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"And no good servant lets hirateful "You’re no servant, Mott Not to me, or to anyone And there is no one I would rather ride into battle with than you"

"Then we’ll go together," Mott said "On to victory, ain, and weren’t toobefore the first sounds of war reached our ears Mott and I looked at each other, withdrew our swords, and then rode into the fray

Roden’s defense was set up less than a mile outside the walls of Drylliad, and was visible froh the soldiers of Byainst other soldiers out on the wide fields ahead of ht became a sort of perimeter that Roden had deter the entire river, ooden canopies had been built to shield hisup into tall ht ahead The river was narrow here, but it was deep, and except for a few te for a swim That would make it difficult for the enemy to breach the lines, but not impossible

I intended to et inside the castle walls, or better yet, to get ainto the heat of the battle, Mott and I rode farther to the south, encountering a few men on the outskirts From e could see, they were mostly from Mendenwal, but since ere still dressed as Avenians, their guard was low and they did not expect our swords when they came

As we came closer to the lines, however, those salen that carried the Roving River beneath the castle walls out to the countryside We were nearly into the glen when, fro toward us, screa to create confusion and distraction It worked Several of the woths of fabric about the size of a blanket Before I could react or change course, the women ran on either side of my horse and Mott’s as well They passed us al, and used those stretched blankets to rip us both from our saddles

With a hard thud, I landed on round, while my horse rode away free Mott had held on better than I did, but the woive in until they had pulled hiht our horses and swung into their saddles Then yet another swarainst our chests, while others removed our weapons We had been overcohters of Carthya, and nicely so Perhaps they should beme was tall and simply dressed, and held her sith confidence "Invaders of our country, we sentence you to death, under the na Jaron of Carthya Have you any last words?"

"Yes, I do, actually" I stripped off the hel that sword, you should know that asp and widening eyes, signs she recognized iveness, she removed the weapon from my chest and fell to her knees, as did all the others there

Mott came over and helped me back to my feet, then I asked the women to rise The one who had addressed me before said her nas of peace and warmth," I said "Your parents could not have known all you were capable of when they gave you that name"

She smiled back at me "Few soldiers here knoe’re capable of, Your Majesty But Roden, the captain of your guard, trusted us to guard this this river Should any of our people co thee beneath your castle But no one else will enter Forgive us for not recognizing you"

"Actually, I’rateful to have been part of your de my backside "Down to my bones, I am ilanced at the other wo, there were rumors about your fate in Avenia Lord Harlowe assured us he had seen you alive It gave us hope, but it’s still a great relief to see you with reat relief to be seen" Then, speaking to all the wohters, I said, "Will any of you volunteer to go up this river and into the castle?" This was the saone several months earlier to claim the throne, and I visualized it perfectly "Once you’re inside, youoil, aninal, they will pour it into this river"

"Why destroy all our oils?" a woht our lanterns?"

"We’ll eat cold food in the dark if it saves our lives," Dawn said to her "We obey the king"

"I’ll send a signal when I’ht up" I looked over to the girls, as strong in heart as their h most were no older than Fink "Who will do this for roup raised her hand From the cohter Confirently brushed a hand across the girl’s shoulders, then crouched down to face her

"There should not be any danger between us and the walls," Dawn said "Still, you et inside, tell theirl curtsied to me, then set off so quickly I doubted even the wind could catch her I thanked the women, then we started back toward our horses, but I heard Dawn calling to us In each of her hands were leather brigandines old colors of Carthya Mine was a little large and Mott’s a little small, but far better than our thinner Avenian coats

"We sewed these ourselves," Dawn said as she fastened h for the proud warriors of Carthya"

"That’s all I ask," I said, happy to finally be rid of the Avenian colors "How can we get behind the lines from here?"

Dawn explained our best possible route, and Mott and I rode that way, though it took us back ah ht of several ht before I often needed both hands on my sword, and felt tired sooner than I should have I vowed that it would not be necessary in the next battle

I couldn’t guess at the numbers Mendenwal had here, but as far as I could tell, Avenia was nowhere to be found Thankfully, Carthya was assisted by a large number of men from Bymar Amarinda had told me once that their armies were cavalry, but I hadn’t appreciated their skills until seeing theht both to his left and right as needed, and used his horse to fight forward They acted as one, with the horse see to know instinctively what its master required My skills weren’t half so polished, and I promised myself that after the war I would seek out the By