2020, August 5th
(Imperium, Warlanda)
KEIRA
My little tiff with Aiden pushed me over the edge. Gone were the days of me playing guessing games. I had Aiden to think of now. I waltzed through the door of Madz's office like a woman on a mission.
"Alright, out with it. What is the problem?"
Madz gave me a once over before responding. "Right now? Your sister's here, looking to hide her sword in your prince. Bring her to me, would you?"
My blood ran cold.
"No time for your guilty conscience about not telling him things. If you want him to live, go."
"Where?"
Five minutes of running through the halls of the castle while holding my breath. Fear and denial coursed through me the whole time. I went anyway, because what the fuck else could I do? Losing Aiden to Kate's vengeful wrath wasn't an option. Once I finally made it to the part of the house they were in, I found Kate and Aiden playing a game of cat and mouse.
"Heads up Denny," I said, calling out to Aiden.
He looked up and our eyes met. I was two flights above them and Aiden looked like a desperate, trigger happy man. He wasn't exactly defenseless, but Katie didn't fuck around. I threw the sword in my hand down. It landed inches away from Aiden's foot.
"Hey Kei, it's been too long. Make sure you get down here before I kill him so that you can watch," Katie said, staring up at me with a malicious glint in her eye.
"Pick up the damn sword and stall. Use what I taught you," I instructed.
Kate looked at the sword by Aiden's feet and then back at me
"Isn't that cute? So you don't just go at it like rabbits all day."
Kate moved so fast, Aiden didn't see her coming until she had punched him in the gut and taken his gun.
"I really thought she was just in love with your body, and who would blame her if she was, but this is better. Look at her go," she said to Aiden, bending over to watch the breath leave his lungs.
"Don't do this, Kate. It's not his fault. He didn't look Dean in the eye and end his life. Hell, he even tried to save him," I called out, taking the stairs two at a time, hoping it would be enough.
"Go ahead, Prince of Assassins. Pick it up. Let's see what big sis taught you."
AIDEN
My eyes went back up to Keira as I took a deep breath and righted my body. The woman I loved was terrified. Panic marred her beautiful face. For her, I had to find a way to pull through. How much longer would she take to get to me? Did I have those thirty seconds Nathan and I were talking about in me? Only one way to find out.
This was bad. The moment my fingers wrapped around the sword hilt, Kate was already moving. Fast, vicious, attacks from every conceivable angle came at me. Her strikes came in a blur of steel and precision. She was too quick for me to do anything but deflect and retreat. Every clash of our swords rang out like thunder. Every step back was me hoping I didn't fall.
I wasn't a sword fighter, but that didn't mean I couldn't land a solid hit. Timing was everything. I waited, reading the rhythm of her strikes, then caught one on the flat of my blade, twisting my wrist to chamber her attack. In the same heartbeat, I pivoted on my heel and drove a side kick straight into her abdomen.
Kate stumbled back a few steps, breath leaving her in a sharp grunt. For a moment, I thought she'd go down. Instead, she steadied herself, something dark and unholy burning in her eyes.
"Not bad, Kei. I didn't think you'd have the stones to actually attack, what with the no shooting me thing from earlier," Kate mused, toying with her sword.
"Why do I feel like what you really mean is I just pissed you off?"
I had in fact, just pissed Kate off, but my efforts were enough. I bought Keira the time she needed to get to me.
"You and Nate, always with the finishing touches. It's going to get you killed," said an out of breath Keira, claiming the sword from my grasp.
"Not today," said Kate, readying herself for the fight that would follow.
It was magnificent. Pure, merciless skill. Steel clashed against steel in a storm of sparks and sweat. Every move was a testament to years of training, muscle memory honed through endless practise, and yet the beauty of it was brutal. My stomach twisted each time Kate's sword came within an inch of Keira's throat.
When I said I couldn't wait to see Keira in action, I clearly didn't consider the part where she might die.
But Kate wasn't here to kill anyone. That didn't fit. Coming all the way to Imperium just to murder me made no sense. Not even Katherine Dormer could outrun or outfight an entire house of assassins. And she wouldn't try, not when she was campaigning to become the Queen of Assassins herself.
I stumbled around, still breathing hard as I scanned the room for my gun. When I finally spotted it half-buried beneath a fallen chair, I grabbed it. Then I raised it toward the ceiling, and fired a single round.
The crack of the gunshot shattered the room. And for the first time in years, Keira and Kate turned their backs on each other, instinct overriding pride.
"What I thought. Neither of you has the balls to kill the other. You'd sooner take on the world side by side, I imagine. So can we all just put the sharp, pointy sticks down? I think I've had enough sword play for today."
Kate shrugged and went first, laying her weapon down. She knew Keira wasn't about to, not with me still in the room. Keira sighed, felt her sister's back slide down her own, and followed suit, laying her weapon down too.
Both women were breathless and spent, but they forced words out anyway.
"Nate said you were rusty. Kid's full of shit."
"Why are you here Katie?" Keira asked, protective to the end.
"Same reason that you are," said Madz, calmly descending the stairs.
She took a look around the room. It was trashed, but her mission was complete. The twin assassins were sitting back to back amongst ruined furniture and broken glass, but they were both home. That was her endgame all along. But why?
"To bring someone in," said Madz, as though reading my thoughts.
"Why? Who? The missing seat holders? What's going on?" a frustrated Keira thundered, having reached her wit's end.
She jumped to her feet and walked up to Madz.
"Everything Madz, or I walk and this time you'll have to do better than Katie stalking me and threatening to kill my boyfriend to bloody get me back here."
The fire inside Keira as she squared off with her mother sparked something in me. Sure I didn't know the specifics of what was going on yet, but that woman was mine. I'd go to the ends of the earth to stand by her side.
Kate exchanged a look with Madz, rolled her eyes and got to her feet too.
"Not missing. Not anymore. Dead. You have a lot of ex
plaining to do, don't you, general?" said Kate, dropping the bombshell like it was idle gossip.