Xavier squirmed away from him and bumped into the side table. “You’re my king. I cannot possibly fight you.”
“You can die with a sword in your hands or a rope around your neck, but you will not breathe in a world where you harmed and betrayed the woman I love.”
He squeezed his hands together beseechingly. “I didn’t harm her! It was King Pierre. Let me fight at your side to save her. There is still time.”
Matteo kept his sword up with one hand as he picked up Xavier’s weapon with his other. “Outside, now.”
Xavier let out a whimper and slowly walked out of the room and exited the castle. The courtyard was a grim sight at dawn. The smell of death and rot burned the inside of his nostrils. The Kaulish soldiers’ bodies from the night before were in a great pile, yet to be burned. The fallen Sanian soldiers had been afforded a little more dignity; they were in a line, their arms crossed on their chests and their eyes closed. Matteo recognized many of them. He prayed their souls would find their way to their ancestors.
Ten soldiers from the Thirty-Second Company stood guard. They saluted him as he walked toward them. If they were surprised to see their king or Xavier in their small clothes, they gave no sign of it.
Matteo tossed Xavier’s sword to the ground. “I denounce Lord Xavier de la Vega as a Kaulish spy and a traitor to Sania. He has betrayed my trust and sold my secrets to Kaul. For this cause, I demand that he fight to the death.”
Xavier bent down and retrieved his sword. Pulling it from the scabbard, he raised it above his head. “Matteo, you can’t mean to kill your oldest friend.”
He lunged at Xavier. “You are no friend of mine.”
Xavier had trained with him since they were boys; he parried Matteo’s strike. They circled each other slowly. Matteo feinted and then lunged again, this time making contact with Xavier’s thigh, drawing blood.
“That one was for Moreno.”
He watched a bead of sweat run down Xavier’s face, but his former friend didn’t swipe at it. His full attention was on Matteo; there was murder in his eyes. He was no longer pleading for forgiveness or false friendship. Swinging his sword, Xavier attacked, and Matteo blocked one strike and then another before slicing across Xavier’s back.
“Hernandez’s wife is expecting a child.”
Xavier darted away, but there was no escaping. The men from the Thirty-Second Company encircled them. With a burst of energy, he turned back toward Matteo and ran at him with his sword high. Xavier’s sword nicked his elbow as Matteo parried the blow and sliced two marks into Xavier’s shin.
“One for Romero and one for Rodriguez. They were like brothers to me.”
Xavier stumbled as blood ran from the cuts on his legs. Matteo didn’t show him mercy. He’d shown no remorse for his actions. With a quick slice, he cut Xavier’s left shoulder.
“Garcia. She was my sparring partner.”
The sword in Xavier’s hand began to shake. Tears and sweat fell down his face. Matteo ignored his cries and cut Xavier’s wrist so he dropped the sword.
“How much was Lopez’s life worth?”
“Two hundred thousand gold crowns,” Xavier whispered.
A staggering amount. Almost enough to buy a province.
Xavier fell to his knees, whimpering. “You were born with money. I am the eleventh son of a poor don who lost most of his property because your father gave away his lands. I had no future. No money. You would have done the same thing in my place.”
“I would never have betrayed those I love.”
He drove the blade through Xavier’s chest.
21
ELEA
After a while, the guards left Elea alone in the dungeon. She was grateful. She pulled herself to a sitting position and spat out the blood that continued to fill her mouth. Tentatively she touched her swollen lips and cheek. She felt blood in her hair, tender places on her scalp where it had been pulled out by the roots. Her hands moved to her sides and she whimpered in pain. The pressure on her brain was excruciating.
Blackness filled her vision.
She felt Nora’s soul moving underneath her skin. The itch. The uncomfortableness was worse than ever. And then the feeling was gone. The piece of Nora’s soul had left her body, leaving her feeling as empty and as dark as a cave.
Had she pushed the soul from her body?