Page 129 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

That was at most an hour away. Fel trembled. “That can’t be. It’s closer than the borders, even closer than the portals.”

“Yes,” the man agreed.

Fel wanted to run, wanted to hide, wanted to count on his father to keep him safe. Yes, he had prepared for that, he had even considered that something like this was about to happen, and still, learning that it was real felt like more than he could handle.

He closed his eyes quickly, determined to get ahold of himself and schooling his features to display calm and certainty. How could he lead and inspire if he showed fear? There were ten men surrounding him, and it was time for action.

“You, take him to the healer,” Fel said. “The rest of you are going to wake up everyone in this fort and tell them to get ready. No bells. Not now. Split up.” He told each of them to go in one direction, then ran back to his quarters to get his sword. No. He’d have to fight without it. He removed every piece of iron he was wearing, with the exception of his hands, then went back outside.

So far he wasn’t even sure if they were coming in their direction, but they were too close and there was nothing else they could be after in Umbraar. If three assassins had found Fel coming out of the fort, of course they knew this was an important place. Perhaps they even knew he was alive and that his father had also been staying here.

Fel looked at the huge iron gates. Why metal? But then, wood could be burned quite easily. So much metal, metal that could be turned against them.

A man came running to him. It was Stan, the commander responsible for this fort.

“Prince Isofel, what’s happening?”

“Ironhold is coming to attack us.”

The man frowned. “Are you quite sure? How far are they?’

“Blue forest. Too close. We’ll be lucky if we’re half ready when they get here.”

“Where’s your father? We should get him here.”

“He’s not in the manor and not anywhere we can reach him. I’m in charge for now.”

“With all due respect—”

“What?” Fel glared at him. “Due respect what?”

“I know these men and this fort.” Indeed. And he had trained Fel, who was used to listening to him. But things were different now.

Fel nodded. “That’s why I’m counting on you to help us. They have ironbringers among them. And we’ll need to act quickly. Get as many men as you can to put all heavy iron equipment in the underground vault.”

The man’s face was incredulous. “We’ll fight them with what?”

“Wood, commander, that’s what we’ll fight them with. Our bow and arrows and even catapults.”

“You can’t possibly—”

“Please, Stan. I respect your experience and the years you served our kingdom, but we’re outnumbered and running out of time. If they don’t have ironbringers, we’ll still be at an advantage. We have the walls, we have the upper ground. We’ll even have time to take out our metal weapons from the vault. If they do have ironbringers, that gate is not going to stand, and we’ll be in trouble soon. Let’s not give them even more ammunition. Please do as I say, even if you think it’s the most idiotic thing ever. You can scold me later. Acting fast will give us more time than trying to figure out if my decisions are right or wrong. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” It was clear that Stan was saying that reluctantly, but it didn’t matter. It was good enough.

“Great, then. Get our metal underground.”

The man nodded and ran to gather some of the soldiers who were awake and ready. Meanwhile, Fel found some of the men and asked them to build a stone barrier behind the metal gate.

“With what?” a man asked.

“Break the stones of the barracks, and hold them with clay.”

“It won’t have time to dry.”

“At least it’s something. Go.”

Fel’s duty was to stand in his father’s place in his absence. Everyone in the kingdom knew that, and yet, they should have practiced it some more. Not only Stan, but some other seasoned soldiers didn’t seem too happy to obey him. Perhaps Fel should have let the old commander take over. That was what would happen if he weren’t here. But Fel was here—and knew about their magic.

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