She paused to let that sink in. She needed them to feel like cowards for even considering it.
Or we could go out there, Stephania said. We take the castle and we close it against our enemies. We kill those who oppose us. Ive already dealt with Ceres, so she wont be able to stop us. We hold this castle until the rebellion and the invaders kill one another, then we take Delos back.
There are still guards, one said. There are still combatlords here. We cant fight the combatlords and win.
Stephania gestured to Elethe, who started to open the locks on the cells. There are ways. Well gain more weapons with each guard we kill, and we all know where the armory is. Or you can stay here and rot. Ill close the doors and send a few torturers later. I dont care which.
They followed, as Stephania knew they would. It didnt matter whether they did it from fear, or pride, or even loyalty. What mattered was that they did it. They followed her up through the castle, and Stephania started to give orders, although she was careful to make it sound better than that, at least for now.
Lord Hwel, would you mind taking some of the more able men and sealing the guard barracks? Stephania said. We dont want rebels getting out.
And men loyal to the Empire? the noble said.
Can prove it by killing those other traitors, Stephania replied.
The noble hurried to meet her command. She sent one of her handmaidens to gather more, and asked a noblewoman to instruct those servants who would be obedient to Stephanias bidding.
Stephania looked around the group with her, judging who would be useful, who had secrets she could employ, whose weaknesses made them easy to control and whose made them dangerous. She sent the noble who had been so keen to avoid a fight to control the gates, and a cantankerous dowager to the kitchens where she could do no harm.
They gathered people as they went. Guards and servants came to them as they heard, their loyalties changing with the wind. Stephanias handmaidens knelt before her, then rose at a touch to be sent about their next tasks.
Occasionally, they found rebels who wouldnt submit, and those died. Some died in a quick rush of nobles, their weapons seized, their bodies broken as they were beaten to death. Others died with a knife taking them from behind, or a poisoned dart sliding into their flesh. Stephanias handmaidens had learned to be good at their tasks.
When she saw Queen Athena, Stephania found herself wondering which it should be.
What is this? the queen demanded. Whats going on here?
Stephania ignored her bleating.
Tia, I need you to find out how things are going at the armories. We need those weapons. I imagine High Reeve Scarel will have found a fight by now.
She kept walking in the direction of the great hall.
Stephania, Queen Athena said. I demand to know whats happening.
Stephania shrugged. I have done what you should have. I freed these loyal people.
It was such a simple argument, and such a neat one, that it needed no more. Stephania had been the one to do the work of saving the nobles. She was the one they owed their freedom to, and perhaps their lives.
I was locked up too, the queen shot back.
Ah, of course. Had I known, I would have rescued you along with the other nobles. Now, excuse me. I have a castle to take.
Stephania strode off briskly, because the best way to win an argument was not to give ones opponent a chance to speak. She wasnt surprised when the others there continued to follow her.
Nearby, Stephania heard the sounds of a fight. Gesturing to those with her, she headed up a flight of stairs, searching for a balcony. She quickly found what she was looking for. Stephania knew the layout of the castle as well as anyone.
Below, she saw a fight that would probably have impressed most people. A dozen muscled men, no two of whose weapons or armor matched, were fighting in the courtyard before the main gate. They did so against at least twice as many guards, maybe three times as many before the battle started, all led by High Reeve Scarel. More than that, it seemed that they were winning. Stephania could see the bodies scattered across the cobbles in their imperial armor. The noble who loved to pick fights had picked one for the ages, it seemed.
Foolish man, Stephania said.
Stephania watched for a moment, and if she had seen more of a point in the Stade, she would probably have found some kind of savage beauty in it all. As she watched, a man with a great axe slammed the haft into two men, then spun, catching one of them with the blade hard enough to nearly split him in two. A combatlord who fought with a chain leapt over a soldier, wrapping it around his neck.
It was a brave performance, and an impressive one. Perhaps if shed thought, she could have bought a dozen combatlords sometime earlier and turned them into a suitably loyal bodyguard. The only difficulty would have been the lack of subtlety. Stephania winced as a spatter of blood managed to rise almost to the lip of the balcony.
Arent they magnificent? one of the noblewomen said.
Stephania looked over at her with as much scorn as she could muster. I think theyre fools. She snapped her fingers in Elethes direction. Elethe, knives and bows. Now.
Her handmaiden nodded, and Stephania watched while she and some of the others there drew throwing weapons and darts. A few of the guards with them had short bows taken from the armory. One had a ships crossbow, better fired braced on a deck than a balcony. They hesitated.
Our people are down there, one of the noblemen said.
Stephania snatched a light bow from his hands. And they were going to die anyway, fighting combatlords so poorly. At least this way, they give us a chance to win.
Winning was everything. Maybe one day, these others would understand that. Perhaps it was better if they didnt. Stephania didnt want to have to kill them.
For now, she drew the bow as best she could with her swollen belly. Firing down like this, it almost didnt matter that she could barely pull it back halfway. It certainly didnt matter that she took no time to aim. With the mass of those struggling there below, it was enough that she would hit something.
More than that, it was enough to serve as a signal.
Arrows rained down. Stephania saw one punch through the meat of a combatlords arm, and he roared like a wounded animal before another three slammed into his chest. Knives flashed down to cut and skim, dig and gouge. Darts carried poison that probably had no time to act before the targets were punctured by arrows.
Stephania saw imperial soldiers fall along with the combatlords. High Reeve Scarel looked up at her with accusing eyes as he pawed at a crossbow bolt that had struck him through the stomach. Men continued to fall under the combatlords blades, or found gaps in their defenses, only to find their moment of victory cut short by arrow fire.
Stephania didnt care. Only when the last combatlord fell did she raise a hand for the assault to cease.
So many one of the noblewomen started, and Stephania rounded on her.
Dont be so foolish. We have taken Ceress support, and we have taken the castle. Nothing else matters.
What about Ceres? one of the guards there asked. Is she dead?
Stephanias eyes narrowed at that question, because it was the one thing about this plan that irritated her.
Not yet.
They had to hold the castle until either the invasion was done or the rebels somehow found a way to beat it back. At that point, they might need Ceres as a bargaining chip, or even just a gift so that the Five Stones of Felldust could show their victory. Having her there might even draw in Thanos, letting Stephania have all her revenge at once.
Not yet.
They had to hold the castle until either the invasion was done or the rebels somehow found a way to beat it back. At that point, they might need Ceres as a bargaining chip, or even just a gift so that the Five Stones of Felldust could show their victory. Having her there might even draw in Thanos, letting Stephania have all her revenge at once.
For now, that meant that Ceres couldnt die, but she could still suffer.
And she would.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ceres was floating above islands of smooth stone and beauty so exquisite she almost wanted to cry. She recognized the work of the Ancient Ones, and instantly she found herself thinking of her mother.
Ceres saw her then, somewhere ahead of her, still robed in a mist. Ceres sprinted after her, and she saw her mother turn, but she still didnt seem to be gaining on her quickly enough.
There was a gap between them now, and Ceres leapt, holding out her hand. She saw her mother reaching out for her, and just for a moment, Ceres thought that Lycine would catch her. Their fingers brushed, and then Ceres was falling.
She fell into the midst of a battle, figures flailing about her. The dead were there, their deaths apparently not stopping them from fighting. Lord West fought beside Anka, Rexus beside a hundred men Ceres had killed in as many different fights. They were all around Ceres, fighting one another, fighting the world
The Last Breath was there in front of her, the former combatlord as bleak and terrifying as he had ever been. Ceres found herself jumping over the bladed staff he wielded, reaching out to turn him to stone as she had before.
Nothing happened this time. The Last Breath knocked her sprawling, standing over her in triumph, and now he was Stephania, holding a bottle in place of a staff, the fumes still acrid in Ceress nostrils.
Then she woke, and reality wasnt any better than her dreaming.
Ceres woke to the feel of rough stone. For a moment, she thought that maybe Stephania had left her on the floor of her room, or worse, that she might still be standing over her. Ceres spun, trying to come to her feet and continue the fight, only to realize that there was no room in which to do it.
Ceres had to force herself to breathe slowly, fighting down the panic that threatened to engulf her as she saw stone walls on every side. It was only when she looked up and saw a metal grille above her that she realized she was in a pit, not buried alive.
The pit was barely broad enough to sit in. There was certainly no way that she could lie full length. Ceres reached up, testing the bars of the grille above her, reaching down for the strength to bend or break them.
Nothing happened.
Now, Ceres felt the panic starting to rise. She tried reaching down for the power again, being gentle with it, remembering how her mother had corrected her after Ceres had burnt out her powers trying to take the city.
This felt the same in some ways, and yet different in so many more. Before, it had been as though the channels along which the power flowed had been burned through until they hurt too much to use, leaving Ceres hollowed out.
Now, it felt as though she was simply normal, although that felt like less than nothing compared to what shed been only a little while ago. There was no doubting what had done this either: Stephania and her poison. Somewhere, somehow, she had found a method to strip Ceres of the powers her Ancient One blood gave her.
Ceres could feel the difference between this and what had happened before. That had been like flash blindness: too much too soon, fading slowly with the right care. This was more like having her eyes pecked out by crows.
She reached up for the bars again anyway, hoping that she was wrong. She strained, putting all the strength she could muster into trying to move them. They didnt give in the slightest, even when Ceres pulled at them so hard her palms bled against the metal.
She cried out in surprise as someone threw water down into the pit, leaving her soaked and huddled against the stone of the wall. When Stephania stepped into view, standing over the grate, Ceres tried to glare at her in defiance, but right then she was too cold and wet and weak to do much of anything.
The poison worked then, Stephania said without preamble. Well, it should. I paid enough for it.
Ceres saw her touch her belly then, but Stephania went on before Ceres could ask what she meant.
How does it feel to have the only thing that made you special taken away? Stephania asked.
Like having been able to fly, but now barely being able to crawl. But Ceres wasnt going to give her that satisfaction.
Havent we been here before, Stephania? she demanded. You know how it ends. With me escaping and giving you what you deserve.
Stephania dumped another bucket of water on her then, and Ceres leapt at the bars. She heard Stephanias laughter as she did it, and that just drove Ceress anger. She didnt care if she had no powers right then. She still had a combatlords training, and she still had everything shed learned from the Forest People. She would strangle Stephania with her bare hands if need be.
Look at you. Like the animal you are, Stephania said.
That was enough to slow Ceres a little, if only because she wouldnt let herself be anything Stephania wanted her to be.
You should have killed me when you had the chance, Ceres said.
I wanted to, Stephania replied, but events dont always give us what we want. Just look at how things have gone with you and Thanos. Or me and Thanos. After all, Im the one whos actually married to him, arent I?
Ceres had to put her hands against the stone of the walls to keep herself from leaping at Stephania again.
I would have cut your throat if I hadnt heard the war horns, Stephania said. And then it occurred to me that it would be an easy thing to take the castle back. So I did.
Ceres shook her head. She couldnt believe that.
I freed the castle.
Shed done more than that. Shed filled it with rebels. Shed taken the people who were loyal to the Empire and shed imprisoned them. The others, shed given chances to, shed
Ah, youre starting to see it now, arent you? Stephania said. All those people who were so quick to thank you for their freedom turned back to me just as quickly. Ill have to watch them.
Youll have to watch more than that, Ceres snapped back. You think the rebellions fighters will let you sit here playing queen? You think the combatlords will?
Ah, Stephania said, with an exaggerated show of embarrassment that made Ceres dread what was coming next. Im afraid I have some bad news about your combatlords. It turns out that the best of fighters still dies when you put an arrow in his heart.
She said that so casually, so tauntingly, yet if it was even half true it was enough to break Ceress heart. Shed fought alongside the combatlords. Shed trained alongside them. Theyd been her friends and her allies.
You just enjoy being cruel, Ceres said.
To her surprise, she saw Stephania shake her head.
Let me guess. You think Im no better than that idiot, Lucious? A man who couldnt enjoy himself in the slightest unless someone else was screaming? You think Im like that?
It seemed like a fairly accurate description from where Ceres was standing. Especially given everything that was likely to happen next.
Arent you? Ceres demanded. Oh, Im sorry, and there I was thinking that youd put me in a stone pit, waiting to die.