Page 39 of The Stolen Throne

I look at Dax with a frown. “What if I just break his nose?” I hold up my hand with my index finger and thumb a smidge apart. “Just a little?”

He shakes his head, still smiling. “You cannot wound one of my warriors before a major battle. Maybe next time, Little Raven.”

Huffing out a dramatic sigh, I grumble, “Fine.” Turning my attention back to the weapons’ rack, I ask, “So how is this going to help me?”

Ash walks over to me with a smile, his eyes full of mirth. He takes my hand as he ushers me over to the new addition on the wall. He slips his hands to my waist, and before I can protest, he lifts me in the air and sets me up on top of the rack. He gives me another smile. “There. Now you can see everything.”

He releases his hold, and I immediately latch onto the sides of the rack. “I'm not sure how safe this is.”

Dax waves a dismissive hand in the air. “If it can hold our weapons, it can certainly hold you, Little Raven.”

“That isn’t the point, Dax!”

His eyes meet mine as he arches a brow. “What is the point then, Little Raven?”

“I’m… I’m not really sure what my point was. But I did have one!”

Humming, he turns back to the table. “Well, once you remember be sure to inform me.”

“I will,” I say haughtily.

Dax chuckles and begins moving pieces around the table as well as marking a few areas on a map. I point to one of the red X’s and ask, “What is that?”

All seven men turn to see what I’m pointing to. Extending my arm, I shake my finger at the X, my other arm still wrapped tightly around one of the poles extending from the rack I’m perched on. “That. What is that?”

Bene looks back to the table, hovering over what he thinks I’m pointing to. “This?”

Shaking my head, I respond, “No, the one right next to it.” He shifts his finger over to the red X I’m asking about, and I grin. “Yes, that one.”

His eyes meet mine. “This indicates a hostile area that we should avoid letting our forces enter; it’s a death zone. Too many of the king’s undead in that area.”

“Oh.” I notice several more red X’s marking the map along with a few green. “What does the green mean?”

Alair is the one who answers this time. “Green indicates the safest spots. There should be minimal undead there, and our best chance to infiltrate the castle is from those points.”

“So where will I be?”

Kas snorts out a laugh. “Where will you be? You will be here where it’s safe, Princess.”

My eyes immediately narrow on Dax. “I will not be left behind like some damsel. I’m just as much a part of this as you are.”

Asher sighs dramatically. “We aren’t saying you aren’t part of the kingdom, Snow Bunny. We want only to keep you safe.”

Rev tries to reason with me. “You aren’t trained for battle, Sunshine. It won't be safe for you on the battlefield.”

My eyes never waver from Dax’s as I matter-of-factly state, “I will be on that battlefield. One way or another.”

“Little Raven,” he warns.

My eyes narrow on him. “He killed my family.”

“Maybe there’s a way we could convince her otherwise,” Mir suggests with a smirk.

My eyes snap to Mir, and I say tersely, “You will not convince me otherwise.”

His eyes flare black as his grin widens. “Is that a challenge, Darling?”

“No. That is not a challenge. It is a fact. I will be on that battlefield.”

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