Hero

22- Too Good To Be True

(Obichan Sunrise)

Jay's POV

Lunge. Parry. Duck. Swipe.

Ember and her uncle danced back and forth with their swords. I had no idea how far she'd progressed in her training while I was making my way through mine. We hadn't trained together once. She struck like a viper and retreated just as fast. Her feet seemed to float over the ground like she was walking on clouds and Antoni was trudging through mud.

Ember had told me that her uncle knew how to fight, but it had clearly been awhile. It was a wonder he decided to take on someone our age at all. But he was not giving up.

But unfortunately, I couldn't afford to sit and watch her do whatever magic she was working. I couldn't afford it because there were twenty other guards in the room and they weren't going to watch the scene unfold.

The guard nearest to me lunged towards Ember and I struck, kicking in the back of his kneecap and simultaneously pulling out twin daggers from my belt. The guard fell on his face, his knee at an odd angle and his face hitting my foot that I aimed at his nose. If I'd aimed a bit higher at a different angle the nasal cartilage would have smashed into his brain and killed him. But I just knocked him out because I had to move on.

Move on to the other guards who were now coming at me, probably assuming that I'd killed their friend. I stopped thinking. My muscles took over and I became a weapon, became what the mercenaries had trained me to be.

Jory's POV

I hated being here on the ground, unable to do anything but watch my sister and friend turn into whirlwinds of steel and death. I knew they had been trained by the mercenaries and that their training had been much more intense than mine, but this... they didn't even look human. They looked like how I'd seen Elora and her father fight. Professionals.

Ember had understated how much she and Jay had learned while they were in the forest. I guess if one must sit in the forest, day after day, there was only so much they could do, so they practiced what they knew and compared notes.

I felt helpless and useless. Of course, the part of me that was trained by the guards knew that even if I tried to be of some use, I would undoubtedly just be in the way. So I stayed out of it.

That is, until I caught, out of the corner of my eyes, a glint of metal shining in he moonlight from outside. I somehow managed to summon enough energy and strength to throw myself at my sister's legs and watch as the spear that had been aimed for her hit my uncle. In the center of his chest. If it had hit Ember, it would have gone straight through her neck.

It was like the spear injected ice into him because he froze and dropped his weapon, looking down to the weapon lodged in his flesh. He looked back at Ember and fell to the ground, dead before he could say anything. A shout from outside revealed that Sympa had shot an arrow into the guard that had thrown the spear in the first place.

The rest of the guards stopped fighting.

Jay had two of them cornered, but they put down their weapons before any more harm could be done. It was likely that they really had no desire to fight this fight, but my uncle would not have let them and their families live if they went against him. One by one, each guard dropped his sword to the ground and clashing metal sounds filled the room.

It was over at last.

Ember's POV

Seven Hours Later

The sun was rising over the forest.

I could see it from my bedroom window. Blue and purple, orange, shades of grey... it was truly beautiful. It seemed almost like a painting, maybe partially because this felt too good to be real.

My uncle was dead by the hand of his own guard.

My brother and friend were severely wounded and currently under medical care in the hospital.

Nilos was with his daughter as she slept to regain strength, Afren and Sympa were on a ride through the forest, Jay was dealing with the guards that had tried to escape after Antoni had died, and Malakai... Malakai laid in the forest under a stone cross.

He had been shot in the heart with an arrow at the beginning of the night while steering the guards away from Nilos and I. He was only twenty-five. We buried him as soon as anyone had free hands because he had specifically told Nilos that he didn't want a funeral if he died. He had never said why or why he had written a will for his death when he was so young. But if one decided to go into the business of mercenary work, one had to be prepared for their own ultimate downfall. So Afren and Sympa buried him this morning when he went out.

I stood on my balcony, gazing out over the rest of the castle grounds and the lands beyond, at last hearing the unmistakable sounds of joy echoing through my kingdom. It had been too long for them to be without this happiness.  They, in true Obicham tradition, would celebrate for days. There would be singing and dancing in the streets, vendors and drinks all around now that they had their original pay back for their jobs. And they deserved it... happiness. Didn't we all?

I must have been distracted enough because when hands slid around my waist from behind me I jumped in surprise and Jay chuckled, "I knocked, but you didn't hear me. Sorry, love."

I sighed and leaned backwards into his solid shoulder, "I'm sorry, I just still feel so... tense. Like something is going to happen any minute that could ruin everything."

"Antoni is gone, Ember. You do not have to worry about him anymore. There will be other battles, other things to worry about. But now, you need to focus on the fact that you are the Queen."

I loosed a breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding in my throat, "Yes, I know. But this whole thing just seemed... too easy."

Jay stepped back and I turned to look at his sarcastic expression, "Easy? Name one part of any of this that has been easy!"

I laughed, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am."

I shoved at him, "You're no help! You might as well leave me alone."

He gathered me back in his arms after having pulled away slightly, "I love you, Astoria Ember Markson. You'll never have to be alone again, if you will let me stay."

I smiled out at the horizon once again, "I'll think about it."

"You'd better."