Page 121 of The Prince and the Ice King

“Is he here?”

A spark of remorse marred David’s strong façade. “I bid him farewell before we left. I begged him to stay behind and keep peace in the city. A few guards had to remain, and I….”

“You worried for him.”

“He’s more suited to be an artisan than a guardsman. He’s human, no magic, but he feared that anything other than picking up a spear would have made it too easy to tell… what he was.”

What.Even now, among friends and knowing that Reardon himself had admitted attraction to men, David said it in a hushed voice. “No longer,” Reardon said with an aggrieved raise of his head. “I swear.”

“Maybe I’ve left Rob to a worse fate, if those who still fear us rise up in our absence.”

“Our numbers are greater,” Reardon assured him. “And once my father is well, he’ll see reason after learning what saved him.”

“I hope so, my prince.” At last David allowed some of his tension to recede. “Your love is at the frozen castle?”

Reardon had explained as much as he could to those who followed him, about the once formidable Sapphire Kingdom, and while not giving the details of the curse as he had promised Jack, he explained that some of the people there might look like monsters, but they were not, not any more than an elf or a person with magic. He also hadn’t made it public that his love was the Ice King. He feared that might give credence to Lombard’s lies that Jack controlled him.

So Reardon kept his answer brief.

“He is. And I am going to save him. I am going to save all of them.”

“Weare, Your Highness.” David bowed his head once more and offered a steadfast smile.

Reardon nodded gratefully back at him, and David took his leave to let his prince rest.

Jack

Jack stood on the ramparts, not trying to hide his looming form, with all his court lining the walls with him. Oliver was farther down along another ledge to lead his archers, many others standing guard at any potential entrances onto the grounds, prepared to launch a strategic attack and volley magics they usually saved for quiet, domestic use.

Of Jack’s subjects, only Barclay stood with him and his court as they surveyed the approaching army.

Jack looked to Barclay then, who shook his head. Lombard led the Emerald soldiers, but Reardon wasn’t with them. Still, Barclay’s vision said that he would arrive eventually with a shadow hanging over him andhis impending fate. All Jack could hope to do was hold off the soldiers until that path became clear.

“Zephyr,” Jack said, returning his eyes to the arriving troops, “when the fighting begins, if they be so foolish as to declare war, remind everyone to avoid killing unless they have no alternative. We will use fear more than force and hope they see reason. Now, carry my words to their leader.”

“Yes, Majesty,” Zephyr said.

There was a gentle rush of wind, and Jack knew when he spoke that his voice would boom forth as if from the gates themselves or a god calling down from the skies.

“You have your prince!” Jack declared. “Why do you return?”

The line of horses came to a stop with a simple raise of Lombard’s fist. There was a decent expanse between them and the gate yet, closed tight. Like Lombard, everyone at the front wore helmets, though many farther back did not, simple city guards brought along to fill their ranks.

Jack did not wish them any harm.

Lombard was another matter.

“You cursed our prince!” Lombard replied, loud enough that Jack would have heard him, however distantly, even without Zephyr magnifying his words. “You cursed our king! We come to avenge them and free them from your power!”

“I have no ability to curse,” Jack spat. “I merely bear my own.”

“Lies!” Lombard drew a mighty long sword that glittered in the sun. “We will no longer serve your whims! All magic must be eradicated! Only with the fall of your kingdom can ours be saved!”

A cheer rose up from the soldiers, echoing loudly over the castle exterior with Zephyr’s power amplifying their voices. Lombard didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to; he’d clearly bolstered his men by filling their heads with falsehoods, and no one would listen to the words of the damned.

Jack wished he knew what had become of Reardon, but until that revealed itself, he would defend his people and his home with everything at his disposal.

“So be it,” Jack said and rose to his full height atop the ramparts. He saw the Emerald soldiers, with and without helmets, falter back at the sight of him. “If you wish to eradicate magic, then feel its wrath.”

---