AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Liana
The Horde camp wreaked of molten metal, unwashed bodies, and campfire smoke. It wrinkled my nose and gave the whole place the miasmal atmosphere of a hawk staring down a mouse. Almost, but not quite ready to strike.
But anywhere was better than being at the palace. Curled inward at the crushing weight on my shoulders—that weight compounded by the sidelong stares of anyone I passed in the bustling corridors. I’d done my duty and addressed my court, standing in front of each and every noble who could attend the assembly within a day’s notice.
The gathering of fifty Fae felt like a crowd of hundreds.
The reaction of my people ranged from shock, to disbelief, to outrage spoken in harsh whispers or shouted outright for all to hear. But the numbness still clung to my bones, so I only spoke my piece and then left—their shouts fading the further I moved away from the assembly hall.
Everyone would know by now. Word had likely spread to even the smallest of villages, like the one the Horde army now camped in. But they had evacuated this one almost a week prior. The people who once inhabited it gone to stay with family or in Inns and cottages paid for by the crown. And by the look of this village, one of the last on route north to the border—wherever they went, it was likely an improvement.
Small, ramshackle huts and buildings formed two parallel lines down the middle, with a forge at one end, and a mill at the other. And sequestered atop a small sloping hill to the south, the noble lord of the area’s manor house stood erect, with a sturdy stone exterior, a high piqued roof and a wide double chimney puffing out clouds of soot and smoke.
I didn’t have to know him to know he did not deserve his post. Leaving his entrusted area to rot and wither while he lived in ignorant bliss on his hilltop. Pathetic.
“You’re awake,” Alaric said, turning from where he sat at a rough wooden desk. “I’ll call for something to eat.” Without another word, he rose and slipped out through the slit in the fabric of our tent. He’d been quiet the last week since we returned to the palace. Though I wasn’t much better. I found the only way to beat the wretched despair dragging me down was to throw myself into my training.
I trained day in and day out and had the marks to prove it. Tiernan trained me in sword and bow. Kade trained me in fire and strength. And Finn taught me how to anticipate attacks before they happened, and to find the weak points in my opponents.
And perhaps most importantly, Alaric and I trained together, blocking each other’s influence. If we were ever face to face with the Mad King again—we’d need to be prepared.
I was getting better. Stronger. And faster. But would it be enough?
They slept soundly, Kade snoring softly, splayed out on his back atop a bed fit for a toddler—his arms and legs hanging from the edges onto the dirt floor. Finn slept next to me in the fur-covered bed, his knees still curled up from where they rested behind mine only a few moments before. Tiernan’s bed was empty. Gods knew where he’d gone…
But of course, in his absence Arrow rested on a coatrack, his head tucked in as though sleeping, but I could see his little beady eyes watching me even in the dim light.
I climbed from the bed as quietly and with as little movement as I could manage, trying not to wake Finn. But the second my feet hit the floor, the vibrations coiled up through the soles of my feet. Thethump, thump, thump,of hundreds of feet marching—shaking the ground.
And then I heard them. The clamor of metal. The whooshing of wind through bodies pressed tightly together. And the audible clomping of boots over hard-packed dirt.
Silas had been sending our forces in waves to the border, a few hundred at a time. They arrived at the encampment from the main Horde fort to the south, armored and bearing precious supplies before they were sent off to the front—leaving room for the next group to take rest before the next long march.
Kade and Finn stirred in their sleep, their eyes fluttering open to the raucous noise.
“It’s just the next group leaving camp,” I whispered to them, “Go back to sleep, it’ll pass soon.”
Kade buried his head under a pillow, and Finn rolled over on his other side. The flight here had tired them the night before, burdened by the weight of Tiernan, Alaric, and I. Their eyes were already half-closed before they could even make it to their beds.
“That’s it,” I said, slipping away, “Go back to sleep.”
Hurriedly, I dressed in my new trousers—they were light, yet warmer than the thickest wool. Darius had insisted that if my mind was set on wearing trousers, I’d at least be seen wearing ones that fit me properly instead of the hand-me-downs I’d brought from the Isle of Mist.
Tugging on my boots and a long jacket, I slipped outside into the cold light of day—my eyes rebelling against the sudden onslaught of gray tinged light.
I squinted at the mass of bodies diligently marching their way out from the town, heading north. As my eyes adjusted, I realized none noticed me. And really, I didn’t think they noticed much of anything at all. Moving closer, I found grim faces shadowed under the heavy steel of their helms. Heads bent. Pale skinned.
They marched as if to certain death. My stomach dropped at the sight. A tendril of ice chasing a shiver up my spine. They looked like dead men—empty corpses propelled forward by nothing more than their sense of duty and the smallest sliver of hope that perhaps their lives wouldn’t be wasted.
I could see it—but more than that I couldsenseit. My Grace of emotion opened up of its own accord, swallowing up their despair and their fear and their dread and their regrets. Their emotions roiled within me, making me gag against the vulgar, unfiltered truth of it.
Not even one of them thought we could win this… And thinking like that…
We’ve already lost.
I threw up the mental wall around my mind like Alaric taught me, blocking out all the pain and misery. Sealing up the cracks. A glint of shining steel caught my eye, and I turned to find Silas standing off to the side of the road where the legion of his army marched—seeing them off, ensuring they maintained formation.
Unclenching my fists, I ran over to him, my boots slipping on the half-frozen earth. “Silas,” I breathed, and he turned to zero in on me, wide-eyed.
