She did not look particularly encouraged.
“Go with Asha and Carrick—” I began to tell her.
“We will be out on the battlefield fighting,” my aunt interrupted me, drawing my attention to her and my uncle who hadwalked over to us. Shay and her family lingered just behind them and waited for more information.
“The aes sídhe are not fully trained to coordinate with my army yet. You are not fighting!” I said dismissively.
“You will not keep us out of the fight this time, Rian. These monsters have been chasing us across Ahnnaòin, and wewillmeet them in battle,” she maintained.
“This is not as simple as fighting Fuath. Aoibheal has made them unpredictable,” I warned. But her expression promised she would be marching onto the field whether or not I agreed. The last thing I needed was a rogue unit, so I pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded.
Ciaran! See to it that the aes sídhe are assigned to the eastern flank,I said down the bond and felt him agree.
“You will report to Ciaran and his commanders on the eastern flank,” I informed them.
“Thank you,” Asha murmured in sincere appreciation before she stepped forward to hug me. “Be safe.”
“You too,” I replied as I gave her a reluctant squeeze, wishing there was a way to keep her and the last of my people out of the fray. Ciaran and Sage were the ones who mostly trained the warriors, so they were always the ones who felt most conflicted during battles. I hated sending people to fight, but it didn’t usually make me feel sick the way the thought of the aes sídhe fighting did. I’d already lost my entire village, and the threat of losing any more of my remaining family was unbearable.
My aunt let me go and stepped back so Carrick could take his turn hugging me.
“This isn’t our first battle, Rian,” he insisted teasingly, and I tried to force a laugh as he leaned back to examine my expression.
“I know,” I assured him, and he nodded.
“Then we will see you out there,” he said with a slap on my shoulder before he guided his family outside.
I turned to Nuala who waited with her hands twistingtogether in front of her. She was nibbling on her lower lip but released it once I was facing her.
“Saddle Éadrom and send him to me. Then you should go to Darragh in the war tent,” I directed her.
“But I could—”
“Nuala.Please. You will be able to communicate with me through him if you See anything,” I reminded her.
She looked like she wanted to argue with me, but then she simply nodded. She turned as if to leave, but then she turned back and stepped up to me. I could have resisted, but I allowed her to pull me down to her so she could kiss me because I simply could not help myself.
I had been doing my best to maintain what remained of my fragile control and not give in to the aching need to touch her. But my will was utterly shattered as soon as her arms slid around my neck, her lithe body against mine, and I lost myself in her soft lips. In the way it was still new between us, and yet somehow intrinsic, as if we had been kissing each other for years. Our mouths moved in perfect and delicious sync, and the urge to consume her was so primal, it was almost unquestionable.
She was the one who pulled back and turned her face away when my mouth chased after hers. We both panted, our chests heaving while I did my best to regain control, but it felt nearly impossible with her scent in my head and her taste still on my tongue.
“Be careful,” she breathed before she pulled away and walked out with my heart still pounding after her.
I gritted my teeth and then manifested my armour and a portal at the same time, which took me to the riverbank south of our camp. Night had fallen several hours before, and the only light came from the torches mounted on the stone walls of the bridge towers.
I glanced around at the soldiers that were preparing to defend the causeway as they all bowed in my direction. Beyond them, the last of the watchtower guards jogged across the bridge fromNabeene.
“Your Highness!” called a male fey as he stepped off the bridge to walk toward me. He was breathing heavily as he bowed after he’d undoubtedly run from the towers. “Captain Vane of the Theas Tùr,” he introduced himself before casting an arm back behind him. “We evacuated all the southern towers quickly once the alarm was raised. We lost a couple of the scouts in the forest but most of the outpost guards got out alive,” he informed me.
“Good. What were the names of the scouts?” I asked and then relayed their deaths to Darragh in the war tent. “Thank you. Report to your quadrant, Captain. I will hold the Fuath off until the army is assembled.”
“A-alone?” he stuttered, and I clapped him on the back with a smile as I strode by him toward the bridge. All the soldiers from the field had made it over, so with a nod at the guards still stationed on this side, I started across.
The Theas Droichead was the biggest of two bridges on the Fréamh an Tsléibhe. The immense river extended from the base of the Nabaneese Mountains and stretched halfway across the plains between Feura and Nabeene. And as such, it was about to become the focal point of the upcoming battle since the Fuath army would need to take control of the river if they wanted to get to us.
I turned my head to the east, but I could see nothing beyond the glare of the lanterns along the stone causeway. It would have made more sense for them to attack from that direction where the river did not impede an advance, but I’d use their mistake to our advantage nonetheless. Regardless of how important Theas Droichead was to the Nabaneese merchants, I would sooner destroy the bridge than allow the Fuath to take it.
And that was what Ishouldhave been wholly focused on as I walked into battle all on my own. That along with the problem of how I was going to ensure the Fuath did not overrun my army without using the full force of my power to simply annihilatethem. And yet, as I listened to the thud of my boots on the cobblestones under my feet, my traitorous mind returned to Nuala and that kiss.
