Page 19 of Heart of Defiance

The four of us remain braced around the guard post’s entrance, but no one else hurtles toward us. Any other guards currently stationed there must have succumbed to the fire.

When it’s obvious that no one could still be living inside the inferno that’s baking my face, I take a step back and sheathe my knife. A victorious, giddy laugh tumbles out of me.

Iko whoops and slings his arm around me, spinning both of us around as if we’re in the middle of a dance. “We did it. We destroyed those fuckers.”

As he sets me back on my feet, his handsome face fills my entire view, his gray eyes glinting with delight. In that moment, I think he might kiss me.

I think I might want him to.

My pulse hiccups, and he lets me go.

As I wet my lips, the motion sending a tingle of desirethrough me, Landric cranes his neck toward the far side of the fort. “They’ve got a stable. Maybe we can ride back.”

The thrill of triumph sweeps through me again, strong enough to carry every other consideration away. The words spill out of me.

“There’s a whole fort less than a day’s ride north of here. Who says we have to stop now? Let’s show Captain Amalia just how worthy this risk is.”

The men stare at me for a moment. Then Jostein breaks into a soft laugh of his own.

Iko claps his hands, his teeth flashing in a feral grin. “I like the way you think, Spitfire. Let’s ruin them all.”

Chapter Eight

Signy

If I’d known how big a Darium fort actually is, maybe I wouldn’t have made such a bold suggestion.

I peer over the top of the knoll from where I’m sprawled in the grass, fidgeting with my sleeve. It’s still stiff from the dunk we all took in the river we crossed this morning. I’m glad to have let the current sweep away the worst of the grime of travel, but the water’s left all my clothes a little tight against my skin.

Or maybe that’s just the tension winding through my body as I stare at the stone wall below.

Next to me, Iko swipes his hand across his mouth. “Well, we’re not burning much of that place.”

The two-story building beyond the wall is built of stone too. I worry at my lower lip. “I guess the floors are probably wood?”

On the other side of Iko, Jostein frowns. “We’re going to need more than that to work with. We can’t even get to the floors until we’re inside.”

With two guards posted by the gate, it’s hard to figure how we’re going to accomplish even the first part of that sequence. And what are we going to do once we’re inside? There must be three or four times as many soldiers stationed in the fort as we faced at the guard post.

As much as I admired Jostein’s skill with a sword, it seems a bit much to expect him to tackle a few dozen armed men by himself, especially when they won’t be fleeing a rampaging fire. Even with Iko in the mix, we’ll be overwhelmed.

I’m not reckless enough to think Landric and I will contribute much to the slaying part of the plan.

Iko adjusts his position, the side of his arm grazing mine. A tingle of heat races over my skin, sending me back to the moment last night when he embraced me.

“Maybe we just harass them,” he says. “Hurl some crap at them and irritate them. We could get alcohol or lantern oil in that town down the road, put together some basic incendiary devices.”

My stomach knots. “That won’t make much of a point. If anything, it’ll make us look weak—prove that we can’t really harm them at any kind of larger fortress.”

But maybe that’s true. Maybe I should call this absurd mission off before we get into real trouble.

Captain Amalia only asked us to destroy the guard post. We pulled that off. She might be willing to encourage more of her soldiers to join our rebellion now, and Landric and I could appeal to our neighbors…

Of course, even with a force of a hundred, I’m not entirely sure how we’d do any damage to the fort. All they have to do is keep the door shut and pelt us with arrows from above.

Was I out of my mind to think we could make a real stand against the Darium forces?

As my doubts gnaw at me, a large horse-drawn cartcomes rattling along the road at the base of the hill, which leads east from the nearby town past the fort. I expect it to continue on by, but instead it veers onto the side lane to the fort’s gate.

---