volition, Lydia’s hand went to the sword at her waist, drawing it out. The weight gave her strength. “Behind you!”
She ran forward, but Killian was already moving, hauling Malahi down the steps, shouting orders. The doors to the balcony exploded inward behind him, and a woman dressed in riding leathers and a hooded cloak strode through, the top half of her face concealed by a black mask. The aura around her was ghastly bright, but even without, Lydia would’ve known what she was, for her eyes were infinite pools of blackness rimmed with flame.
“Such a lovely party, Your Highness. Oh, excuse me. It’s Your Majesty now, isn’t it?” The woman paused at the top of the steps, taking stock of the chaos below her. “I can only assume my invitation was somehow lost. It is so difficult to get a courier through in these troubled times.”
“Rufina, I take it.” Malahi’s voice was steady.
“Not just a pretty face, are you,” the Queen of Derin purred. “Though you’ve already proven your intelligence in abundance.”
Lydia pushed her way next to the other guardswomen, who were being buffeted by the fleeing nobility, soldiers herding lords and ladies out the side exits, under instruction to take them to rooms upstairs where they’d be barricaded in until the fighting was over. Only Killian stood steady, sword out, Malahi slightly behind him with Bercola at her side.
“And you, Lord Calorian. This is the second time I’ve come from behind you—it’s starting to become a pattern.”
He didn’t answer.
Rufina’s gaze shifted beyond them, and she chuckled. “Look at them run. They won’t get far, I’m afraid. I opened the palace gates on my way in. Stood there before that horde of your starving people and I said, ‘Inside is enough food to feed you all. Take it, with my blessing.’” She exhaled a deep breath, then smiled. “Fatten them up healthy before we come for them.”
Rufina’s voice took on a soft lilt as she said the words, her eyes drifting over those who remained as though they were delicacies meant to be consumed. It was sickening. Perverse.
“Barricade the main doors,” Killian ordered, and the soldiers who hadn’t gone with the High Lords rushed to comply. Seconds later, there was a roar of noise outside, then fists hammering against the heavy wood.
“What are you waiting for, Killian?” High Lord Calorian hissed. “Kill her!”
Killian tilted his head, eyeing the Queen. “You didn’t come here tonight just to allow Mudaire’s citizens to ransack the palace, did you, Rufina?”
The corrupted smiled, and it was all teeth.
“Who cares?” Hacken was shaking, his gaze ripping back and forth between Rufina and the shuddering doors. “She’s alone and this is what you’re bloody meant for. Kill her!”
“She’s not alone.” The words tore from Lydia’s throat. “I saw two more of them on the balcony before. And something … something else is out there.”
The corrupted’s gaze shifted to Lydia and one eyebrow rose. “Clever clever, Lord Calorian, to hide a lookout in your midst. It seems you do learn from past mistakes.”
Lydia flinched, knowing that she’d revealed herself as marked to the creature, but Rufina didn’t seem to care. “My followers had other business to attend to. As to the something else…” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug, then whistled.
The deimos walked in from the balcony, the clip-clop of its hooves echoing through the room. The creature had its eyes half-shut against the bright lights of the ballroom, but that wasn’t what stole Lydia’s attention. It was the saddle on its back.
“Bercola, get Malahi to safety!” Killian moved, a knife flying from his hand. Rufina laughed as she knocked it aside, but then her eyes widened when she realized he was already halfway up the stairs, sword in hand. “Go!” he shouted.
Rufina jerked out her own blade and steel sang against steel. Lydia stared, mesmerized by the speed and intensity of the fight; then a hand hauled on her arm.
It was Lena. “We need to go,” she hissed. “Our duty is to protect the Princess. He can take care of himself!”
But she couldn’t go. Couldn’t leave him to fight that … creature.
“Lydia, come on!” Lena screamed the words in her ear. And she knew. Knew that if she didn’t go now, she’d be trapped in here with the corrupted. With the deimos. And, soon enough, with the starving civilians of Mudaire.
Killian sidestepped a swipe of Rufina’s sword, his fist catching her in the face and driving her back. But instead of attacking, he turned, his eyes