The Kingdom Thief

Chapter 35

The window that takes up almost a whole wall of the throne room allows me to watch as the tower on the other side of the garden goes up in an explosion, obliterating both the stone and what it hid behind them.

Kane and Wren did it. They took the cell tower down.

My guess is confirmed when the lights in the room flicker before going out and practically every guard in the room drops their guns in synchronization and falls to the floor.

The tortured sounds that escape them make my very blood curdle. They had been trapped inside their own bodies for several months and have had to watch as they did terrible things to innocents and friends.

And they couldn't do anything to stop it.

Only two guards remain standing, their grip still on their guns but they both have a new sense of awareness on their face.

Jack lunges for me and as I am pushed to the ground by his weight, my head slams on the floor.

But not even that pain can wipe the wild smile off my face. We now have a chance. Kane and Wren succeeded and I finally feel as if we can actually win this fight.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" he roars so loud that my eardrums tremble.

But the smile doesn't leave my face. "I cut the strings off of the puppeteer's puppets. Now he has nothing to hide behind."

I see Mason lunge for Jack to get him off of me and even as the weight leaves me, I do nothing. I lower my hand to the wound on my side that has almost stop bleeding entirely.

I only feel fear again when I hear another gunshot go off.

But as I look up, I see that the guard's bullet was simply a warning shot to get Mason off of Jack.

"No" one of the remaining two guards states gruffly. "If anybody is going to kill him it will be us."

Mason slowly stands up and steps away as Jack remains laying on the floor.

"You guys don't want to do this" he replies in a shaky voice. It is the first time I have ever heard fear enter Jack's voice and I bask in the glory of that sound.

In response, the two guards simply step closer to him and cock their guns.

Jack slowly sits up. "Okay" he breathes. "I surrender."

His words cause the two men to look at each other, silently questioning whether to believe him.

But as soon as the attention is taken off of him, Jack reaches for the fallen gun and fires at the two guards.

They barely throw themselves out of the way before the bullet hits them and, as soon as Jack sees the opening through them and the door waiting a mere few feet away, he is up and racing towards it.

From the ground, the two men raise their guns and fire but by the time their bullets reach the door, Jack has already slipped through them and has disappeared.

Without so much as I roar of anger, the two men swiftly stand up and race towards the door.

They slip out without another word, leaving Mason and I alone in a room full of broken men.

Mason reacts before I can, kneeling towards the one closest to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. The man looks up at the touch and I watch as his eyes fill with tears when he recognizes the man in front of him.

"My king" he whispers in a broken voice.

"I am not you king" Mason replies gently. "I am your ally. I am your friend."