Casseck was reading the Norsari’s orders aloud to those in the tavern to great enthusiasm, but neither Sage nor Alex paid the noise any attention. Without a word, Alex took her by the hand and led her upstairs to her room, then bolted the door behind him and wrapped her in his arms.
“I thought we’d be together until at least Tennegol,” she choked.
Alex rubbed her back and laid his cheek on top of her head. “Me too.”
“I hate this!”
“I know, but it’s too late for me to take up farming now.”
Sage laughed weakly and wiped her eyes on his shirt, breathing him in. Spirit above, they only had hours left.
“The decision is yours,” Alex whispered. “But you can turn it down. You’ve already given so much.”
She snorted. “You know I won’t. Not when the kingdom needs me.”
“Both kingdoms need you, yes. I know. It was just wishful thinking.” He continued holding her against him.
“I’ll keep Clare with me—I ought to have a companion, and she knows so much already. She can’t be sent back to her father. He’s awful. He’ll have her married off to someone else within a month.”
“I’ll tell Uncle Raymond. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”
“And Alex?” Her fingers curled around folds in his shirt. “Stay with me tonight. Please. We only have a few hours left.”
He swallowed. “All right. Just promise me…”
She nodded. “I’ll be good, I promise.”
“Well.” Alex smiled crookedly, and her heart skipped a beat. “I wouldn’t mind if you were a little bad.”
EPILOGUE
A FEW DAYS AFTER the battle, Huzar led all the Kimisar survivors he could gather across the southern pass. He’d approached the Casmuni camp alone, after it was all over, carrying a makeshift flag of truce, and asked for Captain Quinn. When the Demoran met him, he recognized Huzar immediately and called for his cloak to be brought to him. That had been the last thing Huzar expected, but he accepted it with a thank-you.
“No,” Quinn had said. “Thank you.”
Huzar folded the cloak over his tattooed arm. “Will she live?”
A ripple of pain had passed over the Demoran’s features. “We can only hope right now. She’s strong, though.”
Huzar smiled a little before clearing his throat. “I’ve come to request the release of my countrymen, that they may return home.”
Quinn crossed his arms. “And why should I allow that?”
“Please,” Huzar said simply. “We’re only soldiers following orders. Surely you can understand that.” He waved an arm back at the pass. “The threat is gone. Let us go home.”
Quinn eyed him for several seconds. “Your Demoran is quite good.”
“Yes, I’ve spent a great deal of time in your country.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Apparently so.”
Huzar looked down at his hands. “We were abandoned and stranded by your D’Amirans. Everything I’ve done in the past year was to return to Kimisara. I could not call myself a commander if I didn’t always do my best to bring my men home.”
Finally Quinn had nodded. “I will speak to King Banneth.”
In the end, the Casmuni king turned the prisoners over, and Huzar led them and the other survivors he’d found back into Kimisara, expecting to return to a nation in even more ruin than when he’d left almost two years ago, but there was nowhere else to go. At least he could not be expected to return to war. Most of the army had dissolved once word got out that King Ragat had been tossed from his horse and trampled in the rush to get away from the molten river of fire.
Huzar and the survivors traveled slowly, carrying many wounded. They skirted the smoldering wall of black glass by using the rocky ledge above, but then followed the canyon through the mountains, not even bothering to set a rear guard. At the end of the pass, they found a supply train that had been abandoned and scavenged. As no one of higher rank was present, Huzar took responsibility for releasing the Kimisar with him from their military obligations.
He then allowed himself a couple days to rest and scrounge supplies from the wreckage of the wagons before setting off with a few companions. Harvest time was approaching, and surely the place he should be was home. Three days out, he was met on the road by royal troops. When they learned who Huzar was and where he’d been, they escorted him to the seat of the local barony, where regional judgments were made.
For the first time in his life, Huzar was faced with royalty. Nearing thirty, Queen Zoraya had been half her husband’s age and still had the bloom of youth, with gold-bronze skin and hair so black it almost had a sheen of blue. Up close, one could see the lines in her face from the strain of years of barrenness, and then having only one child to shield her from being disposed of as Ragat’s two previous wives had been. Her son was now only five, and heir to a land of ashes.
“My husband’s ministers do not see fit to tell me all that has happened,” she said, gripping the arms of the chair set up as a makeshift throne. “Perhaps you can shed some light on events.”
Huzar told her everything that had happened since he’d left Kimisara. Though he knew nothing about the man, he heaped praise on King Ragat and his bravery in battle, but the queen snorted and rolled her eyes. When his tale finally ended, Zoraya stood and paced in front of him on the dais.
“You’ve been a most loyal son of Kimisara, Captain. I can never truly repay either the service you’ve rendered or your honesty to me now.”
“I live only to serve, My Queen,” he said.
She stopped in front of him. “You must understand how precarious my position is. My son is king, and I may be regent by law, but I am flouted at every turn by those would usurp my position and take power for themselves.”
“What is it My Queen wishes of me?”
“The country is recovering from the famine, but the king’s death and the failure of his campaign may throw it back into chaos. I need to project strength and create stability. I need men of honesty and loyalty.” She held out her right hand, her sapphire-blue eyes piercing his soul. “May I count on your service?”
Huzar stared at the bejeweled rings on every finger of the queen’s smooth hand. “May I first ask what My Queen plans to do? Forgive me, but I cannot see where a mere captain can assist.”
The hand dropped. “I will first sue for peace with Demora and Casmun. This fighting must stop. You, who have such wide knowledge of both nations, will attend this process, but you will be loyal to me, not the ministers or generals. I need your help to keep them from going behind my back and undermining my goals. Now.” She raised her hand again. “May I count on you?”
Let this end. Let this be done.
Let me go home.
Huzar trembled as he knelt and took the hand she offered, kissing the four-pointed star of Kimisara on the ring on her middle finger. “Until death, My Queen.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This second book was much harder than the first, but I stuck it out, and you, dear reader, stuck with me. I’m honored. A special thanks to reviewers who were kind but held me accountable on many levels, and to the fans who emailed me in the middle of the night. Oh, and the fan art … I can’t believe what people have made! For me! (Dang it, there’s dust in my eyes.)
As before, big props to the Father of all, and my personal heavenly cheerleaders, Dymphna and Francis, though to paraphrase St. Teresa, I really wish y’all didn’t feel the need to prove to me that I could handle this much stress. Deo gratias.