Heart of Defiance (The Royal Spares)

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Signy

J ostein squints through the darkness. “I think I see lantern light up there. That’s probably them.”

He nudges his horse from a walk to a trot, letting me nestle more closely against his chest. The feel of his body behind mine, his thighs braced against my hips, sets off even more warmth than it did before our little interlude with Iko.

We returned to the patch of forest where we left his captain and my neighbors in the wee hours of the night and found a message in some kind of military code. Apparently it meant that they’d moved to a spot east of the town. We don’t know why that is or what exactly will be waiting for us there.

As we approach the woodlands up ahead, the first glow of sunlight hazes the sky. I make out a few tents between the trees and then a couple of soldiers in the burgundy Veldunian uniforms standing guard in the shadows.

Iko must recognize them, because he lifts his hand in a wave. One of the soldiers returns the gesture and ducks farther into the forest.

By the time we’ve reached the trees and dismounted, Captain Amalia is striding over to join us. She looks us up and down with a bemused smile, her eyes bright.

“You really pulled it off,” she says. “You’re late, though. Was that you all the way over at the fort by Idam too?”

I shrug. “I thought we’d better make our point as well as possible.”

“You did that.” She glances over her shoulder toward the camp. “We relocated most of your neighbors to a few nearby settlements, but several dozen of them insisted on staying with us at least until we found out how your mission went. We’ve been gathering proper weapons for them… and speaking to other squadrons. I have people here eager to ride back to their captains and let them know when we’re ready to mobilize.”

My pulse hiccups at the thought of how much progress we’ve already made—how many people we’ve brought over to our side.

Jostein dips his head, his expression even more serious than usual. “We had help at the fort. A few of the locals went on to rally people in Vadan and Childeric. I told them to wait until they had our military backing them up before launching any new assaults, but I don’t know how long they’ll keep that in mind.”

The captain nods. “We’ll see about sending at least a squad to both towns to summon whoever’s willing to join us—and continue spreading the word beyond there. We’ll want to keep the main thrust of our force together. Picking at the empire bit by bit is fine for a start. It won’t drive them out completely.”

My gut twists at her implications, but the twinge of queasiness can’t diminish my exhilaration. “Then the army’s on board? You’re going to help us push the Darium forces right out of Velduny?”

Captain Amalia’s mouth tightens, but the gleam in her eyes only gets flintier. “They’ve had their way with our country for too long. If the four of you can manage to get the better of them, who am I to back down? We might never get a better chance.”

Iko grins. “I knew I was glad when I got assigned to your squadron—and not just because I’d get to have a friend bossing me around.” He elbows Jostein teasingly.

The captain gives him a wry look. “Come get something to eat and take a little rest. I can’t imagine you’ve had much chance to do either with all the running around you’ve been doing. I need to reach out to my colleagues.”

She must have prepped the squadron for our arrival, because as she steps away, a few other soldiers come forward to usher us over to a small campfire. Bowls of porridge are shoved into our hands. I gulp mine down so fast I scald my tongue.

One of the female soldiers directs me to a tent that it’s clear someone else is also using, but they’ve already gotten up for the day. Now that I have the chance to relax, I’m too exhausted to do anything except crash on the sleeping bag and close my eyes.

I’m not sure how long I’m dead to the world, but raised voices and pounding feet jolt me out of sleep. With a lurch of my heart, I sit up and swipe at my bleary eyes.

Landric is pushing back the flap of my tent before I’ve made it that far. His voice comes out in a frantic hush. “A company of Darium soldiers is marching on another town south of here. The squadron and another that’s just joined us are hurrying over to defend them.”

He moves to the side so I can scramble out.

The camp has turned into a flurry of activity, soldiers and some of my neighbors grabbing weapons and hustling away. Jostein is in their midst, calling out orders to arm themselves and picking who’ll take the horses to reach the town first. He catches my gaze, and I dip my head to tell him I’m coming too.

Iko appears next to me, his blond hair tussled from his own interrupted sleep. “Let’s get going before they can do even more damage.”

Seeing Jostein ride ahead with a small group of soldiers sends an ache through my chest, but I can’t pretend I’m battle-ready enough to be on the very front line. I strap my hunting knife in its sheath around my waist and rush to join the mass of us on foot.

We set off beyond the forest in the direction of the mountains. Captain Amalia stays with us, riding around the outskirts of our mismatched infantry and calling out orders and encouragement.

I notice a few people from Feldan sending curious glances my way. My aunt and uncle and Landric’s mother are nowhere to be seen, but Bertha the butcher has stuck around, as has Norbert the cobbler—the latter to my surprise.

Do they all know that I’ve done more to conquer our enemies in the past few days than they have in their entire lives? What do they think of me now?

An echo of past humiliations prickles over my skin. I’m not sure I actually want to know.

Landric stays by my side, apparently committed to showing all of them that he’s throwing his full support behind me. Iko marches nearby amid a group of his colleagues.

In the middle of the crowd, I can’t see much other than the people marching ahead of me. I only know when the Darium forces have come into view from the angry cry that goes up from the soldiers at the front .

We pick up the pace instinctively. Captain Amalia pitches her voice to carry to all of us. “They’re just reaching the town now. It looks like only a few dozen soldiers—we have them far outnumbered. Get in there and push them back however you can, but stick close to each other. Our strength is in working together.”

It’s a matter of minutes before shrieks and thumps reach my ears. I draw my hunting knife, my jaw clenching.

We pour into the outer streets of the town in a furious mass. The Darium soldiers who got there ahead of us bellow at us to back off, but no one listens.

They can’t withstand the deluge.

The Veldunian soldiers at the front of the surge catch the boldest of the attackers, weapons clanging and bodies in skeleton uniforms crumpling. The pricks thought this place would be easy pickings, punishing innocent civilians for what their countryfolk have done elsewhere.

They’re so very wrong.

Once the first several of their comrades have fallen, the Darium company must realize they’re screwed. The bodies clad in black and white dash back the way they came, and we storm after them in determined pursuit.

One of them smashes a lantern and lights a ramshackle house near the edge of town on fire. A yelp goes up from inside.

I grab a bucket of water leftover from washing and douse the flames before they can do more than blacken the lower wall.

A soldier lunges at us from the side, but Iko is there, slashing the woman’s neck open. We hurtle onward, out of the town, pressing the pillagers farther back.

Captain Amalia’s voice rings through the ruckus, bringing us to a stop. She points toward the plain ahead of us .

The remaining Darium soldiers are fleeing toward a larger contingent in the skeletal uniforms. The front line is on horseback, with maybe a hundred foot-soldiers behind them.

The man riding a little ahead of the others sports a helm with a single red plume like a spurt of blood from its skull-like visage. I know that indicates he’s someone higher up in the Darium army’s ranks—tribune? Admiral?

He’s also flying a small white flag indicating he means to parlay, not attack.

As the company marches toward us, I pick out some twenty figures in dark green uniforms off to the side. A gold crest gleams on the left side of their chests.

I frown. “Isn’t that Duke Berengar’s livery?”

Landric’s stance goes rigid beside me. “Gods smite us, it sure looks like it.”

Captain Amalia and a man on horseback who I think is also a captain as well ride forward to meet the approaching force. “That’s close enough!” Amalia hollers.

We still have the advantage of numbers by a factor of about two, although nearly half of us are hardly soldiers. It must seem like enough of an imbalance that the Darium leader doesn’t want to risk provoking us.

He holds up his hand for his people to draw to a halt and directs his horse forward on his own. He stops about ten paces from the company and the same from our captains. Then he swings down from his steed and steps in front of it as if sharing attention with even the animal would be unacceptable.

The delicate blue blossoms of sealace, just bloomed with the summer warmth, bob around his feet. It only grows in Velduny, but despite its looks, it’s one of the hardiest plants out there.

I expect he’ll find us an equally difficult challenge.

The military man doesn’t lift his helm, letting its painted skeletal face glower at us unchecked. His voice booms across the space between us.

“Veldunian insurgents, your disgraceful acts against the empire and your Darium benefactors will not be allowed to stand. This is your one chance to surrender before you—and the people you stand for—face the harsh punishment you deserve.”

My skin itches uneasily. What does he think we deserve? All our towns and cities burned to the ground? Thousands slaughtered?

Captain Amalia has remained on her stallion. Her arm tenses at her side as if she’d like to grasp her sword and run this prick through right now.

“We don’t intend to let you punish us,” she retorts. “There’ll be no surrendering unless it’s on your side.”

“I wouldn’t be so hasty, traitor. The high commander who oversees this half of the continent is marching this way with an army far greater than anything you’ve been able to assemble. In a matter of days, the full might of the Darium empire will be prepared to crush your treachery.”

Even though I know he’s going out of his way to sound intimidating, my mouth dries up. Just how big an army is on its way? Will we be able to assemble enough people to fend them off?

How much will they destroy if we can’t?

The Darium leader goes on without offering our side a chance to respond. “We’ll give you ten minutes to decide. Surrender and hand over the woman named Signy who instigated this uprising, and High Commander Livius will treat the rest of you with more lenience.”

All the blood seems to drain from my body, leaving me a cold husk.

He knows my name. He knows I started this.

Murmurs pass through the people gathered around us. The soldiers remain stoically silent, but I catch fragments of anxious commentary from my neighbors.

“…comes down to her.”

“An entire army!”

“…murder us all and…”

Landric reaches over to squeeze my hand, but I barely feel the contact. My mind has detached from my body, floating somewhere just behind it, like I can’t bear to be part of myself.

Like the moment when I realized Inganne’s gift wasn’t coming, that no rush of magic was going to offset the throbbing of my foot where I’d offered my toes.

I went too far before. I pushed for more than I could handle and threw my life into shambles.

That’s why she turned me away, isn’t it? She knew I didn’t only want to create beautiful things. I asked for a talent that people would envy and view with awe.

I wanted to show up my aunt and uncle for their grumbles and sighs, to make the rest of the town wish they’d pampered me in my grief rather than ignoring my struggles.

Is this rebellion really what’s right for everyone, or have I only been acting out my own desire for vengeance? If I’ve overstepped again, it’ll be far more than me paying for my arrogance.

The rest of the rebellion doesn’t need me anyway. I could give myself up, buy my allies at least a little time, and they could decide when they’re really ready without me pushing them on to the edge of ruin. Maybe they’d still be able to rally again and win our freedom.

But maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe the spark of resistance would flicker out for good.

I swallow hard, my heart drumming against my ribs. Doubt constricts my lungs .

All I have to do is take one step forward and call out who I am…

The Darium leader turns on his heel. As he moves to his horse, he very deliberately brings his boot down on one of the sealace flowers.

He grinds it with a twist of his heel before he reaches for the saddle.

My spine stiffens. The murmurs fall away around me, and I know my companions have seen the gesture too.

No. We can’t let the Darium empire grind us down even more. We’re already shadows of ourselves, grasping at the scraps they’ve left us with.

Would I even have cared about the power of a gift if they hadn’t stolen my parents from me, destroyed my childhood?

I’ve seen the light of hope come back into so many people’s eyes in the past few days. I put it there—by demanding more, by doing more.

We need this. If we don’t claim our victory now, if we let ourselves give up in despair, I don’t know how we’ll ever get that hope back.

I do take a step forward, but only to yell defiantly at the Darium company. “We won’t be crushed. This is our country, and we’re taking it back!”

A cheer louder than I was prepared for roars through the makeshift army around me. Townspeople and soldiers raise their weapons, ready for battle.

Captain Amalia smiles thinly and looks at the Darium side. “You’ve gotten your answer.”

My fingers clench around the handle of my hunting knife, but the leader motions for his company to withdraw. “When you meet High Commander Livius, you’ll regret that decision,” he calls over his back.

I square my shoulders, gathering all my renewed resolve.

Not if I have anything to say about it.