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They paused in the woods. Three of them, passing a bottle between them. Fury washed over me as I realized they were drunk already, which probably had given them the courage to desert. I’d told them not to drink. We never knew when we’d have to fight, and drunken soldiers would leave their friends to die.
“Go,” I said roughly, stepping into their circle. They hadn’t heard me coming, and they all shied away; in the thin moonlight, horror was etched across their faces.
“King Jaik,” one of them said unsteadily. He pulled himself to his full height, trying to look sober; I would’ve found it comedic if I weren’t so pissed.
“Take your shit and go. We don’t need you.”
The noise had woken others at the edge of the encampment. They were stirring, some of them wandering out to the forest themselves to see what was happening.
“Does that apply to us too? Can we go?” Someone asked from behind me.
The last remnants of my kingdom were falling apart.
“You can,” I said evenly. I thought longingly of the days when I could’ve blasted disobedient soldiers with fire, but I had to try another way. I turned to the nearest guard, who had paused open mouthed at the edge of the camp, and called to him, “Get everyone up.”
“What are you going to do to us?” One of them asked.
“Just what I said,” I answered. “But don’t go yet.”
I waited until all the shifters had been roused, and I forced the four of them to walk back into camp with me—the three drunkards and the one who wanted to leave now.
I waited for my soldiers to mass around me, rubbing sleep from their eyes.
“I know some of you want to leave.” My voice rang out across the crowd, even without magic. “I didn’t realize until now how many of you thought your lives would be over if you left my army now. Well, if you want to run now, if you want to live under Kallus… feel free.”
“The families you love, the villages you expect to return to… Kallus will destroy some of them. Maybe all, maybe not. I don’t know what he wants here, if he intends to enslave you all and make you workhisland, tendhismines.”
“If you don’t want to fight to stop him… if you don’t want to risk death… no one will stop you. Take your shit and go. I’d rather have a hundred fierce warriors on my side than a thousand cowards.”
The crowd grumbled. Some of their words rose to me: “We’re not cowards…Kallus’s forces have magic and we don’t…It’s hopeless.”
“It’s not hopeless. We have a plan to kill Kallus, and without him, his offensive will fail.” I said that a lot more confidently than I felt. “We can stop him from ever taking Rylow, and we’ll decimate his forces there.”
If we failed, we’ll fall back into Rylow, but now that we couldn’t fly… a siege would be devastating. We’d take our stand in front of the gates of the capitol city. “It’s your choice if you stay or go. Any of you are welcome to stay… but only if you are going to be ready in the morning.” The men who’d been caught creeping looked away, unwilling to look me in the eyes.
“In the morning, when you’re sober, when you’re ready, when you’ve decided your kingdom is worth it…. We’re going to take our kingdom back.”
A few ragged cheers broke out. I turned away from them thinking that I’d wake in the morning to find the camp abandoned.
Damyn, Honor, and the others were standing behind me.
A powerful sense of relief flooded me at the sight of them, but I merely nodded and walked toward them. The ones I’d caught sneaking off were laying their sleeping gear back out on the ground, but I had no idea if there were just pretending. So many of my people were muttering to each other, debating if they were going to go.
“Good speech,” Damyn said, clapping me on the shoulder. “A little heavy on the shame.”
“I learned from the best,” I said drily, because I’d been channeling Damyn’s lectures.
“I’ve never been anything but proud of you.” Then he seemed to remember himself and added, “Not that you ever needed my pride. You’re the prince.”
“You know I have,” I said shortly, unable to tolerate any more feeling thanthat.But Damyn was proud of me, and Honor’s eyes shone looking at me, and I gathered her close in my arms. “I’ve missed you, my queen.”
“Your queen?” Her lips turned up at the corners. “Does that mean you are going to obey me?”
“Mostly,” I teased her back. “Except for when you are desperately in need of a spanking.”
“As I often am… when I want one.”
I couldn’t resist kissing her when she smiled up at me like that. Her arms slid over my shoulders and she kissed me back with her usual intensity, her body pressing mine urgently. Gods, I loved her.
