Tom flung the door open and stepped into the room beyond, which turned out to be a circular chamber with the same circumference of the whole Black Tower. Spiral steps hugged the walls all around and led to a top section he couldn't see due to both distance and darkness. Periodically, an arched gap in the wall shed some light on the stairs, but long stretches remained enshrouded in darkness.

Tom carefully settled his foot on the first stair, and then another. He slowly made his way up with Trevor behind him and James taking the rear. He found himself holding his breath at times as he ascended with his eye darting about for danger. What if one of these stairs is a trapdoor? he asked himself, immediately shivering at the thought.

The trio made their way up in silence for a few agonizing minutes. But then Tom heard one of the stairs creak ahead of him, before he'd even begun raising his foot to step on it. He frowned and held up a hand to his comrades.

He returned his attention to the path ahead just in time to block an incoming blow from the unmarked swordsman, who used the railing to swing from underneath the stairs to the top side. Tom knocked the saber blade aside and gave himself an opening to jab his pommel into the opponent's chin. Grunting, he stumbled up a few steps.

Tom skipped two steps to power his thrust at the cloaked figure's chest. But the unmarked swordsman pinned Tom's blade between his own saber and the vambrace covering his opposite wrist. He nearly wrested the longsword from Tom's grasp, but with a tug, the Monteraynian drew it back. A risky backflip onto a landing five steps up helped the cloaked fighter avoid another of Tom's sword strokes.

Tom raced onto the carpeted landing and rained blows on the unmarked swordsman without mercy. Trevor approached more cautiously, but James hurried around him to engage. In concert with Tom, James assaulted the saber-wielder and bullied him back and forth across the platform.

A boot to the chest sent Tom stumbling back into the landing's railing. He watched as James continued the fight without any problem, constantly pushing with his attacks to drive the unmarked swordsman back toward the stairs. James' onslaught was so vigorous that Trevor's involvement would have been a bigger risk to himself than to their opponent.

James raised his sword for a strong downward strike too powerful to stop fully with a block. But the unmarked swordsman employed another strategy. Just before the weapon connected, he ducked and leapt past James onto the landing again. The momentum of James' attack continued, leaning him forward toward the stairs. He cried out and attempted catching himself, but it was too late.

Harrowing sounds of tumbling followed, punctuated by various crunches and snaps, along with the clang of a sword bouncing on the steps. With a tearing sound, the series of heart-wrenching noises ended.

Spouting only the vilest of profanities, Tom leapt at the unmarked swordsman and engaged in the most passionate sword fight of his life. Blows more powerful, swift, and accurate than he'd ever executed hailed on the cloaked fighter. Tom nearly shattered the retreating figure's defense many times.

Trevor also engaged with a determined countenance. He succeeded in landing two consecutive cuts on the unmarked swordsman's upper arm. Also, a failed beheading did succeed in slicing the hood off his opponent's head, leaving nothing but a charcoal gray mask with mesh eye covering to protect the figure's identity.

Their fight took them to the end of the landing, where more steps led higher up the tower. Trevor pushed ahead of Tom, leaving him to merely witness as his friend battled the unmarked swordsman up the stairs. Trevor's attacks carried greater power than his opponent's, but they also came slower, giving more time to devise a defense. But even still, the sheer power made the saber-wielder's self-preservation increasingly difficult to maintain.

In the time it took Tom to blink, the unmarked swordsman's arm had darted down, burying a fourth of his curved blade in Trevor's thigh. Trevor's agonized cry echoed through the chamber as he dropped to his knees.

Tom hurried up a few steps to block an incoming blow aimed for Trevor's head. He subsequently hit the cloaked swordsman's blade so hard in the process that it shattered into half a dozen metal shards. Leaping to avoid a swipe at the legs, the disarmed figure hurried up the stairs. Tom glanced down at Trevor.

Trevor grimaced, but waved his hand at Tom. "Go get him! It's down to you now, Tom, so make it count!"

Tom nodded and charged up the stairs in hot pursuit of the fleeing figure. Their running footsteps echoed through the chamber, along with the huffs of their breathing. Tom's sword stood poised for a beheading the whole time as he hurried along. His opponent ran for dear life.

A couple minutes of running up the stairs finally took the pair to the final landing at the top floor. The fleeing figure smashed through a door at the top, not even bothering with the knob. Tom dashed along right behind him.

For a second, Tom's opponent disappeared around the corner, only to emerge again with his arm snaked around Alice Delquez's throat. The blonde senator quivered and stared up at Tom with terror in her brown eyes.

Tom swung a blow at his enemy's exposed side, but a swift turn placed Alice in the blade's path. He stopped short, but just barely. With a furrowed brow, Tom weighed his options.

The cloaked figure slowly backed toward a nightstand beside the cot in the corner, upon which lay a dagger. With quick steps, Tom moved himself into the way. But still, there was nothing he could do that wouldn't threaten Alice's life.

A crow assault wouldn't be too bad right now. he remarked inwardly, one of many thoughts racing through his brain.

Then an idea hit him. Tom lunged forward and made a drawing cut along his opponent's arm just between vambrace and elbow. With a hiss, the figure released Alice to clutch the wound, only to be forced into retreat as Tom kept moving in with his longsword swinging. The masked man backed toward the open archway leading to the balcony.

Tom swung at his opponent's shoulder. He absorbed the hit with a vambrace. Then Tom came in for a stab. Pinning the sword between his two armored wrists, the masked figure shoved it aside. Tom growled.

He threw a flurry of attacks at his disarmed foe, but with clever use of his vambraces, he guarded himself against harm. The only disadvantage he endured was the inability to advance on Tom. They passed under the archway and onto the balcony. Finally, Tom had the figure pinned against the railing, extremely limiting his range of motion.

Finally, Tom swung an upward stroke of his sword, slicing the mask clean off his foe's face. But upon viewing the features he'd revealed, a pair of stunning feminine eyes of sky blue color, a freckled face, and a head of lush red hair, he stumbled backward in shock.

"K-Keely?" he stammered, barely able to close his mouth. "H-h-how?"

Keely buried her face in her hands and drew in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry, Tom! I didn't mean...for it to turn out like this!"

Tom could barely even look at her. Whether from disgust or pity, he wasn't sure. "Like what?"

"Like...like this! I never meant for this to happen, and our relationship be ruined."

Tom's features hardened. "If this is who you were the whole time, our relationship was never not ruined."

Keely's red eyebrows drew together. "But I—"

"You very well knew I've been out to slay your masked persona for years. And yet...you drew close to me. You've showered me with affection at home while seeking my life abroad, but why?"

"I...had a mission." Keely said with a sniffle, "I was sent to enamor you, to be an influence in your life to steer you where you needed to be for our plans to work. But Tom—"

"You're telling me that all that was fake?" Tom roared, taking a furious step forward and grasping Keely by the back of her head. He glared down into her blue eyes, absolutely filled with terror. "All the love we've shared over these years has been nothing but a farce?"

"That's how it was supposed to be."

Tom frowned. "What do you mean, 'supposed to be'?"

"It began as only a mission, Tom." Keely said softly, "But through the course of drawing closer to you...I grew a genuine love for you. I can't imagine life without you!"

"No, you don't love me."

"Yes, I do!"

Tom tightened his grip on the back of her head and shook it with his own jaw clenched. "Love is built on trust, Keely, and you've founded yours on something else entirely."

"But don't you remember—"

"What I remember is all the lies you've told me over these years. I loved and cherished you like no other, not knowing that all the while, it was you whose life I sought unceasingly."

"Tom—"

"I wasn't done!" Tom snapped, "All your love can't wash away the filth of your actions. You've taken hundreds of innocent lives over the past seven years and helped spark a war that's killed thousands more! And as for those you haven't got around to killing yet, they're already scared half to death to even step outside their homes! Freshest of all, you. Just. Murdered. James Raska."

Keely's full bottom lip quivered. "I'm truly sorry, Tom. I beg you to forgive me."

"We're past forgiveness now. All your apologies can't resurrect the dead."

Keely raised her left hand with the gleaming ring on her finger. "This is a pledge of your loyalty to me, Tom, and I beg you—"

"That pledge was based on a lie and has been rendered void thereby. My loyalties lie with Monterayne, Keely, and you have done her terrible injury. I loved you dearly, but I have a duty to perform."

Tears cascaded down Tom's face as he thrusted his sword into Keely's chest. He made no shallow stab, either, instead sliding the entire blade's length into her flesh before the crossguard stopped him. His sobbing deepened as he took a stumbling step away.

Keely let out a weak grunt as blood streamed from her wound, puddling on the stone beneath her. She dropped to her hindquarters and slumped against the balcony railing, struggling to keep her head upright. Blood trickled from her mouth, as did tears from her eyes.

"My brother...will...avenge me." she rasped, and then she breathed her last.

Tom lost all vision as his one good eye filled with tears, and presumably the other too. He dropped to his knees in sobbing and bruised them in the process. His mind overloaded with thoughts evoking all sorts of emotions, from a predominant sorrow to nostalgia to a host of others. A sense of justice, accompanying disbelief, and a feeling of having been betrayed. All overwhelmed Tom and added to his never-ending tears.

A warm touch on Tom's shoulder made him jump, and he wiped the tears away long enough to see Alice kneeling beside him with compassion in her eyes. No words were exchanged between the two, only a hug. Alice's physical comfort did nothing to cure the heartache itself, but Tom found himself soothed enough to rise to his feet and attempt containing himself, at least for now. With one last regretful glance at Keely's limp form that stirred up the storm of emotions again, he limped back inside. He left his defiled longsword behind. 

**** 

A/N:  ...And that, folks, is what we call a climax, am I right? Not only to this book, but the trilogy as a whole. I'm sure it's a lot to process, with James' tragic demise, Keely's reveal and her own death, and let's not forget Tom, who has the misfortune to keep his life through all this. But I hope the rollercoaster lived up to your expectations.

(Is this a bad time to ask for votes and comments? Maybe it is, I dunno.)

Anyway, I did wanna ask, since the unmarked swordsman's identity has been a question for a while, how did the reveal strike you? Did you see it coming, get hit entirely by surprise, or somewhere in between? How does it change your thoughts on Keely?

And how about a moment of silence for James Raska?

Now, I will be posting the epilogue at some point, probably sooner than Friday, and with that, Tom Holt's trilogy will close. HOWEVER, that won't be the end of the Reformation Wars series as a whole. This following trilogy will still include Tom, but it will primarily center around a new crew including Princess Kate, plus a few others I'm excited for you to meet. But if you consider this a satisfying enough conclusion and you were mostly here for Tom's story, I can respect that, and I hope I've told an enjoyable tale here. If I will see you there, I'm excited to embark on the new journey together!

Anyway, thank you for reading, and please stay tuned for the epilogue. It may end up being posted Wednesday, but we'll see. At any rate, it will most likely be sooner than a typical update. Until then, God bless!