Page 83 of Obsidian Throne
“If we get there fast enough, we can end this relatively quickly. We outnumber him, and the Bear army truly is the most skilled in Socair. With Crane and Lynx boxing him in and Wolf halting his progress on the western side, I don’t anticipate problems.”
Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
“But, what if we don’t?” she asked quietly. “Get there fast enough, I mean”
“Then we can still keep him at bay...but the cost will be substantially higher,” I admitted. “My guess is that he will maneuver something in an attempt to force us into a surrender, to recover his pride and his power over Bear.”
Taras was already sending a bird to the troops on that side to head Iiro off at the border and move the villagers in toward the estate, but it still may not come soon enough.
Rowan met my gaze with nothing more than a steely determination. “Then I suppose we should get going.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
ROWAN
It took us two and a half days of hard riding to reach the border.
Two-and-a-half days of riding in the freezing, sleeting wind. Once again, I cursed the weather knowledge that only allowed me to have a keener awareness of just how miserable we would be all day, rather than actually do anything about it.
The trip had been fairly quiet with constant talk of strategy and precautions we would need to be aware of.
When the large camp came into view, I was relieved that we had finally made it and eager to get to work with whatever needed to be done. Not to mention grateful to see the many fires burning, chasing off the bitter chill and melting the snow on the ground around them.
We left our horses with a group of soldiers, giving them a much-needed break before heading into the large war tent.
“Report,” Evander ordered.
One of the men looked up from the map on the table. He stood abruptly when he realized who was addressing him, and the rest of the men in the room quickly dipped their heads in a respectful greeting.
“The king has nearly double the forces we were anticipating,” he said. “Crane and the few from Bear that could make it in time held the line, but they lost a lot of ground and sustained significant casualties.”
His jaw tightened, and his fists clenched at his sides. It had only been a few days since the battles began, but they had clearly taken their toll on the men here.
Evander nodded, his features hard as he walked over to look at the pieces on the map. It was a cluster of black with a few scattered yellow pieces for what was left of Crane, but mostly, purple, brown, and green dominated the battlefield.
“What of the villages on the border?” I asked.
The soldier appeared startled to have a woman questioning him, but Evander stared at him pointedly until he answered.
“Some he left alone, but any who resisted…” He paused. “He made an example of.”
The air whooshed from my lungs. It wasn’t difficult to imagine what sort of an example he was referring to.
Evander told the man he would be back later to strategize before we headed over to our tent.
Voices reached us from the south of camp where weary soldiers were half dragging themselves in. Some of them marched on their own two feet, and others were being helped along by another.
But far too many were being wheeled in on wagons, their bodies piled on top of one another in a heap.
The Cavalry rushed past us, ready to take their place in the raging battle just a few miles south of here. We watched them until they disappeared over the hills in the distance.
If Evander was frustrated about not joining them, he didn’t show it.
* * *
The first day of the war camp was an unending barrage of troubling reports and wounded soldiers. Evander never ceased to amaze me with the way he took constant decisive action, the way he organized the facts in his head and carefully took them into account every time something new was brought to his attention.
As dire as things appeared, we were winning, technically speaking. Even if it sure as hell didn’t feel like it.