Page 83 of A War of Three Kings

Aldrin snakes an arm around my waist, a huge grin sweeping across his face as he looks down at his followers. “Cyprien took his gods-damned time in traveling here.”

He practically drags me down the flights of stairs, and all at once we are on the northern field right as Cyprien’s band reaches the fortress. Aldrin lets go of me and barrels forward, catching Cyprien in a powerful embrace that almost has both men staggering. They wrap their arms tightly around each other and let out choked laughs that I suspect hide half-sobs as they slap each other on the back.

“Gods, Cyprien, I have bloody needed you.” Aldrin holds the man at arm’s length to inspect him.

“Why didn’t you summon me sooner, you bastard?” Cyprien lightly slaps Aldrin’s cheek, cocking his head to the side and giving him a hard stare, then they are embracing again. The orb light gleams off the golden beads in the many thin braids of Cyprien’s black hair, pulled back in a leather thong and shaved on both sides.

I can’t help the smile that creeps onto my lips. Nothing should keep those two men apart, not politics or the laws of two realms.

Chapter 21

Keira

My heart clenches painfully as I watch the enemy amass beyond the range of our catapults and archers. Rows upon rows of footmen line up from the steep foot of one mountain to the other, slotting their tall shields together to create a wall.

Behind them, great teams pull forth huge catapults on wheels, constructed of levers, cogs and counterweights, all dwarfing the people.

I count ten of the monstrosities.

My blood turns to ice as they position the catapults right behind the shield wall. The team places stones into the counterweight of one machine, loads the bucket with a stone the size of a large melon and cranks the wrench. There is a pause, then they fire.

Everyone on the battlements seems to freeze and watch that missile as it arcs across the brilliant blue morning sky. Even my father’s shouted orders fall silent. I clutch the edge of the battlement as I wait for it to hit. It is all I can do to not duck and hide.

A single stone cannot break the wards of hardened air protecting the ramparts. I know this, but I can’t drag my eyesaway. The missile begins to fall, and it is immediately clear it won’t reach the wall of Fort Blackrock. I let out a long breath as it slams into the huge furrow Aldrin created in the battlefield. The void is full of sharpened stakes, and a couple snap under the impact.

I turn to Aldrin, whose eyes are focused on the ravine as he flicks his wrist and slowly repairs the damage to the roots.

The boom of hundreds of shields and footsteps moving in unison jolts through me, alongside the rattle and screech as they move the catapults closer. They have been testing them and perfecting their position all morning.

“Aldrin, I’m terrified,” I admit.

“Anyone would be stupid not to be,” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Sometimes, it’s the wait before the battle that is the scariest part.”

Before I can answer, heavy footsteps approach. We turn to see Cyprien stalking toward us. His thick eyebrows are slanted downward in a dark frown and his sharp features are drawn with severity. The long braids and ropes of his black hair swish with his agitated steps.

His gaze narrows on me. “Why am I just hearing now that your father tortured my king,my brother, and now we are allies with him? That it is all forgotten?”

I recoil at the accusation in his harsh tone. “Cyprien, I?—”

“You were supposed to protect them from your people!” He throws out an arm to indicate first Aldrin, then Hawthorne behind him.

I lose my temper. All my fear and rage at my current circumstances crashes down on me at once. “I tried to protect them! I am one woman against the rest of my realm!” My hair explodes into dancing whipcords of fire, and the look of pure shock on Cyprien’s face is enough to tell me my ears have transformed into the long peaks of a fae.

Aldrin lets go of me as though burned, and guilt stabs through me. I immediately clamp down on my passion and force that glamour back into place. It would be incredibly dangerous if this army thought I was anything other than a human priestess with some fae blood. If they saw my primal form without glamour, they would run in the opposite direction, screaming for their lives instead of trying to save mine.

Cyprien closes the distance between us and gives me a searching, scathing look. “Did I just see pointed ears and a primal form? What are you, Keira? What other secrets are you hiding?”

“I am human,” I hiss back.

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “I don’t think I believe that.”

“Easy, Cyprien,” Aldrin says. “I will explain later. When there are fewer humans around. We need to ally with them, whether we like it or not.”

Cyprien whirls on Aldrin. “You expect me to work with this Lord Protector after the way he has treated you and not destroy him like he deserves?”

Aldrin shrugs, but I see the pain that flashes across his face. He has not forgotten. “Yes, I do. The old spider of a High Priestess as well.”

“Old spider?” I whirl on Aldrin. “That is my grandmother.” I don’t know what hurts more, the insult to someone I love or the fact that it’s justified.

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