“Arrest the princess and her bodyguard! They poisoned the prince!” The Vipers surrounded them as Ren instinctively pulled Kathryn behind him and drew his sword. 

“What are you idiots talking about?” Ren demanded. “You just saw me run in here, and you heard her scream! This obviously is a stupid trap. What reason would she even have to-”

One of the Vipers sprang forward, and Ren had to block his dagger with his sword. “Hey!” Ren yelled, shoving him away. “Are you crazy?!”

“Surrender at once!” one of the other Vipers commanded. “There will be an investigation to determine guilt. You have nothing to fear if you’re innocent.” 

“Sure.” Ren raised his sword, his eyes burning. “I bet it’ll be the fairest trial of the century.” 

He glanced over his shoulder at Kathryn. She still seemed to be frozen in place, and her eyes were blank. “Princess, snap out of it!” 

“Then we’ll have to kill you,” a third man said. 

Ren tensed. “Go ahead and try,” he said fiercely. “I’ll kill every single one of you! I’m not going to surrender. Go get Prince Illian and Prince Gregory. They can figure all this out.” 

One of the Vipers dashed away. The others stood glaring at Ren, tensed and ready to fight. 

They were still in the same positions when Prince Gregory entered the room with about a dozen other Vipers. 

“What in blazes is this?” Ren demanded furiously. “Where is Illian?!”

Gregory said with a smile, “What do you think it is, General Ren?” 

Ren cursed. He now understood the meaning of the conversations he’d overheard. They weren’t talking about killing Kathryn. They were talking about killing Lorrin and blaming his death on Iridalys. 

Ren glanced around the room without moving his head, but Gregory still saw. “Don’t even bother to resist,” he said quickly. “Why do you think we chose a room on the third floor? You’ll never get out of here alive. At least, not if you try to take her with you. I’ll give you a better option. You can go by yourself and leave her behind. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Ren snorted. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” he said sarcastically.

He had already figured out a path. And he knew he needed to hurry, before reinforcements arrived for Gregory. “You know, I’m really amazed you’d kill your own brother,” he observed as he inched backwards towards one of the windows, pulling Kathryn with him. “I mean, I know brothers can be annoying, but that’s just petty.” 

Gregory’s face twisted into a frown. “Block that window,” he started to say. 

Ren spun, drop-kicked a Viper, and yanked Kathryn towards the window. 

“Stop them!” Gregory ordered. “Leave the princess alive, but kill the bodyguard if you have to!” 

“Good luck with that!” Ren shouted back over his shoulder as he snatched up a heavy silver chair and threw it at the window. The glass shattered. 

A dagger flashed past his face that he barely ducked. Then he put his arms around Kathryn. “Hang on, princess,” he said, and launched them both out the window. 

“He’s crazy,” Gregory muttered. “Go down and pick up the pieces.” 

But he underestimated the power of Ren’s leap, as the young man somehow just barely reached the tree that was over eight feet away from the window. He supported Kathryn with one hand and grabbed onto a branch with another. It snapped under their weight, and they crashed through the branches before hitting the ground. Of course, Ren hit first, and Kathryn landed on top of him. Every bone in his body screamed in pain. 

But Ren fought off the gathering darkness and staggered to his feet. His sword had landed a couple feet away, and he snatched it up. “Princess,” he panted. 

Kathryn was just sitting there on the ground, staring at nothing, in total shock. Ren grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Princess! Come on; we’ve gotta get out of here!” 

“The prince is dead!” The shout resounded through the castle. “Capture the princess! She is suspected of his murder!” 

Ren grit his teeth. “Blast it all, princess!” he muttered. He pulled her to her feet and dragged her towards the stables. 

She stumbled along numbly. Her mind was roaring, and she couldn’t comprehend what had happened to her. Hours before, she had been exulting in her victory, though with some apprehension. And now, something was happening that was so far beyond her ability to comprehend that she couldn’t think. 

All at once, the clash of steel seemed to snap her out of her daze. Ren was struggling to fight off three guards, all of whom seemed bent on killing him. And as fast as he threw one aside, another one raced to join the fight. 

Ren didn’t want to kill them. He still had some faint hope that there was a way to fix the whole mess that had occurred, and killing anyone would only worsen the situation. Kathryn seemed to have no such compunction. She picked up a heavy stone and threw it with all of her strength. It hit one of the guards, sending him crashing to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. 

Ren grinned at her over his shoulder, panting, “Princess! You’re back.” He kicked his opponent in the face. The man flew backwards. Then Ren hit another soldier with the flat of his sword in the side of the head. He groaned and sank to the ground. 

“The horses,” Kathryn managed to say in a broken voice. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Give me a sec!” He elbowed a fourth soldier, hard enough that the man’s brains probably rattled in his head. Then he grabbed Kathryn’s hand and dragged her into the stable. 

Her beautiful white horse was waiting for her, and Ren’s horse was next to it. “Saddle the horses,” Ren ordered. “I’ll hold ‘em off as long as I can!” 

He went to the door of the stables, knowing that he had to clear a way for them to get out, and also knowing that it would be nearly impossible to do so. All the more so because General Xian was waiting for him outside. 

General Xian held up his sword and bowed. “I challenge you,” he said. “I challenge you to a duel in the name of Navinor.” 

Ren frowned. He noticed that the other soldiers were drawing back. Either they were scared of him, or they simply trusted that General Xian would be able to deal with him. And he had a nasty feeling that the second option was the correct one. 

Ren raised his sword. “Okay. I’ve always wanted to take down a general. Let’s fight,” he said. 

Xian dashed forward and slashed his sword downward. Ren tried to deflect the strike. 

Xian was expecting the move. He had already changed the trajectory of the strike to thrust instead. 

The sword stabbed deep into Ren’s upper right arm. “AARGH!” Ren shouted in pain and jumped back, holding his arm. He could feel hot blood coursing down, and he knew the wound was bad. He struggled to push away a sudden, paralyzing sense of fear. He hadn’t even seen the thrust coming. 

“Do you wish to surrender?” Xian began. 

Ren was already lunging towards him. He delivered a flurry of blows with his left hand, pulling free a dagger with his right. Xian blocked every strike with apparent ease. In fact, he looked almost graceful. 

“Let me tell you something, Xian,” Ren snarled. “I don’t surrender. So don’t bother to ask!” 

Xian thrust again, and his blade narrowly missed Ren’s throat. 

Ren ducked and slashed his arm with his dagger. Xian fell back a step, then a side strike would have taken Ren’s head off if he hadn’t blocked with his sword just in time. But it nearly knocked him off his feet with the force. 

Ren swore, trying to regain his balance. Xian charged, crashing into him and sending him flying backwards. The young bodyguard hit the ground, but instantly regained his footing and deflected the next thrust. “You’re a tricky one,” Ren grunted as he blocked another strike. 

Xian said nothing. But then they both heard a loud pounding sound behind them and turned to look. 

Kathryn was riding her white horse, galloping towards them at incredible speed, and she was also holding the reins of Ren’s horse. 

Ren grinned and gave Xian a cheeky salute as the horses thundered towards them. Then he grabbed his horse’s mane and pulled himself into the saddle while it was at a full gallop. 

Xian glared after him, looking both angry and disappointed. 

The Vipers instantly grabbed their own horses and raced after the princess. 

Ren called to Kathryn, “Kat! Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” she said tersely. Her utterly white face said otherwise, but Ren was too busy glancing behind them anxiously to notice. Several of the Vipers were getting closer, and they had throwing daggers in hand. 

“Princess. I’m going to thin out our pursuers. Keep going, and don’t stop for anything. I’ll follow shortly,” Ren shouted. Strangely, he sheathed his sword as he spoke.

She only nodded, and he pulled his horse around and rode directly towards the Vipers. Kathryn still couldn’t think clearly, but she was vaguely aware that he was yet again risking his life to shield her. Tears prickled in her eyes as she wondered why he never hesitated. Why, even after all that had happened, protecting her, and risking everything for her, seemed to come as naturally to him as breathing.