“There’s only about fifty of them!” Declan’s voice carried down from the sky.
“Only fifty of them,” Lennox mimicked, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Declan continued to shout commands from the sky, “Protect the frontline. We can’t let them get through. If we cut them off here, they’re finished.”
From all of our strategy meetings, I knew what my and Lennox’s roles were. We were supposed to hang back at the rear. Let the others take out the frontline of the enemy. Protect ourselves as we waited for the moment we were needed. For when Adreona, Keziq, or Lorenzo showed their faces.
I spared a glance over at Lennox. Her face was set with determination. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed, a determined snarl falling from her lips as she faced off with her opponent.
There was no chance in hell she was falling back now.
And Declan didn’t call for us. So here we’d stay.
My mind became nothing but a blur as I continued to kill every soldier that came toward me, my body working on autopilot as I fought alongside Lennox.
We made our way through the throng of soldiers until the last one fell at our feet.
My chest heaved. I held my sword still in my hand, its blade stained with the blood of my enemies.
“Are you okay?” I turned to Lennox, scanning her body for injuries.
She nodded. “I’m fine.” I raised my hand to her cheek, cupping her blood-splattered face in my hand. She leaned into my hold, pressing closer to rest her forehead against mine.
“You?”
“I’m good too.”
“Well, isn’t this a sweet moment?” Ice slithered down my spine as Lorenzo’s voice filtered through the forest, his boots crunching on the snow.
“Nice of you to show up once all the fighting is over,” I all but growled as I turned my attention to my uncle.
His clothes were spotless, his leathers glistened, not a drop of dirt or blood on them. Sunlight reflected off his freshly polished blade.
“It was my job to survey the enemy, not to fight.”
“You take orders from your consort?” Lennox’s voice was laced with venom as her hand flexed on her sword.
A snarl twisted across Lorenzo’s lips. “I offered.”
“You always threw such a fit when given orders by grandfather—or me. I have a hard time believing you’ve fallen into line so quickly now.”
“This is war, boy, even you know better than to question authority. You do as your High Queen tells you, do you not?”
“See that’s where you and I differ?—”
“We’re equals,” Lennox finished for me. “He’s not my consort, he is High King, my mate, he has as much power as I do.”
A muscle feathered in Lorenzo’s jaw as Lennox continued.
“But yet your queen consort tells you what to do?” Lennox’s head cocked to the side.
Lorenzo’s hand closed around the pommel of his sword; red crept up his neck. “You’re not going to go against an order now, are you? You were told to survey, not to fight, right?” The mocking tone in Lennox’s voice made Lorenzo’s body tremble with rage.
“I get the killing blow,” I whispered as I leaned in close. “I’d been waiting for this day for a long time.” Lennox kept her gaze on Lorenzo but dipped her chin.
“What would your queen consort say?—”
“I AM KING!” Lorenzo bellowed as he charged toward us.
