With live blades? Kate said. What if I dont have the control? What if
Life is full of what-ifs, Lord Cranston said. Battle, even more so. Ill not test you with a training blade only to find that your skill falls apart when theres real risk.
It still seemed like a dangerous way to test her skills. She didnt want to hurt Lord Cranston by accident.
Draw your blade, Kate, he said.
Reluctantly, she did so, the saber fitting neatly into her hand. There were the remnants of runes etched into the blade where Siobhan had worked on it, but those were dull things now, barely there unless the light caught them. Kate took her guard.
Lord Cranston thrust at once, with all the skill and violence of a younger man. Kate barely parried it in time.
I told you, she said. I dont have the strength or speed I used to have.
Then you must try to find a way to make up for it, Lord Cranston said, and immediately sent another thrust at her head. War is not fair. War does not care if you are weak. All it cares about is if you win.
Kate gave ground, cutting an angle to avoid being pressed back against the railings of the ship. She parried and parried again, trying to protect herself from the onslaught.
Why are you holding back? Lord Cranston demanded. You can still see every thought of attack, cant you? You still know every move that can be made with a blade, dont you? If I make the Rensburg feint, you know that the response is
He made a complex double feint. Automatically, Kate moved to bind his sword halfway through.
You see, you know this! Lord Cranston snapped. Now fight, damn you!
He attacked with such ferocity that Kates only option was to fight back with all her skill. She watched his thoughts as best she could, seeing the flickers of coming movements, the patterns of attack. Her body didnt have the speed it once had, but it still knew what to do, putting the blade where it was needed, beating and parrying, disengaging and pressuring.
Kate took Lord Cranstons blade and felt the slightest of weaknesses in the pressure as he presented it. She circled with the bind, applying more pressure, and his sword clattered to the ships deck. Her own sword swept up for his throat and she managed to stop just a hairs breadth short of his skin.
He smiled at her. Good, Kate. Excellent. You see, you dont need some witchs tricks. You are the one who has learned this, and you are the one who will cut the enemy to pieces.
He clasped Kates hand then, wrist to wrist, and Kate was surprised to hear clapping from below on the ship. She turned, seeing other members of the company there, looking on as if she and Lord Cranston were players there to entertain them. Will was there with them, looking relieved as well as happy. Kate ran down the steps from the command deck to him, kissing him as she got to him.
Of course, that got a different sort of cheer from the others there, and Kate pulled away, red-faced.
Thats enough, you lazy dogs, Lord Cranston yelled down. If you have time to ogle, you have time to work!
The men around them groaned and got on with their preparations for the battle. Still, the moment had passed, and Kate didnt want to risk kissing Will again in case any of them were still watching.
I was so worried about you, Will said, with a nod up toward where Lord Cranston stood. When the two of you were fighting, it looked as though he was really trying to kill you.
It was what I needed, Kate said with a shrug. She wasnt sure that she could explain it to Will. Hed joined Lord Cranstons company, but there always seemed to be a part of him that wanted to be back, working in his fathers forge. Hed joined up for the chance to see the world, the chance to go somewhere else.
For Kate, it was different. She needed to push into the spaces where things didnt feel safe, or she wasnt sure that she felt alive. She didnt feel like she could deal with the extremes of the world unless she went out and did it. Lord Cranston had understood that, and hed pushed her into the place where shed truly been able to test herself.
Even so, Will said, I thought that there would be blood on the deck before it was done.
There wasnt though, Kate said. She hugged him, simply because she wanted to. She wished that there were enough privacy on the boat for more than that. Thats the important thing.
And you were amazing up there, Will admitted. Maybe we shouldnt bother attacking tomorrow, just send you to fight them all one by one.
Kate smiled at that thought. I think it might get a little tiring after the first few. Besides, would you want to miss out on the action?
She saw Will look away.
What is it? she asked, resisting the urge to read his thoughts and find out.
Honestly? Im scared, he said. No matter how many battles we fight in, it never seems to get easier. Im scared for myself, for my friends, about whether my parents will be caught up in it all and Im scared for you.
I think we just found out that you dont need to be worried about me, Kate said.
Youre better with a sword than anyone I know, Will agreed, but I still worry. What if theres a sword you dont see? What if theres some random musket shot? War is chaos.
It was, but that was part of what Kate liked about it. There was something about being at the heart of a battle that just made sense in a way the rest of the world sometimes didnt. She didnt say that, though.
It will be all right, she said, instead. Ill be fine. Youll be working with the artillery, not at the heart of any charges. Sophia would never allow her people to loot, or to attack ordinary people, so your parents will be safe. It will be all right.
Just stay safe, Will said. There are so many things I want to have time to say to you, and do with you, and
Well have time for all of them, Kate promised. Now, you should go. You know Lord Cranston gets annoyed if I keep you from your duties too long.
Will nodded, looking as though he might kiss her again, but didnt. Another thing that would have to wait until after the battle. Kate watched him go, stretching out what there was of her talent to take in the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers there.
She could feel their fears and their worries. Every man there knew that the world would erupt in violence come the dawn, and most were wondering if they would come through that chaos in one piece. Some were thinking of friends, others of families. A few were going through possibility after possibility, as if thinking of the danger ahead would stop it from happening.
Kate was looking forward to it. In battle, the world made a kind of sense.
Tomorrow, I will kill the people who hurt my family, she promised. Ill cut through them, and Ill take the throne for Sophia.
Tomorrow, they would go into Ashton, and they would take back everything that was supposed to be theirs.
CHAPTER FIVE
From the steps of the Masked Goddesss temple, standing poised at their summit as he waited for the start of his mothers funeral, Rupert watched the sunset. It spread in shades of red, hues that reminded him too much of the blood hed shed. It shouldnt bother him. He was stronger than that, better than that. Even so, every look down at his hands brought with it memories of the way his mothers blood had stained them, every moment of silence brought back the memory of her gasps as hed stabbed her.
You! Rupert said, pointing to one of the augers and minor priests who crowded around the entrance. What does this sunset portend?
Blood, your highness. A sunset like this means blood.
Rupert took a half step forward, planning to strike the man for his insolence, but Angelica was there to catch him, her hand brushing across his skin in a promise he wished there was more time to make good on.
Ignore him, she said. He knows nothing. No one knows anything, unless you tell them.
He said blood, Rupert complained. His mothers blood. The pain of that flickered through him. Hed lost his mother, the grief of it almost a surprise to him. Hed expected to feel nothing but relief at her death, or perhaps joy that the throne was finally his. Instead Rupert felt broken inside, empty and guilty in a way hed never felt before.
Of course he said blood, Angelica replied. Theres to be a battle tomorrow. Any fool could see blood in a sunset with enemy ships moored offshore.
Plenty have, Rupert said. He pointed at another man, an auger who seemed to be using some complex clockwork device to scrawl calculations on a scrap of parchment. You, tell me how the battle will go tomorrow!
The man looked up, a wild look in his eyes. The signs are not good for the kingdom, your majesty. The gears
This time, Rupert did strike out, sending the man sprawling with a booted foot. If Angelica hadnt been there to pull him back, he might have kept kicking until there was nothing left but a pile of broken bones.
Consider how it would look, doing that at the funeral, Angelica said.
It was enough to get Rupert to hold back, at least. I dont see why the priests even let the likes of those onto the steps of their temple. I thought they killed witches.
Maybe its a sign that these have no talent, Angelica suggested, and that you shouldnt listen to them.
Maybe, Rupert said, but there had been others. It seemed that everyone had an opinion on the battle to come. There had been augers enough back at the palace, both real and merely nobles who liked to guess at sunsets or the flight of birds.
Right then, though, this funeral, his mothers funeral, was the only thing that mattered.
Apparently, there were those who didnt understand that. Your highness, your highness!
Rupert spun toward the man who came running. He wore a soldiers uniform, bowing low.
The correct form of address for a king is your majesty, Rupert said.
Your majesty, forgive me, the man said. He rose from his bow. But I have an urgent message!
What is it? Rupert demanded. Cant you see that I am attending my mothers funeral?
Forgive me, your majesty, the man said, obviously only just catching himself in time. But our generals request your presence.
Of course they did. Fools who had not seen the route to defeating the New Army now wanted to gain his favor by showing how many ideas they had for dealing with the threat that had come to them.
I will come, or not, after the funeral, Rupert said.
They said to stress the importance of the threat, the man said, as if those words would somehow move Rupert to action. To some kind of obedience.
I will decide its importance, Rupert said. At the moment, nothing felt important compared to the funeral that was about to happen. Let Ashton burn for all he cared; he would bury his mother.
Yes, your majesty, but
Rupert stopped the man with a look. The generals want to pretend that everything must happen now, he said. That there is no plan without me. That Im needed if we are to defend the city. I have a reply for them: do your jobs.
Your majesty? the messenger said, in a tone that made Rupert want to punch him.
Do your jobs, soldier, he said. These men claim to be our finest generals, but they cant organize the defense of one city? Tell them that I will come to them when I am ready to. In the meantime, they will see to it. Now go, before I lose my temper.
The man hesitated a moment, then bowed again. Yes, your majesty.
He hurried off. Rupert watched him go, then turned back to Angelica.
Youre being quiet, he said. Her expression was perfectly neutral. You dont agree with me burying my mother either?
Angelica put a hand on his arm. I think that if you need to do this, you should, but we cant neglect the dangers, either.
What dangers? Rupert demanded. We have generals, dont we?
Generals from a dozen different forces stitched together to form an army, Angelica pointed out. No two of whom will agree on who is in charge without someone there to set an overall strategy. Our fleet sits too close to the city, our walls are relics rather than defenses, and our enemy is a dangerous one.
Be careful, Rupert warned her. His grief was closing around him like a fist, and the only way Rupert knew to respond to it was with anger.
Angelica moved forward to kiss him. I am being careful, my love, my king. Well take the time to do this, but soon, youll need to give them direction, so that you have a kingdom to rule.
Let it burn, Rupert said on reflex. Let it all burn.
You might mean that now, Angelica said, but soon, youll want it. And then, well, theres a danger that they wont let you have it.
Let me have my crown? Rupert said. I am king!
You are the heir, Angelica said, and we have built you support in the Assembly of Nobles, but that support could fade if you are not careful. The generals you are ignoring will wonder if one of them should rule. The nobles will ask questions about a king who puts his grief before their safety.
And you, Angelica? Rupert asked. What do you think? Are you loyal?
His fingers went to the hilt of a knife almost automatically, feeling its comforting presence. Angelicas covered them.
I think that I have chosen my place in this, she said, and it is alongside you. Ive sent someone to deal with some of the threat of the fleet. If a death can slow us, it can slow them just as easily. Afterwards, we can do everything that needs to be done, together.
Together, Rupert said, taking Angelicas hand.
Are you ready? Angelica asked him.
Rupert nodded, even though right then the ache inside him was too great to ever be subdued. He would never be ready for the moment to let his mother go.
They stepped into the temple together. It had been dressed for a state funeral with a haste that was almost unseemly, rich drapes in dark hues filling the space within, cut through here and there by the royal crest. The pews of the temple were full of mourners, every noble in Ashton and for miles around turning out, along with merchants and soldiers, clergy and more. Rupert had made sure of that.
Theyre all here, he said, looking around.
All who could come, Angelica replied.
The ones who didnt are traitors, Rupert snapped back. Ill have them killed.
Of course, Angelica said. After the invasion, though.
It was strange that hed found someone so ready to agree to all the things that needed doing. She was as ruthless as he was in her way, beautiful and intelligent. She was there for this, too, standing beside him and managing to make even funeral black look exquisite, there to support Rupert as he made his way through the temple, toward the spot where his mothers coffin sat waiting for interment, her crown set atop it.