Page 76 of Crown of Chaos

Ravens exploded from the treetops, and I laughed coldly as I slid from the saddle. The men followed my lead, and we started forward, slowly spreading out. I drew my sword as we entered the thick forest. Killian was to my left, blade already drawn, and Brander and Lore were to my right, both watching the ravens that tracked our prey from the sky.

Lennox tracked the witches’ frantic heartbeats, leading me to where one witch had hidden. She rushed out from behind the rocks, lifting her palms to send a wave of magic toward me, but I swung deftly. Her arms remained up as she screamed and stared wide eyed at where her hand used to be.

A dark, wicked laugh escaped my throat before my sword swung wide, severing her head from her neck. Kicking her headless body out of my path, I moved toward the next one. The racing heartbeat was different in the second witch, but so was the scent of her magic in the air. She slid out from behind a wide tree trunk, sending magic crashing toward me. Lifting my hand, I blocked the magic before redirecting it toward another witch. I spun my body, and sent my blade in a wide, powerful swing that hummed through the air as I used the momentum to cut sharply and split a witch into two separate pieces.

Turning back to the grisly scene, I glanced down to the severed top half of the body, watching her crystalline-blue eyes as she gasped, bleeding out. Callista grabbed at the ground, her hands reaching blindly as her organs fell free from her abdomen. My stomach clenched, but any remorse I might have felt was forgotten when something sailed toward my head.

I leaned backed just enough for the blade to miss its mark, and then I turned cold, furious eyes to the man who had thrown it. More men slithered out of the surrounding woods, and a rattle of war sounded from deep in my chest. As the soon-to-be dead men rushed toward me, I noted each coat of arms on their uniform and smiled. One man, who hadn’t learned from the man before him, sent another blade at me, which I dodged with a careless ease. I spun, using the momentum to kick him in a roundhouse move that sent him stumbling backward. The moment I was facing him again, I brought my blade down, enjoying the satisfying sound of muscle being cut and severed.

All around me, steel slammed against iron as blades met in combat. They’d had an entire unit lying in wait to end us. The excitement of battle saturated the forest, and I allowed Lennox to peer through my eyes and use his inhuman sight to calculate my next move.

Three warriors rushed toward me, the speed of their blades whizzing through the air, a melody I knew all too well. One came inches away from my helmet, and I sent my blade back at him, slamming it against his. The force of the blow vibrated my hands, and I swung again, cutting an arm off before he could get it back up to defend himself. Killian was beside me, using his dual blades to fight off the other two warriors. The coppery tang of blood filled the forest as rivers of it soaked into the earth.

Magic slammed into Brander, forcing him to the ground. His blades scattered on the ground. The witch shot a blast of magic toward him, making him roll on the ground to escape the attacks smashing into the ground as he ran evasive maneuvers to escape the relentless assaults. Jumping back onto his feet, Killian flung his sword at one end over the other, pegging the bitch in her chest.

Killian moved swiftly, dodging one attack, then the next, moving to retrieve his blade. A warrior moved in behind him, creeping forward toward his exposed back. I shot magic at the prick, watching him drop to the ground. His body shuddered, jerking against the raw current pulsing through him.

A flash of movement in my peripheral had my blade swinging in a wide arch as my body spun, adding strength to the swing. Turning sharply, I watched the warrior drop to the ground before another stepped in to take his place.

Smiling cruelly at the warrior that crouched in a fighting stance, I grabbed the other blade from my sheath. I wrapped my palms over the hilts of the blades and then shot both cutting through the air in his direction. He stepped back, retreating while I lunged, and forced him to defend against the hard, powerful hits of the blades. Every time he pushed forward, I beat him with hard hits. His grip on his blade faltered as one blade landed, but the calculated look in his beady eyes gave his intentions away. Stepping back, I smiled as the sound of a blade cutting through air sounded behind him. Killian’s blade severed tendons and muscle, cleaving the head from the spine deftly with precise skill.

Brander snorted, sending his dagger spinning through the air to slam into a witch who’d been creeping up behind me. Cerise-colored droplets of blood-splatter covered Brander’s face, drawing a lifted brow from Killian at the bloodthirsty look dancing in my brother’s eyes. I turned, peering through the fighting to spot Lore, skillfully deflecting swords with the techniques Killian, Brander, and I had endlessly taught to him.

The fighting continued on endlessly with men rushing from the shadows of the forest. The sweat dripping from my hair, rolling down my face stung my eyes. Men rushed to their deaths as swiftly as we delivered it to them until, eventually, only a few witches remained. Lore and Brander fought them, and I almost left them to it, but then Lore’s blade hesitated. Her pleas for mercy must have penetrated his mind because he lowered his blade, seemingly oblivious to the dagger she had pulled.

Both Killian and I moved, feeling the same tingle of awareness, and reacted together to the threat. Killian’s blade slammed into the dagger meant to end Lore’s life, sending it slamming to the earth. I threw my blade end over end, and it slammed through her skull, pinning her to a tree. Lore blinked, shaking off the spell the witch had pulled him into, and he gawked at her.

The witch’s body twitched and seized as I strode forward and pulled my blade free. Her body crumbled to the ground before I swung my blade once more, removing her head. Lore frowned, creeping back away from the sight. Grunting at the dismay on his features, I kicked the head away from the body, ensuring she was dead. I leveled Lore with a pointed stare. He puffed his cheeks out and slowly shook off the spell she’d been working on him. He swallowed and scrubbed his gauntlet covered hand over his face.

“I fucked her . . . often,” he admitted, which made me pause.

“She would have murdered you without thinking twice, asshole. Her pussy couldn’t have been so good you’d trade your life for it. You cannot hesitate in battle—ever. I taught you better, Lore. We all did, and I refuse to lose you. Do you fucking hear me? I’m done losing my brothers.” He nodded, and a shrill scream broke the moment. We turned to find Killian dragging Celia out of her hiding place by her hair.

“I’m your sister!” she cried, grabbing at his hands and trying to free herself. “Killian, I am your own blood. You can stop him. You’re his best friend!” she pleaded, but he merely pushed her forward hard enough that she fell to her knees between us.

“My sisters are dead, Celia,” Killian whispered thickly, stepping back as I neared where they stood.

“Please, Knox? Don’t do this to me. I love you. I was in love with you from the first moment I met you! My only crime is loving you, My King.” She started sobbing as she lunged forward to grab on to my armored leg, kissing it while she pleaded for her life.

I kicked her away, watching as she fought to get back onto her knees. “Why? Why would you do this to us? What the hell could she have offered you to make you turn against your own brother and your kingdom?” I demanded coldly.

“You!”Her scream echoed through the trees. She yanked the skirt of her dress up, dabbing her eyes with it. “The same witch who served my mother approached me. She offered me a deal. She would ensure I got what I craved most. You, the throne I dutifully served with blind loyalty and power to defend both things. All she asked in return was that I brought Liliana to her once a month, and helped keep the visits hidden from you. I never betrayed you. I promise. But when Liliana died, I accused her of killing her and Sven. She threatened me. She said she’d expose what I’d done, and my part in the plot against the prince and queen of Norvalla.” “You knew Liliana wasn’t your sister? That she was Kamara the entire time?” Brander asked, aghast at the truth and depth of her treachery.

“Not at first. Over time, I picked up on her behavior. Certain things she did or said changed. She changed, but no one else ever noticed. Liliana never removed the amulet, either. Plus, she would remind me of my hand in the cauldron, and that I’d be stripped of my title and sent far away from Knox if I so much as whispered the truth. Sven died, and she didn’t care. Liliana died without her amulet on, didn’t she?” she asked in a soft whisper of words. Her gaze implored us to give her mercy, but I didn’t have any left to offer. “I took it while she slept. Liliana didn’t visit the witch before she died. I simply removed the amulet, and she died within an hour of it being taken off her throat. If you hadn’t been so distraught when you found her dead, you’d have realized her scent was no longer there.”

“You killed her?” I asked carefully as my stomach twisted and bile burned the back of my throat.

“I merely removed the amulet, Knox. Liliana was dead long before she ever wed you. I would guess that they replaced her before you announced the engagement to the kingdom. You won’t place her death on me. I merely removed the magic preventing you from seeing the truth you were too blind to see. I thought it ended the witch’s taunts, but then things arrived in my chamber. Instructions for me to follow, or be exposed for what I’d done against the kingdom. So I did them. It was simple things, like placing tiny pouches throughout the palace. It didn’t harm anyone, and I’d have ended it before it would’ve done so. I promise you, I did nothing that would harm anyone.”

“We lost Gideon because of you.” Killian’s words caused her whole body to tremble “You want to sit there and tell us how it hurt no one? The fact you knew Lili wasn’t our sister, and yet didn’t alert us to the fact a viperous imposter sat on the throne of Norvalla, and still think you did nothing wrong? You’re a fucking lunatic if you think that’s something any of us will overlook, Celia. You stained our line with your betrayal, and still you continue to pine for the king you’ve sworn to serve? Who the fuck does that? A raving lunatic who needs put down, that’s who.”

“I am your sister! You and I share the same parents, Killian. You’re sworn to protect me!” she screeched, losing some of the fear she’d displayed. “You are a failure, and I hope you suffer horridly when you realize this is your fault for failing to protect me.”

“No, I failed in my duty as your brother. You, you failed our bloodline, the kingdom, and now because of you, a prince lies cold and dead tonight. I owe you nothing.” Killian snorted with disdain and betrayal pinching his features.

“You’re charged with treason against your king,” I breathed, and when she turned her wide, pleading eyes toward me, I held them with unwavering conviction.

“I didn’t betray! It was you who betrayed me, Knox. You forced me into your bed and took my maidenhead. It ruined me, which forced me to this fate! My king left me to suffer in silence, too terrified to speak of the atrocities he inflicted on me! You held me down and forced yourself on me, and then you pretended as if nothing ever happened. Afterward, you made me keep my silence. Killian, he hurt me and raped me. He violated me, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell you because I feared he’d kill me.” Her lies spilled out of her mouth in a rushed strain. “I couldn’t tell you because he is your best friend and the king.”

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