Tomas Kyriel's Arc

Chapter 3 of 7

The six guards spread across the snow and closed on Tomas. He set his blade and counted them again. Six against one. He could hold two, maybe three, before the rest reached Elara. He was made to kill, but he was not made to win a fight like this. Behind him, Elara drew her short sword. Her uncle, Lord Reginald Vance, watched from the estate steps, calm as a man waiting for tea. "Stand aside, girl," Reginald said. He did not raise his voice. "You traced my coin. You made this. The line breaks with you, and the crown comes home." "You emptied the treasury," Elara said. "You wanted me quiet. I'm not quiet." The first guard swung. Tomas caught the blow and drove him back. A second came from his left. He turned too slow. A blade scraped his shoulder plate and knocked him half a step off his feet. Three more moved to circle him. He could not cut through all of them. He knew it in his chest, cold and plain. Then Elara stepped past him. "No," Tomas said. He reached for her arm. The curse let him. But she was already clear of his hand. Elara raised her palm toward the guards. Tomas had never seen her do this. He had thought her a princess with a garden and a grudge. Light broke from her fingers, white and sharp, the same white as the fox marks in the snow. It struck the nearest guard full in the chest. He flew back and hit the frost and did not rise. She swept her hand. The light caught two more and threw them down like dolls. The remaining three broke and ran for the estate doors. Elara lowered her arm. Her hand shook. Her face had gone pale. Tomas stared at her. "You have magic." "I've always had it," she said. "I hid it. My uncle fears it. That's half the reason he wants me gone." Reginald had stopped smiling. He backed toward the tall gothic doors of his ice home. The guards who ran had left him alone on the steps. For the first time he looked small. "You can't kill me," he called. His voice was quieter now, and more precise. "You need me. I hold the binding. No one else can break it. Cut me down and your soldier stays chained to you forever." Tomas felt the truth of it settle. The one man who could free him now stood cornered and terrified, guards scattered, the way clear at last. But the moment Reginald died, the curse died with its maker's power locked away. To free himself, he needed the man alive. Elara looked at Tomas. "We take him," she said. "Not kill him. Take him." Tomas nodded and started up the icy steps. The guards were down. The path was open. Now the hard part began.