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I leaned over, catching his helmeted cheek with my palm. “The bastard’s going to die.”
“That’s my girl,” he growled, a feral smile marking his lips.
My eyes scanned the top of the wall for any sign of an onslaught of arrows. “I’m sorry it’s ending like this.”
He smiled. “Don’t be. I’d follow you to Hell and back.”
“I led you to Hell, but I don’t think I’ll be leading you back.”
He shrugged, staring out over the waiting soldiers. “Doesn’t matter. I’m proud of you, Petra. I’m so fucking proud of you, of the woman you are, of the leader you’ve become. A fuckingqueen. I’m proud that I even get to walk this realm the same time you do.”
“In the midst of the oncoming storm, I smiled. “You know what? I’m proud of myself, too.”
He lowered his head with a fist across his chest. “Daughter of Katia, Queen of Astran, love of my life.”
But I had no time to respond before the trebuchets launched and a narrow portion of the wall collapsed, the Vacants that were still atop it careening through the air.
“Charge!”
My beloved Inkwell opened before me as I charged headfirst to my fate, Cal at my side and the Penumbra at my back. Though the army that followed me bellowed and screamed from the depths of their souls, the only sound I heard was my own heartbeat.
Vacants rushed from all directions as we clashed with Castemont’s frontlines, my sword swinging as if it acted on its own, one goal in mind: get to Castemont. The melee was all-consuming as I cut down Vacant after bloodthirsty Vacant. The army pushed forward, through the wall.We had to be within the city walls.
In the chaos of it all I was struck by the fact that Miles’ had actually trained me to do this, and he trained me well — kill, kill,kill. Kill every being that stood in between me and Castemont, that stood in between me andgood. But every chest I pierced, every limb I caught, every head I severed killed a piece of me that knew I could have saved them. Now they were going to be our ruin. Castemont’s Vacants were pouring into the streets of Inkwell, so numerous they were almost on top of each other.
This was where I was meant to be. On my way to rip Castemont out at the root once and for all.
The breath was quickly stolen from my lungs by the sight of what was happening in front of me. My soldiers fell by the dozen, limbs torn from bodies by Vacants.
The air split with the boom of cannonfire from the harbor where dozens of ships were stationed, their sails rippling canvas in the wind, like they had on the day of Cindregala.Ships?Cannonballs fell from the sky, the screams of their victims indiscernible in the twisted symphony of death and destruction that played around us.
No.
I knew this outcome was possible. Probable. I knew that we were outnumbered, sickeningly so. From where I sat on horseback, I had the perfect vantage point to witness the downfall of every person who believed in me. But I couldn’t stop to mourn. I needed toget to the castle.
I found Cal in the crowd, swinging his sword on horseback like it was an extension of his arm, his teeth gritted, blood spattered across his face already. Saints, if I weren’t in the middle of saving the realm, I would have stopped to take in the sight. Summercut, Whit, and Nell weren’t far behind, each of them skillfully cutting through flesh and bone. Where was Miles?
Cal ran his blade across the throat of a charging Vacant before he caught my stare. Even in the maelstrom that surrounded us, his mouth quirked up in that familiar way, the dimples dipping in his cheeks.
The smile fell away as he reached into his boot and threw a dagger in my direction, the blade barely missing my head and sinking into the chest of a Vacant that lunged for me from behind. He nudged his mount forward until he was alongside me, but I was suddenly knocked from my horse by another mounted soldier.
“Petra!”
The air escaped my lungs in a painfulwhooshas I was pushed deeper into the battle. My ears still rang with the impact of the fall, and I furiously searched for Cal, but he was gone. Something about being on the ground was so much more raw, so much more grisly, and bile rose in my throat as I assumed position, my arms heaving my sword through muscle and bone.
My eyes were on Copper Street — the street I’d lived on in Inkwell. If I could get there, I could take the back alleys to the castle. Buildings began to catch fire around me. A splatter of blood hit my face from someone, somewhere.
The sound of stone on stone was unmistakable. It seemed like the battle paused for a split second to watch the hole in the city wall grow larger, wider as more of it fell.No. The Vacants were endless, streaming in from every direction as they pushed my army back.
I could hear the panic rise, the frantic shouts of people who realized they were fucked.
How the hell did he have such a large army? He’d only had small villages to raid with leechthorn. Summercut said Castemont would’ve only been able to scrape together ten thousandat most. This was… Something was wrong here.
Just get to the castle.
Hope was a distant friend as I made it to Copper Street to see that it, too, was shoulder-to-shoulder with Vacants. I ducked into an alley and breathed a tiny sigh of relief as I found some space to move, only a few Vacants using the narrow passage. Darting around the corners I knew so well and dodging swiping limbs, I think my mind blacked out. I coasted through the motions. Swing. Kill. Repeat.
But my consciousness returned as I was suddenly pushed against a crumbling brick building, a preternaturally strong grip on my throat, my sword knocked from my hand. I stared into the eyes of the Vacant who held me, a man who looked only a few years older than me. But those eyes… They weren’t empty. There was something churning within them. It was almost like smoke billowed behind them, a swirling pool of falling ash. Something I’d never seen before.
