn't stop.
'Ah, Mother - I forgot to inform you - the throne has been passed.' Nicholas meanwhile explained, 'The Queen of Ethoris need not look into the affairs anymore. Her son - is quite ready to shoulder kingship. Which means - guards, do your duty.'
Aunt Sabel stared at her son - then at Alexandra, 'I...' she shook, 'I had never thought that you would betray me for this woman! I disown you! You are no son of mine!' She bellowed, spraying the whole Cell with spit.
'That is good, Mo- ah... Sabel. That is rather good,' Nicholas confessed. 'So, I do not need to offer you any special treatment in prison. This is the final time I am telling you this - guards, arrest her!'
Aunt Sabel looked like somebody had set fire to her hair - utterly terrifying. As though any second now, she would explode. But as the guards all encircled her, she let her arms fall to her side, for once, not having enough courage, 'You will pay for this - you all will pay for this!' She simply cursed, allowing the guards to take her.
'Put her in the highest security cell!' Nicholas ordered, 'And-' he began, looking like he had forgotten that a tied-up cousin of his existed in the corner. Just then, interruption appeared in the form of a panting messenger.
'Sir! My Lord!' He cried, skidding to a halt outside the cellar and holding the bars with his hand for support, bending over and panting.
'What is it?' Nicholas asked - looking rather at ease - as though half-dead-from-exhaustion messengers was something he saw each day.
'Where is the Queen, Sir?!' The messenger implored, almost slamming his head on the bars - sweat dripping from his hairline. Alexandra knew something was terribly wrong - even if Nicholas didn't seem to think so. Messengers were not so different from spies after all. She could read that expression well, it was the expression she would have if she had to inform of a disaster.
'Charged and imprisoned.' Nicholas informed him, 'You tell me what is the problem. And don't stand there and bray like a donkey. Tell me!' He added - with just a trace of impatience.
'Sir-' the messenger managed - not looking concerned about the imprisonment of Aunt Sabel - as he stopped panting. 'By ten at night - a whole army had gathered right beyond the borders of Montrosky - we decided to wait for orders, because the troops were peaceful... but now - they are barging in! The commander needs your orders right away Sir, should we battle?!'
'What?! Army?! Whose army? Who's leading it?' Nicholas asked - all impatience disappearing; only to be replaced by anxiety. Evidently, he was not expecting an attack, now. Alexandra herself was stupefied... only one army could dare to take up on Ethoris. The Idgardian one ... and still, that Liam would do something like it...
'It is King Austin sir, he desires revenge! Vedessan troops are helping him with it - which is the main cause of our worry!'
Austin? How? And why would the Vedessan troops help him?!
Nicholas, for his part, too looked dumbstruck. But he pulled himself together. 'Tell the commander he has my orders, lead the troops in, get them ready. But do not attack. I will first talk to the King. We've all been set up against each other.'
'As you say, Sir!' The messenger complied, hurrying off. Nicholas had apparently not forgotten Alexandra.
'Cousin, I shall be back.' He informed hurriedly, 'We cannot war again - it will destroy everything. Give me some time.' He spoke, to her surely, because there was no one else in the Cell. Alexandra found it hard to believe that this was the same Nicholas.
'R - right.' She managed, 'Nicholas... I'm sorry I did that - thirteen years back. I started it all-' as Alexandra said it, Nicholas' hand, almost instinctively - reached his right cheek. Alexandra grimaced; for reminding him of that night.
'No.' He cut off, midway, still speaking a bit hurriedly and dropping his hand, 'This goes deep and back. None of us started it, Cousin - our parents... they did. But we have inherited all from them - even the conflicts. It becomes... our responsibility to end it.' He declared, then bending to get out of the Cell and rushing away.
'At least unbound me-' Alexandra began, but he was already gone. A guard came around and locked the gate again, 'you can't do that!' She yelled at him - but the guard gave her an angry stare and gestured her to shut up - by holding a finger to his lips.
'Gah!' Alexandra yelled, 'Fine! I'm quiet!' She added, when the guard gestured more menacingly.
Just the exact type of luck Alexandra had been born with - everything almost sorted out... there comes Austin, with Vedessan troops - which somehow suggests Liam's hand in all this. And Nicholas didn't remember to even unbound her.
The metal chains felt one with her body now. Her muscles were no longer pushing against them - after being secured for hours at end. Alexandra wondered what would happen with her, now. What if Austin won... what if Nicholas won. In any case, the loss was imminent. And the wheel of revenge - which needed no horses to pull it forward - would keep rotating.
As Nicholas had said - their parents had started this. Her parents. Austin's parents. Nicholas' parents. And - the biggest role to play was of Liam's parents - both of them. About whom, she only knew bits and pieces. Like a puzzle - it still remained to be sorted out. And unless even one piece was missing, the picture wasn't complete.
Only Aunt Sabel of them all - lived. And she was enough to carry on the friction. Didn't it show how puny a human life was? Even things they created in their lifetime - conflicts they started - outlived the creators.
* * *
Alexandra didn't know for how long she sat there before the two dark, cloaked figures arrived. Might have been above two hours, at the very least.
She had almost dozed off to sleep, the chains feeling like a part of her own body. Still - with her spy's instincts - through the corner of her eyes, Alexandra saw the two shadows rippling past a distant Cell.
Definitely men.
But bad men, or good men... that was the real question. They were talking in hisses - so low that Alexandra had to strain herself, and bend towards the duo - to hear.
'There she is!' The little shorter one of the two pointed to Alexandra.
'You wouldn't chain an animal that way.' The other one replied, 'Gives us the one thousandth six hundredth seventy first reason to hate Ethoris.'
Both their voices seemed painfully familiar... but they wore masks, from underneath, it was near impossible to hear them. Let alone recognize.
If only they come nearer...
Apparently, the men could read her mind. The guards were almost all asleep - the Cells were low-security ones - sentries didn't need to care much. The two black figured tiptoed over to her - still talking, as they passed a crowded Cell.
The shorter figure felt the lock of her Cell's gate, a bit. 'A rusty, two inch key - Iron.' He announced.
'We can't waste time in finding it - any other way?' The taller one asked.
Finally - Alexandra recognized the two. The shorter one - with his intelligent, taciturn voice was Fannel. Who, as it turned out, did know what he had been doing in giving Alexandra the letter. And the taller one, if it still needed more thinking - with his confident gait and wise tones was none other than Liam.
'Of course I've got a way - but it will be noisy!' Fannel protested in a hiss, 'And these guards don't look very friendly to me.'
'I'm not keen on friendship either,' Liam replied. 'How many would be here - fifty? Sixty? I can hold off that many.'
Fannel looked on for a second, then he shook his head. 'You're good - but you are only human. Holding off fifty - single-handed... that's a hard shot.' Alexandra agreed... there was no way Liam could do it.
'You need to do it - who knows that mad woman could have with Al- Mabel.' Liam corrected, hurriedly.
'I can't take that risk - there are too many-' Fannel began,
'I've done it before!' Liam persuaded, 'trust me! An-'
'No - don't notice me! I am enjoying here, chained up and dying!' Alexandra hollered. Those two could go on with their argument until she grew old in the Cell.
'There,' Fannel remarked, 'she's being sarcastic - that just means everything is in place. We don't need to worry,'
'Actually...' Liam ventured, 'we do need to worry.' His eyes were on one of the occupants of the cell just opposite to Alexandra's - who looked wide awake - a short, plump man with a grizzly, frizzy beard. Woken up by Alexandra's hollering - the prisoner's eyes widened, pointing at the two figures, 'MEN IN THE PRISON! ASSASSINS!' he yelled at the top of his lungs - shaking the guards out of their slumber.
Fannel cursed.
'There - is no other choice now,' Liam concluded, as the all the angry, sleep-deprived and spear-carrying guards surrounded the duo. Fannel accepted defeat. He pulled out a rather thin instrument - most closely resembling a quill. He knelt down next to the lock and began working furiously - definitely noisily - squinting in the darkness.
Alexandra was worried about Liam. How could a single person hold off fifty armed guards? Whatever else he said - it didn't look possible to Alexandra.
Apparently, Alexandra's range of possible and impossible didn't apply on everybody.
Liam's first concern was to keep the guards away from Fannel - who was doing the more important job. And to keep them away from one person, he would have to make the sentries concentrate on himself.
Alexandra knew he could do that.
The buzzing mob of guards gathered around, surrounding them - their eyes fixed on Fannel. They had received no orders to let Alexandra leave - in which case, anybody who was working to free her - was the first enemy.
Liam bent and pulled out Fannel's dagger, he twirled - and threw the blade right at the guards. Either it was really well-aimed, or it was just pure luck. In any case, the dagger hit one of the central members - who collapsed. And the guards, turned their attention from the audacious one to the dangerous one.
Just what Liam needed. He drew the swords strapped to his belt - two of them - looking equally comfortable holding them in either hand. So an ambidextrous king, a spy busy dueling with a lock, and a useless, chained prisoner against fifty armed men. Great, but not Alexandra's idea of a well-matched fight. However, when chaos did break loose - it was all utterly one-sided carnage.
Within two seconds of battle - it became clear that boasting was not something Liam enjoyed. He did seem to be enough all alone for fifty men.
If fighting like a maniac did exist: this would be it.
Liam twirled the swords around, struck and dodged - like he had a pair of eyes even at the back of his head. Guards upon guards fell. Spears were knocked off. His figure became just a blur of black amid the sea of gray guards.
He didn't let them lose interest in him. Every few seconds, Liam called out one, inexplicably provoking insult on either Sabel or the dead King - or on the guards themselves. The most effective one, however, was when he called Ethoris a "filthy belt of morons and dolts".
Upon that jibe, a group of ten furious guards advanced: the Idgardian King grazed the stockiest one just below the knee - making him collapse - but dropping that blade in the process. He slashed two, grabbed a spear and swung it at their legs: as they came crashing down, he knocked out another with the hilt of his sword, picked up the previously dropped one from the ground and continued. Spinning. Rising above them as they steadily dropped to the ground.
But he couldn't do it forever, he was only human - and fifty guards were a little too many. Alexandra almost couldn't see anything - other than the hem of Liam's cloak, which she recognized easily enough.
'Get me a minute!' Mark shouted, realizing that things weren't going much great at the other end.
And getting them one minute, was perhaps Liam's specialty.
Alexandra heard his swords clang to the ground, she felt him smile. Yes, she felt him smile. And then an almost mocking voice - but it could easily be mistaken for fear, 'I give up...!'
And now Alexandra could see. She wondered how the guards could have forgotten that Mark was sitting there, unlocking the high-security prisoner. Their entire focus was on Liam - and the fact that he had maimed more than ten of them, and was now at their mercy. It must have been a new experience for him, too.
In every group, there is one head. The stupidest of them all.
He limped forward - already having fallen once. His hand, the size of a small helmet, fell on Liam's shoulder - and he pushed him down.
Even as Liam dropped to his knees, someone registered, 'He's laughing!'
Alexandra's eyes travelled to Fannel, who kept his eyes on the lock. He was as quiet as possible, and Liam had taken the guards quite far from him already. Mark's eyes narrowed in concentration. So far, he didn't seem to feel the need to step in for Liam. Not that there even would be any, at the rate he was going.
'Well, you violiant upstart-' the huge man began, to Liam.
'It's violent,' he informed, 'v-i-o-le-n-t,'
He got a punch on the face. 'Ah, that reminds of my brother, now.' Liam replied, sniffing. Tears must have swam to his eyes from the punch.
Meanwhile, Mark tiptoed inside - and without any niceties he began working at the chains around Alexandra.
'Are you alright?' He muttered, his hands moving rapidly.
'Of course! I didn't die - I don't know how to thank you, Br-'
'Keep that, Head. You don't thank family.' Fannel replied shortly. Pulling the chains off her chest and hands. Alexandra exhaled - it hurt all the more - being free after so long.
'How did you know?!' She demanded - and even if they did know, how did they find out the way?
'Liam did - you apparently tell him more than you tell us.' Fannel complained, freeing one foot of hers.
'It's not like that!' Alexandra protested.
'I know it's not,' He agreed, 'was just pulling your leg- or, ah- the chains at your leg.'
He got smacked across the head. 'Fine, don't be violiant now, Mabel. You don't smack your saviors. Liam didn't know either - he just guessed.'
Alexandra stood up shakily, as Fannel pocketed the chains - she had no idea what for - grabbed her wrist, picked up Moira and pocketed it too, 'No more Daggers for a week - Brother's orders, and Medic's advice.' He explained.
'We're a mixed lot, actually,' Liam was telling the guard. 'You can call us Idgardians though, if you really want to.'
'He's asking for it,' the man nodded to the one nearest to him, 'the whips.'
Saying that was enough. Three Idgardians were definitely enough for fifty guards - and nobody heard from them ever again.