Page 61 of Sword of Desire
She held out her hand, the one with the queen’s ring on her finger, ensuring they saw it. “Would you please help me dismount?”
Both men rushed forward, helping her off the horse.
After riding for so many hours without a break, Harley wanted to walk to stretch her legs. Neither man spoke as she led her horse toward the castle. Since she was the queen and outranked them, trivial chitchat was uncalled for.
Harley felt uneasy. Not a single person, other than the two soldiers accompanying her, was in sight. Since the royal castle had hundreds of men and tents on its grounds, she assumed the same would be true here. However, the place appeared lifeless.
Drawing closer, the two men led her over a rickety wooden bridge toward the front entrance. They were about to step across the threshold when Harley paused.
“I want you to swear fealty to me,” she said to the two soldiers.
Both turned and faced her. One had his eyebrows pulled together, and the other tilted his head as if considering what she said.
She needed to be strong to pull this off. She held out her hand displaying the queen’s ring, making her expectations clear. Both men immediately dropped to one knee, bowing their heads.
She kept her hand outstretched. “Your oath.”
The one on the right took her hand, said the words pledging his life to her, and then he kissed her ring. When he finished, the other soldier did the same.
“You may stand.”
Both did as she said.
“Now take me to whomever is commanding this portion of the army.” She felt more confident this time knowing these two men had an obligation to protect her. For some reason, nervous anticipation along with fear rose within her. Being here, doing this, had monumental consequences.
The two men led her past the threshold and into the center of the castle. Here, the ceiling had long ago collapsed leaving just the shell of the building standing. At first, Harley thought the place completely abandoned. However, she knew the hundreds of Melenia soldiers she’d traveled with across the kingdom had to be here. Once she realized that, she felt the presence of hundreds of people, all hidden in the castle walls.
That was when she realized the soldiers’ families weren’t here—just the soldiers. This was all a trap to lure Owen to Losger, thinking he was rescuing his people when instead, Lyle planned to kill him. If Owen came here with Ackley’s army, then Ackley’s men would be slaughtered as well.
Harley intended to stop it all.
“I’ll take your horse and feed it,” one of the men said.
She absently nodded, and he led the animal away.
“And I’ll go and get the commander,” the other soldier said.
“No need,” Harley replied. She had no intention of standing there all alone, reacting to what happened. She needed to be proactive. To be the queen, she had to act like the queen.
Several boulders were scattered throughout, so Harley went over and climbed on one of them. Standing tall, she raised her voice and addressed those hidden behind the walls. “I am here so that you can swear fealty to me.”
The lone soldier who remained at her side knelt on the ground. “Hail, Queen Harley!” he yelled, ensuring everyone heard him.
She held out her hand.
He took it, kissing her ring.
She didn’t release him from his kneeling position. Instead, she stood there wanting every single person hiding in this castle to come out and swear allegiance to her. She knew they’d already done so with Lyle.
Waiting felt like torture. At any moment, someone could shoot an arrow at her chest, killing her. This was the riskiest part. She kept her head high, as a queen would do, with the expectation of being obeyed clear on her face. Minutes passed.
Just when she was about to say something to the man still kneeling before her, she heard a low rumbling sound coming from behind her. She slowly turned. At the back of the castle, out of the dark archway, soldiers started pouring out, filling the area around her. Hundreds of them. No one spoke. When they got as close as they could to her, the men knelt.
Standing on the boulder, Harley observed the hundreds of men surrounding her, all of them on their knees before her. Then, one by one, each man came up to her, recited the oath and kissed her ring, officially swearing fealty to her. She didn’t know how long she stood there for, but it felt like hours passed.
Once every single soldier had pledged his loyalty to Harley, she knew she had to address them. She was about to tell them to stand while she said a few words when one last person walked out from under the archway. As the man got closer to her, she recognized him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.
A slow smile formed on his face. “Who do you think is leading all these men?” Lord Silas stood before Harley. His awkward lumber and stiff body movements had vanished.
