All the Queen's Angels

Chapter 4: Breathing Fire

I'm thrown to the ground, my face slammed against the grate as the Forsythian guard attempts to restrain me. The rush of water drowns out their shouts as dozens of more soldiers descend from their perch above the chamber walls.

My eyes are glued to the mechanism on the opposite wall when spotless black boots halt before me. I'm roughly pulled to my feet by the guard behind me but I keep my eyes glued to those gleaming boots, wracking my brain for a way to reach the mechanism. Someone grabs my jaw and forces me to look them in the eye. Hard hazel eyes stare me down, assessing me coldly. High cheekbones, white-blond hair, and sensual lips. The striking young man clicks his tongue and chuckles humorlessly.

"Those eyes," he muses as he leans in, tilts his head, and smirks. His uniform boasts various medals and chains, more extravagant than those of the guards that have circled us. The hilt of his sword is so heavily bejeweled it seems almost useless. That obnoxious grandeur, the arrogance—I'm surprised to see he is not wearing his crown.

"Vincenzio heathen," I hiss before knocking my head back, ripping my face from Crown Prince Leander Vincenzio's cold grip, and spit on his boots. I savor the sick satisfaction of tarnishing those beautiful shoes as the guard behind me stumbles back, loosening his grip on me as he tries to staunch the blood from his broken nose. As I turn to run, it becomes apparent to me that it should not have been that easy to break away from the guard.

They were going easy on me. Of course they were. Kill me and they'll just screw themselves. I smile bitterly as I change direction and lunge straight for the Vincenzio brat, swiping a pistol from his pockets.

"Vlahos bastard," he snarls as I angle the gun under his chin. I turn him at gunpoint so he shields me from his guards. We back away from his guards, careful not to slip on the wet grate. My back finally bumps into the opposite wall, and I inch to my left towards the mechanism. Prince Leander tries to wrestle from my grip but I only shove the nozzle of the pistol further into the underside of his chin. I feel him swallow hard as he clenches his jaw and falls silent. When I'm close enough to reach the levers, I slowly withdraw the gun from his chin and hold it between my teeth, still keeping one hand on the wall for balance as he scrambles away from me.

Leander stares at me in fury as I place my hand on the lever. "Are you insane, Vlahos?", he roars, rubbing where I held the gun to him. I adjust my grip on the lever, staring him down as I secure the pistol in the cleavage of my bodice.

"Obviously," I deadpan. I pull down and watch as the world crumbles before me.

The opposite wall lined with pipes is cleaved horizontally, the bottom half slowly lowering beneath the grate. Water spills out in vicious torrents, creating a waterfall that spills into the mountain range below. It gushes across the grate, splashing us mercilessly as the chamber shakes with the force of the flood. Shielding my eyes from the spray, I cautiously approach the torrent of water. I need to see those wings, some sign of Ambrose. Suddenly I'm tackled by Leander who screams, "Have you lost your mind? You'll drown, you damn idiot!".

We hit the grate with a splash and I move to shove him off me, hopefully hard enough to see his petty ass fall through the grate. Instead, he grabs my wrists and attempts to restrain me again, so I settle for pulling his perfect blond hair. A distant thrashing in the water causes us both to pause and I see the flicker of black feathers at the same time Leander does. I kick him away only to have him trip me in our desperate scramble to reach Ambrose. I catch myself on the grate but it's too late. I watch helplessly as Prince Leander grips Ambrose's hair and hauls him towards the guards. After unceremoniously dumping him to the floor, Leander calls over some soldiers and they hold Ambrose down. I'm on my knees when Leander procures a long, sharp chain from his uniform, and my blood goes cold.