Page 41 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

We left a day later, after helping bury the dead and doing our best to repair some of the damage.

“But what will happen if the Reavers return?” Jarvis asked us as we readied ourselves to leave. He cast an eye over his shoulder as he voiced his fears, as if checking for eavesdroppers.

“We don’t make the decisions,” Dane said flatly, but then he put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Petition my father for a permanent station of soldiers in Aramoor and send a bird to the barracks if another attack looks imminent.”

Jarvis wasn’t happy with our answer, but he didn’t realise we felt the exact same way. We had until the dark of the moon until we could actually step in and do what was needed, but right now that felt like much too long a wait.

21

We rode for the rest of the day, returning back to Snowmere as the sun began to set.

“I need a bath, a bottle of ale and Darcy, and not necessarily in that order,” Axe said, shooting me a smile as our horses ambled in through the gates of the city.

“You’ll get that, afterwards,” Dane said, met by our chorus of groans. “We need to present ourselves at court.”

“No, Dane—” I started to protest, but he looked over his shoulder at me.

“Yes. We have arrived back home as conquering heroes. We must press our advantage while we have it. I promise to pour hot water over you for hours, letting you soak until you become a prune, afterwards. And anyway, I have a present for Father that must be delivered today.”

We got no further explanation and so were forced to direct our horses towards the damn castle.

The answers came quickly though. The court was sitting down to eat the evening meal in the grand hall, the room filled with people. An audience, I thought darkly, feeling my heart begin to race, my eyes straying to the sack Dane carried. As did many others. People paused as we strolled in, the men’s spurs jingling with every step we took, forming a somewhat ominous beat. The king’s attention was entirely on a pair of young beautiful women sitting beside him, right up until he heard us.

“My sons have returned!” he said in a voice filled with bonhomie. “Sit, eat, though perhaps a wash and a change of clothes is in order first?” His nose wrinkled for effect.

“No need,” Dane replied, setting the sack on the empty space at the end of the long table. “We won’t be staying. I thought you might like news of the attack though, Father, before we retired for the night.”

“Ah, yes, these Reavers…”

Ulfric’s voice started out smug and amused, but I watched that expression fade as Dane presented his ‘gift’ to his father. Canvas was peeled away and my hand went to my nose as the stench became apparent, people around the table gasping in response. Because Dane’s fingers were buried in the thick fur at the base of a Reaver’s skull, the beast’s severed head viewed by all of the court if the growing silence was anything to go by.

“Yes, Father, the Reavers,” Dane replied. “I know we have been taught to believe them to be an old wives’ tale, but it was no creature of gossip that my pack and I met in the fields outside of Aramoor. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of these beasts amassed there, ready to tear everyone apart. We fought as best we could, despite being critically outmanned, and I fear we would have been slaughtered to the man if it hadn’t been for my mate.”

Eyes, too many eyes slid my way then and I found myself taking a step backwards as a result. A warm, hard body stopped me from going too far, heavy hands landing on my shoulders, pinning me to the spot. Damn you, Dane, I thought furiously. Damn you.

Because I’d spent enough time around my father and his fellow border lords to know what this was. Loyalties shifted, and he who could rely on the support of his fellow nobles possessed a power that could not be amassed any other way. The power of influence. And right now, Dane was seeking to build ours, putting a very real threat on the table, literally, and in a public forum. Ulfric’s lips thinned down at that and he regarded the severed head, then his son, before his eyes came to rest on me.

I didn’t want this. I didn’t want the sudden flare of dislike in the queen’s eyes as a result and I definitely didn’t want the cool blue eyes of the king looking me over carefully, as if seeking evidence of what his son spoke of. I regretted not crying off, retiring to the citadel with a headache or some kind of womanly complaint, of not hiding away. Because I wavered under Gael’s grip, the strength I’d managed to rebuild having been used up on the ride back home. But when the king finally looked away, I let out a sigh, deflating so much I felt like I’d fall to my knees.

“Aramoor still stands?” Lord Walter asked in a tight tone.

“It does, milord,” Dane replied. “There were some casualties. Some crops and stock that were damaged or slaughtered, but your manor is intact.”

“Thank the gods…” the man muttered under his voice, performing a little ritual gesture with his hand.

“Of course, Master Jarvis did ask me what was going to be done going forward. He was distressed to see us leave, quite rightly fearing what would happen if the Reavers chose to return to complete what they started, because the manor is largely unprotected.”

“My king?”

Walter’s question observed the basic niceties, but little else. There was real steel in his voice when he prompted his liege.

“We will need to convene a meeting of the nobles likely to be affected by these incursions in the morning,” Ulfric replied in clipped tones that reminded me so much of Dane. “Now, this… spoil of war needs to be removed. Your point has been made, son. The stench is strong and I’m fairly sure every person here has lost their appetite.”

“We will return in the morning then,” Dane said, bowing just enough to show respect but no more. He then turned on his heel, marching out of the hall without a by your leave.

We followed hot on his heels, not saying a word until we got free of the damn castle, but when we reached our horses, I turned on him.

“Bloody hell, Dane, do you think you could’ve warned us about what you were going to do?”

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