Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,69
forced to do their bidding. They have people we care about imprisoned in the palace. If one of us steps out of line . . .”
“So the people executed in the square—they were the loved ones of people they have imprisoned inside the palace?” I asked.
Bethany nodded. “There’s a resistance here; we try to figure out ways to thwart Arthur’s plans. But we can’t leave the realm—we can’t even leave the city, not without our loved ones. So we fight in little ways.”
“And now you’re fighting in big ways,” I said. “Remy, I’m going to the palace.”
“They’ll kill you,” Bethany said again.
“Stay safe,” I said. “I’ll be back soon.”
I walked along the road toward the palace square. I’d lived and worked in Avalon for centuries and had considered it, if not my home, then at least a place of safety. A million people had lived in the realm of Avalon. Many had escaped in the early days of Arthur’s reign, but many hundreds of thousands of innocent people had been forced to stay. I’d been powerless to help. We all had. That was about to end.
There were two dozen paladins outside the palace, standing guard, their golden shields and armor covered with blood that, judging from the number of dead inside the square, wasn’t theirs. People from the city were hiding at the corners of the square, helping those who had been injured to safety. The paladins made no effort to interfere; their job was to keep the place free of enemies.
“Halt,” one of the paladins said, stepping forward, lifting his huge gauntlet-covered hand toward me. “Disperse or feel our wrath.”
“These were innocent people,” I said, my voice little more than a whisper. “Why kill them?”
“They were told to leave,” the man said. “They did not.”
“So you butchered women, children, innocent people who came to voice their displeasure at having their loved ones killed.” My voice got angrier with every word.
The paladin drew his longsword from the sheath on his hip. It gleamed. “Leave, or be next,” he said, and the paladins behind him also drew their swords.
I stopped walking and looked beyond the paladin to the palace. It was still just as large as it had been when I’d last been here, but the ominous metal gate and door to the building were new. The gate had spikes on it that I could see were wet with the blood of people who had tried to gain entry.
“The door,” I said, ignoring the paladins and pointing beyond them. “Someone is controlling the metal.”
“That would be me,” the paladin said. “Those who got past us needed to be taught a lesson. This is your last warning.”
Thunder rumbled above my head. “You should all start running now,” I told them. The anger building as fast as the thunderstorm above me.
There was laughter among the dozen paladins. “Who do you think you are?”
Lightning streaked from the sky, driving through the paladin and ripping a hole in his chest the size of my fist. He dropped to the ground as smokelike tendrils of magic gathered up around me.
“My name is Nathaniel Garrett Woden,” I said, taking a step forward and readying my pure magic. “And you’ve finally given me a target to release my anger at. You really should have run.”
I unleashed hell.
Chapter Sixteen
LAYLA CASSIDY
Avalon Island, Earth Realm
Avalon Island was situated off the coast of Wales. It was on no official maps and was outside any shipping lanes. It was, for all intents and purposes, not even there.
Layla and her team had reached the island via boat. One of dozens that had shipped hundreds of rebel soldiers there. If there was one thing that she’d realized during her hours on the freezing-cold island as the rain and sleet beat down, it was that the place was not big enough for hundreds of soldiers to stand around and do nothing.
The team found itself in a room of a large complex that had been built and left vacant for years. The room looked like any normal boxlike office, except the windows had long since broken and large numbers of leaves had deposited themselves inside.
Judgement sat cross-legged, her sword beside her, as Tego lay next to her. Judgement looked to be deep in thought, her eyes closed. Piper and Chloe were sitting together near the entrance, and Layla was sitting on the other side of where a door had once been. Kase paced up and down the middle of the room.