Page 62 of Heart of Defiance

I dig my heels into the stallion’s sides, and it leaps into a gallop.

We careen around the pit, the thunder of hoofbeats echoing my racing heart. I clutch the hilt of my sword, holding it at my side.

This may very well be suicide, but someone has to do it. Someone has to add the final details to the picture of our freedom.

I started us on this path, and I’ll see us through to the end.

A few of the Darium soldiers glance back and then hesitate. The last few rows turn as if to meet my charge. High Commander Livius spins on his heel almost casually?—

And I hurl myself right off the saddle into him.

The force of the collision sends him crashing to the ground with me on top of him. I’m already raking my sword through the air, the blade slashing through the leather covering his shoulder.

He grunts and lands a punch to my jaw that leaves my head reeling. When he shoves me, I slam my knee into his groin.

We tumble sideways, my elbow jarring against the ground. My sword slips from my fingers.

I smack my forearm against the side of his head hard enough to bang his helm off-kilter. In his temporary blindness, his hand closes around my throat.

And my groping fingers catch my sword again. Sputtering for breath, I whip it around and ram it straight through his neck.

The high commander sags over me with a gush of blood. Shouts bellow from all around me—a blade swipes through the air less than an inch from my ear.

I wrench out from under the crumpled body, yanking off the high commander’s helm with one hand while I brandish my sword with the other. The Darium soldiers gape at their fallen leader for just an instant before they step toward me.

I hold the plumed helmet high as I ready myself, but more hoofbeats pound behind me. A stallion whirls by, afamiliar muscled arm slinging around my chest and hefting me up.

“Here we are again,” Jostein murmurs in a ragged but still wry voice as he swings me in front of him. “No respect at all for your own safety. Well, show them all what you’ve done, my dear rebel.”

Breathless and blood-drenched, I lift the high commander’s helm even higher. The sunlight glints off the black-and-white metal with its ruddy plumes.

Several other soldiers on horseback, including Captain Amalia, have ridden into the fray with Jostein. A few dozen archers and swordspeople are sprinting over at their heels. As they clash with the Darium soldiers, war cries splitting the air, my display seems to rouse the rest of our allies.

Over a hundred more figures burst from the ruins of the town. Whether they’re waving swords or cooking knives or sharpened branches turned into spears, their eyes flash equally fierce. They tear across the field toward the Darium soldiers with the furor of an army ten times our size.

As Jostein circles us around, I see our enemies already faltering. They’ve lost hundreds of colleagues to us, they’ve lost their high commander, and now they’re facing the full brunt of our long-bottled anger.

Blades clang and arrows hum through the air. First, it’s just a few soldiers at the back of the Darium contingent backing away. Then, all at once, a chunk of them peel off and scramble for safety.

Those of us on horseback dive into the battle. Jostein stabs and slashes on one side of his horse while I lash out with my sword on the other. I kick one soldier in the face and carve open another’s throat.

“Pull back!” one of our enemies hollers in a strained voice. “Regroup at Fort Sirus.”

The remaining Darium soldiers stagger away from ouronslaught and simply run. Arrows and thrown daggers harry their backs. The rebels around me let out a jeering cheer of triumph.

Jostein lowers me from his horse at the same moment as Iko and Landric push toward us from different directions. My other lovers catch me between them in their arms.

“That was incredible,” Landric mumbles. “But gods, you terrified me.”

Iko guffaws. “That’s our woman.”

I hug them close, but a deeper urge draws me away from them. I stand a little back from the milling crowd and thrust the high commander’s helmet into the air once more.

My ragged voice rings out across the plain. “We’re just as strong as them. We don’t need to be ruled. We can choose our own destiny!”

Another cheer goes up, and more of my comrades close in around me with grateful words. We’re surrounded by the chaos of violence and destruction, but my heart couldn’t feel lighter.

I’ve always wanted to bring beauty into the world, and I can’t imagine a more stunning scene than this.

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