Page 67 of The Empty Throne

"Oh, shut up, you know I would never run awayand hide." Sobeki drew back and kissed both his cheeks. "Are youall right?"

"Been better, been worse." Kite slowly lethim go and gave the throne room another sweep, more of the knots inhis chest unwinding as he saw Cohea approaching, Bittersea at hisside, and Oskia right behind them. "We don't have long—theybreached the front door."

"Probably trying to pin us from both sides,"Cohea said grimly. "We managed to take this lot, but the remainingforces are probably here to crush us with numbers if nothingelse."

Sobeki nodded. "If this is our last stand, sobe it. Houses, rise and hold!"

"Fine, but this is the last time I haveanything to do with my father's title," Bittersea said, climbingthe stairs to take his position. "After this, give it to someoneelse. Maybe Havenstrite's pretty little boy."

"Why do you always live through thesethings," Kite muttered.

Bittersea laughed. "I'm like a wharf rat: toomean and crafty to be put down."

"Behave," Lindquist said idly.

"He started it," Bittersea retorted, androlled his eyes when Lindquist just gave him a look.

Was Kite actually dreaming? Was this wholething a fevered fiction of his own mind? It could not be realitythat Lindquist and Bittersea wereflirting. He looked toOskia, who rolled her eyes in that unique way of hers that said somany scathing things at once.

Shunting the whole bizarre matter aside, Kiteput his attention back where it belonged. He and the others linedthe edge of the dais, putting themselves between Sobeki andeveryone else, the greatest and most important duty of the GreatHouses of Cremisio. Beltres, then Havenstrite, then Lindquist, andfinally Kuluris. The Great Sharks, the Stingrays, the Divine Storm,and the Monsters of the Deep.

In front of them, the remaining soldiers hadassembled, and as he watched, still more arrived, led by Hargden, aforming bruise on one cheek and blood still pouring from aheadwound that would need treatment. "They're coming," Hargdencalled out. "Fazekas is leading them. I'm sorry, I did the best Icould."

"You're to be commended, Captain, not givingapologies," Sobeki said as he stood before the throne. "Standready. Cremisio won't fall without a fight."

The Terekian army arrived just moments later,Laird Fazekas at its head, already looking smug and victorious.Kite maintained his cool demeanor, but he really wanted to punchthe bastard in the face.

Fazekas's eyes swept the room—and he jerked,froze, as his gaze landed on Lysyken, and the smugness was replacedby fury. "You kidnapped my son!"

"No," Sobeki said, voice ringing out acrossthe throne room with all the authority of a king. "Lord Lysa cameto us for help and has chosen to remain with us."

"Lies!"

"No lie, Father," Lysa said, voice not quiteas strong as Sobeki's, but firm all the same. "I choose Cremisio.I'd choose just aboutanyoneoveryou."

A fury like Kite had never seen before filledFazekas's face. "Then you're dead to me! You can die with the restof them, unless your pathetic boy of a king there has the sense tosurrender now before we kill even more of his people."

Sobeki scoffed. "I'd rather leave Cremisio asdead as our sea than let it fall to the likes of a tyrant likeTerek. A tyrant likeyou, who couldn't even care for asingle son. You want Cremisio, Fazekas? Then come and face theGreat Houses that defend it."

Fazekas roared, and the final fight began.Kite banked right, moving to the edge of the room, flanked by agroup of Cremision soldiers. From the corner of his eye he saw theothers spread out, not surprised that Oskia was headed straight forFazekas. Of all of them, she was the most suited. Once they had himdead, the soldiers would surrender, or at least retreat.

Kite concentrated on thinning the herd, onmaking absolutely certain nobody reached Sobeki. And when this wasall over, he was going to have several choice words for his stupid,stubborn brother.

He drove soldiers back and knocked them down,one after the other, until his staff shattered, unable to stand anylonger against the swords hammering away at it over and over. Hestole the sword from his latest kill and kept pushing, ignoring thesweat and blood dripping into his eyes, the dull, throbbing ache inhis left arm, the blood he could feel trickling from a cut on hisside. All of it.Keep Sobeki safe, keep Lysa safe,echoedover and over in his head, driving away everything else.

Cutting down yet another soldier, chestheaving with exertion, muscles screaming, body trembling now, Kiteturned to the next—and went down as something slammed, hard andpainful, into his back, knocking the breath right out of him,sending him to land roughly on the blood-soaked floor.

"Kite!" someone screamed, but he couldn'ttell who, not through the pain and the ringing in his ears, thehand that roughly grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. Hotsteel pressed to his throat—

And then he was back on the ground, bloodsmearing across his face and into his hair. Gasping, Kite fought toget to his feet again, fumbling for his dropped weapon, or anyweapon. Back upright, he turned around—and swore. "You shouldn't bedown here!"

"I wasn't going to let you die!" Lysabellowed.

Soldiers came at them before Kite could givethe scathing reply that deserved. He cut them down one after theother, taking more nicks and bruises along the way, before finallycatching a moment to breathe. "Get back to safety this instant! Whymust you always be such a defiant brat."

Lysa narrowed his eyes in a way that, for nogood reason at all, Kite found alarming, but once again thefighting kept them from continuing the conversation. "Get back tothe dais! Now!" He snarled in frustration when Lysa ignored him andput all his focus on keeping them both alive. "We're going to havea talk later."

"We're going to have something later," Lysasaid, the words barely audible in the chaos.

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