Loud enough for them all to hear, I said, “It is true that I am not Halderian. But it is also true that the father of my birth fought alongside you or your fathers in the War of Devastation, and there he gave his life. I had the rare honor of gaining a second father, though I was three years in his home before I learned that he was the exiled Halderian king. Before his execution at the order of Lord Endrick, Gareth gave me his ring and his sword, naming me as his heir. Ever since that day, I’ve known who I was and what I was supposed to do, but I refused to claim the throne for the very reasons you have objected to me. Do you think any of your complaints are a surprise? Did you think I expected you would embrace me as your king? But I am your king, and I am Halderian now. My first father earned that for me with his blood, my second father gave that to me with his inheritance, and I will claim it from you in these coming days when we fight together on the battlefield. Whether I will live for you, or die for you, I swear on the lives of my fathers that I will lead you in the best way I can.”
With that, I continued looking around the room until I saw a girl who might’ve been a couple of years younger than me. She was thin and her face was dirty, but her eyes held a spark in them that had responded to my words.
I walked over to the girl. “What is your name?”
“Amala Fingray.”
“Am I your king, Amala?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Lord is the title for Endrick, and all others are too grand for me now.”
“My king, then.”
I smiled and handed her the second cup of hot cider
. “Amala Fingray, until further notice, you are commander of this cavalry. Join me outside and we will discuss strategy for the coming attack.” Then I looked up at the others. “The fire outside is warm and the cider is tasty, for I found it in the cellar of the former master of Woodcourt. Join me, or don’t, but this is the moment when you will decide where your loyalties are. If you come to the fire, then you come to your king.”
Then I turned and walked out with Amala on my heels, her head tall with pride but taking in deep breaths as she contemplated the weight of the assignment I had just given her. Once outside, we stoked the fire with more wood, and then we waited.
And waited. Amala had another cup of cider while I began to feel nauseous enough to worry I might lose what I’d already swallowed. If no one came, I would present to the Alliance my army of one.
“Do you want to discuss strategy?” she asked.
“How are your skills with weapons?” If she had any at all. Amala didn’t move like a warrior.
Amala patted the sword at her side. “My mother gave this to me before we left, and I’ve practiced with it at every opportunity since. But I’m good with horses, and I was told that they needed every fighter they could get, since so many of ours were lost in the battle at King’s Lake.”
Many more would be lost in the battles that were coming, if Amala Fingray represented the totality of my cavalry.
“May we join you at the fire … my king?”
I looked up to see three men walking out from the stables. These had been some of the last to follow their former commander into the stables earlier that evening, so it was no surprise to see they were the first to emerge. But it was a great relief.
I poured cups for each of them and placed one in each man’s hands as he bowed to me and found a place around the fire.
Within five minutes, another eight soldiers had joined us. Before I had their cups filled, another ten were outside. That was followed by the majority of the riders, each of whom greeted me as their king, gave me a respectful bow, then found a place around the fire.
“What is the strategy, my king?” Edgar called. “We are here to kill Lord Endrick, are we not?”
“No,” I said, and this was the test. If I was going to lose them again, this was where it would happen and I would not win their attention a second time. “There is only one person who can kill Lord Endrick, and that is the Infidante.”
“I told you all, and you wouldn’t listen,” Reese, the former commander of the cavalry, said, walking out of the stables. “His marriage to Harlyn Mindall is a fraud. He is in love with Kestra Dallisor.”
I poured another cup of cider but held it in my hands. “You’re correct. Harlyn and I are not married. She told you that to get you this far, but I am telling you the truth now. Whether you remain here depends on your ability to trust what I am about to say: Not one of us anywhere within the land of Antora has the ability to kill Lord Endrick. Only the Infidante can do it. So we can help her succeed, or we can get in her way. There are no other choices, and the consequences of failure are severe.”
“We came to help her,” Reese said, stepping into the circle near the fire. “But my question for you is, what happens after Endrick is dead? Who will sit on the Scarlet Throne?”
“The Scarlet Throne belongs to the Halderians,” I said, looking Reese directly in the eye. “No one else can be allowed to have it after Endrick is dead.” Then I offered him the cup of cider.
He stared at me for a long moment, then finally nodded as if satisfied with my answers. Reese took the cup and raised it in the air. “A toast to my king and yours! May the coming battle be full of glory!”
A cheer followed, but it was quickly muffled when Gabe rode up, out of breath and with a torn sleeve near his shoulder. Beneath it was a deep scratch.
“Harlyn is gone; they took her,” he said.
“Who?”