Masked Prince - Nikolai Andrew Page 0,58

in defense of the man I adored.

“Randal is our rightful king!” I called out, my voice now stronger and more certain. “We cannot let anybody take what is rightfully his! And I promise you,” I said, now staring up at Randal, “He is worth fighting for! So fight for him! Fight for your new king!”

From somewhere to the left, cheers of, “Ran-dal! Ran-dal! Ran-dal!” broke out in rhythmic unison. The royal drum corps echoed the rhythm of the cheers, too, and the chanting spread through the masses like wildfire. The crowd that had felt like an ocean, like a storm, turned into an angry and violent swarm. Little by little, they all began snarling together to get the queen, then take the queen.

And finally, “Kill the queen!”

Chapter 19

Randal

All fucking hell broke loose.

As the crowd began to turn on Patara and made it abundantly fucking clear what they thought of her so-called coup, they went from throwing insults at her and her guards to throwing whatever the fuck they could lay their hands on.

Horse shit, vegetables, stones. A good-sized brick came flying over the parapet, nailing one of the guards in the head. He staggered back, trying to steady himself, but the barrier that surrounded the coronation stone terrace was low, barely knee height, and he fell headfirst down into the crowd. They seized him like hungry animals, ripping that poor motherfucker limb from limb before either my own or my father’s guards could intervene.

It took one second, two, three for the rest of her guards to get the sense of the changing winds and run to save their own asses. Fucking cowards. Not that I was surprised. That’s what money, not loyalty, will get you when the shit goes down.

I was focused entirely on Iris, and the double-threat to her life. The queen was the first problem—closest to me and with a weapon that would require a minimum of power to inflict maximum harm. I gripped my blade two-handed and made like I was going to decapitate her, swinging wide and rushing forward. Instinctively, she dropped the poisoned dagger and ducked. Fucking predictable and exactly what I’d hoped.

I kicked the blade aside and kneed her in stomach, making her double over. My men went for her automatically, grabbing her by the arms to neutralize her and all her goddamned venom.

Next up, the guard that had Iris from behind.

I could see in his eyes he was fucking terrified. I would’ve given good odds he’d already shit himself or was about to.

“Listen, you motherfucker. I’ll give you one chance to let her go and flee the city. If you don’t take it, you’re fucking done. Got me?”

He got me alright. He was halfway out the goddamned door before his blade even clattered on the stone. In an instant, I had Iris safe in my arms. I pulled her into me with her face to my chest, shielding her from everything. She was back with me, where she fucking belonged. Where she was always meant to be. All the horrors of losing her faded away. The nightmare was over. My goddess was safe. She embraced me, shaking in my arms, howling like a terrified animal.

“I’ve got you,” I told her. “I do.” Iris shook her head against my shoulder. As soon as she heard my voice in her ear, I felt her body relax. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, smoothing her messy hair. “Are you hurt?” I asked.

She shook her head against my shoulder.

“No,” she said, muffled into my chain mail. “I’m okay. I’m okay now. Thank God you’re okay, too,” she said, groaning out one last moan of adrenaline into my chest. I’d heard that sound before, from warriors when the battle was finally won.

Still keeping her tight in my arms, I turned to the queen.

“Alright, you bitch. I’m going to give you a choice. Either I throw you to the crowd like your man there,” I glanced over the parapet, and Patara did, too. His bloody, decapitated head bounced ghoulishly through the crowd’s outstretched arms. Pretty fucking helpful as illustrations went. “Or, I can show you mercy.”

“Mercy?” She snarled. “What the fuck does a monster like you know about mercy?”

More than you will ever know. I had lived my life knowing I could kill her, but never acting on it. I had shown her grace every motherfucking day of my godforsaken existence.

“Time to choose, Patara.” I glanced inside the castle and saw commoners pouring through the hallways. Pretty soon,