Daphne had followed my gaze and she stood up with a start and began to run toward her friend. I grabbed her arm quickly. The look of rage on her face almost made me react with a snarl, too, as old habit, but I softened as I realized it was the woman to whom I was beholden and loved beyond love.
“We must be cautious. She is just suspended there by his magic. I will have to fight him and hold her safe, and pay attention to you, too. Come on. Follow me.”
We wove through the crowd of fighting figures, surprisingly untouched. Then I looked over and saw Sasrin staring at us intently, throwing soldier and arrow and knife and stun gun shot away from us, deliberately, with efficiency and skill. He was protecting our quest.
I waved a salute toward him and before I knew it, we were only ten feet away from Rhone. He swiped his sword down and I felt it cut on my cheek. I lifted my fingertips up to feel the blood. I couldn’t believe it. I knew Rhone had trained some in Curan schools to learn telekinesis, but I couldn’t believe he had the skill to use that sword he had stolen from some Curan. He knew how to telekinetically strike a slice. I would have to be more cautious than ever.
I pushed Daphne back and approached Rhone.
“Give up, Rhone,” I said. “Give up, call off your soldiers, and let Vania down safely. That’s all you have to do. Curan prisons aren’t that bad. Better than Bordash, in fact. Safer, calmer, with more opportunities for outside-time.”
Rhone laughed, a bitter bark against the screams, clashes, and whirs of battle behind us.
“How about you give up, Beast King? Call of your soldiers and let me have your Queen. How is it, after all, that she can use telekinesis and that you healed so quickly?”
“She is my Destin. She is my all.”
“Bullshit. I don’t believe in all that traditional magic.”
Daphne made a motion as if scooping up rocks from the ground and she flung them. A dozen pebbles lunged into the air from the ground and peppered Rhone’s face.
“It’s real enough, boss. You can never frighten me again.”
As she said it, Vania screamed above them and dropped three feet in the air. Daphne leapt forward, to catch her if she would fall.
“Ah…I see I can still scare you, Daphne.”
I placed my hand on Daphne’s shoulder and pulled her back toward me. “At least she cares enough about people to be scared for their wellbeing. Who have you ever trusted enough?”
Rhone’s face went blank, as if I might actually have insulted him. Then he laughed.
“So, are we going to cross blades now or never, Beast King?”
I held my hand up to Daphne, anticipating her protests. “We shall cross them now.” I whipped my blade down and the same slash across my face appeared on Rhone’s. He yelped and swiped angrily at the blood.
“You’re on…”
Then we stepped into each other, our blades met, and their clash of metal on metal evoked a scream of magic, a seething of steam, and a rush of adrenaline.
I hadn’t anticipated a fight like this in a long time. I licked my lips, eager…It was one where only one of us would survive.
Sixteen
Daphne
I tore my eyes away from my King and my former boss to look up at Vania. She was awake. Her eyes were open and blinking and her chest was heaving, but she didn’t seem to register that it was me beneath her on the ground. Much like the lanterns that I had seen all over Farian, Vania was just held in air by magical skill. Her hands and ankles were bound, and she was curled up into herself, fetal position, clearly stunned and traumatized by what she had been through in the past few days.
I understood the reaction… I couldn’t believe what I had been through. Two weeks ago, I was complaining with Vania about my asshole boss Rhone, and now I was witnessing my soul-mate prepare to fight that boss in a telekinetically charged duel on a planet faraway, where I had recently been made the Queen. The Queen of a whole planet.
“Vania! Vania! It’s me, Daphne! Please, look at me!” I called, then looked over as I heard the clashing scream of the two magic Curan blades crossing. Sparks flew and I backed away from the clearing where Kajo and Rhone were getting ready to fight. I had to figure out a way to get Vania down. Could I use my meager telekinesis skills? I was afraid to…I seemed to be adept at swiping things in half and crushing them into oblivion. I certainly didn’t want to risk doing either of those things with my best friend…
I called her name again and this time, her eyes moved a little bit, finally meeting mine. However, I couldn’t tell if she recognized me. I stripped off the Curan cape and let my war-ready ponytail down, trying to make myself look more like what she was used to seeing, though she had seen me at my worst, best, ugliest crying moments, and happiest joys.
I had to get her down. I had to keep her safe.
“Daphne, watch out!” Kajo cried and I realized that the fight had begun. I figured if I just hovered close to Vania, if she fell, I would at least break her fall. She was about fifteen feet in the air. She wouldn’t die from such a fall, but she might get hurt.
“How could you deign to take an Earthling for your Queen, Beast King?” Rhone snarled. I glared at him. He had pretended to be an Earthling for years. To what end? “How can she possibly be your Destin? There must be something else special about her. After I kill you, I will
