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Jade was a fighter. She had rough edges. She had grit and determination and strength.
I knew all of this, yet I was still not ready to send her to war.
“This entire war is happening because they want you, Jade,” I explained again. “And I’m not letting them take you.”
Her soft hands found my face in the setting sun. “I know you won’t.”
We stayed there for what felt like hours, although it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. War had that effect.
Scream after scream, we sat on the roof of the castle, praying to the saints that the screams were from our enemies.
A few stray arrows landed on the roof ahead of us, but it was nothing to be concerned about. Nobody knew we were here. They certainly wouldn’t expect us to be hiding on the roof.
“Do you think Esther is still alive?” Jade asked.
My fists instinctively tightened. Esther could die on that battlefield, I didn’t care.
It wasn’t just that she had betrayed me. She was going to hurt Jade, too.
Jade might trust her again after what she did, but Esther wouldn’t be receiving that same trust from me.
Never again.
“If she’s on that battlefield,” I answered, “I hope she’s dead already.”
Jade flipped over and began peeking her head over the wall, peering onto the battlefield. I didn’t stop her from looking. Instead, I did the same.
Deadlings covered most of the ground. I couldn't even see the green grass anymore. Bodies and blood together covered the dark green that used to cover it.
But the deadlings were no longer the issue.
Carlyle had been right. Thousands of soldiers now clashed with our own, metal clashing metal as they pushed onward.
Our soldiers were standing strong. The walls of the castle still went untouched. Not a single enemy fighter got past our defenses.
But men spread out as far as my eyes could see. This battle was only beginning.
Jade saw it, too. She saw the forest around us infiltrated with enemy soldiers. Some fae. Some, by the lack of wings, appeared to be witches. But they all fought with weapons.
There was no sign of the Paragon yet. No sign of Silas.
Something deep in my bones told me there would be a sign soon. Very soon.
My eyes landed on Serefin, who was standing back-to-back with Eli. Together, they defended the front gates of the castle. My other brothers were close by doing the same.
Emotion stung my chest. Not long ago, I had thought of my brothers as heartless, idiot men who would rather sit around the castle doing nothing than fight for this kingdom.
Saints, was I wrong.
“I should go down there,” I mumbled.
Jade’s eyes snapped to mine. “What?” she hissed. “No!”
“I’m their king, Jade. I should be down there fighting side by side with them. Not hiding on the roof like a coward.”
“And what about me? How is that any different from what you’ve asked me precisely not to do?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but shut it again. Jade was right. If I went down onto that battlefield, there was nothing stopping Jade from doing the exact same.
