Page 99 of Frost Like Night
Appreciation nestled inside her heart, and she shot wordless looks of thanks at every Autumnian soldier she passed. They would need such fierce, dedicated fighters on their side. They would need all the help they could get.
Lekan pulled his horse up alongside her and dismounted just outside the tent. “Our soldiers are centered in the valley; the Yakimians too. Caspar’s infantry surrounds them. If Angra wants to break through, he’ll have to pay dearly in blood.”
“Angra has never been afraid to pay such a toll before.”
Lekan winced. “You excel at motivational speeches.”
“Everyone is well aware of what we’re doing here.” Ceridwen ducked into the open-air tent, weaving around tables strewn with maps and weapons. “And the cost that will come.”
“In less than two hours now.” Caspar didn’t look up from the map he crouched over in the center of the tent. “My scouts got a more specific location—Angra’s army should be here this afternoon. Are you fighting?”
Now he looked at Ceridwen.
“I’m not very good at letting my people risk their lives without me,” she said.
Lekan cleared his throat. If Caspar wasn’t intending to fight, she had as good as called him a coward.
But Caspar smiled. “Nor I,” he said. “You’ll be with your fighters, I take it?”
Ceridwen nodded. She and Lekan had worked this out already. “The front lines.”
“And I’ll be with my cavalry.” Caspar rose, waving his hand to beckon someone forward. Winterians moved in, the same group that had escorted Jesse’s children out of Rintiero—the Thaw, Meira had called them.
“But if we’re both in the fray, we’ll need a way to communicate.” Caspar bobbed his head at the Winterians. “They have offered to run information between us during the battle.”
Ceridwen bowed her head in gratitude. Such jobs often brought quicker deaths.
And when she opened her mouth to thank them, any words retreated deep behind her warrior’s instinct, one built up over years of constant fighting and struggle.
A horn sounded. One of the many held by Autumnians posted around the perimeter of the valley, keeping watch for approaching attacks from the forward or rear. This one came blaring out from the Winter side of the valley, a distant blast that made everyone in the tent shift as one.
Caspar spun to face Ceridwen, his brows creasing.
“So soon?” Ceridwen was the one to ask.
But Caspar was already gathering what supplies he’d need from the tent. A few maps, assorted weapons scattered over the table. “Or Angra’s reinforcements, arrived ahead of him,” he said. When he looked back up at her, his eyes softened.
“You’ll be at the front, so I’ll leave the charge to you,” he said. “To war, Princess Ceridwen—QueenCeridwen.”
That stabbed into her with more force than any physical blow. ShewasSummer’s queen now, wasn’t she? Or she would be, once Summer was actually hers again. And then there’d be the whole messy business of figuring out how to rule both SummerandVentralli, now that she was married to Jesse. . . .
But that was a problem she would gladly face, once all this was over.
“To the future, King Caspar,” she returned.
He nodded at her and left as more horns sounded, more scouts seeing the approaching threat and bellowing out warning. Some of the Thaw cut off to trail Caspar while the rest followed her and Lekan, making for a mismatched group that headed out of the tent. No horses now—they would fight on foot alongside the refugee warriors she had stood with for years.
The horns sent shock waves throughout their small camp. Medical tents prepared for the expected influx ofwounded; weapons tents clanked with blacksmiths hurrying to sharpen every blade they had. It all bled into one goal—so much so that Ceridwen swore they all breathed on the same beat.
She clung to that as she led her group out of the camp area and into the valley. Bodies pressed side by side, stoic and ready soldiers who parted for her. She wove through them all—Summerians, Yakimians, Autumnians—her pride swelling with each resolute face she saw.
Maybe they could do this. Not only distract Angra long enough for Meira to succeed, but actuallydefeathis army.
Ceridwen reached the front line and stepped forward, her boots trampling the grass. Trees capped the opposite end, evergreens with bowing branches heavy with snow. Those trees held her attention for the next minutes, the next hours, her eyes snapping back and forth, looking for any sign of soldiers rushing to attack, of Angra thrusting his evil magic at them.
So she saw right away when the first rider emerged.
Caspar had placed Angra’s soldiers a few hours away. It didn’t make sense for them to be here so soon.
