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Chapter11
Aron fell from his horse, almost hitting the dirt had Noah and Nicole not been so close to him.
His horse was agitated, and Aron’s limp frame didn’t fit the normally strong and fearsome Captain.
“I’m okay, just off balance from a few broken ribs,” he said through gritted teeth. “I couldn't heal it all myself.”
The Captain was not in good shape, but he still had the wherewithal to ride the horse to the side of the castle, out of the way of the main gates so that we were alone.
The Queen, Noah, Gabriel, Nicole, and me.
“Captain Coltrain, what happened?” The Queen demanded.
Aron’s hand squeezed Noah’s shoulder before pushing him slowly to the side. “We were attacked. By dragons on the journey home.”
Aron looked at the ground, quiet.
Whatever he was about to say couldn’t be good.
When he lifted his gaze, his face was crestfallen. Pained. “When I got through the fire, most of the other men were charred. Dead. And,” he cleared his throat, and winced as he tried to raise his head to the Queen. “The Seelie prince captured the King. ”
I shivered at the horrible thought. It wasn’t just an ambush, it was a calculated slaughter.
“Was he taken alive?” The Queen asked.
Aron nodded. “Alive. And unharmed from what I could see. I came back as quickly as I could to gather troops to return to our camp and then hunt them down.”
“Did the whistles not work?” Noah asked. “I thought the last fight they grounded the dragons easily.”
“There wasn’t time to grab them. And we only had one with us,” he shook his head.
The Queen and her son were exchanging some sort of unspoken looks. “The castle will be put into lockdown. I’ll need guards to help. Gabe?”
“There are a handful we trust implicitly. We’ll get them to keep it quiet but complete the lockdown.” Gabriel’s jovial, care-free ways had been replaced these past few weeks with a sort of staunch duty. One similar to Noah’s when he was anywhere but alone with me .
The war had barely started and already, the life seemed to have sucked away from the Fae whose shoulders were carrying the biggest life in their land.
The Queen walked forward, resting a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Nightfall is three hours from now. It’s best to depart and set camp before.”
Noah nodded at the comment. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Frowning at the formal exchange between the two, I glanced over at Aron and the others to see if their faces revealed anything.
“Aron will join you and lead the troops within an hour.”
I looked at Noah. “He’s in no condition to lead troops.”
“We will be ready.” Noah responded, ignoring me completely.
The Queen’s head fell, she paled as she moved away. I was utterly lost. Noah said we, which made me worry. Lockdown should be get the future crown prince locked down. Maybe that was what the Queen meant. Noah just had to get his people ready to move out.
Once the Queen was gone, Noah turned his attention to Gabe. “Find the guards we trust and get started. You’re in charge of overseeing this. I’ll coordinate with Aron.”
Gabe moved forward, embracing Noah before patting his shoulder once.
“Be prepared if anything goes south,” Noah said.
“It won’t.” Gabe’s answer was sure and strong, even if I had no idea why he was saying it, or what was going on. I didn’t know Gabe well enough to speak out in front of him, but I wanted him to get moving so I could find out what the hell lockdown implied that they were all getting so anxious.
