His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 89

Zen pushed his sword deeper into the guard’s body, twisting it as the eyes of the man widened from the pain and realization of his gruesome fate to follow. Yanking his weapon back, he let the body fall to his feet like the rest of them.

None of this was helping him soothe his anger.

He shook the blade to get rid of the dripping b***d, spraying the dark substance over the wall. This was turning into a mess. They should have taken care of everyone in the ballroom by now, but he could still hear the screams and shouts echoing through the corridors, even here.

He should have just knocked her out. If he had done that from the start, he could have passed her to the reserve team and got on with the rest of the plan. But how was he supposed to know she would put up such a fight? She literally got her hand broken from slapping another woman, not to mention her body was usually so frail, just squeezing her arm ended up making a bruise. And that needle… that was no doubt Kara’s idea, that damn Woman.

Zen shook his left hand, moving his stiff fingers. It wasn’t such a big wound to stop him from completing his mission, but it hurt and it was annoying. He couldn’t believe that it was Raena, of all people, that made him bleed after all this time.

He hoped she wouldn’t get herself hurt in her stubbornness. He would have wanted to stay behind and kill her stupid husband in front of her, but the mission took priority. And his priority was on the other side of those doors.

Zen looked over his shoulder to the corridor littered with bodies where a few of his shadows were finishing off the soldiers that were still alive. Zen gave them a sign to prepare, and they nodded, moving in formation in front of the double doors leading to the second prince’s quarters.

He could hear voices and the sound of feet on the other side. Ten, twenty, maybe more. That little coward had been the first, after his mother, of course, to flee the banquet hall, disappearing through the secret back door the Imperial family used in case of emergencies, and leaving everyone else to their miserable fate. And thanks to Zen’s delay, he had gathered a small army of guards and lock himself in his rooms, ready to throw their lives to save his.

What a lovely Emperor he would have become. If only he could follow a simple set of instructions.

Zen sheathed his sword and climbed on the sill of one of the glassless windows in the corridor. He glanced over it, measuring the long way to the ground for a second, then turned around and unbuckled the hook from his belt, tossing it towards the ceiling where the archways supporting the roof looked sturdy enough to hold his weight.

The hook rolled a few times before sinking its edges into the stone, and he pulled at it to make sure the grip was secure. He clicked the clamps on the rope in the clips attached around his waist and looked around.

By the time he was done, two more of his shadows had secured theirs while the rest had joined the group that was trying to take the door down. Zen nodded to the two that were following him and all three of them jumped off the windows, their feet hitting the wall and sending pebbles towards the ground.

The problem with his enemy was that they never took into consideration the things they thought impossible or insane. But Zen had done the impossible and the insane so many times, it felt almost natural hanging a hundred and fifty feet above the ground.

They continued to move parallel to the wall with a few well-measured jumps until they were right under the windows of the second prince’s quarters.

Zen found a solid grip and climbed up, ignoring the sharp pain that pierced his left hand.

Once he reached the nearest window, he grabbed onto its stone sill with two hands and pulled himself until he could peek over. The room on the other end looked like a bedroom, spacious and lush with so much decoration and fancy objects, it could probably sustain an entire village for a year or two.

Zen turned towards the others and gave them a sign to proceed, reaching out and opening the window. Just as he was about to jump in, the door of the bedroom opened and a figure stormed in, followed by several soldiers in full gear.

“What is that bastard doing?” Rissen shouted, grabbing one of the chairs lined around a shiny wooden table and sending it flying to the wall.

Zen lowered himself down before somebody noticed him, keeping his eyes on his target as he continued to fume around the room. “He is supposed to go after Yulien, not me! Is this for show? Just to appear like he is after all of us, right? It had to be. He is not stupid enough to break the deal or we’ll destroy him!”

Zen wanted to roll his eyes, but he couldn’t afford to look away from the guards. They had spread through the room and barred the door, none of them making noise while Rissen continued with his angry monologue.

“We never should have gotten involved with the stupid Craidal. All they know is b***d, b***d, b***d, and more b***d. Stupid barbarians.

Once l am Emperor, I’ll erase them from the face of the world! The gods know “I’ll be doing everyone a favor.”

Zen turned his head towards the others, showing them five fingers. They nodded, preparing themselves. He pulled one of his blades from its blade on his thigh and placed it between his teeth, making sure his legs had a sturdy platform. One of the other shadows whistled loudly and the voices inside quieted. Zen tensed at the sound of feet nearing his position, and freed his left hand, preparing himself. A second later, a face appeared at the window, looking down. By the time his eyes widened, Zen had grabbed him by the edge of his chest armor, yanking him out of the window. The soldier tried to replace something to grab onto, but his weight dragged him down and he flew towards the ground with a scream filled with terror.

By the time Zen pulled himself up and jumped through the window, the other two shadows had engaged the remaining four soldiers. Rissen was standing behind them with wide eyes, holding a short sword with trembling hands. When his met Zen’s, he dropped the sword and dashed towards the door, trying to push away the cabinet the soldiers had pushed behind it. Zen slowly made his way after him, pulling the knife out of his mouth and throwing it at the guard that had tried to block his way. It sunk into his eye with a gruesome noise and the man fell on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Zen pulled his second weapon out, smiling as he noticed Rissen giving up on opening the door and just curling up in the corner between the cabinet and the wall.

“Please.” He whined, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything! I didn’t mean it!”

“Oh, the part about the stupid barbarians or about erasing my homeland from the face of the world?” Zen scoffed, stopping in front of him.

Rissen winced, curling up even more. “We all say things in anger that we don’t mean. But we all have to own up to our mistakes. Get on your knees and beg for your life and I might forgive you.”

Rissen hesitated, the doubt in his eyes growing. Zen gave him a few seconds before turning his weapon between his fingers. By the time the circle of the blade was done, Rissen was kneeling with his head bowed to the floor.

“Please, I beg you to spare me. I am sorry. I will never utter another word against Craidal. I swear to the gods, I swear to everything!” He said with a trembling voice. Zen looked back at the room since the sounds had grown quiet, only to realize his shadows had taken care of the rest of the guards. His eyes returned to Rissen, who was still shaking in his feet.

“Fine. I forgive you for what you said. Get up.” Zen said, turning the knife in his hand so he was squeezing the hilt with the blade hanging behind his fingers. Rissen raised his head hesitantly, his face covered in sweat and eyes still full of fear. “There is one more problem, though. I told you to kidnap Raena, unharmed, but your men dared to touch her. I hate other people touching what is in mine almost as much as I hate useless people who can’t do anything right.”

Rissen’s mouth opened as if he planned to continue begging, but all it came out was a surprised gasp as Zen’s knife sunk between his neck and shoulder all the way to its hilt. The eyes of the second prince of the Empire widened, pain and fear mixing in a delightful combination.

Zen leaned forward so he could whisper Rissen’s ear.

“Where l come from, all mistakes are paid in b***d and all failures – with death.” He said, yanking his weapon out. The smell of b***d intensified as Rissen’s body dropped to the ground. Rissen’s eyes remained on him, helpless and full of tears. Zen gave him a smile. “Don’t worry, your death won’t be in vain. Your brothers will join you shortly in hell.

Rissen opened his mouth to say something, but Zen ignored him, raising his hand to his mouth and whistling the signal. A few seconds passed and an identical whistle came from the other side of the door.

“Let’s go.” He said, turning to the other two. “We’re done here. The others should have eliminated their target already. We’ll meet them a the rendezvous point.”

Yulien growled impatiently, his eyes still glued to the castle grounds surrounding the wing where his quarters were. The banquet hall where the Anniversary ball was held was located on the opposite side of the Imperial Palace, but he could clearly see the main gate from his window and the flickering lights and shadows moving towards it, some not even waiting for their carriages. He had opened the window earlier to confirm his ears weren’t misleading him – the screams and shouting were quite real, and just on time.

His quarters were quiet, eerily quiet. Vyn kept pacing in the room with him, constantly going out to check on the shadows positioned in the other rooms. He didn’t share Yulien’s confidence in their skills and abilities, but Yulien didn’t blame him – he had learned of their existence only a few days ago.

A soft whistle came from the other room, and Yulien immediately looked towards the door. A thud broke the silence, then a crash followed by the distinctive ringing of metal.

So it had begun.

Yulien rose to his feet, glancing at Vyn, who touched his l!ps with his forefinger and gave him a sign to stay put. He made his way to the door, making no sound whatsoever, his hand slowly reaching for the handle. Just before he could unlock it, the blade of a sword pierced the wood at the level of his chest. Vyn jumped away just in time to avoid it, taking several steps back and positioning himself in front of Yulien.

“Prepare your weapon just in case, Your Highness. And stay behind me.” Vyn said in a quiet, tense tone. Yulien didn’t hesitate to do as he was told, picking up the sword that he had been carrying around everywhere for the past few days. He drew the weapon out of its sheath just as the door kicked open, splinters flying in the air.

For a second, all they could see was the darkness from the other room, then suddenly the darkness moved, dividing in two. The shadows made their way into the room, both holding the typical weapons the shadows used – not quite a sword, but longer than knives, too.

“Aren’t they supposed to be on our side?”

Vyn asked and his back tensed even more while he tried to keep both shadows in his field of vision despite them going in opposite directions. They could still hear the sound of a struggle in the other chambers, but it was hard to tell how many enemies there were and who was winning.

Especially when enemy and friend now looked the same.

“Those aren’t my shadows,” Yulien replied, his eyes narrowing. “I’m taking the one on the left.”

“No! Your Highness, stay back. I’ll take care of them.” Vyn growled.

“Weren’t you the one who told me that splitting my attention in the middle of a battle would only result in my death?” Yulien smiled, tightening both his hands around the hilt of the sword. It had been a while since he wielded one for anything other than show and despite Vyn’s recent lessons, he didn’t feel all that confident about it. He wasn’t Kassian who could cut down an assassin without breaking a sweat or finish a fight without even unsheathing his weapon. But he wasn’t useless either. “l promise “I’ll scream like a girl if I need your help.”

Yulien locked his eyes on the one that had almost reached him and raised his sword. The fake shadow looked him up and down as if assessing his abilities with just one glance, then attacked.

Yulien parried the first blow and the next, but the shadow kept coming, faster and faster, using both hands just as easily and forcing him to jump and duck until he was out of breath.

“Vyn! A hand!” he shouted and a second later he felt something brush past his shoulder. His guard moved in front of him, his sword cutting through the air like a whip. The shadow jumped back to avoid getting their head decapitated, but the tip of Vyn’s sword nicked them from their collarbone to the edge of the shoulder, a few drops of b***d seeping from the exposed pale skin underneath.

Vyn switched again, meeting the second shadow’s swords like he never stopped fighting them. Yulien raised his weapon again, glancing towards the door to make sure they didn’t have any more company. The shadow was upon him before he knew it, one of their swords down, thrusting underneath Yulien’s weapon. He jumped back to avoid it. lost his balance, and flew forward. The blade aimed for his stomach missed him by chance and the two of them dropped to the ground, with Yulien landing on top. He grabbed their hands in an attempt to stop them from attacking – he had already dropped his sword and the damn thing was just out of reach. The shadow actually struggled to shove him off like he was stronger than the two, and Yulien frowned, eyes lowering to the tear in the black clothing that had slid down, revealing a tight binding running right over their chest.

“Damn it.” He grimaced. “I really don’t like hitting women.”

“ldiot” She said in a clearly female voice right before headbutting him so hard, stars flashed in front of Yulien’s eyes as he fell back. By the time his vision cleared, she was already on her feet, raising one of her blades.

“Vyn!” Yulien shouted, his heart beating so fast, he was sure his head was going to explode. He had been in a dangerous situation before, but this felt different. This felt final.

Her blade flew towards Yulien’s chest and just before it sunk into it, a sword appeared in his vision, stopping her weapon despite her putting all her strength into pushing down. The prince looked up to replace Vyn standing on one knee next to him, his hand trembling from the effort of keeping the dagger off. The second shadow used the opportunity to attack, aiming for Vyn’s head, but he raised his arm and gripped the edge of the blade with his naked hand, his teeth screeching from the pain.

“Run,” Vyn said through gritted teeth, his eyes darting between the two shadows. “Run or die, Your Highness.”

Yulien hesitated, staring at his guard’s bleeding hand, but then tried to get up.

“Yulien!” a familiar voice shouted from the other rooms and a second later Kassian barged into the bedroom with a sword in hand, his eyes stopping on them. He didn’t hesitate even for a second before jumping in and attacking the guy on Vyn’s side, pushing him back with such strength.

The shadow’s hands looked like they were all about to fall off.

Yulien looked at the female shadow just as Vyn was getting to his feet. She hesitated, then bolted towards the window. Yulien’s eyes widened as he watched her crash through the glass and drop from it with the confidence of a bird. Even Vyn seemed taken aback for a second, until a pained shout made them both turn.

By the time Yulien turned, the shadow was lying unmoving in Kassian’s feet. His brother was breathing heavily, shoulders rising and falling as if he had been running for a long time. As if sensing Yulien’s eyes, he turned, giving him a relieved look.

“He is alive,” Kassian said tiredly as he noticed Yulien glanced at the body in his feet. “And So are you. Good.”

“Are you..?” Yulien started when the sound of feet made them all tense, Vyn moving in front of him and Kassian turning around with his sword raised. A second later, the bedroom was invaded by a group of soldiers in full armor carrying the Imperial seal on their chests. Yulien let out a relieved sigh.

“Took you long enough.” Kassian scoffed and their attention moved to him. Yulien tensed as he noticed the hard looks on their faces, a few of them reaching for their swords. The one on the front took a step towards Kassian, a hand resting the hilt of his sword in warning.

“Kassian Etrobia, by the order of the Emperor, you’re hereby arrested for treason.” He announced with a firm, cold tone.

“Really? What did I do this time?” Kassian sighed. The soldier looked surprised by the lack of interest and fear in his face and voice, but quickly composed himself.

“You’re charged with the murder of His imperial Highness, Prince Rissen Etrobia.”