Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
In other words, more people for them to divest of their belongings in a charming way that was still thievery.
The tribes didn’t need much talking to agree, Silvanus had shared.
They enjoyed causing havoc.
And thievery.
Which meant a good two hundred and fifty men were entering the fray to the left.
And it had long since been agreed by all realms that magic could not be used in battle.
This meant there had been much discussion the previous eve if this agreement amongst realms held true in a civil unrest.
In other words, would he and Elena allow the Nadirii to use battle magic.
In the end, Cassius and Elena had agreed to uphold the accord that banned magic in battle.
It was banned for a reason, as it offered such an unfair advantage, those that wielded it could easily use that power in a way that would get out of hand.
Silvanus had explained, for his part, it didn’t matter.
He’d do what he wished for the Zees felt bound to no realm.
They were sovereign to themselves, each tribe.
Cassius did not give him permission, for Silvanus would not care. He did not attempt to talk him out of it, for Silvanus would not care about that either.
And thus, bright bursts of red or blue could be seen exploding to the left as the Zees’ witches used their magic to freeze militia soldiers so their men could do to them as they wished.
This practice was distasteful to the point of repugnant to Cassius.
But the alternative in the now was him, Elena, and nearly everyone he loved ending that day dead.
Therefore, he’d find a way to live with it.
Eventually the onslaught became too intense and Elena tossed her leg over Diana’s neck, sending her mount careening out of the melee, Cassius knew, so the steed would get to safety.
When she did, Cassius followed suit.
They fought back to back, and he determined, if a miracle happened and they survived that day, he’d encourage her to take up using a shield, for she fought with sword and dagger, whereas he fought with sword and shield.
He did not like her not having a shield when he was not in the position to act as such for her.
He did not like her in battle at all.
But, gods damn, if she wasn’t good at it.
Indeed, they were an exceptional team, as he’d found when they’d beat back the siege.
She had his back and weaker left flank.
He had hers.
In the siege, they’d been unbeatable. Unstoppable.
But they’d had superior numbers in the siege.
That was not the same in the now.
However, in the now, it helped that Serena had set herself up as Elena’s personal guard, and by default, his.
The enemy was coming at them from every quarter, he and Elena easily a focal point, making it clear they were the primary targets.
But Serena refused to be unhorsed, refused to lose her advantage. She brought down trolls with a speed and ease that was astonishing, and between the three of them, the fallen were piling up to the point Cass was slipping on their blood, tripping over their bodies or simply skidding on the mud caused by the rain.
It was when they were eventually overcome, Serena was dragged from her horse, and Elena let out an enraged, agonized shriek, that Cassius knew three things.
The first, he had to engage their final advantage, their last resort.
And second, he should have called in the dragons. He should have made the decision to extinguish the lives of twelve thousand of his countrymen to save his love, to save his friends, to save his life and to save his realm.
And last, he and the woman he loved were going to die on that field.
He could not have stopped her being there.
No, he never could have stopped her from raising her sword to protect his reign and free the women of Airen.
He also could not stop their daughters from facing more loss.
But if he had to die, he would choose doing it fighting for right with his woman at his back.
The rage, however, still consumed him as he thrust up his sword, roaring his wrath.
At this signal, he heard the feminine shouts as Fern’s army invaded at the right flank just as a barrage of arrows screamed into the fray from Fern’s archers that had positioned themselves high in the trees to their right.
They, too, were untrained, if not, Silvanus had shared, entirely unskilled.
As best they could, they’d been preparing for just this day.
Regardless, they only had such weapons as they could steal from the homes they’d left or their raid on Kilcree Break.
They had utterly no armor.
Their only advantage was determination and the burning rage of centuries of oppression.
Cassius feared they’d be cut down in little time, and those who survived, if the battle was lost, would wish they’d died on the field with what would befall them after.