A War Of Traitors( ARTK, Book 2)

Chapter 93

"Of course they were." Nara'd shrugged. "From their eyes, you represented everything the Ashhand's were at the height of our power so many hundreds of years ago. Brothers marrying sisters, spending however much coin they wanted while their people starved.... your own parents being twins made them think of whatever it was they read in old books. They believed they were stopping a cycle-"

"And yet they failed." Drue poured more wine. "Why is that?"

  "They didn't plan it very well-" Nara'd started, only to earn an eyebrow raise. "They.... didn't learn much from Johanna Harsent. Their faces were known enough that the two who escaped you.... were found that day or a few later."

  "Precisely-" he'd finally removed the knife from Nara's neck then. "Johanna Harsent murdered the last king, but at least she were smart about it. Before posing as a servant to murder King Jesper and Queen Nolis- she'd only killed commoners for other commoners. No one knew her face while she lived- as she'd go nowhere without a hooded fur, and would only meet clients with her face covered. She was a favorite secret of commoners for a while, until one of the first commanding lords or ladies caught wind- and brought her talents to the attention of the others. After that job was done- people knew her face, but no one ever saw it again. She'd disappeared in the chaos of the feast, and-"

"People don't just disappear." Nara'd shook her head. "Someone killed her. Some Ashhand loyalist found her, and they killed her without telling-"

"Wouldn't surprise me." Drue replied. "In any case she certainly would've deserved it."

Just out of sight, Lord Raaf's scout returned to camp. He dismounted his horse and ran for the Lord's tent so quickly that his words were difficult to understand.

  "Commander-" He forced out, trying to catch his breath. "Commander she.... They are here I.... didn't see her king or....."

  Lord Raaf gripped the young scout's shoulders. "Slow down.  What are you telling me?"

  "The.... Queen....." he said. "I saw... Nara Ashhand and.... about four thousand men just a few thousand paces.... northwest of here."

Raaf saw the faces of his children first- and then his wife. It was this moment he'd thought of for months- this moment that would determine what the history books said about him. He could be called the first to defeat Nara Ashhand- or the Emeric who lost Valia.

  He would not let the second option happen without a fight- no matter how many men lord Torcull could lose. There were just over seven thousand of them. The usurper would not win so long as he stood, and if she were truly only a few thousand paces northwest- they didn't have much time.

  "What are you waiting for then?" He calmly asked. "Alert the men."

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  His camp descended into chaos. None had true battle experience, so even though they'd assembled by the time Nara's armies were in sight- it'd almost been too late. The flatlands made it so that, once they passed the boulders and sparse trees- Lord Raaf's camp was visible.
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By then, his men stood in formation- while Nara's did not. This would be the first battle she hadn't been given a chance to plan- and it could go very wrong very quickly if she weren't careful.

"Archers- behind the rest of us!" She yelled. It took only moments to scan over Lord Raaf's army- and see that they were outnumbered. "When you fight, remember how many of them there are. Most of you will fight three or four men at a time at least once- no matter how incredible our archers are. Never forget that most of you have been in battle before- and they have not. Show them how an Ashhand soldier fights. Show no mercy to those who refuse to surrender."