Talin watched as two of the Drakel riders dismounted before her, one wearing a familiar-looking helm and the other sporting red scales with no horns. Kadis and Bo’Kata. She let out a half-laugh and limped forwards to greet them.
“Why is it, Your Majesty, that you appear to be at death’s door every time we meet?” the Draconian Prince asked, a grin spreading across his face.
“I’m just glad to see you.” Talin shook their hands. “We owe you our lives. You came in the nick of time.”
“Only upholding my end of the bargain,” Kadis said. “You’ve been keeping busy since we parted ways, I see.”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to catch up later, Your Highness,” Talin said. “Hellhounds have overrun the city. We must drive them out of the palace and re-establish a command centre there.”
“We’ll meet at the palace, then.” Kadis mounted his horse again and paused briefly. “Oh, before I forget. You’ll be pleased to know that we brought as much torslek as we could get our hands on after Ked’Fald surrendered. I seem to recall the venom suppressed your bodyguard’s healing.”
Talin looked at the dead Hellhounds on the battlefield. “It seems to be working so far. Thank you again.”
“No need!” Kadis threw her a mock salute and rode off, Bo’Kata close behind. Talin turned away and limped over to pick up her sword before retrieving what arrows she could still use.
“Round up the men and head back to the palace. Those Hellhounds have long overstayed their welcome,” she told Golmin. The captain gave a nod and moved off, and Ettrias approached, clutching his shoulder.
“Now I know how you felt…” He winced. “And I was wearing armour.”
“Come on, we should get you to Corvan,” Talin said. “Ashera? You’re unhurt?”
“I’m fine,” the girl said. She bore some superficial cuts on her face but otherwise seemed unharmed.
“You’ve truly proven yourself today, taking on so many Hellhounds,” Talin said. “Despite these odds.”
“Red Wolf wanted to do the same,” Ashera said. “He told me it’s why he stayed back to hold the Hellhounds in the palace. He said that as long as there was a fight to be had today, he would never back down.”
Red Wolf.
Ettrias must have noticed her expression change, because he slowed. “Go on ahead; we’ll catch up. I’m sure he’s fine.”
Talin nodded and left them behind to finish rounding up the troops while she ducked back into the tunnel. It seemed the news had spread quickly; civilians were cheering left and right or simply holding each other out of sheer relief. She passed Lord Karl still at the other end of the tunnel and made for the front courtyard.
They’d been hit the hardest there. Bodies were strewn everywhere and piled on top of each other, and she could see heavy losses on both sides. The Hellhounds had retreated and the survivors now occupied most of the courtyard. She scanned the place for Red Wolf before looking up at the wall. No sign of him. Talin limped into the middle of the courtyard, checking the bodies, and praying to the gods that she wouldn’t find him there.
“Talin?”
She spun around. Red Wolf stood at the gates covered in blood. His armour had been dented and scuffed in several places, and she could see a deep gash running across his arm where an arrow had no doubt nicked through the chainmail, but he was alive. He lifted his visor as he neared her and eased the helm off his head. She limped over and double-checked that he wasn’t fatally bleeding from anywhere; his healing powers evidently hadn’t returned yet.
“Thought you’d be deep into Stormwood by now,” he said. “Guess you had to stay and help.”
Talin kissed him. She didn’t care that every soldier and civilian in the courtyard was watching. He was alive, and that was all that mattered.
“I told you I’d be fine,” he said when they broke apart.
“The Drakels are here…” Talin looked up at him. “I never thought…”
Red Wolf glanced at her arm. “That needs fixing.”
Talin realised that she’d been gripping her injured arm the entire time. She tried to flex her fingers gingerly but only succeeded in sending a jolt of blinding pain through the limb. They quickly agreed to find Corvan.
The old healer had set up again in the throne room to treat his patients, aided by some of the Draconian healers that Kadis had brought with him. Ettrias sat in a wooden chair in the corner with his armour stripped off and his arm in a sling. Talin took a seat on the throne again while Corvan splinted her arm and put it in a sling too.
“It’s not a complicated fracture, thankfully,” he said. “But you’ll still need to rest it for a few weeks. Keep the splint on. You need to give the bone sufficient time to heal. That shield may have saved your life.”
“Thank you,” Talin said. “Kadis agreed to meet us in the palace, but I don’t see him yet. I don’t suppose I could trouble you to find him, Red Wolf?”
“Consider it done.” Her bodyguard spun on his heel and disappeared through the throne-room doors. Talin waited until she was certain he was out of earshot.
“You were right,” she said to Ettrias. “I can’t…lose him. It’s not a risk I could ever take.”
“You’ll go through with my plan, then?” her brother asked.
Talin winced. “I…made a deal with Lord Karl. If he…tells the court that Wormwood lied…Golmin can escort you to the border in secret…”
“Tell them I fled during the battle,” Ettrias said. “That could work.”
Talin glanced at the doors as if Red Wolf might return any second. “You’re sure you want to do this? You and Golmin—”
“Rufus understands the situation, and he would rather save Red Wolf than have us both remain in Belanore,” Ettrias said. “We’ll be fine together. But if Red Wolf confesses to murder, Rufus loses him for good. You’ll lose him too. Ashera will lose him too.”
“And you? Am I to believe that parting ways with you again will be any easier?”
“You’d rather say goodbye to me than him.”
“You cannot put a hierarchy on who I’d rather lose.”
“Talin, I’ve…I got used to my exile, in a way,” Ettrias explained. “Wherever I went, people didn’t look at me like I was some sort of monster. Not like the way I’ve seen people look at Red Wolf. He belongs here, in Belanore, where there are people close to him who can accept him. I made a life for myself out there, just travelling. He might not.”
“Just to be clear, I still don’t like this.”
“I know. But he’s not a bad person. Father tricked him and used him for his own ends; he doesn’t deserve death or exile for that.”
The throne-room doors swung open at that moment to reveal Red Wolf, now accompanied by a slightly bloodier Kadis. The Drakel broke into a grin when he saw Talin and Ettrias.
“No need to worry—none of this is my blood,” he said. “My men have been clearing the streets as best we can, but we keep running into each other. Belanore is like a maze.”
“Come with me. The maps in the war room should help with organising your men,” Talin said, getting to her feet.
“The torslek has been highly effective so far,” he said as they walked. “I’m surprised you turned the throne room into a medical ward.”
“We needed somewhere to put the wounded. The throne room was one of the few places here with enough space,” Talin said. “Your legionaries were quick to secure the palace.”
“Your lord commander had them bottlenecked at the front gates; it was quite impressive, actually,” Kadis said.
“We learned from your attempt to breach the gate at El’Vane,” Red Wolf said.
Kadis laughed. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Red Wolf moved ahead to open the war-room doors for them, and they quickly gathered around the maps, where Talin briefly went over the city landmarks.
“Ah, I see…” Kadis flattened his palms on the table. “Here is the palace and the drawbridge. That means my legionaries have formed a perimeter here.” He pointed along a nearby street running parallel to the palace.
“We need to push further,” Talin said and pointed to Hesar’s old defence line. “This was where we held the defensive when they broke through. It seemed to buy us the most time. If we could push them all the way back to here and establish a line…”
“Yes, that could work,” Kadis said. “These narrow alleys must have been what slowed the Hellhounds’ advance. If I leave my cavalry in the outer city, we can bottle them in these alleys and trap them there.”
“From what I hear, some of the Hellhounds have retreated from the city entirely,” Red Wolf said. “Shall I round up a team to pursue them?”
“No, I need you here,” Talin said. To stand trial and tell them you’re innocent.
“As you wish.”
They finished their plans to take back the city and parted ways with Kadis, agreeing that he would take charge of the soldiers while she cleaned up the mess in the palace.
“Wait, one more thing, Kadis,” Talin called as the Draconian prince reached the doors.
“Yes?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask—did you find your father? Is he alright?”
Kadis grinned. “Yes, he’s fine. They did not treat him as badly as they might have during the years of his imprisonment. I suspect they thought he might make a good bargaining chip one day. He’ll recover, though whether he wants to be emperor again is another matter. He’s talking about abdication…”
“Oh? I might have to get used to calling you ‘Emperor Kadis’, then,” Talin said.
“It does have a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Kadis laughed and disappeared through the doors, and Talin found herself alone with Red Wolf again in the dull light of the war room. She pondered over the maps for a while longer before turning away.
“Talin, I…” Red Wolf sighed. “I know you and Ettrias intend to clear my name. I didn’t overhear your conversation, but I could guess what it was about. I can’t let this happen.”
“It’ll be fine. I can have Ettrias escorted to the border in secret before the trial and tell the court that he must have fled during the siege,” Talin said. “This is the only way to resolve things.”
“You know that’s not true,” Red Wolf said.
Talin drew up a chair and sat. She had expected he would be stubborn, even at this perfect opportunity to clear himself of those crimes.
“I’m offering you a chance, a way out,” she told him. “Just take it, please. For both our sakes.”
“I can’t let you involve yourself in this,” he said. “As it stands, you’re innocent in this whole affair. If you do this…you become part of it.”
“The alternative is to let the court sentence you to death!” Talin protested.
“And this is what you want instead?” Red Wolf said softly. “Denouncing your own brother as a common criminal once again, knowing he’s innocent?”
“I…” Talin felt her shoulders deflate. “I can’t…lose you…because of what Father made you do. Not now, not after we’ve just survived this siege.”
“I know.” Red Wolf’s brow creased. “If this is what you wish to do, I won’t stop it. I just don’t want you to live the same lie as I did.”
“Red Wolf, promise me you won’t do anything,” Talin said.
“I…can’t promise anything,” Red Wolf confessed. “I understand. Believe me, I do. I stood in your position ten years ago, having to decide who to condemn, and there is no ‘right’ choice.”
“I know. I guess it’s too much to ask.” Talin sighed. “Take a day off on the day of the trial. I’ll find someone else to testify instead.”
Red Wolf crossed his arms. “I assume this is an order from you as my queen.”
“I’ve never been able to make you do anything,” Talin said. “But yes, I would very much like it if you did as I ask.”
“As my queen commands.” Red Wolf dipped his head. “I should warn you, though. You might find yourself hard-pressed to find other witnesses who can testify against Ettrias.”
“I know.” Talin rubbed her eyes. “I’ll think of something. If there’s nothing else, you’re dismissed. Go train Ashera or spar with Golmin, I don’t know. I’d like to be alone for a bit.”
Red Wolf bowed and left her with her maps. Talin stared at them for a while, mentally mapping out the route they took to the border and back. It wasn’t until she looked at these maps that she realised just how far they’d travelled in such a short time. By all rights, it should have taken them at least a month and a half of travelling along the roads, but Red Wolf and Golmin’s knowledge of the southern forests had allowed them to save precious time by going through the wilderness. Talin rubbed her leg absentmindedly. She had brought an army of Drakels from the west and saved the entire city, possibly the kingdom itself, but she couldn’t do anything to save the people she loved.
Arnas had told her once that ruling meant putting the needs of the people before her own. She’d dismissed his words then, thinking that she couldn’t possibly have to sacrifice that much to rule over the kingdom. Now, she realised that he’d been right all along, and had ignored his own words of wisdom in order to put her on the throne.
Now it’s my turn.
She wasn’t sure she was ready to choose.