Queensmen

Chapter 55

~Another Battle~

Several scenarios had been predicted and torn apart by Hermes mind by the time he turned into the hallway where his palace's forces were in battle with the intruding ones, but what he had expected paled in comparison to what his eyes witnessed.

In front of him was chaos; utter mayhem. Prisoners in soiled rags, guards in crimson armor and a handful of assassins dressed head-to-toe in black all fought each other ahead of him. The once pristine marble floor was occupied by the bodies of injured men and still corpses, and slicked red with the blood dripping down the walls from where it had been splashed.

The atmosphere reeked of so much iron, death and sweat that he could almost taste the heaviness of metal on his tongue.

It was a massacre and it had happened started under his nose.

As the screams of the fallen and dying men escaped into the stifling air, Hermes realized that he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that in such a little amount of time so many people had died.

His people.

He couldn't understand how so many assassins had suddenly infiltrated his home, but he knew why they had chosen this moment to attack.

Most of the palace's guards were either evacuating the dungeons or part of the reenforcements Eugene commanded, leaving the hallways bare of their usual security.

If he didn't stop the assassins from advancing here, they would only run rampant and continue killing.

He might not have known what their mission here tonight was but he was aware of how valuable his own head was. Once the assassins knew who he was they would not hesitate to try to take it off. And that was what he was counting on.

The moment he was about to narch right into the fray, Magnus was there to pull his back. His face was flushed from exertion and his blonde hair fell in messy waves over his shoulders.

He took a step back, bowed then held up a hand. "Your Majesty, I—"

"How did this happen?" Hermes crossed his arms and closed the gap between him and his advisor in one step. "How can this happen?"

"With all the commotion they haven't noticed us yet," Magnus said instead of giving an answer. He glanced over Hermes shoulder to view the carnage ahead of them. "This isn't the place to talk."

"I want answers." The brown in Hermes' eyes darkened as he frowned. "You are supposed to be protecting the nun, why are you here?"

"The Empress Dowager had just acted when I was informed of the attack on the palace. I had no time to go the dungeons," Magnus rushed through his explanation and threw his arm towards the hallway behind him. "Now, can we—"

Hermes turned back to the battle. He watched another guard collapse after having his neck slit by a dagger. "There can't be any more than twelve assassins here. I'm ending this now."

"You don't even have a weapon!"

"I don't need one." Hermes dashed into the fray with a leaping start and wrapped his arms around the head of an unsuspecting assassin that happened to be farther away from the rest of the fight.

With an easy twist, he broke the man's neck and felt him stiffen then grow limp in his hold.

Dropping the body, Hermes ran deeper into the hallway. His eyes searched for red armor but his guards were vastly outnumbered by the mob of prisoners.

Most of them were fighting one against four while still trying to stop the assassins from escape.

In that sort of situation it didn't take long for him to find someone to save.