Page 5 of Tarnished Crown

“Der’mo,”he muttered. “Do try to refrain from stabbing me with it, at least until we take care of this.”

My lips parted in surprise, but I closed my fingers around the hilt. He held on only a second longer before reluctantly surrendering the weapon to my care, already going for his other blade.

A thrum of energy coursed through me. Whether it was fear of the battle or shock that he was arming me, I wasn’t sure.

Regardless, it wasn’t a moment too soon.

Because that’s when I heard the battle cry ring out.

CHAPTER5

Every man was now holding a weapon or two and forming a circle with their horses, protecting Evander and me in the center.

It was just in time for an onslaught of men to emerge from the hillside, each of them with the telltaleBbranded on their foreheads. Soon, the sound of clashing steel echoed between the hills along with the cries of our assailants.

Evander’s gray eyes were lit up with ire as he untethered our horses before turning to fight with his men.

I wondered again about the rumors.

The man before me now was nothing like the casual, condescending arseling from the Summit or even the carriage. There was an unrestrained quality to him, ruthlessness coupled with cold, brutal efficiency as he tore his way across the battlefield.

He was a blur of furious motion and precise strikes. Each of his blows landed with deadly force, cutting his opponents down, one right after the next.

Kirill was to his right, and it was clear that the two had trained together, likely along with their warhorses. His strikes were just as powerful and his aim just as deadly.

Watching the ten men take on the Unclanned erased any doubt as to why everyone was so afraid of them. If they had a large army and all the men fought like this…there would be no standing against them.

My breaths came quickly as I spun my horse around to get a clearer view of the battle.

Everywhere I looked, the Unclanned seemed to be less interested in fighting the soldiers than getting past them.

Some of them barely paid attention to the guards blocking their paths or the swords that met their axes and pitchforks. Instead, they focused solely on the center of the ring.

On me.

Movement from the corner of my eye had me spinning around. Two of the Unclanned crept between Igor’s mount and that of another Bear soldier, while more Unclanned attacked from the sides.

These men had to be desperate to risk an assault on foot against both trained men and trained warhorses.

But desperate for what? Vengeance? Against my people, my family?

Fear raked its way down my spine with jagged claws.

The Unclanned men were closing in on me, and I was never going to be able to defend myself riding side saddle like this.

I scrambled to slice through a seam midway through my dress, careful not to cut myself or the horse with the blade of the saber. Once I had a decent sized split, I tugged at the seam with my free hand until it ripped all the way to my thigh.

If the Socairans were so stars-damned concerned about propriety, they should have had dresses I could move in to begin with. Although, even the Lochlannian soldiers would be scandalized by this.

Nothing for it now.

Shoving my cloak behind my shoulders for easier movement, I flipped my mostly bare leg over to the other side of the horse. It was just in time for the two men to sprint toward me, weapons bared.

Their eyes widened when they took in the sight of me, either my scandalously exposed skin or the horrifying shade of my hair.

Either way, their shock worked in my favor. I took advantage of their stumbling footsteps, lurching my horse forward to meet them head-on. Belatedly, the man on the left threw his pitchfork like a spear.

Ducking against my horse's neck, I veered us to the right to avoid the impact, but it wasn’t fast enough.