Read Online Siege by Jack Hight - Free Book Online

fear, Mother. The men with me are sworn to protect their emperor, with their lives if needs be.’ Demetrius drew his sword, and the nobles gathered behind him followed suit. ‘I havecome for the crown, Mother.’ His voice was flat and menacing. ‘Give it to me.’
    ‘Demetrius, surely you would not harm your own mother?’ Helena seemed to blanch a shade whiter at the sight of drawn steel. Good, Demetrius thought. She was afraid.
    ‘Of course not, Mother. These men are here only to protect their emperor. They strike only those who defy me. They would never dream of harming you.’
    ‘Do you swear it?’ Helena asked.
    ‘Of course, Mother.’ Demetrius had never intended to harm her. Once he had the crown, he would send her to a convent in the country.
    ‘Good,’ Helena said. ‘Then this audience is at an end.’ She nodded her head once, curtly. In an instant the shutters flew back from the windows above them, flooding the hall with light. Archers with bows drawn stood in each opening, their forms black against the white light.
    ‘The doors!’ Demetrius shouted. His men rushed to the entrance, but the doors held fast, barred from the other side. What a fool he had been! He looked to the small door at the far side of the room, past the throne. Already, the courtiers had filed out, replaced by guardsmen. The small door closed, and Demetrius heard the thump of the lock bar sliding into place. They were trapped.
    Behind Demetrius, the nobles swirled noisily, a panic-stricken mass. Several were feverishly hacking at the thick doors to the hall, doing more damage to their swords than to the wood. Others tried in vain to scale the sheer stone walls and reach the windows. Here and there, Demetrius heard cries of fear rising above the general clamour. ‘We’re dead men!’ ‘Charge the door!’ ‘Take Helena!’
    A man charged forward from the crowd, making for Helena. Demetrius heard the twang of bowstrings, and the man fell dead, his body riddled with arrows. A few more men charged, and suddenly the room was filled with the hiss of arrows and the cries of the wounded. A noble, arrows protruding from his chest,lurched towards Helena, and Demetrius himself stepped forward and struck the man down. He had sworn, fool that he was, that no harm would come to his mother.
    ‘Silence!’ Helena’s voice rang out imperiously above the din. She stood imposingly before the throne, bathed in light, her hand held high in a sign to desist. The arrows stopped, and the hall fell silent.
    ‘Gentlemen,’ Helena said. ‘You have been deceived. The man you have sworn to protect is no emperor. No royal blood flows in his veins, for he is not my son. My son, Demetrius, would not bring armed men into this hall. My son would not defy his mother’s wish, or his brother’s right to rule. This man is no son of mine. He is an impostor.’
    Demetrius was dumbfounded. What was she saying? Had his mother lost her mind? Was she disowning him? Would he be blinded? Killed?
    ‘You have sworn allegiance to this impostor, this false emperor,’ Helena continued. ‘But, since he is not of the royal family, your vows mean nothing. I release you from them. Swear, now, eternal allegiance to the true emperor, Constantine, and as sign of your allegiance, leave your swords here before me.’
    ‘We swear eternal allegiance to Constantine!’ the nobles chorused. One by one, they stepped forward to deposit their weapons at Helena’s feet. So that was her game, Demetrius thought. Helena could never have let the nobles live had they knowingly sided with him against Constantine. But, if she killed them, then the rest of the nobility would be embittered against Constantine; he would have no peace with them as long as he ruled. So she was granting them clemency in the only way she could: by denying that he was Demetrius and thus invalidating their oaths. Despite himself, Demetrius had to admit that it was brilliant. She had taken Constantine’s worst