64- The Fall of Humber

Deadri was not fond of other countries' noble dinners. He especially disliked this celebratory feast of Montevia's "defeat."

It was a grand party with sparkling chandeliers, delicious wine, extravagant women, rich food, and all the nobles of Humber decked out in their best clothes, pins and other awards prominent on their chests. The Montevians were dressed up as well as they could be after being a part of an invading army for a year and a half. Only the important nobles of both armies were here, there were no simple soldiers. The soldiers from Montevia had all been disarmed and were currently being quartered in hotels and empty storage facilities throughout the city.

Deadri sipped at his wine as he watched Jay flirt with a shy Humbernian woman. A few had already approached Deadri with intent to dance and walked away when he turned them down. Jay had been incorrigible since his disguise dropped. Truly, the entirety of the Vigo family must be impeccable actors, for Finch could act as if he wasn't in pain and now Jay could pretend to be Finch so thoroughly Deadri almost believed him, until he looked into the young man's memories.

He had known about the ruse the entire time, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't want to be left behind, leaving the job of keeping Finch on course to Sir Hunter. He couldn't argue with Finch's logic, though. Finch could only carry one person on his back, and since the scarred man was obsessed with him, it was best to send them off together. They didn't want to chance Finch going out of Hunter's obsession range, even if that range was a good half of the continent in length. Also, Deadri was expected to stay with "Finch." He gave up his kingdom to be here, so if he disappeared, questions would rise. Everyone expected Sir Hunter to leave at some point or another; he wouldn't be missed.

Deadri had to suck up his pride and deal with it. He did leave his country to make sure the wister king remembered the people whose lives hung on his decisions, and in this case, that meant staying with the ruse. He sent a painting of his kids with Finch to at least provide some type of influence to keep the man here.

Tonight, he would see if this plan was worth it. It had been a week since the "surrender," and as Finch had assumed, the celebration was this night, putting all the important decision makers in one room. Finch's plan was falling in place with near perfect precision, at least as far as Deadri could see. He was ready for his part. More than ready. Every single one of these Humbernian nobles held deep, dangerous secrets, and the collection of them was making Deadri sick.

He just wanted this to be over so he could send for his kids.

An hour passed in stifling boredom, the urge to expel the contents of his stomach increasing with each pair of eyes he met until Rose came and hid behind him.

He looked over his shoulder quizzically at her.

"Sparrow was put in a wister cell when we surrendered," she whispered in explanation.

"I understand this. Who are you hiding from?"

"Him," she hissed, pointing at the young King of Humber, who was dressed in more common clothing.

Deadri looked around and set eyes upon said easy-going individual whom he had yet to meet nor seen into the past of.

"Is he trying to flirt with you?"

"No! Maybe. I don't know! He's handsome…"

Deadri chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, young love. Always amusing."

She hit his back. "I am not in love!"

"Of course not. Just infatuation."

She went silent, confirming his assumption. At that moment, the grand ballroom doors burst open, and black-clad pirates filled in. All the nobles, whether Humbernian or Montevian, went to draw their weapons, but since this was a celebration of peace, none of them had weapons.

The guards posted around the room quickly took on the gang of pirates, but a familiar short and stocky man shot most of the guards down before they could engage. Deadri shivered and quickly gulped down the rest of the wine glass he had been nursing all night. He was one of four relaxed people in the room.

The women screamed as the pirates finished off the guards and surged in. The noblemen tried to fight, but were quickly subdued. Deadri casually made his way to Sir Hunter, who was being yelled at by another wanderer who had been part of the surrendered army.

"… thinking? Our king surrendered us, you can't just—"

Sir Hunter slapped his hand over the other wanderer's mouth. He looked at Deadri.

"The kid was good enough to fool a wanderer, at least."

"Where's Finch?" Deadri asked coolly.

"He changed the attack plan and sent us here first while he takes the weapons to our men."

"By himself?" Deadri demanded, his cool façade falling.

Sir Hunter scowled, "Aye. Trust me, at this point any help we could provide would have slowed him down more than anything."

"What in the hell is going on here?" a voice exploded behind Deadri.

He turned around to assess the situation. King Kioten was glaring daggers at Jay, who just smirked and took a bite of an apple. Apparently, the pirates knew to ignore those who looked like they understood what was happening. King Kioten's glare turned to Deadri, and he was hit by an avalanche of memory.

It was such a torrent, he stumbled back and landed on his butt, still being filled with memories from the young king. He tried to force his eyes shut, but they couldn't close against the onslaught. He struggled to raise his hand and slap his palm over his eyes. He found himself shaking on the ground, a pounding headache now screaming behind his eyes.

All of the young man's memories etched into his brain, all at once. That hadn't happened since he was young and unpracticed. He shakily removed his hand and stood, straightening himself and keeping his eyes on the ground. He could still feel every eye now on him, pirate and noble alike.

"Are you alright, Prince Deadri?" Rose asked as she came to his side.

He smiled tightly, his cheeks going pink in embarrassment. "Aye, I'm fine. I simply forgot some control. Jay, you should explain to our hostages what is going on."

The kid grunted and chewed for a second before talking. "Right. Esteemed nobility of Humber, your city is under attack. In case you are wondering who is attacking, it is my brother, King Finch Vigo, who by the way, was not the one who signed over the Montevian army. That was me, disguised as him. Therefore, it didn't count. So, yeah, your pompous asses are stuck tied in here as your army faces the wrath of a caged army that got a week of rest. Oh, and a wister most likely over halfway through going Dalnor. He's a genius, eh?"

"Or at least he was," Deadri interrupted. "Don't expect the Finch you've seen most recently, Jay."

Jay huffed, "I know."

"B-but, you said you killed him!" the young king exclaimed in disbelief.

Jay shrugged. "I lied, and yes, it was an elaborate lie. Because I've imagined doing every one of those things to him, and Sparrow has too."

The room dissolved into chaos as the nobles went from dumbfounded to outraged. There was shouting, but most of them were bound so not much violence. Even if they had tried to free themselves, the pirates were prepared and armed. As it was, only three nobles were killed by the pirates; their bodies stripped of anything valuable, of course.

Deadri shook his head and made sure his power was in check, quickly recalling his own memories to orient himself, before jumping up onto a table and stomping loudly three times. The Humbernians fell silent and glared up at him. The pirates seemed amused. He avoided their eyes to avoid distraction.

"Listen well to what I have to say," he warned, "because with me lies your chance of keeping your country when this is over with."

The nobles grumbled, so he crossed his arms and spoke at a normal level, uncaring if they heard him or not.

"King Finch has signed over the stewardship of the Montevian throne to me. As soon as this war is over, which is the moment he walks in this room, you deal with me."

They shushed, their glares even worse. He grinned knowingly.

"And my power is that I see the past of anyone I lock eyes with."

Most of the eyes in the room immediately snapped away from him.

He snorted. "I've already seen each and every past, and frankly, I wouldn't trust any of you even if the moon itself told me to. It's up to me whether Humber stays a limited country or is entirely integrated into Montevia. I am the one who decides who keeps their lands and titles. I am the man King Finch Vigo has put in charge of managing the peace after this war."

He locked eyes with King Kioten and was not overwhelmed this time.

"So get your court together, Kioten Wes. Any signs of physical resistance will be dealt with quickly, right Roberts?"

The leader of the pirates nodded, a wry smile on his lips. "And trust me, boys, this prince will be much easier to deal with than the wister."

Rose watched as the nobles argued, Deadri sitting in the king's seat at the head of the table. Kioten, the actual king, sat on the floor against the wall, his eyes downcast as he chewed on his lower lip. The pirates hovered around the nobles, hands on their weapons, ready to pounce if violence broke out. It had been two hours since they arrived, most all the time filled with loud arguments and finger pointing. Deadri seemed bored, the only one sitting in a chair.

Rose stopped paying attention when the Duke of somewhere blamed the Royal Treasurer of fraud and every one of the noblemen started outing rivals and admitting to nothing, two hours ago.

She missed Sparrow. She was the only girl in the room, the Humbernian females having been escorted out by Wesley's men. They tried to get her to go with them, but she refused, hiding behind her twin, who was actually the same height as her. Not thirty minutes into the argument, Sir Hunter stormed out after trying to shoot Jay. The only reason he missed was because one of the nobles exploded to his feet at that moment and took the shot in his shoulder. The knight stormed out, Jay starting to do so before Deadri reminded him that he needed to stay because they needed to see him and Finch in the same room.

Rose snuck a glance at the moody, young king. He was handsome, she had to admit. Messy brown hair fell over his green eyes, straight white teeth exposed as he worried his manly lips. He had tried to flirt earlier, when he had the advantage, but she ran from him. Now that he was vulnerable, his confidence shattered, she had been trying to gather the courage to go up to him. She had to admit he intrigued her. From what she had seen this past week, he wasn't a natural leader. He cared what people thought of him too much.

It wasn't that he wanted to please them, more like the opposite. He was a rebel without a cause. From what she had gathered, he had taken on the cause of avenging his brother, but now that had proven to be an impossibly goal and he looked lost. She finally just squared her shoulders and made sure her neckline hadn't sunken any lower than the last time she checked before going to sit next to him.

She didn't care that she was wearing a dress, sitting cross-legged and mimicking his pose of resting his head on his hand with his elbow propped on his knee.

"So," she ventured, "what mystery of the world have you solved these past two hours?"

He snorted, looking up at her. "Oh, nothing much. Just that I'm entirely inept and too blind to see the obvious."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I've decided that I hate corsets. Never had to bother with them before one of your noblewomen forced me to dress up for this party, and now I can't slouch correctly."

He assessed her poor imitation of his position. "You put up a valiant effort."

"Why thank you." She straightened so she could breathe properly.

Silence fell until he muttered just loud enough to be heard above the current screaming match, "Did you know?"

"I knew only that Finch was gone and Jay took his place. I didn't know where he went, so I assumed he went to the desert, and when Jay insisted he was dead…" she trailed off, unsure of how she felt.

"Did you grieve?"

She shook her head. "I don't know him very well. I mourned for Rianna more than my brother. I knew her even less than him, but she didn't do anything to deserve having her husband die while she's trapped out in the desert. Finch may consider himself backed into a corner, but even he would agree he's not innocent in all this. She is."

He scowled. "He was backed into no corner."

She shook her head. "That is not my argument to hold. Sparrow would be better at it than me, but really you want to have that debate with Finch himself."

"So, what's your name, then?" he sidetracked. "Hawk? Pigeon? I looked up birds so I could try to figure it out when I heard there was a Vigo woman around."

She smiled in amusement. "Boys are birds, girls are flowers." She extended her forearm. "I'm Rose."

He reached to grip her forearm but flinched bodily when the loudest explosion either had ever heard shook the walls. Rose looked up and gaped at the grand ballroom doors, which were now broken off their hinges, the sturdy doors themselves buried into the walls on either side. Dust billowed from the newly cracked walls, outlining the lone figure that stood with his head tilted, five colored eye and red and blue eye scanning quickly over the now silent nobles.

Rose was the first to break the awestruck silence, her snorts of laughter causing many to flinch. She stood and grinned at her oldest brother, who fixed his gaze on her.

"A dress, bro? You could have at least tried something more fashionable."

He looked down at the dress he wore, the plunging neckline showing his sweaty chest and the deep red color making him look deathly pale. He shrugged and jumped, landing on the table with a resounding thud.

He walked slowly along the length of the table, each step loud with his heavy combat boots that looked extremely out of place from under the petticoats he wore. There was a tear in the dress on his stomach, revealing the corset underneath. His dramatic entrance was interrupted by her continuous laughter. Not that he seemed to care. He simply looked at every noble he passed, not saying a word.

He ignored Deadri, completely jumping over the man to stand in front of Kioten. Kioten stood shakily, gulping loud enough for the entire room to hear.

Finch plucked the crown from his head and twisted it in his hands, deforming the metal and then tearing it as if it were paper. He tossed the pieces over his shoulder, getting uncomfortably close to Kioten.

Kioten bit his lip but somehow managed to look Finch in the eyes. Finch smiled, showing teeth sharpened to deadly points. His eyes assessed Kioten's reaction, the former king shrinking as far back as he could.

"You-you killed my brother."

Finch tilted his head. And then slammed a hand against the wall next to Kioten's face, cracking the solid wall and making everyone flinch. His other hand came up, wicked black claws tracing Kioten's jugular. Kioten suddenly found an inner strength and tilted his chin up, baring his neck, but he kept Finch's gaze, fire in his eyes.

"Go ahead. Kill me too."

Finch stepped back, head cocked so severely his ear nearly rested on his shoulder. He shook his head and closed his eyes, his entire body starting to shake.

Deadri stepped toward him cautiously. "King Finch, do you know where Sir Hunter is?"

He nodded, his shaking now so intense he was vibrating.

"Why aren't you leaving?"

Finch shook his head quickly and was gone the next second.

Which direction will I find her?