Chapter 5
1395 Words
Chapter 5
The hallway beyond the door was empty, but the shouting was louder. Vinny and Regina ran toward the sound. The hallway led to a large room with high ceilings, red banners on the walls, and a throne at the far end. The throne room.
Inside, 2 groups of men were fighting each other. One group wore uniforms with the Duke's symbol, a gold lion on a red background. The other group wore different armor, some with family crests, some with no markings at all. The floor was covered in blood and bodies.
“Rebellion,” Regina said while holding her dagger tight. “The noble households are fighting the Duke's royal guards.”
“Our escape route is blocked,” Vinny said. He pointed at the main doors on the other side of the room. “Those doors lead outside. But we have to go through the fight.”
A royal guard saw them. He screamed and charged at Vinny with a sword raised high.
Vinny stepped forward and met the guard's sword with his own. The blades clashed. Vinny twisted his sword, disarmed the guard, and kicked him in the chest. The guard fell backward into another guard. Both men went down.
Regina stabbed a noble guard in the shoulder. The guard dropped his axe and screamed. She kicked him in the face and he stopped moving.
“Stay close to me,” Vinny said while grabbing Regina's arm. “We move together.”
They pushed through the fight. Vinny blocked a swing from a noble guard and cut the man's arm. Regina stabbed another guard in the leg. A royal guard swung an axe at Vinny's head. Vinny ducked, and the axe hit a noble guard behind him instead. The noble guard fell with a gurgling sound.
‘We are not going to make it to the doors,’ Vinny thought. ‘There are too many.’
The fighting was getting worse. The Duke, an old man with a gray beard and a gold crown, was standing on the raised platform near the throne. He was swinging a large sword at anyone who got close. 3 royal guards protected him.
A noble guard ran at Vinny with a spear. Vinny sidestepped, grabbed the spear shaft, and yanked the guard forward. The guard stumbled. Vinny punched him in the throat. The guard fell and did not move.
“Vinny, behind you!” Regina yelled.
Vinny turned. A royal guard was charging at him with a dagger. Vinny dropped to the ground and swept the guard's legs. The guard crashed onto the stone floor. Vinny took the dagger and threw it across the room.
The fighting was slowing down. Fewer men were standing. Vinny saw the Duke kill a noble guard with a swing to the neck. The noble guard fell and did not move. The Duke laughed, a wet and tired sound.
“The Duke is winning,” Regina said while wiping blood from her face.
“Then we let him win,” Vinny said. “We stay out of it and wait.”
But a noble guard grabbed Regina from behind. He put a dagger to her throat. “Drop your weapon or she dies,” he said to Vinny.
Vinny dropped his sword.
The noble guard laughed. “Now you both die.”
Regina grabbed the guard's wrist, twisted it, and stabbed him in the thigh with her own dagger. The guard screamed and let go. Regina shoved him into a pillar. He hit his head and collapsed.
“I had that under control,” Regina said while picking up Vinny's sword.
“You always do,” Vinny said. He smiled at her.
The throne room was almost empty now. Only a few guards were still fighting. The Duke stood in the middle of the room, covered in blood. He looked at Vinny and Regina.
“Who are you?” the Duke asked. His voice was tired and rough.
“Travelers,” Vinny said while stepping over a body. “Wrong place, wrong time.”
“You fight well for travelers,” the Duke said. He raised his sword. “But I do not trust strangers.”
A noble guard ran at the Duke from behind. Vinny saw it happening. He threw his sword like a javelin. The sword flew through the air and hit the noble guard in the chest. The guard stopped and fell forward, dead before he hit the ground.
The Duke turned around. He looked at the dead guard, then at Vinny. “Why did you save me?”
“Because you were about to get stabbed,” Vinny said. “And I do not like watching people die for no reason.”
The last 2 noble guards saw their leader dead. They dropped their weapons and ran out a side door. The royal guards did not chase them. They were too tired and too wounded.
The Duke walked toward Vinny. “You killed my enemies. That makes you my allies.” He stopped a few feet away. “But you also beat my son. Dorian told me about you.”
“Your son tried to kidnap my wife,” Vinny said while stepping in front of Regina. “He got what he deserved.”
The Duke was quiet for a moment. Then he laughed. It was a cold laugh. “Dorian is a fool. I have known that since he was a child.” He looked at Regina. “You broke his nose and his ribs?”
“And I would do it again,” Regina said. Her voice was calm.
The Duke raised his sword. “You are dangerous. I cannot let you leave.”
“Then do not let us leave,” Vinny said. He grabbed a dagger from a dead guard. “Try to stop us.”
The Duke swung his sword. Vinny ducked and stabbed the Duke in the leg. The Duke screamed and fell to one knee. Regina moved behind the Duke and pressed her dagger to his throat.
“Drop the sword,” Regina said.
The Duke dropped his sword. The remaining royal guards, 6 of them, raised their weapons. But they did not attack. They looked at the Duke, then at the couple.
“Kill them,” the Duke said. “Kill them now.”
Vinny looked at the guards. Their hands were shaking. Their armor was covered in blood. They had been fighting for hours. They were exhausted.
“Your Duke is done,” Vinny said while pulling the dagger from the Duke's leg. The Duke cried out. “You can die for him, or you can live for yourselves.”
The guards did not move.
Regina looked at Vinny. He nodded. She drew the dagger across the Duke's throat. The Duke gurgled and fell forward. Blood pooled on the stone floor.
The guards stared. Their faces were pale.
Vinny stood up. He was covered in blood from head to toe. Regina stood next to him, her hoodie soaked red. They looked like monsters. Like something out of a nightmare.
The room was littered with bodies. Vinny counted maybe 200, maybe more. The torches flickered, casting shadows on the walls. The smell of blood was thick in the air.
One of the guards dropped his sword. The metal clanged against the stone floor. Then another guard dropped his sword. Then another.
The 1st guard fell to his knees. “Long live the Duke,” he said. His voice was shaky.
The other guards fell to their knees. “Long live the Duchess. Long live the new rulers of the Duchy.”
Vinny looked at Regina. She was breathing hard. Blood dripped from her chin.
“Long live the Tucson Duchy,” the guards shouted together.
Vinny walked to the throne. He sat down. The wood was cold and hard. Regina stood beside him, her hand on his shoulder.
“Get up,” Vinny said to the guards. “Clean this mess. Bury the dead. We have work to do.”
The guards nodded and scrambled to their feet.
Vinny looked at Regina. She smiled at him, a tired smile. He took her hand and kissed it.
“We are not travelers anymore,” Vinny said.
“No,” Regina said. “We are not.”
End of Chapter 5
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