While my magic increased to throb with the beats of my heart, the king actually had the nerve to hesitate for a moment. As if he were thinking about it.
“As annoyed as I am with you, son, I unfortunately need the both of you.” And in that moment, I knew Theodore was screwed.
So without hesitating, I threw a dome around him to protect him, trying to think of bricks laid around it in protecting it.
The king looked at it before he directed his beady eyes at me. A second passed. Two. The king gave one of the guards the slightest of nods and then the king moved faster than would have been possible for someone not Enchanted.
At the same time he released droves of his black magic at my dome, he also reached down and grabbed the dagger from his boot. A replacement dagger for the one we’d already stolen. He tossed it before he had even fully stood back up.
The ground rumbled under the weight of the magic he sent hurtling at my dome.
I held hope my dome would be able to withstand it, but my worst fears were realized as it shattered immediately.
But then Krew’s magic was there and snagged the dagger right out of the air, sending it clattering against the wall they had all entered in. While I’d been protecting Theodore, he had been making a move for the dagger. We’d not combined our magic because we’d been too busy moving in different directions to protect Theodore.
“Enough!” Krew demanded.
I took a deep breath, ready to send more magic to protect Theodore, thinking of the weight of the magic being even thicker, and was about to send down the bond for Krew to help, but a sickening wet noise interrupted my focus.
The guard standing next to Theodore had unsheathed the replica of the king’s sword and drove it straight through his back.
Theodore fell forward, back arched in pain as he grunted. A lesser man would have screamed in agony.
“You will die a proper thief’s death,” the guard promised as he still gripped the hilt of the sword. He let go and Theodore fell to the ground.
I sent out magic to soften his fall and wasn’t sure if it made it in time or not. But I lost it as Theodore’s light brown shirt stained red.
With one finger, I sent enough magic to the guard to surround him. He tried to use his own magic to protect himself, but I was faster. Madder. With my other hand, I chucked the man at the same wall Krew had thrown the dagger to.
There was a smacking thud and then the guard fell limp on the ground.
The king’s chin went back. “Did you just kill my guard?”
I wasn’t looking at the guard, nor did I really care if I had somehow miraculously killed him with my magic. I was too busy rushing to Theodore, sending my magic at him while thinking healing thoughts like I did in the forest. And then I thought of what it felt like when the quirky doctor had put the pain numbing salve on my lash mark.
Theodore was on his side as I reached him, and I didn’t hesitate to lay my hand on his arm, even as it still sent more magic around him.
“Theodore,” I gasped. “I’m so sorry.”
There was so much blood. Entirely too much blood. I was bound to get it on my pristinely white gown, but I had no other thoughts in that moment other than figuring out how to heal this man. Thisinnocentman.
“Help,” I yelled to Keir and Krew. “Get that sword out of him while I send more magic into him.”
“They—” Theodore said, voice strained, “can’t.”
Krew was there, his legs hitting my back as he stood protecting the both of us from his father. “He’s right. If I take it out now, he will just bleed out even faster.”
I shook my head, tears falling down my cheeks as I looked back at Theodore. “No. This isn’t your fault. None of this was your fault.”
Theodore reached for my hand, and I took his in mine, willing for this to not be happening. He couldn’t die. Not when he wasn’t responsible for this. I was. Keir was. Krew was. But not Theodore. Not this kind and welcoming man from the lowest level in the kingdom who just simply was brave enough to fight for a better tomorrow.
“Theodore,” I begged. “Don’t go. This wasn’t your fault.”
My magic must have finally numbed some of his pain. That or he was too close to the kiss of death to feel pain anymore as his face slackened, the tension in his face and neck disappearing. He couldn’t find the strength to form words though. He just looked me in the eyes and continued holding my hand as if wanting me to promise to carry on his charge. As if in his last moments he wanted nothing more than for me to usurp the king and kill him.
But he never got to say those words. He never got to say anything at all, his injuries too great.
I felt my magic building and didn’t bother to stop it as I held tightly onto Theodore’s hand until his last breath. And when he took that breath, when I heard his lungs rasp and give out under the weight of his wounds, I knew. I was going to kill the king.
