Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

happened. There's nothing left in me. No more fight. This is as far as I go."
    "Shut up," said Kit. "Get your breath back, and we'll head back up the passage."
    "No. I'm not going anywhere. I'm cold, Kit. So cold."
    Kit sat up, put his back against the passage wall, and cradled David in his
    arms, holding him close, trying to share his warmth with the dying man.
    "Had some good times here, didn't we, Kit?"
    "The best."
    "Pity about Alice. And Jenny."
    "Yes."
    "Leave me, Kit."
    "What?"
    "They want me, not you. Pointless, you dying here as well as me."
    "I can't leave you, David. You're my friend."
    "Then do as I ask. Don't die for nothing. Kill me, and then go out to them. My death will put you in good with Lionstone again. Show her my head, and she'll probably make you Lord of Virimonde. They'll think you're one of them, after all."
    "David… please. I can't…"
    "Yes you can. You have to. I don't want to die here, by inches, screaming when the pain gets really bad. Do it, Kit. Be my friend. One last time."
    He coughed harshly, and couldn't stop. Blood spilled down his chin. He tried to speak again and couldn't. Kit hugged him tightly till the coughing stopped, then drew his knife and thrust it expertly between David's ribs. The breath went out of the Deathstalker in a long sigh, and then he was still. Kit sat there for a while, cradling the dead body in his arms. David had been quite right. The Empress would take him back, as David's executioner. She'd always had a soft spot for her smiling killer. And it wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go. The rebellion was over. Anyone could see that. So that just left Lionstone. He was a killer, and he had to go where the killing was. He carefully laid David's body
    down on the passage floor and arranged his arms and legs neatly. He drew his sword and leaned over David. The Deathstalker's face was very calm. Kit leaned down and kissed David on the bloody lips.
    "My love."
    He straightened up and raised his sword.

Chapter 4
    EVERYONE GOES TO GOLGOTHA
    And so the war finally began, almost by accident.
    The live broadcast of Virimonde's destruction and the slaughter of its population by Imperial forces backfired badly. A roar of rage and condemnation spread across the whole Empire, planet after planet seeing its own possible future in the horrific images unfolding before them on their viewscreens.
    Insurrections arose spontaneously on world after world, sparks fanning into flames as the incoming images grew steadily worse. The lower classes took to the streets, protests quickly becoming riots, turning on anything that could be seen as representing Imperial authority. The moneyed classes were right out there with them, as often as not, driven from their complacency by shock and outrage, ready to fight and die rather than see their world mechanized like Virimonde.
    The underground seized the opportunity before it, and sent its people out on every world they had access to, guiding and assisting the spontaneous uprisings.
    They supplied weapons, pointed crowds in the right directions, and put long-crafted plans into operation. Deep-planted sleeper agents committed sabotage, disrupted communications, and generally brought people together to do the most damage possible. The army responded by emptying its barracks and sending troops straight out onto the streets, with orders to shoot everything that moved. It might have worked, if so many people hadn't been shocked and
    sickened by what they'd seen happening on Virimonde. They were too angry now to be properly scared. Men and women spilled out onto the streets, armed with whatever weapons they could find or improvise, and fell upon the Imperial troops in such numbers that not even massed energy weapons could stop them. All across the Empire, on world after world, there was blood and slaughter in the towns and cities, and official buildings blazed like warning beacons of the battle to come.
    In the streets they cursed the name of the Widowmaker Dram, and tore down the portraits and statues of the Iron Bitch, and howled for revenge for the dead of Virimonde.
    Increasingly isolated as well as outraged, the Lords added their troops to the rebellion, sending their armed forces out to fight the Imperial troops alongside the rebels. The Families were nothing if not survivors, and Lionstone had become a greater threat to them than any momentary uprisings. They'd always known she was crazy, but now she had become dangerously insane. If