Page 90 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

And I saw why almost immediately.

The silence broke for us, the crowds cheering as we made our way, hands reaching out to touch our feet, our stirrups, prayers and pleas called out as we passed. Ulfric sat on his golden horse, his armour, his sword covered in gilt. He looked like a great statue made in commemoration for a dead king, not a living one about to ride out to war. But he reached out his hand for me and I moved Arden closer so that I might take it.

And that’s when I felt some of the pain that Eleanor must’ve felt each time she was forced to meet a pack of suitors. King Ulfric’s hand was covered by a mailed glove, so none of his skin touched mine, but I felt an instinctive need to pull away and wipe my palm on my leather armour. I didn’t. He held our hands up, his above mine, controlling exactly where our arms were in the air, the roar of the crowd making him smile in a way that no doubt was supposed to be benevolent. But was I the only one who saw past the mask to the avaricious, vicious animal beneath it?

“I do hope your vision was a true one, Lady Darcy,” he said in a low voice. “All of this for nothing? Well, that would require a response.”

“I hope my dream was false,” I shot back through gritted teeth, keeping my social smile intact. “And will gladly be the recipient of any consequences, because then it would mean hundreds, perhaps thousands, weren’t going to die.”

Before he could muster a response to my ill-advised snap, the queen approached. She looked flustered, then irritated as her guards were forced to push back the crowds to admit them. She even stumbled as she broke free of the crowds and presented herself to the head of the procession.

“What’re you doing here, Aurora?” he asked in a bored voice.

She blanched at that, her composure failing, her eyes flicking to the crowds around her, looking for who might be witnessing this exchange, before they came and settled on me. Those blue eyes narrowed as she took me in, her gaze stopping on where the king held my hand.

“I have come to bid my king farewell and to pray to the gods that the just might triumph on the battlefield.” Her focus slid to me. “If there’s a battlefield.”

“I told you not to come,” he said, then turned his attention to her guards. “I’ve left you some of those likely lads you like to spend so much time with. They’ll keep you amused as they usually do. So much so you’ll barely notice we’re gone.”

Bright red spots formed in the queen’s cheeks, her eyes blazing as she just stared, but this was a woman who’d survived the travails of a feral court full of fangs and claws. A little slight like this wasn’t going to keep her down for long.

When her focus shifted, Arden moved underneath me, obviously feeling the tension in my body. Those perfect lips curled into a gruesome approximation of a smile as her eyes sparked blue fire.

“Well, let’s hope this matter can be resolved before the dark of the moon. It would be terrible if you were not able to return for the goddess-ordained duel.”

“For you as well, my queen.” We all turned to see Aeve had joined us in full regalia. She wore a voluminous black robe covered in raven’s feathers and carried a thin staff that sported ravens’ skulls at its head. “If the goddess cannot decide who has the right of the issue through combat, both of you will be executed, leaving her to make her decision in the afterlife.”

“I’ll be back,” I promised her, fixing this ‘queen’ in my sights. “Don’t fret.”

“Yes, well, let’s focus on the continued survival of our people first,” Ulfric said. “Aeve, you’ll perform the blessing?”

“Come forward, my king,” Mother Aeve said, perfect silence falling over the crowds. Her staff was thrust out, because it was under the Morrigan’s aegis we’d ride out, not the Mother or the Maiden’s. “And receive the blessing of the goddess.”

When Ulfric dismounted, then came to stand before the priestess before dropping down to one knee, he looked every inch a king. The trouble was, that wasn’t what was needed. I watched Mother Aeve’s hand reach out to be placed on his head and knew somehow this wasn’t the way it worked.

“Go forth, my king, and lead our soldiers in defence of our country, protect that which our goddess gifts us.”

But as she spoke, her eyes bore into mine, not the king’s.

“Hear the sound of her call to arms.”

A raven cawed at just the right moment and when I looked up, I saw a flock of them circling above us.

“Reach out with your mind and feel the strength of our people behind you.”

My heart thudded harder, faster, feeling like something more than just my blood roared through my veins.

“Take that strength with you into battle; let it carry you through as you drive out these interlopers that seek to twist our goddess’ power for their own gains. You are her agent in this world, her means to protect those that can’t protect themselves, so you must ride out to victory!”

Her final words were met by cheers, not solemn recognition of prayer as was done in Granian churches. The king got to his feet, basking in the adulation, but I only caught a glimpse of him out of the side of my eye. It was Aeve whose focus held my attention, her eyes burning into mine, something Aurora noted. Her gaze flicked back and forth between us, her mouth falling open, words ready to spill out as she fought the crowd to return to her husband’s side, but to no avail. Ulfric was back in the saddle, casting a brief look my way before he nodded to the assembled clergy. They stepped aside, creating a clear path for us.

“We ride out today for the honour of all of Strelae!” the king said, drawing his sword and thrusting it into the air, the silvery sound of hundreds of others doing the same in my ears.

“Darcy…” Dane hissed, resulting in me pulling my own out belatedly. Ulfric nodded and then re-sheathed his sword to the sound of the crowd’s roar. That was what I heard long after we’d ridden out of the city gates, the sound reverberating around in my head as we rode past people trailing along the path up to Snowmere, struggling to get inside the city gates by any means available to them.

45

Once we got clear of the mountain and out onto the open road, the king seemed content to let me fall back to ride beside my mates. Generals rode forward, taking my place quickly, as did lords with a multitude of demands and complaints. We ended up forced further and further back into the column and I was glad for the distance.

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