Honor-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book... - Chapter 70: Chapter 70

It was chaos.
Aun was fighting with all of her strength to break free of the grasp of the soldier who held her, but then, suddenly, she was sprawled on the floor. She pushed herself to hands and knees, but a great weight crashed over her. At last, her scream cut off, crushed out of her by a heavy man falling over her back.
She squirmed away from him, trying not to let him get ahold of her, and only when she had dragged herself backward did she realize he had half a face.
Don't look don't think just get up and help them don't look don't think just get up and help them—
Aun staggered to her feet, backing away from the thick of the fight. She looked past the swinging blades and wrestling bodies to where Mhera, Kaori, and Eovin had sat, bound and gagged. To her horror, she could barely glimpse a crush of bodies where they had been through a haze of smoke. The grand bed was on fire, flames licking up the wall behind it toward the ceiling, and nearer to their escape route, a black and burning hole was being eaten into the ceiling.
She ran, shoving folds of her skirts up into her bodice as she did to keep them free of her legs. A swinging blade sang through the air very near to her arm. She staggered back, a sob jolting out of her chest, but she did not let it stop her for more than that instant. She kept running, realizing after a couple of steps that she'd been struck as the pain throbbed through her arm, urgent, a distraction she could not afford.
Mhera was not there. Kaori, coughing in the smoke, was being carried away from the wall by a pair of palace guards. He was still gagged, still bound. Nearby, a pair of Koren's men was trying to fight back the palace guards, but they were obviously weaker than their adversaries, clumsy and slow.
The only remaining prisoner was Eovin. Aun ran to him and put her arms around his chest. There was blood. In the moment she did not realize it was her own. "Come on," she breathed. "I've got you."
Eovin pushed when she pulled, trying to help her get him to his feet. He was too heavy for her to bear on her own and his legs were tied securely together, making it impossible for him to walk. Aun was not a weak woman, used as she was to helping invalids and the wounded get from one place to another. But carrying a full-grown man without any help was beyond her, even with adrenaline flooding every part of her body and lending her uncommon strength.
"Come on," she pleaded. "I've got you, Eovin. Come on."
"Stop them!" came a raw bellow. "Stop them, you useless blaggards! Listen to your sovereign!"
Aun glanced over her shoulder and saw Koren crashing toward them, his face red and smeared with soot. He was a big man. A powerful man. One of the palace guards launched himself into his path, but he was thrown aside as if he were no more than a gnat. She tightened her grasp on Eovin, steeled her shoulders, prepared to put herself between him and the threat.
The Lorekeeper made a sound low in his throat. He pulled away from Aun, loosening her grasp around his chest.
"Come with me!" Aun cried. She took hold of his shirt, trying to catch a tight hold of him again. "Eovin—"
Eovin looked at her, once again jerking back. This time, her arms slipped free of him, her hold in his shirt loosening. His expression was tired and weak, but his gaze was sharp, his scowl a command. He grunted twice, baring his teeth around the gag, and she understood the muffled command. Go. Run.
"N—" Aun began, but she had no time to say more.
Koren had reached them, and Eovin had thrown himself in the renegade prince's path.
The smoke choked the royal wing of the palace. Numb and confused, Aun ran without precisely knowing where she was going. She sobbed and bucked away when a pair of strong arms encircled her, but she heard a rough familiar voice—
"It's Samni. Come, let me help you."
—and she did not fight for long.
What happened next came to her in fragments, scraps of torn cloth with fuzzy, fraying edges.
She was tripping down the last couple of stairs, Samni's arm holding her upright.
Somebody, far away, cried, "The archmage! They've got the archmage!"
"Here." She felt the words more than heard them as Samni spoke. "Take her. Get her outside."
"Aun, are you hurt?"
"I don't think that's her blood."
"No—look, she's been cut."
More arms. More voices. The next thing Aun knew, she was in the Sovereign Square, ferried along by a group of soldiers. She struggled, trying to pull away. "I have to go back. Eovin's there. I have to go back."
"Shh. We'll get him. We're going to get him," said a woman. "Come on, now. To safety with you." She leaned down and scooped Aun right up into her arms, and then they were running, cutting a path through the Imperial Gardens that no cobblestone way had marked. There were shouts from up ahead. Aun gave in and hung on, her arms around the soldier's neck for what felt like mere seconds before she was passed off to a man who carried her the rest of the way.
"Eovin," she said. "You're going to get him? Leave me. I can walk. Please, he needs help."
"Don't worry," said the man, his breath harsh in her ears as he ran.
Then there was silence. Roaring silence.
Blearily, Aun looked around. She was seated on a bench in a dim room. A blur of movement at her right hand caught her attention. She looked up to see Mhera approaching her, carrying a cloth. It was wet and blessedly cool when it touched her cheek, but Aun pulled Mhera's hand away, pushing herself to her feet.
"Sit," Mhera rasped. "Sit." She pressed Aun back onto the bench.
"Mhera. Oh, thank the goddess. Where are we?" Aun asked. She hardly had a voice. She did not resist the gentle brush of the cloth now, but her hands were still clasped around Mhera's.
"The gatehouse. There's been an attack outside the palace walls." Mhera wiped Aun's clammy brow. "They have us here under guard, I think—I must admit I have simply followed orders."
Aun looked up at Mhera's face, a new, darker terror gripping her. "Where—?" she began.
But there at Mhera's shoulder was another familiar face: Kaori's. One look at him was all it took for Aun to break. A sob shook out of her. Tears blurred her eyes. Before she could speak again, Kaori was sitting on the bench next to her, his arm around her, drawing her in.
"He's here. Kaolo is here and safe, my love. The kitchen staff were sent out before...Shh." He kissed her cheek, kissed her brow, kissed her hair. "Shh. It's all right. He's just in the other room. He's scared, but he's safe, I promise you."
"Don't let him s-see—"
"I know. I know." Kaori held her tighter.
Mhera's voice was soft. "Take as long as you need to gather yourself before you go in, Aun. Let me get you a drink of water."
"Sit down, you f-fool," Aun sniffed. "You've been through seven hells. I can get it. I'm okay."
"Seven hells," Kaori echoed. He and Mhera exchanged a glance, tiredly amused. "All we did was sit and bide our time until our heroines arrived."
"What were you thinking?" Mhera asked. She seemed to want to say more, but she shook her head and moved away. For a moment she was busy at a side table. Then she returned, a cup of water in her hands. She passed it to Aun and sat down on her other side, leaning in to rest her forehead against Aun's temple. She whispered, "You and Danya—speaking of fools..."
"Let's not talk about it, please. Not now." Aun shivered in Kaori's arm. She lifted the cup to her lips and drank deeply. Swallowing hurt, but the water was delicious, washing away the taste of smoke, the metallic tang of blood.
A beat of silence passed.
Then another.
It went on, that blessed silence. The three of them sat touching, setting aside the talking for another time.