The Warrior's Curse

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

  “Yes.”

  I was becoming increasingly curious. Harlyn’s personality was so bold, I’d rarely seen her reluctant to speak.

  “There were problems in persuading them to come, I assume. Because of me?” I wouldn’t forget that, only days ago, we had overheard them plotting my death.

  Still refusing to look at me, she said, “Reese has taken full command of the cavalry.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Reese? Wonderful.” Of all those we had overheard, he had been the most opposed to me.

  Harlyn’s smile was grim. “They’re all against you, Simon. Commander Reese was just the loudest. When I first asked him to bring the cavalry here, he refused. And yes, it was because of you. He said that to fight for you was to fight under the banner of the Infidante. They know your feelings for Kestra. But I needed a way to persuade them that there was no longer any connection between you and her. I had to tell them something compelling enough to make them come.” Now she glanced up. “I know you won’t like it.”

  “You told them we were married.”

  She winced, barely, but enough that I took notice. “Yes, but only after I’d tried everything else to change Reese’s mind. They’ll follow me into battle, Simon. They know me; they know my father. They’ll follow you if they believe you follow me, and not her.” She shifted her weight before adding, “Besides, many people had expected it would already be true of us, or that it soon will be.”

  I nodded as I took that in. It was absurd that I continued to fight the inevitable, and hadn’t I already suggested to Harlyn that the Scarlet Throne would be ours one day? At some point, I would have to marry Harlyn, and in time, we would probably be very happy. Or I could pretend as much anyway.

  I took her hands. “You got them here, which is better than I could have done. Now that they’re here, we have to deal with their reasons for coming.”

  “Then we’ll tell them the truth.”

  She was trying to smile but doing a poor job of it. And though she was taking responsibility for the lie, I also knew she’d never have had to lie if I’d already married her, as I should have done.

  Gripping her hands tighter, I said, “What if we make what they already believe become the truth?”

  Harlyn tilted her head. “Are you serious?” I nodded, but she still seemed uncertain. “Do you want to marry me, or do you feel that you must?”

  I sighed and tried not to think of Kestra, or tried not to let my thoughts of her ruin this moment. “Part of accepting the realities of who Kestra has become is accepting that I’ve missed what is right in front of me. It will take me time to get to where I should have been all along, but I will get there, Harlyn.”

  Harlyn’s face twisted, but at least she was still smiling. “That is literally the worst proposal of marriage anyone has ever heard. But we’re at war, you’re obviously exhausted, and I did recently announce our marriage as a last resort to save your life, so I suppose you’re forgiven. I accept your offer.”

  I leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn’t the kiss she should have received considering that we had just agreed to marry, but it was a start for us.

  When we parted, I said, “I’ve got to tell the cavalry the truth about us. I can’t ask for their trust and betray it in the same breath. Will you come with me to speak to them?”

  “I have to go on patrol with Gabe right now.”

  “I’ll go in your place. You should be here to prepare the cavalry for the coming battle.”

  “Their king must prepare them.” Harlyn placed a hand on my cheek. “They’re already on my side. Now let’s get them on yours.”

  I took her hand, and together, we walked to the front doors. A light snow was falling, made worse by a cold, wet wind. We pulled on our cloaks and wrapped them around us, then went outside to welcome the cavalry—my cavalry, I supposed—as they approached. Commander Reese led about a hundred riders forward, and on his signal, they stopped in four straight rows behind him. All were dressed in the brown and blue colors of the Halderians, and two riders on either side of Reese carried brown flags, each with a blue stripe across it.

  Reese dismounted and gave me a curt nod of his head. He had been with Harlyn’s father when we had fought at King’s Lake two months ago, though we had not worked together directly. He was a large and sturdy man, the kind of warrior I needed on my side, and not only because he would likely defeat me in any sort of challenge. If I could persuade him to follow me, the other men here would accept me too.

  Which made it even more problematic when he only nodded in my direction but then addressed Harlyn. “My lady, we have ridden as fast as our horses would allow. My riders are exhausted and cold, and their horses need care.”

  Harlyn opened her mouth to answer, but I said, “Commander Reese, you are relieved of duty.”

  He widened his stance as he looked over to me. “Pardon?”

  “If you are so exhausted that you forget to address your king with proper respect, then clearly you are too exhausted to lead these soldiers into battle.” I cut off his attempt at a protest by adding, “You are dismissed. Tend to your horse and you can sleep in the stables until you wish to speak to me with respect.”

  “And who are you that I should care to address you at all?” Reese’s hand shifted to his sword. “You’re a boy who came from nowhere, without a drop of Halderian blood. Only King Gareth’s ring, which, for all we know, you stole from his finger as he slept.”

  “But I am Halderian,” Harlyn said. “And this is your king. If you stand with me, then you must stand with Simon too.”

  “I will fight for you alone, my lady, whether as a commander or a stable boy.” Reese’s glare aimed at me contained a tangible heat, the most heat he was likely to feel on this cold night. “But you must excuse me now. My horse needs tending to.”

  He grabbed his horse’s reins and began to walk toward the Woodcourt stables. In turn, Edgar, one of the other men I’d overheard back in Nessel, dismounted and said, “My horse also needs attention, my lady.” Ten men and women followed his actions and excuses, and within a minute, every single rider was walking their horse toward the stables.

  Harlyn looked up at me and smiled wryly. “That could have gone better.”

  “It’s not over yet.” I kissed her hand. “Be safe on your patrols tonight and take care of Gabe.”

  “You be safe too,” Harlyn replied. “I daresay you’re about to deal with a far more dangerous situation than I am.”

  I nodded as she returned to Woodcourt, worried that she might be right. Somehow I had to face a group of soldiers who had already committed treason in their hearts. All that remained was to finish the job.

  We waited to leave until the night was as black as it would become. We had chosen this night for its darkness—a new moon gave us just enough light to guide our horses, and the overcast skies dimmed the stars. We hadn’t expected the snowfall, but Joth said it might keep others off the roads and further mask us. I hoped he was right.

  Joth set out first, then me, then Darrow, none of us speaking unless absolutely necessary. Considering the consequences of being discovered too early, I couldn’t think of anything that would make extra noise a necessity.

  Unfortunately, that left me alone with my thoughts, and my head was so crowded with them, I didn’t know where to put my attention.

  The threads linking our plan together were too thin. There were too many possibilities we could not account for, too many things that could go terribly wrong. Even if everything went right, I was beginning to doubt my own abilities. I’d already tried once to kill Lord Endrick, and that had ended terribly. A second failure would likely be my last mistake ever.

  Yet success was the most frightening of all. If I succeeded tonight, then what?

  It was a question without an answer, or worse, a question that spawned another hundred questions. At the center of them all: What would happen to Antora after tonight?

  What would happen to me? Once I succeeded, would I become
the next target?

  Joth would be on my side. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted that.

  Despite what he claimed, that his people were not susceptible to corruption, when he had joined powers with me, that had introduced corruption into him. I didn’t know if he could see it in himself as easily as he had recognized it in me in All Spirits Forest. I could see it though. If only I knew what to do for either of us.

  Or if anything should be done. The corruption might be all I had to survive the night. It gave me strength, and courage, and assured me I was doing the right thing.

  It had lied to me, and in turn, I was lying to everyone else. But if there was a way back now, I didn’t know it.

  Suddenly, Joth stopped his horse, holding up an arm to get my attention. He looked over at me, communicating with gestures that we were being watched.

  I withdrew the Olden Blade and began surveying the area, searching for any sign of who might be nearby. It was late by now, and the snowfall was heavier than before. Nobody would be out here tonight without good reason.

  Then I saw it, a slight movement of a cloak on a road to my left. A row of homes was between us, and our watcher was hiding behind the last of them.

  Or watchers … was there more than one?

  I gestured to Joth and Darrow that we should continue riding forward, staying ready for anything that might come without leaving ourselves in a position vulnerable to attack. They agreed, and we continued riding, now in a straight line along the narrow street. I rode in the center.

  We rounded a corner and stopped. Immediately, my pulse began to race. Gabe was astride his horse in the middle of the road, his eyes trained on me. I straightened up in my saddle and stared with equal coldness, trying to assess how serious a threat he was. His sword was sheathed, and though he had a disk bow within easy reach, his hands were on the horse’s reins.

  “We want to talk with you, Kestra,” he said. “Just you.”

  “Keep your voice down,” I hissed at him.

  But he shook his head. “Agree to speak with me and we can whisper. Until then—”

  Before he finished, sounds behind us alerted us to another approaching horse and rider. I turned back to see Harlyn there. But unlike Gabe, she held her disk bow ready, the same one that had already shot me once.

  “We won’t hurt you, Kestra.” Harlyn’s conversation opener was rather interesting, considering that the disk bow was armed. “But we need to talk.”

  “Have you considered that Kestra is far more capable of hurting you?” Joth called to them. “Save yourselves and let us pass.”

  Gabe said, “Kestra, please—”

  “Hush!” I looked up to the skies, certain I had heard a fluttering noise. Was it Simon, on that dragon of his?

  Joth had heard it too—I could tell from the way he was looking up—but Darrow had angled his horse to keep an eye on Harlyn, and Gabe still seemed to be trying to get my attention.

  After a moment’s silence, Gabe spoke again. “We only want to help you succeed tonight.”

  “Then why have you followed us in secret?” Darrow said, still watching Harlyn. “You come with weapons in hand and ask my daughter to trust you?”

  “Daughter?” Harlyn was only temporarily caught off her guard before she added, “Sir, ask your daughter about the dozens of Ironhearts she killed only a few days ago, after they had surrendered. Ask about her plans to take Endrick’s place on the throne once this is over, perhaps after having absorbed his magic into herself.”

  “Stop!” I whispered, and tears formed in my eyes. Maybe because of her lies.

  Maybe because it was all truth.

  Either way, she had to stop.

  Seeing that she had found a way to truly wound me, Harlyn continued. “You may call her your daughter now, but be warned, sooner or later she will betray you too, if it benefits her.”

  Again I heard wings fluttering overhead, but I no longer had it in me to say anything. If that was Simon above us, then he probably already believed everything Harlyn was saying anyway.

  Harlyn drew in a breath to speak further, but Gabe called out her name and said, “Run!”

  It was too late. That hadn’t been Simon. Instead, one of Endrick’s condors swooped down from above, its talons grabbing Harlyn and lifting her from her horse. She tried to kick herself free but dropped her disk bow in the process. Gabe reached for his own bow, but before he could act, two more condors flew in, their riders launching fire pellets at the ground. As the pellets exploded, each of us scattered. Gabe fled one way as we rode in the other direction.

  Joth and Darrow gathered on either side of me, and one condor circled overhead. The road we were on had become too narrow for the enormous bird to reach us, but its rider fired disks at us.

  Finally, Darrow shouted, “Ride on!” I saw he had his disk bow ready and armed, and he had turned his horse to be directly in line with the condor.

  “Stay with us!” I called, but Joth grabbed one end of my reins and pulled my horse along with him.

  We rode into a thatch-roof market, empty at this time of night, but with rows of stalls to hide and protect us.

  “We must go back and help my father,” I said.

  “Your father is helping you, as he should,” Joth said. “At least the condors took care of one of our enemies.”

  My heart sank. Was Harlyn an enemy to me? I supposed she was.

  But I felt no relief from knowing where she was headed now, and certainly no joy. I only redoubled my grip on the reins, pulling them away from Joth, and said, “Let’s get to the palace. We’re running out of time.”

  I waited inside Woodcourt for two hours until the night had become colder. Then, with the help of a couple of younger Coracks, I walked out toward the stables with a vessel of hot cider and a stack of firewood.

  After dismissing the Coracks, I built a fire directly outside the stables. I expected the members of the cavalry were watching me from wherever they were surely huddled together, battling their pride.

  Once the fire roared to life, I poured two cups of cider and walked with them into the stables. Sure enough, the soldiers were clustered together in groups, shivering beneath their thin blankets.

  I took a sip of the cider and looked around the room directly at each man or woman to be sure they knew I’d come. No one spoke a word, but they all were staring at me and most had a hand on whatever weapon was nearest to them.

  Loud enough for them all to hear, I said, “It is true that I am not Halderian. But it is also true that the father of my birth fought alongside you or your fathers in the War of Devastation, and there he gave his life. I had the rare honor of gaining a second father, though I was three years in his home before I learned that he was the exiled Halderian king. Before his execution at the order of Lord Endrick, Gareth gave me his ring and his sword, naming me as his heir. Ever since that day, I’ve known who I was and what I was supposed to do, but I refused to claim the throne for the very reasons you have objected to me. Do you think any of your complaints are a surprise? Did you think I expected you would embrace me as your king? But I am your king, and I am Halderian now. My first father earned that for me with his blood, my second father gave that to me with his inheritance, and I will claim it from you in these coming days when we fight together on the battlefield. Whether I will live for you, or die for you, I swear on the lives of my fathers that I will lead you in the best way I can.”

  With that, I continued looking around the room until I saw a girl who might’ve been a couple of years younger than me. She was thin and her face was dirty, but her eyes held a spark in them that had responded to my words.

  I walked over to the girl. “What is your name?”

  “Amala Fingray.”

  “Am I your king, Amala?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “Lord is the title for Endrick, and all others are too grand for me now.”

  “My king, then.”

  I smiled and handed her the second cup of hot cider
. “Amala Fingray, until further notice, you are commander of this cavalry. Join me outside and we will discuss strategy for the coming attack.” Then I looked up at the others. “The fire outside is warm and the cider is tasty, for I found it in the cellar of the former master of Woodcourt. Join me, or don’t, but this is the moment when you will decide where your loyalties are. If you come to the fire, then you come to your king.”

  Then I turned and walked out with Amala on my heels, her head tall with pride but taking in deep breaths as she contemplated the weight of the assignment I had just given her. Once outside, we stoked the fire with more wood, and then we waited.

  And waited. Amala had another cup of cider while I began to feel nauseous enough to worry I might lose what I’d already swallowed. If no one came, I would present to the Alliance my army of one.

  “Do you want to discuss strategy?” she asked.

  “How are your skills with weapons?” If she had any at all. Amala didn’t move like a warrior.

  Amala patted the sword at her side. “My mother gave this to me before we left, and I’ve practiced with it at every opportunity since. But I’m good with horses, and I was told that they needed every fighter they could get, since so many of ours were lost in the battle at King’s Lake.”

  Many more would be lost in the battles that were coming, if Amala Fingray represented the totality of my cavalry.

  “May we join you at the fire … my king?”

  I looked up to see three men walking out from the stables. These had been some of the last to follow their former commander into the stables earlier that evening, so it was no surprise to see they were the first to emerge. But it was a great relief.

  I poured cups for each of them and placed one in each man’s hands as he bowed to me and found a place around the fire.

  Within five minutes, another eight soldiers had joined us. Before I had their cups filled, another ten were outside. That was followed by the majority of the riders, each of whom greeted me as their king, gave me a respectful bow, then found a place around the fire.