House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

“Change of plans,” Kerrigan said. “I was instructed not to let him do anything stupid. So, here I am, doing stupid things with him.”

Fordham’s scowl deepened. “This isn’t stupid. It’s necessary.”

“Yeah, Kerrigan,” Prescott said with a wink. “Necessary.”

“Pres, leave her alone,” Arbor said.

He made a face at his sister and headed over to a table, where he poured red wine from a decanter. “A toast to our victory?” he asked, offering drinks all around.

Fordham and Kerrigan both declined. She liked Arbor and Prescott, but they were on opposite sides of this fight.

“Fine. Sister,” he drawled, passing one to Arbor.

“Why must you instigate?”

“It’s my best feature,” he joked and then leaned back against the table.

“You said you were willing to listen,” Fordham accused his cousins.

“And we are,” Arbor said. “If you are as well.”

“You have to stop this before it gets worse.”

Arbor rose to her feet, and Kerrigan saw for the first time what she had missed all those nights in the House of Shadows. Arbor wasn’t some forgotten puppy, falling after her cousin who had all the power. She aspired to power.

“Before what gets worse? Because as far as I can see, things can only get better. The wall is down, Fordham. It is what we always wanted. Now, we can leave the mountain and find a place of our own.”

“By conquering nearby cities? By killing everyone inside?”

“We didn’t kill everyone,” she said with a feline smile. “And here I thought you were coming to join us. How easy it would be in this battle to take down your wretched father and claim your rightful place on the throne.”

“I’m not interested in patricide,” he said evenly.

“And it would never happen that way,” Kerrigan interjected. “The Society is here. You can never hold out against us.”

Arbor assessed Kerrigan and then dismissed her. “What are forty dragons against ten thousand trained fighters? This isn’t our first war. We know what we’re up against.”

“I don’t think that you do,” Fordham said. “If you surrender now, then I can negotiate favorable terms.”

“Surrender?” Prescott asked. “After we won Lethbridge in a fair fight? That’s laughable.”

“You will all be slaughtered,” Fordham snapped. “I am trying to do the right thing. If you will not listen, then I will find someone who will.”

“And who would that be?” Arbor asked. “Your father? He’s wanted this fight longer than any of us have been alive. Do you think Wynter will hear you? Because I was there the day the wall fell. She had her acolytes around her as it came down. They think she’s a prophet sent from the gods themselves to bring us salvation.”

“Wynter didn’t bring down the wall,” Fordham said.

Arbor laughed and shook her head. “It hardly matters. What matters is that they believe her, and she believes her own rambling nonsense. She won’t back down from this fight when she thinks it is divine.”

“So, you would rather die?” Kerrigan asked.

Arbor narrowed her eyes. “There are ten thousand of us and forty of you. Forty,” she repeated, as if speaking to a small child.

Kerrigan fumed at those words. They had no idea what the Society was capable of. What a unit of dragons would do, what they could all do. They had trained until they were nearly broken to get to this point. The House of Shadows might have military prowess, but they had no aerial assault. Nothing. It was going to be a bloodbath.

Before she could respond, Arbor turned to Fordham. “I love you, cousin. It should have always been you on the throne. Come take your rightful place and show them what we are capable of. That forty dragons are nothing compared to the might of our warriors.”

Fordham stood his ground. “I thought that you two would be reasonable about this. That you would want to take the route least likely to cause harm. I guess I was wrong about that.”

“I guess you were,” Prescott said, coming to his sister’s side.

“No matter how it happened, the wall is down. We deserve our chance at freedom. Has a year with them changed your allegiance so completely?” Arbor demanded.

Kerrigan was boiling over. She understood now why Trulian had dismissed the idea of negotiating with the enemy. It was futile. They would never make them understand. Fordham grasped Kerrigan’s elbow, and she glanced up at him in surprise. Her fury was getting the better of her. He must have felt the shift. That she might do something stupid.

She backed down, letting it wash away from her. There was no point. Tomorrow, they would meet them on the battlefield, and Arbor would find out how wrong she was.

“Then, I believe we are at an impasse,” Fordham said.

“I believe we are,” Arbor said.

Fordham gave his cousin a quick bow. “Happy hunting.”

“You too, cousin.”

Without a word, Fordham wrapped them both in darkness. Kerrigan squeezed her eyes shut as they traveled, and then they were both back in the woods. Fordham put his hands to his knees, panting. He shouldn’t have been using that power the night before battle.