Page 104 of Obsidian Throne
“Iiro needs subjects,” I argued. “He isn’t likely to take out everyone, and you can speak for Bear when…”
When I’m not here to do it.
“Van.” He finally looked at me. “As my Duke, I would do anything you asked of me. Except this.”
I shook my head in frustration. “You don’t need to give up your chance to meet your child for a fight we can’t win.”
“I am your second in command,” he hissed, a rare bit of anger entering his tone. “I couldn’t even look my child in the eyes if I didn’t fight at your side.”
Mila put a consoling hand on his arm, giving me a sideways glance. “If you were that concerned about him fighting, surely you could have found an inn somewhere to lock him against his will.”
She had not been happy when she found out where Rowan was.
“Would that I had,” I muttered. “And for the last storms-blasted time, I didn’t lock Rowan anywhere.”
“Oh?” she pressed. “So she was free to go?”
I let out a slow breath through my nose.
“She was freer than she would have been when Iiro got his hands on her,” I reminded Mila. “Would you rather I had brought her back here, when she’s all but got a target painted on her? She wouldn’t have stayed out of this fight, and she wouldn’t have survived it.”
I didn’t say the rest, that Mila was already losing her husband and the father of her child without adding her best friend to the roster, but her eyes flashed like she heard it anyway.
She didn’t back down, though. “Need I remind you that I am in the process of outfittingmyhusband and the father of my child to walk out on a battlefield that I am nowhere near naive or uninformed enough to believe he will return from?”
A bitter huff of air escaped her lips.
“So don’t you dare condescend to me like I don’t understand what’s at stake here.” She shook her head. “I know, just as Rowan knew, just as you and Taras know, but I don’t see either of you running away like you forced her to.”
She scowled before turning back to Taras, but my cousin looked at me in sympathy.
“Mila,” Taras said softly. “The risk for Rowan wasn’t the same as it is for me. Death on the battlefield would be preferable to what Iiro could do if he wanted to make an example of her.”
Mila stilled, her gaze landing on me. I watched the realization dawn on her features that Rowan wasn’t the only one Iiro wanted.
She surprised me by closing the distance between us and wrapping her arms around me in a brief, solid hug, her firm bump only slightly getting in the way.I reflexively returned it, taking comfort in her sisterly presence.
“I suppose there are no good choices in war,” she acknowledged quietly, backing away.
Nodding mutely, I left to give them the privacy to say goodbye. I needed to make sure our battalion was ready, convince them that we hadn’t yet lost this war.
I needed them to fight like there was hope, even if I didn’t feel that myself. In one more hour, we would be heading to the battle.
They at least deserved to feel like there was a chance we might come back.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
ROWAN
The trek to the estate was relatively smooth, considering I was discreetly traveling with a large group of Unclanned across a war-torn territory, with highly recognizable hair and wanted by the king of Socair.
The Unclanned knew how to travel off the main roads, though, and no one usually looked twice at them anyway. Or rather whoever was around fled if the Unclanned were near, imagining that somehow just because they had been abandoned by their duke and their people that they had turned into monsters overnight.
Not that I could judge them, when I had let myself fall victim to the same prejudices, but I didn’t even see the brands when I looked at my men now.
Traveling with them made it easier to see the way it affected them, too, how they tried not to wince each time someone ran away in terror. But still, they kept marching.
We made camp in the forest near Hymi, the closest village to the estate. Every day, I made up excuses to my men not to attack yet because the clear, sunny sky was not at all conducive to my needs.