Rowena Daniells - The uncrowned King

Sawtree caught Piro's arm, pulling her through the gate before the king's Honour guard could haul it closed. She made out Temor bellowing for them to build a barrier of furniture across the road. Of course, the gate was designed to be defensible against attacks from the outside, not the inside.

'They'll be killed,' Piro panted.

'Not before they buy us time. Run!'

She turned and ran, tears blinding her. Now she knew why Sawtree had objected to taking her. He'd served beside those men for thirty years. He did not want to abandon them in their last stand.

Ahead of her, the townsfolk drove others before them, shouting and pleading with those ahead to make haste. A man cried out and fell to his knees at Piro's side, an arrow embedded in his shoulder.

'They have our range. We're packed so tight, they're aiming upwards and trusting to hit us,' Sawtree muttered. He paused and cast about them looking for something.

Piro gave a cry of surprise as an object thumped into her back, driving her to her knees.

'Piro!' Sawtree cried.

She felt over her shoulder to find an arrow shaft embedded in her travelling pack. A laugh escaped her. 'It's all right. My pack protected me.'

'Halcyon must be smiling on you.' He grabbed the arrow, pulling it out and hauling her upright. 'Here.' He snatched an abandoned bundle and held it over their heads. 'Walk in front of me, little Piro.'

His broad shoulders protected her as he manoeuvred her into position and drove her on.

The tone of the shouting at the gate changed and Piro knew Temor and his men had engaged the enemy. So did everyone around them. Dropping their belongings, they ran. But they were running uphill and the pace could not be maintained. Soon they slowed to a scrambling stagger. All around them people cried out and fell behind as they were hit. Piro stumbled over a body. Only he wasn't dead. Feeling her land on him, he groaned and clutched her, pleading for help.

Sawtree grabbed her by the back of her bodice, hauling her upright like a kitten.

'I'm sorry. So sorry,' she told the wounded man, whose eyes fixed on her in a silent plea before Sawtree dragged her off him and drove her on.

The woman in front of her stopped, looked back and uttered a sharp scream. Piro went to look over her shoulder, but Sawtree drove her on.

'Don't look back,' he warned. 'The gate's fallen.'

A moan was torn from Piro. As captain of the guard, Temor had taught her to ride. He'd given Byren and Lence their first wooden swords and taught them basic defence skills when they were six. He'd shared a place at their table and counselled her father for as long as she could remember.

She heard shouting from the walls of Rolenhold and looked up. They were within bow range of the castle defenders now. Surely their attackers would hold off, but no, even more arrows fell around them. Sawtree gave a grunt and staggered. She glanced down to see an arrow had driven right through his calf.

'Leave me.' He shoved her away.

She ducked under his arm and took some of his weight. He cursed her but kept on in an awkward, lurching stagger.

As they rounded the last bend leading to Rolenhold's gate several men ran out to help the stragglers inside, and the defenders cheered.

Two men took Sawtree from her.

Freed of his weight, Piro plunged through the gate on their heels. The long tunnel was dark and crowded, then suddenly she was in the first courtyard which was filled with townsfolk who were being urged to move on. Children cried for their parents. Old folks slumped, too exhausted to move.

Piro paused to catch her breath and check on Sawtree. The men had propped him against the wall.

'Are you — ' she began.

'Go.' He thrust her away, glaring across the courtyard.

She turned to look in the direction of his gaze and her eyes met Cobalt's. He was two body lengths from her, with a dozen people between them. His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed.

Sawtree shoved Piro. 'Get away, while you still can.'

'Out of my way, old woman.' Cobalt shoved through the crowd towards them.

Piro ducked between two merchants and took to her heels. Being small and not worried who she elbowed, she easily threaded her way through the crowd. Behind her, she heard Cobalt confront Sawtree.

'Where's Piro?'

'The kingsdaughter? In Sylion, they say — '

There was a sharp crack. Piro winced and kept running. She couldn't save Sawtree. How she wished she was big and powerful like Lence and Byren.

Blending in with the crowd of frightened townsfolk, she was carried further into the castle's maze of courtyards. None of the defenders bothered to question one more dishevelled maid, and none of the townsfolk paid her any attention as she picked through the family groups squabbling over patches of ground to call their own.

She'd entered one of the inner courtyards when the rumour spread, 'They're burning Rolenton!'

Some townsfolk moaned, others objected furiously, demanding to know what King Rolen would do about it.

Piro wondered what more they thought her father could do. At least he had ensured the people got out with their lives. She headed for Eagle Tower.

Several castle servants had thought to climb it, but they were watching Rolenton and didn't pay any attention to the grimy maid in the battered cap. From here, she could see the whole of Rolencia laid out before her. Sure enough, a plume of black smoke rose from the centre of Rolenton. As the short winter's day grew dark, she identified leaping flames centred in the square. The Merofynians were burning the goods left behind by the fleeing citizens. The tower of flames grew ever taller as more things were dragged out of the homes and burned. From the looks of it, the leader of the warriors had declared 'havoc', which meant no quarter would be given and the warriors were allowed to take anything they wanted.

Though crowded, the parapets of the castle were oddly quiet as everyone watched the fire in Rolenton.

When Piro grew tired, cold and hungry she came down from the tower. She wanted to see her mother and ask the queen's advice now that the castle was under siege, but Cobalt had seen her so he would have told his people to look for her.

Her stomach rumbled and, trusting to her maid's disguise, she made her way to the kitchen, which was chaotic. Tonight the cook was too busy to approach on the sly. It was the spit-turner who spotted her. His near-blind eyes could not be fooled by a maid's costume. He recognised her by the way she moved and his ears distinguished her familiar step amidst the confusion. He caught her hand as she tried to slip past. Drawing her aside, he led her into a dark storage room.

She ducked smoked hams hanging from the rafters. 'What is it?'

'We were told you'd gone to Sylion Abbey, but they did not call off the guard who's been watching over your foenix so I wondered.' Milky eyes fixed on her face trying to make out her expression. 'Don't worry, I've been feeding your pet.'

'Thank you.' She squeezed his hands. 'Have you seen Sawtree?'

The spit-turner hesitated.

'Cobalt spotted me with him earlier,' Piro admitted. 'I… I had to leave him and run — '

'They've got Sawtree in chains in the stable yard. You must stay away from him, kingsdaughter. Promise you will?'

She nodded, meaning to go and see if she could do anything for Sawtree later.

'Cobalt said you betrayed Rolencia, but I did not believe them,' the spit-turner admitted. 'None of us believed him.'

Tears stung Piro's eyes. 'What about my mother? She's been loyal to Rolencia since she came here as a child of eight.'

He shook his head. 'The queen is Merofynian-born and under the influence of a renegade Power-worker. Poor thing.'

Piro's heart sank. How quickly they had turned on her mother.