Please Divorce Me, My Emperor

CHAPTER 13

"Protect the Empress!" Kaelen barked, drawing his broadsword as crossbow bolts slammed into the stone pillars around them.

The small pavilion turned into an arena of sheer blood and steel. The imperial guards formed a tight shield wall around Aurelia, deflecting incoming bolts with their heavy iron bucklers, while Kaelen fought like a man possessed.

His sword was a blur of lethal motion. Every stroke of his blade carved through Malakor’s loyalists as they tried to scale the outer iron grates.

Aurelia drew her dagger, her sharp eyes scanning the high ridges. "The archers are positioned on the upper rock ledge!" she shouted to the guards. "Focus your shields above!"

Lord Malakor, realizing his archers were being neutralized by the narrow angles of the pavilion, lunged through a gap in the iron grate with a poisoned shortsword, aimed directly at Aurelia’s unarmored side.

"Aurelia!" Kaelen screamed.

Without a second thought, Kaelen threw himself between Malakor and Aurelia.

The dark blade caught Kaelen along the ribcage, slicing through his leather coat and biting deep into his flesh. Kaelen roared in pain, but he didn't falter. He grabbed Malakor by the throat with his bare hand, lifting the rebel lord off his feet, and drove his broadsword straight through Malakor’s chest.

Malakor collapsed into the snow, dead before he hit the ground.

With their leader fallen, the remaining archers panicked as the rest of the imperial force broke down the outer shrine barricades, sweeping the crags clear of enemies.

"Kaelen!" Aurelia cried, dropping to her knees beside him as he sank against the stone altar.

Blood—dark, heavy, and stained with the telltale violet sheen of poison—was pooling rapidly through his tunic onto the white snow.

"Aurelia..." Kaelen rasped, his eyes struggling to focus on her as his skin turned dangerously pale. He reached up with a trembling, blood-stained hand, touching her cheek softly. "Are you... safe?"

"You foolish, brave man," tears welled in Aurelia's eyes as she pressed her hands hard against his wound to stop the bleeding. "Why did you jump in front of me?!"

"Because... you are my life," Kaelen whispered, his breath growing shallow as the poison worked its way through his blood. "I told you... I am your shield..."

His hand slipped from her face, falling limply onto the snow. His eyes closed.

"Kaelen! Stay with me!" Aurelia shouted, her voice echoing frantically across the frozen mountainside. "Guards! Fetch the medic! NOW!"

Holding his cold hand tightly against her chest, listening to the agonizingly faint beat of his heart, Aurelia realized with absolute, terrifying clarity that fifty-five days were no longer enough. She needed a lifetime.