Kitanna
Chapter 154: THE CONCUBINE’S ATONEMENT

Chapter 154: THE CONCUBINE’S ATONEMENT

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: MILES ABOVE ~ DHARIA]

When the rain started, Nix had wanted them to rest and continue their journey the next day, but on second thought, he decided against it. They were yet to find out who exactly had poisoned the high priestess and the motive for it, so leaving the palace was not ideal. They had continued their journey, but given that the rain was very heavy, it took them a lot of time to arrive.

On getting to the entrance, Nix saw his grandfather and Chantal on the ground with other palace guards lifeless, while Panha stood in front of them.

Before he could even make a move, Kitanna had shot an arrow, jumping down from her horse. She was very furious, owing to the fact that she never for one day welcomed the merchant woman.

Nix rushed to where his grandfather was kneeling, holding Chantal. "Papa, what happened?" He saw blood all over the place; Nix was scared it would be his old man. The only family he had; his hands trembled so badly that he was not even able to lift him up.

Cortez rushed to the place and lifted the old man up; that was when they saw that it was not his blood but that of the young guard who was almost losing consciousness.

"Boy, the palace is under attack; this young lad is cut badly. We took a hard hit; we’ve lost almost half of the palace guards." He summarized in details immediately.

Nix took out his sword, turning to Cortez he said, "Take the women and my grandfather to the isolated quarters; the rest of our men would fight alongside with me."

Cortez nodded; his eyes briefly caught sight of the princess; she was not among the women that needed safety. The princess was more than capable of protecting herself as she was a terror to the person she attacked at the moment.

"You crazy Princess!" Panha shouted as she tried to dodge the attack. But it was not even getting easier.

"That’s what I’m called around here." Kitanna grinned, landing another attack on the woman. She was filled with rage when she arrived and saw the royal guards lying lifeless on the ground. She couldn’t let the blood they used in protecting the palace go to waste.

Kitanna stopped for a moment, as if giving her opponent time to breathe, then she used her knife to gather water and sand from the ground before flinging it towards Panha’s direction.

"Argh! My eyes!! You’re a monster!" Panha held her eyes, as it was now filled with dirt from the ground. She had no idea the princess was a very good fighter. A former assassin even.

Kitanna used that opening to get closer to her, using her sword to wrap the woman’s neck, then she landed a heavy punch on her face. A punch she had always wanted to land ever since she noticed her eyes on Nix, and doing it now gave her joy.

As Kitanna raised her hands to hit a second blow, her sharp brown eyes caught sight of the knife Panha was trying to bring out. She was not going to fall victim to such an attack the second time; Kitanna dodged it, but the knife cut the side of her face a little, giving Panha room to escape.

"Hehe, Pelican can fly." Kitanna grinned, licking off the blood that touched her lips.

Cortez moved the women towards the isolated quarters while two men carried Chantal, who was now unconscious. Getting to the room, Axilla lighted all the candles and locked the windows. She couldn’t believe they had escaped frying pan to meet fire, and it was all their fault; maybe if the princess didn’t come to rescue them, just maybe all these wouldn’t have happened.

"Axilla," Cortez called the girl’s attention, his eyes noticing her trembling hands.

"On no account should any of you step out of this room. Do you hear me?"

Axilla nodded her head, looking at Chantal, who was now losing so much blood. She wished she had never spoken to him wrongly in the past; now he was unconscious.

"Lady Hash, can you help the boy?" Cortez asked the woman who had been quiet since their arrival.

"Get me the things I need. Lay the boy on the bed, remove his clothes. And Axilla, you will be my eyes." Lady Hash rolled her sleeves; she was going to treat the boy.

Cortez nodded when everything was in order; he needed to assist Nix and the princess out there. Before he could leave, his sister held him tightly.

"Cortez, please, I need to go out. The baby, Bareea’s child." Larel pleaded; the moment she saw blood all over the place, her first thought was where the child was and if he was safe.

Cortez shook his head, "Larel is not safe out there; I’ll look for the child myself. Stay in here." He turned to leave, but Larel didn’t let go.

"Please please, let me look for him. He would be scared." Larel pleaded, almost crying.

Cortez, who did not have time for this, agreed; he assigned four guards at the entrance of the room then he left with Larel in search of the child.

Bareea, who saw everything unfold, was now confused on which side she should be on. She decided to find her son first before thinking of anything else to do. She turned from the place she was standing and walked towards the palace storeroom.

Back at the palace entrance, Nix did not hesitate to cut down the intruders; his skill merged with his anger at almost losing his grandfather. As two of the intruders tried to attack him at the same time, he moved back, deflecting their attack, then using his strength he dragged the two men and squashed their heads together as they fell lifeless.

His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Kitanna. She was letting go of the man she had killed, as if feeling his gaze she turned to face him, giving him an assuring wink.

"Look out!" Kitanna called, with her eyes widened. Nix swiftly moved, rolling on the ground, then getting his balance he used his sword to defend himself. The man who was now fighting was as tall as Nix himself, but he looked older and his dressing was quite different. And the peculiar cornrows on his head.

"I’ll go find the pelican." Kitanna shouted when she saw that Nix was capable of handling the huge man.

Panha ran to where Almaria and Khelan were sitting comfortably waiting for good news. Her dress drenched with rain and blood, her neck bearing the red mark which Kitanna’s sword left there.

"What happened to you? Where is the child?" Almaria got up immediately, looking alarmed.

"We have to leave now! The princess is back, and she is very crazy!" Panha shouted, looking behind her in case the princess suddenly snuck up on her.

Knowing who Kitanna was and how she was trained, Almaria knew exactly what Panha was talking about, but they had backup.

"Khelan leave this place; find your son and hide. I’ll stall time until our backup arrives." Almaria suggested, and without waiting for his mother to finish talking, Khelan ran out of the room followed by Panha who did not want to face the princess again.

Meanwhile, Larel and Cortez searched around the palace, looking for where the baby would be. She was almost giving up when she noticed that she had not searched the kitchen. As she pushed open the kitchen door, she saw Clephas and Severus hiding close to the big earthen pot.

"Lady Larel," Clephas heaved a sigh of relief.

Larel rushed to where they were, and she touched the baby’s face. "He is sleeping" she closed her eyes feeling relieved.

Cortez entered the kitchen, "We should go back to the isolated quarters." He announced, and quickly they started leaving the kitchen making their way towards the isolated quarters.

Clephas handed the baby over to Larel, as she held him closely as if someone would snatch the child anytime soon. As they walked through the corridors, the stopped in their tracks when someone appeared in front of them.

It was Bareea, Larel held the child closely, she was not going to allow anyone take him from her.

"I’m not here to take him, I want to make sure he is okay." Bareea remarked, noticing the defensive look Larel had on her face. Her words left Larel surprised, she was almost going to talk when Cortez beat her to it.

"We don’t have time for this reunion, let’s move." Cortez called their attention, as he continued to lead them forward. Stepping out of the palace, they were surrounded by Panha and Khelan with two other of Almaria’s men.

"Hand over the boy now." Khelan spoke in a suggestive tone.

Cortez smiled when he saw Panha, he turned to the people behind him. "Run towards the isolated quarters, I’ll be behind you."

Larel held the child firmly, as she started running, but her gown slowed her down a little but it didn’t stop her from moving forward. Clephas, Severus and Bareea were already ahead as they ran with all their might almost getting close to the isolated quarters that was when they looked back and saw that Larel was still far behind.

"Run, Lady Larel, run." They called her.

Larel continued running but something hit her leg, and she fell, landing with her back while using her side to protect the boy. By this time, the boy woke up startled with the sudden movement and he started crying.

Before Larel could stand, she saw a figure charging towards her with a knife. It was Panha. She couldn’t move, so she held the boy close to her chest. Praying for a saviour.

"No!!!" Clephas and Severus shouted as the knife landed on Larel.

When the shout ceased, Larel who had closed her eyes, opened it. She was alive, but in front of her was Bareea who was now coughing blood. Larel’s eyes widened in shock, Bareea had taken the hit for her.

"Get out of there you whore!" Before Panha could land another attack, Cortez threw a stone at her back which made her gruntle in pain as she limped escaping from there.

The baby who was now fully awake, started crying. Bareea moved her hands up to touch the boy’s face.

"Why?" Larel asked, why did she take the hit that was meant for her. She asked in her mind.

Bareea held his son’s face, "I...I’m sorry Labre, for finally...se..seeing" she coughed another blood.

"For finally seeing you now....I...I hope this atones for my past sins....and doesn’t affect...you...You should have been....blessed with a better mother."

"No no, help please somebody help!!" Larel called out. Trying to console the baby who wouldn’t stop crying, and at the same time hold Bareea.

Bareea coughed blood again, her body trembling. "Larel,....p...pl... please prot... protect him....he... he’s our son..." She struggled to speak, her eyes closely slowly.

As Clephas and Severus ran towards the place it was as if time slowed their steps. All Larel could hear was the splattering of the rain and the cries of the baby. As her tears filled eyes watched the concubine depart from the world.