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He moved to attack but hesitated, his gaze skipping to the burning farmhouse.
Zarrah took advantage of his distraction, cracking him across the ribs and sending him staggering. “Stay down!”
Rounding on her cousin’s soldiers, she growled, “You forget who is in command. Retreat, or I’ll kill you myself for this insubordination.”
But they didn’t answer, their attention behind her.
Zarrah ducked, sensing the attack. The Maridrinian’s blade sliced just above her head. Twisting on her heels, she straightened and swung her fist, catching the man in the face hard enough that he fell on his ass.
Then Yrina was there, flanked by four of their soldiers, her eyes flashing with enough fury that Zarrah knew she’d seen what Bermin’s soldiers had done. Ornotdone. Yrina lifted her blade. “I’m going to cut—”
“Later,” Zarrah snapped. “Listen!”
More horns in the distance, a patrol only minutes away.
“Our comrade is inside,” one of Bermin’s men said. “Went into the house after the other Maridrinian.”
The house that was an inferno. “Then he’s dead. Either way, we can’t remain.” Because from the sounds of those horns, it wasn’t just one patrol galloping in their direction.
Her soldiers pulled Bermin’s men onto their horses’ backs, Zarrah catching her mount and following. They broke into a gallop across the fields, but she risked a backward glance, catching sight of motion in the upper-floor window. Children being dropped to the safety of the ground, a woman following suit. Then a man balanced on the frame, barely visible through the smoke, where he hesitated.
Which was a mistake.
The building collapsed in a roar of flames, the man disappearing into the smoke.
An unexpected flicker of grief flashed through Zarrah’s chest, and she pressed her hand to her heart in a show of respect for the man’s sacrifice before turning her attention to the road ahead.
And the changes she intended to enact once she reached the end of it.
19
KERIS
Keris leapt, the heat washing over him so intense it hurt, his lungs burning from smoke and embers as he hit the ground and rolled. And kept rolling until fresh air filled his lungs, his shoulder screaming in pain.
“Keris!” Hands gripped his arms, shaking him, and he looked up to see his brother’s face. “Keris, are you all right?”
“Wonderful,” he croaked. “Never been better.”
Pushing up onto his hands and knees, he saw the mother with her arms wrapped around her two children, faces stained with soot. All around them were the bodies of their family and fellow workers, the yard and field splattered with blood and parts. Then his eyes skipped to the burning pile of lumber that was all that remained of the farmhouse, a body sitting near the top of it. A body that still had his sword shoved through its chest.
You killed him.
Twisting away, Keris vomited into the dirt.
“We need to retaliate immediately!”Otis slammed his fist down on the table, causing all the glassware to jump. “This wasn’t just a strike against farmers—they attacked the Crown Prince of Maridrina. To leave it unanswered will make us look weak.”
Keris bit his tongue to keep from commenting thathehad actually attacked the Valcottans, knowing it would be wasted breath. Otis and the rest of the military men in the room would only find another excuse to send a raiding party over the border.
“They’ll expect it,” Captain Philo replied. “Better to wait a few days, then coordinate a strike. Perhaps by sea this time? There are a few villages close to the coast that would make prime targets.”
Civilians.Keris’s jaw tightened, knowing the raid would look the same as the scene he’d left behind at the farm. Bodies of people who’d never held a weapon in their lives. Bodies of people who only wanted to work the land and care for their families. Bodies to stack upon the thousands who’d already died in this sickening back-and-forth between nations that accomplished nothing.
What would it take to end it?
“Given they were likely retaliating against our recent raids, perhaps we’d be better served to strengthen our border patrols than to incite them further.”
Every man in the room went silent, all eyes fixing on Keris. His first inclination was to dismiss his own words, to back away from the situation, as he’d always done. But the Valcottan woman’s criticism was fresh in his head, so instead he found himself saying, “Our capital goes hungry for want of crops, and yet we put all our effort into killing Valcottan farmers rather than protecting our own and allowing them to farm the highest-yielding land in Maridrina.”
