93. Rorax
It was dawn on the seventh day when Rorax and Cannon finally made it back to the Northern Castle. The morning was cool; the sun’s light was gently dipping its fingers through the trees, and the birds were out chirping loudly, telling the world that it was time to rise.
Cannon hadn’t said anything when Rorax emerged from Povelinn with red and puffy eyes, tear tracks cutting through the thin layer of soot that covered her skin. He had met her with a somber grimace and patted her back gently. They made camp just outside of Povelinn, close enough that she could still see the outlines of the ruins illuminated in moonlight as she sat next to the fire Cannon had built for them. That was days ago.
Rorax’s horse made it past the last bend around the edge of the clearing surrounding the Northern Castle and the castle came into view. The only thing she could do was look around in awe.
Cannon whistled as his horse pulled up next to hers, and together they sat, taking in the fifty or more ice dragons—war dragons specifically—sporadically sprinkled throughout the clearing. They also watched the men and women who wore fluffy, fur lined coats and light blue leather armor bearing the unmistakable crest of the House of Ice Frost Dragons on the chest.
The soldiers milled around, setting up camp, starting fires, and still undoing the tack from the dragons. They must have just arrived.
Cannon nudged her with his elbow; he gave her a concerned glance that she saw out of the corner of her eye.
Rorax snapped out of it and tossed her reins to Cannon as she slipped off her horse.
Take the horses around the long way back to the stables, Rorax signed to Cannon. Be careful, most horses don’t like dragons. Tell the stable boy I’ll tip him extra if he takes care of mine for me.
Cannon’s brow furrowed, but before he could sign anything to her, she turned and took off at a sprint, leaving Cannon staring after her.
Rorax ran across the lawn toward the tents. She passed dragon after dragon, all of whom did nothing other than give Rorax lazy glances as their handlers washed their light blue scales or undid their tack. She searched wildly over the creatures and men, looking for one man in particular, but she couldn’t see him.
Once she got to the center of the tents with no sign of her old friend, she stopped and asked for directions from a gruff man she vaguely recognized. He told her that Ye-Jun had been one of the last to arrive, but he had already gone inside with his sister. She turned on her heel and all but ran to the castle.
When she finally got to the mess hall, she slammed open the doors so loud that everyone inside looked up from their food and stared at her, but she was too busy scanning everyone’s faces to care. Until she spotted him.
Sitting next to his purple haired sister, grinning up at her with that cocky, shit-eating grin she secretly adored so, so much, was Ye-Jun Frostguard.
Rorax ran to him.
Ye-Jun uncurled that long, lethal body from the wooden bench and held out his arms just in time for Rorax to slam into him, wrapping her arms around his neck so tightly she was probably choking him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her feet off the ground.
His arms squeezed her as tightly as she held onto him and he laughed into her hair. “My, my, my . . . Rorax Greywood is a Contestar. You and my little sister are just full of surprises aren’t you, Grumpy?”
Rorax’s eyes were wet as Ye-Jun set her on her feet and pulled back to take in her face.
Gods, she was so happy to see him, her chest felt like it was going to burst.
After feeling nearly hollowed out after her visit to Povelinn, it felt like a gift from the gods to have him here.
Her oldest friend—not counting Raengar and Isolde—was here.
Rorax reached up and squeezedhis shoulders, grinning like an idiot into Ye-Jun’s ridiculously beautiful face.
Like his sister, Ye-Jun had been blessed with some of the most beautiful genes the Realms could give. His silky black hair was half up, half down, the top pulled back, but the bottom half of his hair draped down to his mid chest. Ye-Jun had two piercings, one in each eyebrow that sat above the same purple colored phoenix eyes that Jia had. He also had the same square jaw, straight nose, and the same perfect skin.
He was a head and a half taller than his sister though, almost as tall as Ayres.
Jia stood up from the bench, hovering behind her brother and looking around the hall. “I hate to ruin the moment . . . but we should take this upstairs.”
Rorax looked around and realized that everyone in the mess hall was completely silent and openly staring at them. She felt one gaze that always seemed heavier than the rest and turned her head to find Ayres’s silver eyes already on her, boring holes right into her soul.
Why were his eyes silver? Was he angry? Her eyebrows furrowed for half a moment before she turned back to Ye-Jun and Jia. “I’ve been traveling by horseback for days, let me go take a bath.”
“Meet us in Kiniera’s room,” Jia said. “We have a lot to discuss.”
Rorax played with the hem of her dress, standing outside Kiniera’s room.
It was stupid. She was being stupid, but she felt . . . shy. Ye-Jun had been one of the first people to see her as more than just the Wolf’s weapon or the Pup, one of the first to see her as a person, and yet he had never seen her dressed in anything besides her leather armor. She had on a long, silky black dress, one of Hella’s creations, the ribbon that Ayres had given her in her hair . . . and she wanted Ye-Jun to notice her.
Not in a romantic way. Yes, she had lost her virginity to Ye-Jun over a hundred years ago, but it had never been romantic between them.
Rorax just wanted him to see her, recognize the same change she felt in herself.
With one final steady breath, she lifted her hand and knocked on the wooden door.
Jia opened it and stepped back to let Rorax inside.
Like always, Ye-Jun didn’t let Rorax down.
“Holy shit, Grumpy.” Ye-Jun whistled the second she stepped into the room, eyeing her up and down slowly, like a man appreciating art. “K??n save the men who are stationed here. I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you for all the gold in the Guardian’s treasury. Gods, I forget that you’re a woman under all your bullshit, Grumps.”
Rorax rolled her eyes but grinned at Jia’s brother.
“Sit down, you two,” Kiniera drawled from her table, like she was bored with them already.
A giant map had been spread out in front of Kiniera, detailing the House of Death border with Lyondrea. Rorax and Ye-Jun moved over to the table and took a seat as Kiniera pointed to a spot on the map just south of Morvarand. “The King wants you to meet him at the base of the mountain here first.”
Rorax’s spine straightened. “Raengar is still fighting on the border?”
Kiniera simply nodded and moved on. “Once you are there, you’ll receive more direction. The Guardians have obviously not officially declared war against Lyondrea, and Raengar is forbidden to cross onto Lyondrean soil uninvited until then. He will most likely have you on overhead watch duty, or maybe even ask you to try and scout the Pits from overhead.”
“Death has dragons at their disposal, why haven”t they used them to spy already?” Jia asked.
Kiniera shook her head. “They cannot go to the same altitude as the Frost Dragons, and Lyondrea has dragon arrows perched at the border just waiting for them to try. Raengar had them stand down because Death can’t afford to lose a single dragon.”
Dragon arrows were long and spear-like and could be shot from giant crossbows built into the ground; they were capable of piercing the scales of all but the oldest and largest dragons. The only dragons who could fly high enough out of the arrows reach were the ice dragons. The cold atmosphere never affected the ice dragons nor their riders since only the soldiers with the strongest affinity for Ice Magick were chosen.
Ye-Jun hummed his understanding.
Rorax eyed the map. “How many men are crossing the river right now?”
“Five thousand freshly trained Death soldiers, and seven thousand veteran Ice soldiers, plus one hundred of my men on dragon back,” Ye-Jun said. About a third of the total Frost Dragon force. “That should be more than enough to hold them steady for now, at least until the Choosing ends and we can send the new North Guardian.”
“It has been mostly quiet on the front lines. Raengar has only had to deal with small-scale skirmishes, but they are becoming more and more constant,” Kiniera said. “He hasn”t made any contact with any more Pit monsters. The Pits have either stalled out, or they are trying to keep it hidden for as long as possible while they gather their strength for a full-scale assault.”
“Is Death still the weakest link of the four border Houses?” Rorax asked.
Kiniera nodded. “Weather has made their border nearly impassable for a large-scale army. There is a constant lightning storm there. Fire has the manpower to keep their borders mostly secure, but Death . . . Death still has not fully recovered from the assault.”
Rorax’s throat went dry.
Ye-Jun rubbed his chin with his palm. “What about Alloy and Foliage?”
“Alloy would be a massive problem if they open their borders to a Lyondrean army. Our spies there remain active, and have not reported any movement, which is encouraging. Foliage would be an issue, but the border they share with Lyondrea is mostly swamp land. It would be a long and treacherous journey to run an army through there. If I was the one planning a war on the Realms, I would march my army through here.”
Kiniera pressed her finger against the map at the lowlands between the High Queen’s Mountain, and the beginning of the Jagamine Mountain range. Right where Raengar was currently stationed.
Rorax frowned.
“We’re moving out tomorrow morning. I don’t want the king there alone any longer,” Ye-Jun said, his lips pressed together in displeasure just as hard as Rorax’s.
“None of us do. I’m just thankful you’re getting to him before anything serious happens.”
Ye-Jun stiffened, and his eyes clouded over with white, a common enough occurrence. Ye-Jun was an Elite, with the power to see the immediate future. Ranging from thirty seconds to minutes ahead, it made him nearly impossible to kill on the battlefield and an absolute nightmare to play cards with.
“Come on Rorax, I think I need to get you to bed,” Ye-Jun said with a smirk.