Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1) (52 page)

She could handle a weapon and defend herself, but this would be different. Before she had only fought to defend her children, now Endra would be among thousands of men trying to kill each other.

The very thought of it scared her a little, but she was determined to do her part. That was not what was really troubling her, it was what Rhys had told her the day before.

“Endra, you look a little pale, would you like me to give you a look over?” She had not felt well the last few days so she agreed. When he finished, he told her the news.

“You’re with child, my dear, I hope that’s good news, the baby should come in the early spring if not before.”

Endra looked at him eyes wide. “That can’t be, that would make the child born too soon, after only a few months.”

Rhys frowned. “Are you sure?”

She nodded frantically. “Yes, Kian is the only one I have been with.”

Rhys felt her abdomen again. “The baby is small, you can hardly tell by looking at you that you’re with child. I just thought it might be normal for you to gain very little weight.

She told him about the birth of her other children and that they too were born much sooner than normal.

“Let me do a couple of tests,” Rhys said. “There is just so much I don’t know about this dark blood. Maybe I can come up with something.”

Later in the day, Rhys had come to her with what he had found. “The baby is growing rapidly. I have no explanation for it other than the magic that was used on Kian or your blood or a combination of the two. It’s the only reason I can come up with for the abnormality. I want you to be prepared Endra, the child may be … irregular. Half Elves are known to be sterile by their nature, they are hybrids and unable to breed, so it’s a miracle that you became pregnant in the first place. This will not be a normal birth, I’m afraid. You must make sure I’m there when the time comes.”

She had thanked him and left. Rhys was a very kind man, but he had frightened her, what was growing in her belly? Returning to her room she agonized over what to do. Finally she decided not to tell Kian until after the battle, she didn’t want him to stop her from fighting by his side. Endra knew he would not allow it if he found out about the child. No, she would wait, it would be for the best. She dried her eyes belted on her sword and went to find her swordsman.

“Just drink it down fast, you won’t taste it that way.” The Queen shook her head. “It smells awful, are you sure it will work?”

Rhys put his hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head, “I wouldn’t give it to you if I didn’t think it would work.”

She tipped her head back and downed the healer’s brew as fast as she could, it gagged her a bit but she kept it down. She could feel the burning in her belly subside as the concoction slid down.

“Better?” he asked. “Yes, thank you, my dear, you are a miracle worker, are you really going down to the wall today?”

Rhys sighed. “We’ve already talked about this; K’xarr said he would need every healer in the city down there, and I said I would take charge of overseeing the wounded, from what he told me I should be back by nightfall.”

Raygan squirmed in her chair trying to get comfortable. “I’m worried, Rhys, what if the battle goes all wrong, what if we lose, what if the Abberdonians get into the city, will I be taken prisoner?”

“Raygan, we have been over this to, remember? You’re the Queen, others will look to you for strength. You can’t allow your personal fears to show. You are Raygan Albana Blackthorn, the Phoenix Queen of Bandara.” He watched pride fill the young woman’s eyes. Sometimes she just needed to be reminded of who she was.

“The Phoenix of Bandara fears nothing,” she said trying to sound fierce.

Rhys walked over to the Queen’s bed and picked up his cloak and slung it around his shoulders. “I wouldn’t worry anyway, K’xarr might be young, but he seems to know what he’s about.” He picked up his satchel and checked to see if everything was in order. “Well, I better get going, it won’t be long now.” He knelt down beside her and took her hands in his and kissed them both. “I will see you soon, lay down and get some rest if you can.”

She caressed his face gently. “Please, be careful and promise you won’t go beyond the wall.”

Rhys stood and kissed her softly on the lips. “I have no intention of going anywhere near the fighting.”

Raygan smiled at him. “Come back to me soon.” He turned and opened the door of her room. “I will see you tonight, promise.” He walked out and shut the door softly. He hadn’t taken two steps before he stopped. He had a bad feeling. Rhys turned and started to go back into the Queen’s room. He stopped himself and smirked. He had never been superstitious and he was not going to start now. Everything would be fine. The young healer turned walked on down the hall, not knowing how wrong he was.

“There, that makes me feel better.” It had taken some time to talk Kian into putting on a light chainmail shirt under the black leather jerkin he wore.

“It will slow me down, but if it makes you happy I’ll wear it.”

She fastened his cloak back around his shoulders. “It does, now, how about a helmet?”

He shook his head. “No helmet.” Endra knew there wasn’t time to argue with him about it, so she just nodded her compliance.

The palace armory was cold and she was anxious, time was growing short. K’xarr was planning on attacking just before dawn and that was not far off. Kian seemed no more concerned as if he was going for a ride in the country.

“I wanted to wake the children and tell them goodbye, but they were sleeping so sound I just couldn’t do it. Nick Nock is staying with them until we return. The cook seems to be a good man, besides he has already experienced their unpleasant antics.” Endra knew he was listening to her but you couldn’t tell it by looking at the swordsman. It was very irritating that he could focus on several things at once.

Kian pulled Malice from its scabbard and looked the ominous blade over, she didn’t like that sword, it made her uneasy and she really didn’t know why.

“They will be fine, you will see them tonight. Nick Nock will see to their needs. They seem fond of the cook,” he said confidently.

“You seem very sure, what if something happens? This is a war and none of us are immortal.”

He slid the sword back into its scabbard and fixed his cat-like eyes to hers. “You are a good fighter, Endra, you have nothing to worry about, just stay close to me.”

She hugged him and he held her close, she almost told him about the baby then but held it back. “You make everything sound so simple, neither one of us has ever been in a real battle before, what do you think it will be like?”

He pushed her back gently. He looked at her the way he had before the tower. It was only for a moment but she had seen it. Then the darkness seeped back in. “We will ride out and men will die.”

“All right, Greyson, you will lead the troops from the Bluff, most of them are mounted and more experienced than the recruits from the city, so you will be the spearhead of the attack. I’m sending Vandarus with you as your second in command.

“Rufio, you take the left wing of cavalry. That’s two thousand of the recruits. So, you may have to lead them by the nose. Cromwell and I will take the right. Kian, Endra, you ride with Rufio. Try not to get too far ahead of the infantry. Keep your mounted troops at a walk until the signal is given to charge. This only works if we all attack together.

“Engage, kill as many of them as you can, then as the sun rises, head back to the city, and if the Gods are with us we will slam the gates shut in their faces and the archers on the wall will get a few flights of arrows off before they turn back.” He paused a moment, letting his orders sink in.

“Remember, once the Abberdonians get to the wall, the gate will close, we can’t take a chance of them gaining control of the gatehouse, make sure you get back before Havalon’s troops do.”

“We know all this. It’s the third time you told us. We strike, just like the raids back home,” Cromwell said with a sly grin.

K’xarr slowly turned to face him. “Some of my commanders have thick skulls, so I feel the need to repeat myself, Greyson, are the men in position and ready?”

“They are, General, and already complaining about the cold.” K’xarr nodded. “They will warm up soon enough. Let’s go and may the Gods be kind.”

Greyson Kyle walked to his horse; he hated what he had to do. He didn’t like K’xarr but for a man with no experience with command he had done well, but the wizard had been clear on what the duke wanted of him.

If Ansellus would have put him in command things might be different, but he didn’t. He let the Queen put this barbaric outlander in charge. Greyson was loyal to Bandara but only to a point. He would never gain any renown under the Queen. That was obvious. He had served the duke a long time, no sense stopping now. Besides, under the duke he would be promoted, perhaps if he did well enough Blackthorn may even have the King make him a lord.

Without the men from the Bluff, K’xarr didn’t have a chance in hell of holding Turill until Ansellus returned. With any luck, the duke would be back in control of Turill by summer and Greyson would be back in command.

The commanders joined their troops, the snow was deep and would slow their advance, but there was nothing that could be done about that. K’xarr hoped they could start the attack before Havalon’s men could form their ranks, it was little more than a mile to their sentries but the Abberdonians were well trained, he had to just hope the winter attack would catch them off guard.

He mounted his horse and joined Cromwell on the right. He wanted to lead the wedge, but he knew that he and Cromwell didn’t have the experience the Bandaran did on horseback, and Greyson knew what he was doing. K’xarr didn’t like the man but Greyson had shown he was efficient.

He just kept running every variable over and over in his head. He had to stop, there was nothing left to do but signal the advance. Time would tell if he had done the right thing in ordering the attack. If he had misjudged, the city would be lost before dinner and he would be dead.

King Havalon’s personal guard had built him a small cabin, it was better than a tent but still cold as hell. He couldn’t wait until spring when the fighting started. The Church’s rule of no winter combat was inconvenient, but they were right about it being inhuman on the troops. The Church had decreed many years ago that God didn’t want his children to make war in the bleak winter months. Very few Kings or generals had complained about the new edict. Most armies didn’t have any desire to battle in the cold anyway, so everyone had agreed with God.

Havalon was a man that was usually up with the sun. His aides seldom needed to wake the old warrior. The cold however kept him in the warmth of his blankets this morning, besides the sun wasn’t up yet. Maybe he was just getting too old for these campaigns. Next time he would leave the conquest to his sons. He would stay home in his capital Tarthis, next to the great fireplace he had built in his quarters, and drink warm wine and let his boys do the fighting. The King had just drifted off to sleep again when he was startled awake by the sound of battle. Dressed only in his night clothes, he sprang to his feet and threw back his covers. He opened the door to the biting cold of the predawn. His army’s camp fires blazed everywhere. The fire light made it hard to see, but he could tell the camp was under attack. The Queen’s general had attacked under the cover of darkness in snow knee deep, was he mad?

The King’s personal guard came running up. “It’s a full attack, Majesty, at least ten thousand strong, maybe more, the men had little time to make ready before they were on us.”

“Get my armor and my horse.” He had to get his men organized or that bastard would rout the whole camp, how dare he attack against the Church edicts. The old King ignored the cold and stared out at the chaos in his camp. He was going to make someone would pay for this outrage.

Vandarus could not believe how deep they had driven into the Abberdonians camp. The screams of the dying filled the night air, K’xarr’s plan was working, the Abberdonians kept trying to form up to repel the attack, but the Bandarans cut them down before they could get organized, he had killed at least three men himself, but the sun was getting ready to rise. It was time to get back behind the city walls.

He saw Greyson up ahead, pulling his sword free from a man’s shoulder. The young Bandaran warrior rode over the commander.

“The sun will rise soon, we should start back.” The Abberdonians fires lit the battlefield enough to let Vandarus see the chaos all around. He hoped Rufio and the others were watching the sky. He didn’t want to see any of his friends get left behind.

Greyson acted as if he hadn’t heard what he said. Vandarus turned his horse around and came alongside Greyson’s mount, he pointed to the sky. “Look, Greyson, the sun is almost up time to pull back.”

The Bandaran commander turned in his saddle and drove his sword into the pit of Vandarus’s arm. His rib stopped Greyson’s saber from going into his heart, but the unexpected thrust unhorsed him. Vandarus fell into the cold wet snow. Greyson signaled, horns sounded and the troops from Braxton Bluff turned their horses and thundered off to the north.

“What the hell is that?” K’xarr yelled. The sun had just broken the horizon when he heard the blaring of the battle horns.

“K’xarr, look,” Cromwell said, pointing to the north they could see the bulk of the Bandaran cavalry breaking through the back of the Abberdonians camp horses and men struggle through the snow as they fled the battle.