Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 47

The guests began to murmur in confusion, shouting out to the prince, asking if he was all right. He ignored them all, his eyes burned onto his target. Cole attempted to free her wrist, but a quick glance behind her revealed Baerghast surging through the crowd, his black hood billowing behind him like a shadow of death. He was coming for her, and somehow she knew that he would strike first and ask questions later.

Bastian reached the doors and slammed into them, sending them flying open with a crash into the night air. The verandah stretched before them like a gaping mouth. What Bastian had in store for her was surely not a leisurely stroll in the coolness, and yet she could not turn back toward Baerghast and his wicked weapons. Her only choice was her magic, but then she would have no way of reaching her mother.

Bastian spun her around in front of him, his fingers cutting deep into her skin. His face was stormy and dark, half hidden in shadows. He reached for his pocket, and Cole could imagine the dagger that must be stashed there. He would ruin her before she could ruin him. A simple slice to her neck and she'd be gone and finished, no longer a threat to the mighty Soma empire. She had been so silly to think that she was brave and cunning, an assassin for a faerie master. She was nothing but a slave in the mines of the king, and now a body at the hands of the prince.

She pressed her eyes shut, waiting for the sting of the blade entering her body. But it never came. Instead, she heard shrieking from indoors, as if the gates of hell themselves had opened in the midst of the crowd.

Her eyes flew back open to see that crowd in chaos, desperately trying to exit the ballroom in any direction that they could. The cause of the disruption was easy to find, as it was the only thing staying still in the room that had suddenly become a tempest.

Baerghast, his heavy sword drawn, leaned in to his blade with his cloak still flying out from the leap he had made to get into the position. Under his blade was a figure in sky blue, his long black hair whipping in the wind from the open doors and his aqua eyes locked on the descending blade. Tanwyn.

Though Tanwyn's arm was up as if blocking the blade, a shimmering in the air seperated his skin from certain mutilation. He was using magic to defend himself, though it looked as if it was not going to last much longer. Sweat poured from his face and down his neck, soaking his fine silk clothes. Baerghast leaned into his blade even more, and from the sliver of his face visible beneath his hood, a large and slow smile grew over his lips.

"We meet again, Tanwyn o Gorwaedt. Prince of Liars," Baerghast said, his words filled with cruel laughter.

Tanwyn couldn't respond. Every ounce of his energy was poured into his magic, keeping the sword at bay. His muscles shook as if he was being spun around by a giant, and Cole could see his knees buckling from the pressure.

She glanced back at Bastian to see that he was also absorbed in the sudden fight unfolding in his ballroom. While he still held her firmly, his attention was not on her any more.

And that was all she needed.

With one sharp backward yank of her entire body, she ripped her wrist free of Bastian's hold. He grasped the thin air, trying to catch her again, but she was already hauling up her skirts in order to vault over the verandah railing and into the dew-laden grass below. She hit the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of her, and she stumbled onto her knees as she tried to battle air back into her lungs.

Above her, she heard Bastian's voice.

"Cole! Come back!"

She only glanced up once, and saw Bastian leaning over the railing, one hand reaching toward her as the other clutched something that looked like a small sheet of paper. She only saw a flash of a blue crest on the edge of the paper, but that was it before she had to start moving. Bastian was already climbing over the railing after her.

She growled in frustration as she tried to fight against her ballgown to her feet. Finally, she ripped the ring from her finger and her glamor instantly faded. Once again she was dirty and shaved, but blessedly free of fabric and boning lined bodices. She scrambled into the bushes that decorated the courtyard, pushing through branches and leaves, hoping to lose herself in the darkness so that Bastian would fall further and further behind.

Up above, more screaming erupted and shouts from guards called after Bastian. Cole pressed on, not daring to look behind her.

Finally, she reached the end of the bushes and found herself standing near the bamboo forest. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of Tanwyn fighting against a sword on his own, and wondered if she should turn back to help him. But judging from the screaming and commotion, she knew she would be too late to offer any help. He would either lose or win, and she could not change the outcome for him. All she could do was safe her own skin.

She was just heading into the paper-thin leaves of the bamboo forest when she felt a hand slam onto her shoulder. She screamed, whipping away and brandishing the knife she still clutched in one hand.

She expected to see Baerghast, but instead she saw the wide and terrified eyes of Meegan staring back at her from the darkness.

"What?" Cole breathed out, too confused to say anything more.

"Come with me," Meegan said, his voice tight and frantic. "We have to get somewhere better hidden."

Cole hesitated, unsure of whether she should trust a girl who had never given her a reason to do more than greet during the day. Meegan was one of Bastian's servants, and that could mean that she was loyal to him. But she was also a helpless pawn of King Thijs', just like Cole. And that is what Cole trusted as she grabbed Meegan's hand and let her lead the way through the thick bamboo maze. 

After what felt like an eternity, Meegan burst out of the bamboo near a building that was dark with disuse. She didn't run around to the front where the door was, but instead ducked down and slid into a hole in the foundations. Through this they were plunged into absolute darkness as the house swallowed them whole. But no matter how dark it was, Cole was happy to find herself there. The blackness was her friend when it came to hiding from Bastian and his guards, and she greeted it with a relieved sigh.

"Where is Gorwaedt?" Meegan whispered. Cole couldn't see her, but she felt her presence nearby.

"What?" Cole answered.

Meegan hissed out her breath between her teeth as if Cole was being deliberately stupid just to infuriate her. "The faerie, you daft cow."

Cole prickled. "His name is Tanwyn. How am I supposed to know what you were asking?"

"His title is Gorwaedt," Meegan bit back. "And where is he?"

Cole shivered in the darkness. Somehow, she didn't want to admit that she had left him behind. She didn't want to say that she didn't know, and that he could be dead by now for all she knew. She was supposed to fulfill her end of the bargain and be gone by now, but instead Tanwyn was missing and she was huddled under a house with a maid she wasn't sure she could trust.