Page 93 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

It’s a hard swim. Each time I move my arms, it pulls on the arrow, sending a fresh, hot wave of agony pulsing through my body. I ignore it as best as I can, knowing I don’t have time to be weak. My heart thrums with adrenaline, keeping me going.

My lungs begin to scream since I gave Joha so much of my air, but I push forward, ignoring it and the pain in my body. I need to get him to safety.

Once there, I surface with a gasp, sucking in air as we cling to the wooden legs of the structure just above the water. The floor of the house protects us from above, and out here, their arrows cannot reach us. My eyes rapidly rush over Joha. He is wet and worried, but unhurt. I look back to the shore to see Orion is gone.

That has to be good, right? He’s not dead. He can’t be.

“Alyx!” Joha gasps, grabbing my injured shoulder, and a pained moan leaves my lips. He freezes and turns me. “You’re hurt!”

The water around us turns red, and I shudder from the chill and shock as I gently tug my shoulder away. “Don’t pull the arrow out. It’s keeping me from bleeding too badly at the moment,” I tell him, fighting against my chattering teeth as the adrenaline starts to wear off. Kicking to keep myself afloat, I rip off a segment of my robe and hand it to him. “Tie it around my shoulder to keep the arrow from moving and block most of the bleeding.”

“We need to get you help?—”

“Joha, now!” I demand. “If they come here, we will be in trouble. I need to protect you, so do as I say.”

I cannot worry about infection or lasting damage, not right now. That will be something we can deal with later if we survive this. Doing as I say with a pale face, he binds the wounds as best as he can as I press my face to the wooden leg and breathe through the pain. When he’s done, he turns me, running his eyes across me worriedly. “We need to get you help. Can we go up?”

“Not yet,” I murmur as I run my gaze over the part of the shore I can see. My eyes catch on the bodies of the guards before I move on. “We need to be sure first. We can stay here for a little bit. It’s a good hiding spot.”

“Orion,” Joha whispers.

“Can take care of himself. That man is un-fucking-killable,” I mutter. “Focus on yourself. You’re all that matters, my king. You need to be kept safe. Do you understand? Do as I say.”

“Okay.” He nods, blowing out a breath as we tread water, but his eyes worriedly glance from my shoulder to the shore once more.

“Don’t worry, I can still protect you like this. I could kill them with one arm tied behind my back, so this is no different,” I joke, and it works, making him smile slightly.

I press my finger to my lips when I hear footsteps, and he stills, nodding in understanding. I slide my hand under the water to my hip and I pull my dagger as the footsteps grow louder.

I count three sets. I show him my fingers, and he nods. I push him deeper under the structure, using the wooden poles to move slowly to the edge where I peer up and over to see if it’s friend or foe.

Suddenly, a hand reaches down, gripping my hair, and I’m yanked up and out of the water with a grunt. I’m thrown over the wood railing, and before they can pin me to the floor, I flip out of their grip, landing in a crouch with my knife held out.

There are three of them in black robes, their faces and heads covered. They are assassins, and not local ones either since they don’t dress like ours. “Guess she’s going wide,” I mutter as I lick my lips. Queen Mother must be running out of options.

“You’re hurt,” one comments, his voice thick with an accent.

“I can still kill you. Come and see.” I wave my hand to urge them on. I need to end this quickly before I lose too much blood and become useless to the king.

I hope Joha stays hidden. I cannot fight them and keep him safe at the same time.

They rush me in practiced formation. It’s clear they are well trained and used to working together. This is no measly assassination attempt, this is a very real one, and if I’m not careful, I could die today. I need to play this smart.

I trust my instincts as they attack, my body knowing what to do before my mind does, and all of my training kicks in. They are worthy opponents, and maybe it’s wrong to think so, but it’s almost exciting to face someone who could actually kill me for once. I have always loved a challenge.

I hold nothing back. I meet them in the middle, ducking under one of their blades and slicing up across another with mine as I twist from their midst. We clash, and I feel cuts opening on my skin as I battle against all three. I kick out at one rushing me, sending him back, all while blocking the blade of another and turning to slice at the third. They stumble back, and I run at one of the posts holding up the ceiling. I feel them chasing me. I get two feet up it and then use it to flip over them, landing behind one. I kick his knees out and drag my blade across his throat. He gurgles as I slice through his neck, choking on his blood as he stumbles forward, hitting the railing and falling over it. He drops into the water, but I know he’s dead.

Something hard hits my hand, making me hiss, and my blade spins out of my grasp and across the room. I dive for it, and my hands have just hit the pommel when I’m yanked back, the force sending my dagger over the edge of the railing and into the water below.

Snarling, I flip and kick the assassin away from me as he brings down his own blade to end me. I roll to avoid it and climb to my feet, facing the two assassins as I pant.

I have no weapon and they do. I’m outnumbered, or so they think.

They should have learned not to underestimate me by now. I reach back to my shoulder, and with a snarl, I yank the arrow out. The agony is excruciating, but I ignore it as I twirl the bloodied arrow, the sharp tip a weapon.

They hesitate and share a look, knowing I’m willing to do what it takes to survive.

“Well?” I spit. “Or are you scared?”

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