Page 30 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

“You’ll come back,” Del demanded when I pulled back, no question in his tone. “I told Jan you would. She got worried when she heard people were riding out, but I said no. Darcy will do it. Darcy will stop those fucking Reavers—”

“Del…” I said, raising an eyebrow at the curse word.

“She’ll keep us safe. She has to,” he told his sister earnestly. “She’s the princess in that story. She’s got the two swords, and she’s got the gods on her side.”

I stood there, aghast at the certainty in his tone. With all the innocence of a child, he’d laid a burden on me, sure I could carry it. I possessed no such confidence and for a second, all I could do was stare, unable to come up with a soothing response.

“Darcy,” Dane said in a sharp voice. “We need to get going.”

“Stay safe,” I croaked out. “Heed Lannie.”

The woman herself appeared, looking flustered, but she nodded to me as I swung myself back in the saddle.

“May the gods watch over you, milady,” she said.

But before we could leave, another contingent arrived in the crowded courtyard and for me, they were a welcome sight. Mother Aeve came with several other priests and priestesses in tow, if the regalia was any indicator, but it was the women at her back that had me smiling. The Wolf Maidens filed in on horseback, Selene at their head.

“You are about to ride out in the defence of all of Strelae,” Aeve said, her voice cutting through the noise and bringing with it a quiet. “Let us pray for a moment, before you depart, for it’s with the gods’ grace that you will either succeed or fail.”

I glanced around, saw that everyone around us bowed their heads, so I did the same out of respect.

Aeve intoned the words, ones I had a feeling had been recited many a time before, as soldiers rode out in battle. But the fact that generation after generation of Strelan warriors had heard these exact same words was little comfort for me. I was a transplant, the very thing soldiers had fought against all those years ago when my people first invaded this land. But as she spoke of the three aspects of the goddess, the maiden, the mother, and the crone, something else came forth.

I felt like I was slowly being filled with a golden light I had only dreamed about before. But with that radiance came the memory of my mother’s words.

“You’ll know when it comes, my love, and when it does, know that I love you. I will always love you.”

16

“Thank the gods!” a man wearing a well tailored jacket and trews rushed forward as we rode into the manor grounds, but any grand appearance he might want to effect was ruined by the state he was in. His hair stood up at odd angles on his head, his skin besmirched by dirt and blood. “The king sent you. You’re…” His voice trailed away as he spotted Dane and the rest of the pack, hurriedly sketching a bow. “My apologies, Your Highnesses, I had no idea—”

“You’re facing an incoming invasion,” Dane said, getting off his horse and handing the reins to a stable boy.

“You’ve heard?” the man asked.

“No, we’ve seen it. We had a vision last night, and it showed Aramoor being completely decimated.”

“Decimated…” The man swallowed hard then. “We’ve been taking in the injured and displaced all day and the tales they tell…” He shook his head and straightened up. “Highness, they speak of Reavers.”

The man, he wanted us to tell him otherwise, to laugh at such a silly idea, assure him that the bogeyman didn’t lurk within the forests beyond.

“That’s what’s coming and they’re worse than any story you might have heard,” Dane replied and that’s when the man’s face fell. “We need everyone inside the manor gates. There’s no time to save animals or crops. Anyone who’s handy with a sword will have to come and help defend the helpless.”

“My lord has his guards here and there are others who are likely to want to fight.”

“Well… I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?” Dane said.

“Jarvis, Your Highness, I’m Lord Walter’s younger brother and steward.” He tried to sketch a bow then, but failed. He was on edge, we all were, staring up at the treeline on the hills beyond.

“Well, Master Jarvis, we need everyone who can fight outside the walls and those that can’t inside. Now.” Dane’s eyes flicked up to the sky and mine followed them, studying the sun’s position. He looked to me with a question in his eyes.

“Soon,” I said, feeling none of the certainty of before. I was tired and wired, every muscle locked down tight, ready to be deployed with explosive results, but they had been all day during the arduous gallop. “I can’t say when, just soon.”

“I will organise this at once, Highnesses,” Jarvis said with a nod to the two of us before scrambling to do just that.

His shouts rang out through the manor grounds as we all dismounted. A stable lad took Arden’s reins, but not before I stripped his saddle of all my weapons. Daggers in my boots, swords at my hips and a bow and arrow recently borrowed across my back, but when I turned around, I found I had an audience.

Weyland and Axe stood there regarding me, arms crossed, forbidding expressions on their face.

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