A Sinless Betrayal by Cherie Benjamin (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

with death, tangoing with the undertaker. Skirting along the edge of a jagged cliffside.

My heart is beating faster and faster. I'm afraid for my husband's life. I look away, hoping to find solace in the trees. But the tears at the corners of my eyes grow larger and threaten to tumble down my face. I touch the topaz on my neck. He wouldn't leave me.

Abigor plants his foot in Iron Coyote's stomach and sends him spiralling backwards. But somehow, that wretched bastard manages to stay on his feet. And they are back at it again, engaged in a sword fight like never before. Before Iron Coyote, I thought there was no man who could match Abigor's stamina.

But when I think about it again, I conclude that they were taught by the same person—their father, the previous barbarian king. Yes, I think. That's it. That's why.

With his other hand, Abigor lashes out at Iron Coyote and lands a punch in the middle of his face, blood pouring from his nostrils. With a quick swipe, Abigor gets a small gash running across his brother's right peck.

Iron Coyote's cry of outrage echoes throughout the crisp, calm air as the clank of metal on metal sounds out again. He is pushing Abigor back through the snow, each blow of his sword coming down harder and harder until Abigor's grip loosens on the golden handle of his sword and it drops to the snow.

Iron Coyote kicks Abigor square in his chest, landing him backwards into the same snow. And before I know it, the tip of his sword is at Abigor's throat. But he is hesitating. I cry out in shock. Abigor's sword is nowhere near him, maybe a yard away in the snow. Iron Coyote slashes the side of his face with the sword, leaving an ugly gash running along Abigor's cheekbone.

The world seems to stop when the blade presses into Abigor's neck. Time seems to slow down, the snowflakes floating past my eyelashes moving a millimetre per minute.

"It is over, Brother," Iron Coyote whispers. "I have won. The kingdom is mine. Your wife is mine. The riches, all of the things that were rightfully mine, are mine once more."

Abigor says nothing. Blood drips down his cheek and onto his neck. Iron Coyote laughs and fake-pouts at his younger brother. "Here you are once more, little brother. Beneath me. And you will always be beneath me. You will be beneath the dirt for the rest of eternity when I am finished with you." Iron Coyote's lips curl into a malicious smile. "Any last words, Dances With Wolves, the great king no more?"

He lays back in the snow. At this point, the tears come pouring down my face and I cover my mouth to encase my gasp of horror. He is submitting. He is accepting the fact that he is going to be killed. "It is not over," I stop my sobbing to hear what Abigor says, just one last time. "…until I say it is over."

And before I can realize what he's doing, the dagger is already in Iron Coyote's chest. Oh, my clever, cunning lover! I stop my sobbing as Abigor scrambles out from beneath his older brother and away from his reach. "And it is over now, Brother," Abigor growls, both pain and anger in his eyes.

It hurts him to kill his blood, but it was a step that was necessary. Ivona screams bloody-murder, collapsing to the ground in tears. It is ignored.

He comes to me. He is walking my way with a longing look in his eyes. What a battle. He needs to rest after that. When he stops dead in his tracks, I frown at him. "Come," I say. "Be in my arms."

I can tell that something is wrong by the look on his face. When I look further, I can see the tip of a sword protruding through Abigor's stomach. He reaches around him and grabs the hilt of the sword, which is in Iron Coyote's weak hands.

Oh no. No, no, no.

He pulls the sword out of his stomach and grabs it out of his brother's hands. In one clean swipe, Iron Coyote's head lays at his feet, glassy eyes staring off into the blackness of winter.

My breath seems to be caught in my throat as he drops the sword to the ground, his brother's blood covering his hands. I'm shaking. I'm shaking not because I'm cold, but because I'm terrified. "You're okay. You're not hurt," I try to tell him, but it's more for my reassurance that he is. He's hurt. And he's hurt badly.

The tears start coming again. "Please," I beg him. "Just say something!"

He looks dead on into my eyes, his beautiful face crumpled in pain and anguish. "I will never…stop loving you." And then he collapses on the ground, my nightmares coming to life.

0o0o0o0o

Three days. Three days and fourteen hours is the time I've been away from Abigor. Sitting in my room, screaming, horrified, trying to make the pain go away. I've noticed a change in the castle. Once lively in the summer, the castle hallways are filled with death and despair. Heavily pregnant, I find it hard to make my way around the castle, so I usually stay confined to my bedchambers.

Tonight, however, I decide that I can't sleep in the bed that feels so empty without him by my side. I cradle my stomach in my hands as I hoist my legs over the edge of the bed. My long white nightgown hits the cold floors as I begin to walk over to the door.

My heart is empty, no longer full of the love that once consumed me. He is gone. The weight of the world is now on my shoulders. The door moans softly as I open it into the dark hallway. Grabbing one of the candles, I navigate my way down the corridor.

His room is not far from mine. I float down the hallway like a ghost, my bare feet touching those freezing cold floors. I feel like I'm in a thick haze, a nebulous cloud hanging over my head.

My fingers touch the cold golden knob that leads to the room that he's in. The room is dark, but the curtains have been drawn back from the windows, letting a pale slip of blue moonlight filter through. It hits my skin, and I squint in the dim light before turning towards the bed.

He's so still, so peaceful. I sit by him and skirt my fingers across his chest. The wound on his stomach is wrapped, blackberry-coloured blood leaking through it at a slow pace. The healers have stopped his bleeding.

I know what they'd all told me. "He won't make it," they said.

"I give him a few more hours."

"He's not going to wake up."

"It's been three days."

"It's hopeless."

"Let go."

Dances With Wolves, the mighty king of the southern wild, slayer of men, thief far and wide…would never give up on me. So why should I choose to give up on him? It's not fair.

I splay my palm against his chest and sigh. "Please," I murmur. "Don't leave me like this. Wake up. Open your eyes."

Abigor's chest rises and falls slowly—too slowly. His heartbeat is so faint that I can barely even hear it. Maybe they're right. Maybe he really is going to die.

Tears fall from my eyes as I collapse over his chest, burying my hands in his hair. "It's not fair!" I cry out. "You promised me! You promised me you wouldn't leave!"

I don't think I've ever reached such a low point. My lover has left me, I'm pregnant, and the kingdom is slowly falling to ruin. I should have never let him leave. What a fool I am.

I lift my head up and stare at his beautiful face. His eyes are shut and he seems lifeless. I run my fingers along the contoured edge of his jaw and up his strong cheekbones.

Tears run down my face my fingers skirt over his soft lips. I long to kiss him just one last time before I return to my chambers. I close my eyes and lower my lips to his.

His lips are cold when they are usually burning hot. My heart breaks as I let out a saddened whimper. I bury my face in his hair, cheek to cheek against him. "Come back to me. We need you."

I entwine my fingers into his and let myself lay there. I'm not going back to my bedchambers. I'm staying here, by his side…because it's where I belong.

I close my eyes, drifting away.

…

I don't know how long it's been since I've fallen asleep but the sky seems a little bit brighter. I snuggle further against Abigor's chest. He's so warm.

"Warm?" I repeat to myself as I prop myself up on my elbow. His chest rises and falls higher than it usually did, and his heart beats faster. A soft squeeze reminds me that I'd never let go of his hand.

He held my hand. "Abigor," I whisper. When I receive no response, I realize that he's slowly—but surely—coming back to me. I'm overjoyed. He just needs more time to heal.

I nestle back against him again and sigh in relief. "I'm not leaving you. Ever."

I receive another squeeze. I smile against his chest. He was always one to keep his promises.
Awaken

Something beneath me shifts, stirring me from my dreamless sleep. I groan softly with my grogginess and snuggle deeper beneath the blankets. It's light out; I can faintly see it filtering through the curtains. When it moves again, I realize that Abigor is stirring. I sit straight up on the bed and stare at him, my hair fanning out around me in wild spiral curls.

My brown eyes are wide as I stare at him. His chest is rising and falling like normal and his skin is hot to the touch once more. Slowly, his eyelids flutter as he takes his first look around in three days.

"You're awake," I breathlessly say, clinging to him tightly. He seems shocked that I'm doing this but eventually his arms wrap around my body. I pull back from him with a smile on my face. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?" I gently touch the gash on his face that had to be stitched by the healers. "This cut?"

His eyes widen as his own fingers skirt across the stitched skin, like he didn't know it was there. This silence kills me. He looks down at his naked torso, bandaged over the wound in the side of his midsection.

I touch his tattooed bicep, winning his attention. He looks into my eyes intently, a pale look on his face. "Won't you say anything?" I plead with him. "You see, I've been so worried. You've been sleeping for days now. Three days and four nights to be exact."

"Three…days?" he asks, his voice husky and rough.

There we go. I nod my head and brush some of his hair out of his face. He seems to not remember anything. "Yes," I whisper. He sits up abruptly, completely ignoring his wounds.

"My brother?" he says in a panicked voice. "Dead? I wasn't dreaming?"

"Yes," I nod my head. "You killed him. Decapitated him. I had the guards dispose of the body, but I kept the head