51. The Battle Cry
51
THE BATTLE CRY
*Kieran*
There’s little time to prepare for the journey. Father wants us to leave the castle as soon as possible so we don’t delay in hunting down King Cole. He makes me bring Anwen along because, in his words, “Anwen needs some toughening up.”
More like, Anwen is getting under foot, and Father wants him out of the castle. He’ll be under my feet now, though. I mind-link with Taner, Whyte, and Lucian to signal my displeasure at this turn of events. It’s one thing to get the troops to turn against Father. Half of them seem to have one foot out the door anyway. My friends are hanging back with them now, sowing as much discord as possible.
Anwen will be another story, though. He’s completely loyal to Father and to Dun’s Crossing. He might be another complication.
“You’re being quiet,” he tells me now, as we enter the forest, the beginning of the long journey toward Escuro. We’re preparing to shift.
“I’m not,” I lie. “I’m just focused on the mission.”
“Are you?” he challenges, a superior tone in his voice. “Because I heard-” I cut him off, pushing him squarely in the chest.
“I don’t care a bit about the idle gossip you’ve picked up lurking around corners, Anwen.” I snap at him. He doesn’t even have enough grace to look humbled. He just smirks at me, and I know that whatever he’s heard is probably important. I won’t give in, though. I need to get the troops far enough away from the castle to tell them the truth.
We take a much more direct path to Escuro this time, Anwen and I leading the troops from the front of the pack. I direct them to spread out to cover more ground because I know it’s what my father would do. For now, everything has to appear above board until I can get them out of mind-link distance from the castle.
I’m going to tell them the truth the moment we are far enough away that they can’t communicate with anyone at the castle. They deserve to know that the king they’ve been serving for all this time doesn’t care about them. He only cares about gaining power and keeping it. I’ll remind them of the horrible conditions they’ve endured for the last two decades and tell them my plan to change those conditions.
They need to know that they aren’t fighting for a noble cause so that they will be inspired to join my fight. If I must, I’ll fight anyone who dissents, even kill them if I have to. Then, we’ll head back to Dun’s Crossing to lead the coup. That will give King Cole plenty of time to reach Escuro and assess the situation there.
Once my father is dead, I’ll head back to Escuro myself and get Raven. We can decide together what happens next. For all I know, she’ll never want to come back to Dun’s Crossing, and I’ll honor that decision if that’s her wish.
That’s a problem for the future, though. For now, Anwen and I run in silence, ripping through the countryside on our way to Escuro. King Cole has at least two hours on us, by my estimation. I just don’t know how strong he is. If we get too close, though, I know he’ll send animals to slow us down. Either way, we’ll make sure he arrives in Escuro before we do.
It was already late into the evening when we left, so we didn’t manage to get very far before we needed to stop to make camp. I’ve also stopped us a little earlier than strictly necessary to give Cole as much of an advantage as I can. The troops don’t complain when they arrive at our stopping place and shift, some of my new friends even thanking me for not pushing them too far.
“Since when are you friends with soldiers?” Anwen asks suspiciously. “This is exactly what I was talking about.”
“I don’t–” I start, but this time my brother cuts me off, pulling me out of earshot of the troops.
“I know you say you don’t want to hear what I know,” he says between clenched teeth. “But trust me, brother, if what I heard is true, you’re on a suicide mission.”
My heart drops into my stomach and my curiosity gets the better of me. I shake him off me and face him down, ready to fight him if need be.
“Fine,” I spit. “Tell me this incredible gossip I simply must hear.”
“You helped King Cole escape,” he says simply with a smarmy grin.
My heart races in my chest, but I maintain my facade. “That’s ridiculous,” I say as nonchalantly as I can. “Where would you even have heard such a malicious rumor?”
“It’s not a rumor,” he answers evenly, sure of himself. “One of the guards sent a mind-link before you killed him. And if I heard it, brother, you can rest assured that Father heard it too.”
Shit.
I have even less time than I thought. I push past Anwen and walk back toward the assembled troops. They all stand at attention, waiting for my directions. There’s a large contingent with us. Father sent them because he said he wanted me to be safe, but now I realize that his deception ran as deeply as mine. I had to get it from somewhere, after all. My only saving grace is that these men don’t know the truth about my father, and when they do, they’ll turn on him. I’m sure of it.
“Gather round,” I command, my voice as steady as I can make it, despite what I’ve just learned. “I have something important to share with you all.”
The men surround me, curious expressions on their faces. There’s something else, I notice too. They all look weary and underfed. Despite promises that joining the army is an honor, my father has neglected the well-being of these men for far too long.
“You are the best of the best in our kingdom,” I tell them, appealing to their egos first. “You’ve been selected because you are brave and hard-working. You were promised to be well taken care of if you took up arms and fought for your king. But that was a lie, wasn’t it?”
Some of the men begin grumbling among themselves, but mostly there are confused faces staring back at me. Only the older soldiers with less to lose are willing to be honest about their dissatisfaction. I have to push them further.
“My father does not care about you,” I go on. “He’s underpaid you for years, he’s worked you to the bone, and he’s sent you to slaughter innocent people all in the name of a foe that doesn’t exist. You have been deceived for years, and it’s time for you to know the truth.”
“Brother, what are you doing?” Anwen whispers urgently, coming to my side.
“The kingdom of Escuro was never a threat to us,” I bellow, loud enough that they can probably hear me at home. Father wouldn’t like that, but he’s too far away to do anything about it now. “My father, your king, wiped out half of their population with poison before a single troop could arrive on their soil.”
There’s more grumbling this time, and a few shocked gasps. I’ve got them on the hook now, I know it.
“He kidnapped their princess and imprisoned their king,” I admit. “He raised the girl as if she were his own daughter, as if she were my twin sister. He thought that her people were a threat to us, and that’s what he’s told us all for two decades. But it’s a farce. The man we’re pursuing is not an enemy of Dun’s Crossing. He’s the rightful king of Escuro, and he is my father-in-law.”
“What?” Anwen hisses, grabbing my shoulder and turning me to face him. “What are you saying right now?”
“My true mate is Raven, Princess of Escuro,” I say, loud enough for the troops to hear. “I’ve been with her to Escuro, and I’ve seen the devastation my father has brought them. He attacked them, unprovoked. They were left with nothing, and he still wants more. What happens when there are no more kingdoms to conquer? What happens when he decides that his enemies are in Dun’s Crossing?”
“It’s true,” Taner adds from somewhere in the crowd. “My father was part of that attack. He told me everything.”
“We stand with Prince Kieran,” shouts Lucian, leading more than half the men in the chant. “We stand with Prince Kieran!”
I raise my hands to silence them.
“This is our chance to write a new story for Dun’s crossing,” I shout over the cheers. “Anyone who joins me now will be on the right side of the coming war.”
There’s more cheering, but it starts to die down slowly. I can’t begin to understand why until the crowd begins to part and there’s one single man clapping. When he reached the front of the crowd, my blood freezes in my veins.
It’s my father. It’s safe to say he knows my plan now.