Chapter 63 Aiden
Aiden
We sailed into Aquinon’s harbor, so fast the watchmen didn’t have time to fire on us.
Instead, they blew the warning horns. I didn’t care. I hoped Kiera heard them and knew I’d come. I hoped they bolstered Henry’s resolve as well. If he was here.
As we neared the dock, my eyes widened in disbelief.
“What in the deep, dark, wandering hell . . .” Maz muttered.
“Do not fire!” I bellowed to my warriors. “Do not attack!”
Everyone scowled, lowering their weapons upon seeing what awaited us on the dock. Rows and rows of men, women, and children. Unarmed. Stark terror in their gazes as they watched our ships coast up to the dock.
“Renwell, you sick bastard,” I growled under my breath. What kind of monster used his people as a human shield against an invading force?
“Coward,” Ruru snarled. He carried our flag on a pole he’d tied it to. “I don’t see him or his Wolves.”
I shaded my eyes against the renewed sun. The cliff gate was still open. Either Kiera’s plan had worked, or something else was afoot.
“Get off the ships!” I commanded, making sure my voice carried to both ships. “Do not fight unless you are attacked!”
Somewhere on the dock, a child cried.
My gut churned like the storm we’d just passed through. Gods, this would be worse than the Pravaran massacre if fighting broke out.
We docked and ran out the gangplanks. I was the first off the warship. The city folks pulled backward, creating a pocket of space around me.
I kept my sword steady in one hand, lifting the other in a placating gesture. “We’re just passing through. We will not harm you. We want only to destroy the Wolves and the man who calls himself your king.”
No one responded. The strained, battered silence unnerved me further. I stared at every face in the crowd, looking for soldiers and Shadow-Wolves.
I saw none.
Had Renwell done this just to slow us down?
The crowd shifted along the docks as more of my warriors followed me.
“Are you daft?” Maz growled at one man, shaking his shoulder. “Go home!”
The man shook his head rapidly, like a frightened bird.
They were being threatened. By whom? Something was wrong.
I spun in a slow circle, just as a man lunged at me from the crowd, strange scars on his face and a familiar black blade in his hand.
I evaded the blow and slammed my sword into his back. Screams rose, and people stampeded in every direction.
“Wolves!” I shouted. “No masks! Sunstone blades!”
Maz cursed and pushed his back against mine as we spun in the horde of panicked people.
Another Wolf attacked, and Maz slaughtered him with his axe. Ruru cried out as two Wolves attacked him and Daire.
I swore and fought my way to them as Daire’s knife shattered under the Wolf’s. I tore my sword across the Wolf’s throat, spraying Daire with blood.
“Th-Thanks,” he stammered. Ruru and Maz took down the other Wolf.
The docks slowly emptied as the city folk found refuge in homes and taverns. We fought our way through unmasked Wolves until there were none left.
They’d killed several of our warriors, and a handful of men and women who’d gotten in the way. No children, thank the Four.
“Fucking bastard.” Maz kicked one of the Wolves’ knives into the harbor. “Renwell loves his gods-damned surprises.”
I nodded wearily. “We should assume nothing going forward.” I lifted my head and spoke to the other gathered warriors. “Stay alert and watch each other’s backs. To the cliff gate!”
Please, Kiera, tell me you got to it in time.
We marched up the steep road, our extra weapons and shields making the climb worse. Near the top, I heard shouts.
I whipped my head up to see the gate still open. Soldiers peered over the wall, but didn’t fire upon us. A few of them gestured to the flag that Ruru waved proudly.
Perhaps they were trying to fix the gate. Or fighting among themselves. They had just watched us slay a group of men—whether the soldiers knew they were unmasked Wolves was unclear.
I held my breath as we crept closer. The heavy gate shuddered as if someone was hitting it from above. But it didn’t budge.
Maz squeezed my shoulder. “Kiera did it. She fucking did it. Your future queen is quite the rebel.”
A wild grin burst across my face. “That she is.” My queen.
Our warriors cheered and formed ranks behind me. I raced forward, only to stop short. Everyone halted behind me as well.
A small contingent of soldiers waited for us on the other side, their faces pale but resolute. They pointed their swords downward in a gesture of surrender.
Their leader stepped forward, his eyes darting to our flag before meeting my gaze. “Are you Aiden Falcryn?”
“I am.”
He let out a long breath. “I’m Dredger. I helped your spy with the gate, sir.”
Some of the tension eased from my shoulders. “Then you have my deepest gratitude, Dredger.”
The stocky man drew himself upright, his flushed face sincere. “We’re here to join your fight to free Aquinon, sir.”
The other soldiers nodded and murmured their assent.
I strode forward and stuck out my bloody hand. “I would be honored.”
Dredger shook it with a quick grin that showed the genial man he likely was outside of battle. Then he was all business. “There’s an army contingent outside the main gate, requesting entrance under your orders. No one has fired a shot yet, but—”
“Lead the way,” I commanded.
He nodded and marched ahead, his men falling into place behind him.
I glanced back at the cliff gate. A few soldiers ran along the wall to the main gate. Likely to warn the rest that we were coming.
Maz walked at my side, his eyes darting around the market stalls that huddled on either side of the road. “That couldn’t have been all the Wolves at the docks.”
Certainly not.
“Ruru,” I called quietly, gesturing him forward. “Give the flag to your brother and scout ahead to the Noble Quarter for more Wolves. Stay hidden. Report back.”
He nodded, then did as I said, disappearing into the labyrinth he knew well.
We reached the main gate without further hindrance. But the top of the gate wall bristled with archers and armed soldiers. More of them formed a thick ring in front of the gate doors, spears at the ready. But pointed at us.
My stomach crawled with unease. One wrong move, and this could turn into a bloodbath no one wanted.
A tall man in full armor, apart from a helmet, stood on the stone steps between the ramparts and the ground. His furious gaze was fixed on Dredger.
“What is the meaning of this, soldier?” he bellowed. “You betray your kingdom and your brothers in arms by leading these rebels here.”
“I’m trying to bloody save them, Captain!” Dredger roared back.
I stepped up next to him, flipping my sword hilt so that I held it pointed to the ground.
“Dredger is right,” I said, lifting my voice to be heard as far as possible.
“My name is Aiden Falcryn. I come to our royal city to destroy the man who has captured Aquinon and kept it in terror for many years beyond that. I do not want to shed any Rellmiran blood other than that of Renwell and his murderous Wolves. Join us, and we will reclaim the city!”
The soldiers stared at each other and me, uncertainty rippling through their ranks. The captain’s jaw worked furiously, as if trying to decide whether to give the order to attack.
“Listen to him!” Dredger cried. “Captain, how many times have you lost men to Renwell and his Wolves? And you, Locklean. They murdered your sister in front of her children! Wottel, Mankmen, Grindall, Cabbot, all of us have suffered at the hands of Weylin, Renwell, and the dogs that do their bidding! We have a chance to end it here and now. I say we take it!”
Some of the soldiers nodded and lowered their weapons. A few of my warriors shouted and cheered their approval.
But the captain remained stone-faced. “And you would trust this man?” he demanded, gesturing to me. “He may shackle us with the same fear we suffer now, or worse, we will fail and be branded as traitors. Our families will suffer and die for this!”
“They already are!” Dredger shouted back. “I would rather fight for them now, instead of waiting for those gods-damned Wolves to take them from me!”
Silence fell over the crowd.
I stepped closer, putting myself in range of their spears.
I felt Maz shift into place behind me. “You don’t know me, but you know of me.
I fought in the Pravaran rebellion. Many of the soldiers waiting outside lost friends and family in that fight.
I was also a prisoner in the Calimber mine.
The same mine that my allies and I have now destroyed, along with the High General who massacred and imprisoned our people. ”
“It’s true!” yelled one of our warriors, stepping forward. I recognized the man as a prisoner who’d volunteered to fight. Varyn, I believed his name was. “They freed us from Calimber and obliterated the whole gods-damned mine! This man is the true king we’ve been waiting for!”
Murmurs broke out among the soldiers. Awe and understanding cleared away the suspicion in their gazes.
The captain kept his arms crossed, his fingers tapping on his arm in a way that reminded me of Kiera. My heart lurched. Fucking Four, we didn’t have another moment to waste. But I needed these soldiers.
Someone touched my shoulder, and I turned.
Ruru’s eyes were wide, his breath coming in pants. “Wolves in the Noble Quarter. More than I could see. Armed to the teeth. Waiting.”
Gods damn it.
“We have no more time,” I roared. The soldiers in front of me took a step back. “The true enemy waits for us in the Noble Quarter. Let our allies in, and we will finish this!”
The warriors behind me stamped and yelled.
The captain debated for another agonizing moment. If he waited much longer, I would push through these soldiers and tear open the gate myself.
He muttered something under his breath, then raised his voice with the sharp bite of a commanding officer. “Any man who does not wish to join the fight will not be thought a coward. Open the gate, and may the gods find our souls!”
Cheers rose as the gate creaked open. The soldiers parted to allow Henry and his small army to march inside.
Henry strode forward and shook my hand. “Gods, am I glad to see you. For a moment, I thought this wouldn’t work.”
“For a moment, so did I.” I lifted my sword in the air as Daire raised our flag and waved it. “To the Noble Quarter!”
“Slay the Wolves!” Maz thundered, beating the broadside of his axe against his shield.
The other Dags took up the war cry. Then the soldiers. Until we were a single mass of fury bearing down on the Noble Quarter gate. Which stood wide open.
Row upon row of Wolves awaited us. Sunstone weapons glittered in their hands. Their black metal masks snarled at us in a uniform expression of hatred.
Our battle cry sputtered against their wall of silence.
I gripped my sword harder, glancing at Maz.
“Onward, Your Highness,” he murmured, a steely glint in his eyes. “For Davka,” he said to his sisters.
They nodded grimly. “For Davka.”
“For Nikella!” Jek rumbled, lifting Nikella’s spear.
“For Daire!”
“For Meryl!”
“For Lana!”
More and more soldiers cried out the names of their loved ones, likely ones they’d lost at the hands of the enemy facing us.
“For Mother, for Father,” I whispered. “For Pravara. For Brielle.” My voice grew louder. “For Nikella. For Kiera! For Rellmira!”
I charged forward, bloodlust roaring through my veins.
A thunderstorm of answering bellows and stampeding feet followed me as we crashed into the Wolves.