The Shadow Throne (Ascendance 3)

“That’s all I know!” His panicked voice jumped nearly an octave. “Listen, you will find Mendenwal there, and my own king’s armies with them in battle. He intends to destroy Drylliad.”

I frowned at him and rubbed my chin, mostly because it seemed to make him nervous. “All right,” I finally said. “I’ll let you live, but you’d better hope there are others in your army willing to come look for you.” Then I nodded at Mott. “Tie them up.”

While Mott tied the men to the trees around our camp, Tobias and Amarinda came down to help him, and I collected our horses. We had to leave at once. When I last saw him, Roden hadn’t yet figured out his role as captain. If he was no better, those lines outside Drylliad wouldn’t last long.

After we left, Mott asked me, “Do you intend to go to Drylliad?”

“Of course. Drylliad must stand.”

“That battle will be dangerous,” Amarinda said. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

With a grin, I told her, “I’ll have more than ten minutes’ notice that this battle is coming. In that way, this might be the most prepared I’ve ever been.”

We rode as quickly as possible toward Drylliad, but once we came upon the Roving River, I turned to Tobias. “Can you and Amarinda get yourselves up to the camp at Falstan Lake?”

“Yes. But if you’re headed toward Drylliad, I ought to go with you. We’ll have injured men there, and I can care for them.”

“What about Amarinda?” I asked.

“I can help Tobias,” she answered. “Let me be of use in this war.”

Her eyes met mine, and I said, “The terms of our betrothal may have changed, but not the terms of the throne. If something happens to me before this is over, I need you to take the reins as queen. You are already needed, and you must stay safe.”

“I’ll keep her safe, Jaron,” Tobias promised. “Those terms haven’t changed either.”

I nodded back, then said to Amarinda, “You and Tobias will go to the Falstan camp and set up a tent for medical aid. Within a few days, we’ll need it there just as much as where I’m going. Order the commander to send as many men to Drylliad as he can spare.”

Amarinda nodded back at me, and then she and Tobias rode in one direction while Mott and I turned farther north.

We rode hard toward Drylliad, with heavy thoughts of the disaster that would unfold if the enemy breached those city walls. Harlowe was tasked with preparing an army to defend the city if necessary, but his options were limited. Many of the families who’d come seeking shelter inside the city were inexperienced in fighting anything other than the occasional wolf or wild dog attacking their herds, and most were women charged with protecting their children and elders, whose men had already joined the war.

Perhaps Harlowe would carry out his plan to pull men from the prisons. I wondered if they would fight for Carthya or abandon us at their first opportunity. But Harlowe had promised me he would not include Conner as part of those plans. No matter how desperate our situation became, I wouldn’t trust Conner with my own life, or with the lives of my people.

It was late in the day when we approached the last hill before coming to Drylliad. Mott called my name and stopped, requiring me to stop as well.

He said, “I’ve been watching you since we left the Avenian camp. You’re not as strong as you were before. I’ve seen the way you carry your sword, with two hands now rather than one.”

All I could do was to stare straight forward. “I’m stronger each day. Besides, my will is as strong as always, and that matters more.”

“But the battle is just on the other side of that hill.”

“Yes, and if I must, I’ll fight it with my sword in two hands.”

He wasn’t convinced. “Where’s your armor and your shield?”

“Where’s yours?” I countered. I let go of my irritation and only sighed. “No good king sends his people into battle unless he is there beside them.”

f the other men said, “Why? Even up there, we can still get you.”

“In theory, yes. But you won’t.” I tilted my head to the trees behind them. Both Tobias and Amarinda were up there. Together they held a long rope that ran down the tree’s trunk, with a hunter’s knot on the end. When they pulled it, the rope went tight around the ankles of the Avenians, knocking them all to the ground and binding them together. It wasn’t much different from what had happened to Mavis, and I hoped they appreciated the irony in that. When he saw that he had no support with him, the man behind Mott dropped his knife and held up his hands in surrender.

Mott stood and collected their weapons while I swung down from my branch and landed on the ground in front of them.

“You travel so loudly, we knew you were coming an hour ago. I was getting bored, waiting for you.” Then I turned to the man who had spoken. “We lured you here like fish to a baited worm. Now, did you come for me?”

Fish Breath didn’t seem interested in talking until Mott returned the favor and gave him a poke with his own knife.

He squealed and held his arms higher. “I already told you, we came for one of our own.”