Page 6 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

“Hole up, yes,” Dane said, moving to grab his tack and then fed the bridle over his horse’s head. “At your manor, Weyland?” He turned and blinked at us. “Send word to Gerald and Lola and have them meet us at the old citadel.”

“You knew…” Weyland said, staring at his brother. “You’ve planned for this?”

“I plan for everything, you know that,” Dane replied mildly, then turned back to his horse. “I bought the old citadel, the one that was the core of Old Snowmere, before it was enlarged. I did it through a series of agents so the transactions couldn’t be traced back to me. I’ve been working on restoring it for some time, and now we need to make use of it. We will have somewhere secure to wait until the moon’s phase shifts. Somewhere to reconcile what has happened.”

He looked at me for just a moment, but that momentary glance seemed to slice straight through me, making me feel so very naked I was glad when his focus shifted.

“I knew at some point our backs would be against the wall. Father has raised us to take over from him but…” His lips thinned. “We need friends at court, allies and many of them. We’ve done a reasonable job of stirring up the people, but we need powerful friends too. Now we go about forming those alliances, because after Darcy defeats our mother, it’s time for us to make our move and claim the throne of Strelae.”

3

We stopped our horses on a road that had been going slowly up the side of the mountain for some time and that’s when I saw what Old Snowmere must’ve been like. The houses we passed were small and rundown, as this was obviously not a part of the city that was popular with the rich and powerful anymore. It was an afterthought, a remnant of the city’s past and that made it perfect for our needs.

The citadel was set apart from the rest of Snowmere by towering walls and an actual moat. I blinked at the sight of it, a fashion in castle building that had long fallen out of favour. The land around the citadel was barren rock, but in that a thick channel that had been cut deep and within it, water lapped. Dane caught my awestruck expression, smiling after he put his fingers to his mouth, a harsh whistle cutting through the air. The sound of clanking iron alerted us to the fact the drawbridge was being lowered.

“Brother, you were always a dark horse,” Axe said with a sharp grin. “But this…”

“This is defensible, even with a small number of us,” Gael said and then kicked his horse forward. Our beasts’ hooves clattered as we rode across the wooden platform.

“Exactly my thought when I bought it,” Dane said.

There was a curious emptiness about the place, I thought, as we entered a large courtyard, the buildings of the citadel looking down at us through the slender arrow slit windows. But we weren’t alone here, several stable boys appeared to take our horses from us when we dismounted.

“Your Highness,” a man said, bustling forward before bowing deeply. “You’re here to stay?”

“You got my note, Fenster?” Dane asked and the man nodded. “Then yes, for the foreseeable future. Fenster is the chamberlain of the citadel,” he told us, nodding to the man who bowed again. “He will follow your orders as if they were mine.”

“Then the first one is we need a hot bath. More than one, if possible,” Axe said, rubbing at his temples. “My head aches, my gut feels like it's been kicked by a mule. Whatever the hell Mother gave us—”

“Was enough to incapacitate three two souled warriors,” Weyland finished grimly. “You know that, don’t you, lass?” His eyes searched mine and he took a single step towards me, but not daring to come any closer. Where was my pushy golden haired boy now? “Mother, for all her wisdom, had to hit us with something hard to make us believe her lies, but that same potion or magic… “

“We couldn’t get it up, or I couldn’t,” Axe said, eyeing the others and they nodded. “Damn near fucking killed me. You were there, with me and—”

“If you could have some food sent up to the main suite,” Dane asked his chamberlain, “that would be most appreciated. And if we have any tincture of willow bark?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Fenster replied, seeming to sense he was being dismissed for this very personal conversation. “We have all the medicines you requested. I’ll have everything sent up when ready.”

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation in our new chambers,” Dane said, leading us into the building.

It was grand and yet rough hewn, the citadel. I could well imagine this being a working castle, one ready to defend itself against its enemies at a moment’s notice, all the former occupants of Snowmere safe behind its walls. But our steps were the only ones on the stone stairs as we climbed upwards and that’s when I saw more evidence of human touch. Tapestries on the walls to soften the stone and block windows, stopping the icy breeze from flowing in and burning lamps hanging from the walls. Then Dane stopped before a large door, twisting the knob before holding it open.

They let me go first, and I felt their eyes on me as I stepped into a bedroom that had to have been built for a king… or a queen. A queen, I decided as I walked in, one of the many wolf queens that had ruled Strelae. She would’ve slept in this massive bed, set up on a platform and strewn heavily with rich bed coverings and thick furs, she and her pack. And that’s when I turned to face them.

“Queens reigned from this room,” Dane said, coming closer as he confirmed my suspicion. “They slept here, birthed their children here, nursed their babies on that bed. They made decisions at a domestic and state level here. I purchased the place, thinking it the only truly defensible place in the city left, but when I met you…”

He frowned as he lifted his hand, ready to reach for me, and fearing what would happen when he did.

“I wasn’t thinking of you when I bought it. I couldn’t. I had no way of knowing who or what you were, of just how precious. I am not often surprised, lass, but you manage to do it every damn time.”

His hand cupped my cheek and as soon as he touched me, he was drawing me closer, until our foreheads were almost touching.

“You went to our mother’s chamber and challenged her alone?” There was a growl to his voice and a strange kind of desperation. “Do you know how mad that was? She could’ve turned on you in a second, dispatched you where you stood, or had one of those likely lads she was bedding do so. She’d have written you off as some feral wolf that needed to be put down, your challenge never heard.”

“No, she couldn’t. I woke her with one blade to her throat,” I replied, just as intent, my teeth locking down as I said the words. “I had another sword out, ready to take out anyone that was with her. She’s been allowed to do as she pleases, to try and break people like a spoiled child would a doll.”

I looked over his shoulder then, saw all three of his brothers standing there, with different evidence of her cruelty on each of their faces.

“It will not stand,” I swore.

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