Master of Iron (Bladesmith #2)(72)

“Give the prince a shield, too,” Kymora says. “He’ll need one.”

Kymora has had the men line the wall with arm-held shields. Tazar hands one to the prince. Saydan stays right at Kymora’s back, his own weapons at the ready. I still don’t like that she’s freed with only a single chain binding her hands together. It’s not enough.

The formation of Ravis’s men is not perfect, I note when they get closer. Their lines are lopsided, the men themselves tired after a full night’s march.

It’s a small advantage, when considering their sheer numbers. I can’t see them all without turning my head. But I take comfort in our walls. In the defensive position of the palace. Skiro’s castle is built right up against the cliff of mountain at our backs, so at least the advancing men will be forced to attack from the front.

They march until they are only twenty yards away. Then they halt, adjust their formations, until the line is straighter and more uniform.

And then I spot Ravis, parting his men so he and his mount can reach the front. He wears a full suit of armor that gleams without a scratch or nick upon it.

I take a step backward before realizing I’m moving. Then I walk right up to the wall’s edge and hold my ground. I will not be afraid. I will show Ravis that he can’t affect me. I will not give him that power.

“Brother,” Skiro says to the older prince below.

“Skiro,” Ravis replies. “Your gate is closed.”

“You haven’t been invited.”

“It’s to come to a fight, then?”

“If that’s what you choose.”

Ravis scoffs in a distinctly un-princely way. “I offered you peace. I told you what was required. You are choosing this.”

Skiro shakes his head. “I stayed in my borders. You are the one trespassing.”

“You are unfit to rule, and I hear you are also unfit to fight. My spy has told me you’ve barely one hundred men within those walls. Are you really going to force them to die for you?”

“I force them to do nothing. If they choose to fight, it will be for their lands and their families. You’ve come to take that from them.”

Skiro plays his part well, dragging out the conversation as long as possible to allow more civilians to make it through the portal.

But there are still so many filling the courtyard.

Kymora, I note, hangs back, out of sight of the enemy prince. When I look at her, she says, “Never show your hand.”

She doesn’t want Ravis to see her. I wonder if the prince would be less inclined to attack if he knew we had her. He would know and remember her from her time serving their father. She had a reputation long before the king divided the realm.

“Enough,” Ravis says at last. “This is your final chance. Open the gate now or my soldiers will attack.”

“No, this is your last chance. Leave. I have magicians and fortifications aplenty. We are not so helpless as you may think. You advance at your own peril.”

Ravis doesn’t blink, but his eyes turn to me. “Lady smithy, you’re on the wrong side of the wall.”

I shake my head, not giving him the satisfaction of answering.

“I will see you hanged for the stunt you pulled. You remember that I gave you a chance to serve willingly. I am not without mercy.”

“Just basic human decency,” I hiss under my breath.

“Soldiers of Ghadra!” Ravis shouts to his men. “Advance!”

Ravis disappears behind the sea of his men to safety, coward that he is.

And then it’s happening.

We’re under attack.





CHAPTER TWENTY


I’ve learned in my few experiences with fighting that it’s chaotic. Bloody. Loud. Foul-smelling.

There’s really nothing to like about it.

But engaging in a battle among thousands?

It’s so much worse.

A hammer to the senses.

Fear so thick, you feel like you’re swimming through it.

I’ve had panic attacks aplenty throughout my life, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like this.

Arrows loose into the air from the enemy, flying over the wall without any trouble at all. I raise my new left hammer—Echo—to shield me, crouch to make myself as small as possible. One arrow hits the side of my shield and goes flying backward in the opposite direction from the rebound. My other hammer, Agony, absorbs the same amount of force.

And then another volley propels toward us.

In the courtyard, the people are running for the castle, cramming into every possible space as they await their turn with the portal. There’s too much happening behind me and in front of me, but I decide to keep my eyes ahead, where the danger awaits.

“Hold steady now,” Kymora says.

There’s nothing to do while the men are out of reach. Skiro has a handful of skilled archers among his men, and they fire over the tops of our heads into the masses below. While a few land, it does nothing to deter or slow down the sheer numbers of the advancing army.

Ravis’s men uncover the wagons they’ve brought along, revealing ladders and hooks. They line up to heave the large equipment toward us.

A scream down the wall reveals a man with an arrow through the heart, too slow with his shield for the third volley. He plummets into the palace courtyard, the men around him stunned for a breath.