Loyalty

*Rafe*

I walk along with the Longclaw army, my troops, and my friends, seeing the destruction all around. My heart is sick over the burnt bodies I see in our path as we go from village to village, trying to find enough provisions to make it back to Shadowmanor Castle alive.

There are bits of bread and scraps of fruit and vegetables here and there, though the fields and orchards are scorched. This area is going to need a lot from the Crown, as soon as we win this war.

A few green soldiers in the Longclaw army stop periodically to throw up. I don’t blame them. Just when we think we’ve seen the worst of depravity, something worse appears.

One new recruit now carries a charred stuffed bear with him everywhere. When I ask him why, he simply tells me he wants to remember what he’s fighting for.

It takes longer than I’d like, since it means the Rallegrad army has gotten further south than I like, but two days from the castle, we come upon enemy troops.

“Finally,” the leader of the Longclaw soldiers says, cracking his knuckles. “A chance to even the score.”

“Stay back, Your Majesty. Take care of the little prince,” the second in command advises me.

There is nothing I want more than to throw myself at Rallegrad’s army and destroy them with my teeth, but he does have a point about Drake.

Scott cracks his neck, and Devon begins to shift. Casper and Jim are ready to strip down and shift as well.

My four guards stay back with me while Longclaw and Rallegrad clash.

At first, it seems like an even battle, but Longclaw’s troops are angry and thirst for victory. Soon, the Rallegrad soldiers are either lying dead on the ground or kneeling in surrender.

“We should execute all of them,” the Longclaw leader, a man I know is named Ian, says.

“No. We must take them prisoner,” I argue. “We will not be savages even though they are.”

“But all those people–” Ian begins.

I’m about to answer him when, without orders, the stuffed-bear-carrying Longclaw soldier goes along the line of kneeling Rallegrad troops and slits all of their throats.

“No!” I protest, lurching forward to stop him.

The Longclaw leader holds me back. I could snap him in half, but that might anger his troops, and I can’t fight all of them. “We don’t really have the capacity to take on prisoners right now, anyway, Your Majesty,” he points out.

“But those aren’t the rules of war!” I protest.

He shakes his head. “You saw what we saw. None of them were innocent.”

I sigh, shaking my head in defeat.

The soldier with the bear wipes his knife on his pants and comes back to the Longclaw forces. “They won’t be killing any more women and children,” he seethes.

“No, they won’t,” the leader agrees.

I realize that I am not in control of the Longclaw army. I cannot force mercy upon them. I fear what the rest of the journey will bring.

* * *

We keep encountering pockets of the Rallegrad army. When we reach the main throng, they stretch far and wide.

But Longclaw did not bring insignificant numbers, either.

“We need to get the king around or through,” one of my guards says to Ian. “He needs to return to the castle, no matter which side wins this battle.”

Ian nods. I think he’s grown tired of my constant objections to Longclaw’s tactics.

My friends and I sneak around the side of Rallegrad’s encampment in the dead of night, flanked by my guards and twenty good Longclaw soldiers. It’s a larger group than I would have liked, but everyone is determined to get me home alive.

We pass the Rallegrad troops without incident, but we are now only one day from the castle. That’s too close for my comfort.

I see our purple uniforms in the morning and pick up my pace. “We’re here. It’s the Shadowglade army.”

A handful of tired-looking soldiers perk up when they see us, baring their teeth and hissing. Warfang troops who have joined them at the front line bear their own fangs.

“Peace!” I call, holding up a hand, the other wrapped securely around Drake. “We come in peace! I am King Rafe Poe.”

The hissing diminishes to low, doubting growls.

Three soldiers come forward, tired and ragged, to sniff at me.

Then they kneel on the ground as the villagers in Rallegrad had. “Your Majesty.”

“I’m nearly home,” I breathe, feeling relieved. “Ainslee must be worried sick.”

The Longclaw soldiers look at the Shadowglade soldiers and Warfang soldiers. One of the Shadowglade soldiers tilts his head up and gives me an uncomfortable look.

“Your Majesty does not know?” he asks.

“Know what?” I reply, looking around at the soldiers surrounding me.

“Your Majesty,” he says slowly, “Luna Queen Ainslee has returned to Longclaw upon Alpha King Howard Bleiz’s orders. That is how you got the help of Longclaw troops.”

My blood runs cold. “What?”

“Alpha King Bleiz said he would send Longclaw troops as reinforcements for the Shadowglade armies, but only if Luna Queen Ainslee returned to Longclaw,” he continues.

Damn Howard, that bastard! I frown at all my troops, trying to think. “Well, on the plus side, you have the Rallegrad army pinched between Shadowglade, Warfang, and Longclaw. I expect Alpha King Bleiz is not interested in negotiating for Ainslee’s return?”

“No, Your Majesty. We desperately needed the troops. We all believe she showed great courage and loyalty to Shadowglade in doing what she did,” he says.

“Yes, she did indeed,” I agree. “But I promise you, we are getting our queen back.”

My soldiers all smile. “That will be wonderful, Your Majesty,” their spokesperson says.

My heart sinks. “For now, we need to concentrate on winning this war.”

“We will do our best, Your Majesty,” he says, and the Warfang troops beat their chests in solidarity.

“I know you will.” I turn away from them so they can’t see the pain in my eyes. I’ve fought so hard and come so far, and Ainslee isn’t even at Shadowmanor Castle.

“Would you like us to send a messenger to tell Regent Winters that you have returned?” the Shadowglade soldier asks.

I nod. “He should be warned ahead of time.”

He bows and uses telepathy to rouse a messenger. We are too far away from the castle still for me to reach Zeke directly. The messenger takes off, carrying the news of our return.

“You should stay here for the night, Your Majesty,” a Warfang soldier says. “It’s important to keep your strength up, and Shadowmanor Castle is still a day’s journey away.”

“We could use some food and a good night’s sleep,” I murmur, looking at my companions.

They are all drooping, but resolved. If I tell them we’re going to march for Shadowmanor Castle right now, they will rally behind me.

“We will stay for the night,” I respond firmly.

Everyone sags with relief, even the troops. We must look like quite a mess.

Another few tents are erected and cots scrounged up. We all settle down to sleep.

The others do, anyway. I stare at the ceiling of my tent, Drake lying on my chest, and try to tamp down the pain in my heart. Ainslee is not at the castle. Ainslee is currently beyond my reach.

I try very hard not to hate Howard; I really do. But he took my mate from me, and that is something he will need to answer for.

Later.

When I finally do close my eyes, I dream of Ainslee. I can’t push our link out far enough to find her, but in my dreams she is there. And she is sad.

I reach for her, this ethereal red-haired figure in my dreams, but she is always beyond my reach. She is swollen with child, my child, but I still can’t touch her.

Then, to my horror, another man appears, holding my Ainslee’s hand. I somehow know he is a wolf shifter with brown hair and blue eyes. Ainslee tries to pull away from him, but he won’t let go of her.

I redouble my efforts, running faster, ready to tear that wolf shifter apart, but they just keep getting further and further away.

A baby cries, and the wolf shifter is suddenly holding my daughter, smiling down at her, cooing at her, while Ainslee grows more and more ashen by the minute.

I know in my soul that Ainslee is dying.

The pain in my heart is sharp, as though I’m being stabbed. I look down. My hands tremble and are an unhealthy gray color. I’m dying as well.

There is nothing I can do. Ainslee perishes far away from me, falling on the ground while the strange wolf shifter holds my child and then presents her to a man who can only be Howard Bleiz. He has Ainslee’s eyes and hair. Nobody is looking out for Ainslee. Nobody is helping her.

And I can’t. Not anymore. Because I am dying.

I gaze into the distance, holding out my hand. Ainslee reaches toward me as well. But it is too far. We cannot reach.

“Ainslee,” I cry brokenly into the night. “Please wait for me. I’m alive. I’m coming.”