Page 170 of The King is Dead
But throughout the quiet slog to that point, I muttered under my breath. The fact that a group our size had made it that close to the camp without being stopped only proved how erratic and ill-disciplined the Neph had become.
It would never have happened under my watch.
Yilan lay in the grass beside me, our wrists bound together in a parody of the bonding that made my heart pinch. But it was important for Rayan and Norg to have no reason to question her presence. Or Istral’s. Or Diadre, who was pale and quiet on the other side of Jann. I glanced at my brother-in-arms and the woman beyond him, but he was squinting at the terrain. Diadre caught my glance, but said nothing. She was clearly seething. Jann had been pulling her around by her hair quite a bit.
I didn’t think he had hurt her, but she looked furious anyway, which made Jann smile.
Putting aside the puzzle of our friends and why they were so hostile to each other, I turned back to the view below.
“See that outcropping of rock?” Jann whispered. I nodded. “If you stand there, there’s room for most of the camp to gather in the hollow below to see you and hear you. Even if their view is obscured, they won’t miss what you have to say.”
I nodded. “I’ll fly to it.”
Jann shrugged. “There’s an argument for simply walking in. Let them make an uproar.”
“But what about ourprizes?”I said through my teeth.
“I’ll watch over yours. Have Gall stay here with his. He can keep the birds-eye view and alert us if he sees a faction forming. I’ll watch the other two, keep them on the outskirts.”
I nodded again, already knowing that what Jann really meant was that he’d keep the girls out of Rayan and Norg’s view so they could walk the shadows when no one was paying attention.
“I still prefer to fly—let them see me coming,” I said quietly. “Let’s get this done.”
A few minutes later we crawled back down below the view of the camp, and I was coaching Gall.
“Keep an eye out from up here. Watch. Blow the horn if you see any gathering, or the signs of a frenzy on the edges.”
Gall nodded, but his brow was furrowed. I knew he’d be worried that he wasn’t following our strategy. He understood that we were hiding the true nature of our relationships with the girls from the others. But now he’d be worried that I was expecting him to read between the lines. Something he wasn’t good at.
I clapped his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Son. We’re about to claim the throne. This is going to be a day to remember forever,” I said with a smile as predatory as I could make it.
Gall nodded and smiled back, but his nerves were plain.
I turned away to get the others’ attention off of him. Yanking Yilan to walk with me, I tipped my head at the others. “Let’s go. I want to be speaking by sunset.”
We needed to circle half the camp undetected, so it would take a while to get down, and longer to reach that outcropping.
A jolt of nerves came at me through the bond. I gritted my teeth. God, I wanted to pull Yilan close and hold her and remind her that this would all work out for the best.
Instead I was forced to drag her in my wake by the leash the Neph thought I’d put on her.
God, bring the day quickly in which I could claim her as emphatically as I was about to claim this throne.
When we’d circled the camp to the area where I wanted to reveal myself, I stopped creeping through the brush and turned to address the others.
“Rayan, who was the strongest contender when Jann left?”
Rayan scowled. “After Jann left, here were three. Lern and Zebe have been gathering followers and putting Gron down. But neither has formally challenged the other. They’re both clearing the rest of the competition first.”
So, neither was confident they could take the other? I could defeat both.
“There were no other warriors stepping forward?”
“Everyone assumed Jann would lay claim… but when he didn’t return quickly, it was assumed he had fallen to whoever took you. There are fights and challenges between Neph every day. But those two have support. And rank.”
It was true both were officers, but I was surprised that some of the other ranked peers weren’t fighting harder to take the crown.
“Well, here’s your chance to prove your loyalty to your future King: Go find those two and get among their men. When I start talking, if you hear anything suspect, bring it to me.”
