Royal On The Run (unedited)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sebastian

    Naomi was still calling after me as I ran from her. Tears clung to my cheeks as I continued to distance myself from her. I hoped and prayed that she'd listen to me for once and run through the barn to somewhere safer. If I could lead these assholes away from her and give her a chance of survival before I came back to her, I'd do it.

    The lights of the vehicles and the roars of the Red Guard crept closer. Once I deemed myself far enough from the barn and Naomi, I stopped in my tracks.

    The snow continued to fall around me, the sky was lighting up, daylight ready to stake its claim to the new day. My left hand reached down for my sword; my right hand went to the pistol.

    Just as the first of the Red Guard arrived, ready to attack, I aimed my sword straight and true, right through his heart. I didn't glance at the face to see if I knew him, I wouldn't be able to bear the guilty conscience if I recognized them. No, it was better to kill and look away. Kill, not harm, just kill. After what they'd done to King Brenden and Queen Olivia and were now trying to do to Naomi and Deacon, I couldn't let them live. If they'd betray their monarch for a fool's dream, they didn't deserve to breathe. This was a far kinder service than what Naomi would do once she was a Queen on her throne handing down sentence after sentence. I was saving them days, months or even years of torment for just a few seconds worth of a slice of a sword across their throats or through their hearts.

    After the first went down, two more took his place. One got the brunt of the butt of the sword against his chest, knocking him of air before the sword broke free of his friend, now cleaving against his throat. The second halted two steps from me, I still hadn't turned to face them. He seemed hesitant to attack now that he'd seen two of his friends disposed so easily.

    I didn't hesitate.

    The guard went down before he recognized the pistol firing around my left side.

    Three guards down, many more to go.

    I finally turned and was greeted by at least two dozen members of the Red Guard. They'd all gotten off their vehicles, now pointing either swords or pistols or bows and arrows at me.

    I wasn't fazed.

    I raised my hands, the sword glinting in the first rays of sunshine, the pistol surrounded by the smoke of the bullet that had just left it. The guards closest to me had the good sense to cringe slightly at the sight. To them, they saw a crazed bodyguard, now coated in blood with two weapons in his hands. Two weapons that had already tasted blood and were ready to lap up some more, two weapons that were in the hands of someone who knew how to use them far better than any of them.

    It was hard to not smile with satisfaction at the look on their faces.

    My steps were quiet as I neared them, my steps forward matching the few they took backwards.

    "A good guard," I started slowly, letting venom lace my words, "doesn't stand down from a fight. Even if they don't think they'll win, they don't back down. That was the duty you swore to when you took the oath the King and Queen offered you." I shook my head, feigning a look of sadness as I overlooked the meek guards that Anthony had somehow won over to his side. "Such a shame that you're all about to die."