“What is my teaching, Alpha?” Goran’s voice was colder than the wind. “What is the central tenet of this army? The pledge you learned when I allowed you to join its number?”
His lips moved, but every warrior in the camp spoke with him. “To return our homeland to its former glory, to undo the wrongs and heal our souls, we pledge this day and every day onward to lift up our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters, to restore to them their rightful places at our sides. We pledge to protect the young, the broken, the widows and orphans, and call upon the Goddess to forgive us and bless us once again with ourqueens. May the Goddess strike us down if we harm one of Her line, and send us to the lowest of Her hells until the mountains no longer stand.”
“Oh, I like that,” Alexios murmured.
Dustin dropped to his knees. “Please don’t punish any more of the others, Warlord. Zander died for his crime. I was the one who… who reached for her first. P-please, take my life as payment for us all.” Goran’s bloody sword was rising again before he finished the final word. Dustin wasn’t looking at him, though. His eyes were on his friends. Somehow, he mustered a shaky smile before he closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to fall.
“He can’t,” I interrupted, casually stepping between them. “You already offered it to me, remember? Your life’s mine, Dustin.” The young man peered up at me uncertainly. “You swore it on your honor and your line,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.
Goran growled, but resheathed his sword reluctantly. “Youreachedfor her?”
“For her breast,” Alexios added, watching Goran carefully. “He commented on their size and reached for her breast.”
Goran roared and lunged to one side, trying to get to the boy.
“Mine,” I said, my sword lifted now. “The idiot is mine to punish.” I was challenging him in front of his army, and I wasn’t certain what he would do. I’d never heard that pledge before, but it gave me hope.
Eleven years ago, when Goran gained his title, the country had been one of the least friendly places for women to live. Three centuries before, the Omega Plagues had hit Starlak harder than most countries. Since then, more and more of their young Alphas had been driven into madness, for lack of Omegas to temper their darker impulses and meet their sexual needs. They’d adopted brutal traditions, including chaining new Alphasfor the duration of their first sexual rut, in order to keep the women safe from the ones who went feral.
Close to half of them had gone feral, no matter what they tried, their own fathers and elder brothers forced to put them down out of mercy. Mothers had wept for too many dead sons.
They’d wept behind thick walls and barred windows, though. Starlak’s women had been confined to their homes, stripped of the right to travel freely or use weapons, all in the name of keeping them safe. Goran and I had whispered plans late into the night more than once, dreams of how we could change the culture, knowing it would take decades or even centuries to roll back all the oppressive customs. Starlakians loved their traditions.
Goran bared his teeth. “He took an oath. He broke it. He has to pay the price.”
I sighed and took out a cloth, wiping down my blade. “He will. I’ll make certain of it.”
The boy whimpered. Alexios stepped next to me and bowed to Goran. “Might I suggest, Warlord, that we finish this discussion later? The Mirrenese soldiers?—”
“Are dead. The larger forces are still on their way. I’ll leave a contingent in the mountain pass to take care of them and escort you to a safe place to wait until we’re sure the danger is over.”
“Which direction is this safe place?” The tugging in my gut was getting stronger by the hour and felt like a hook attached an inch or so over my belly button, pulling me…
“North.” Goran turned his head to Dustin. “You know what you’ve done.”
The boy reached for his knife, his hand trembling, and set the blade beside his own neck. “Wait!” I shouted, knowing I couldn’t stop him if he was planning to slit his own throat. But all he did was pull a braid forward from his long, greasy hair, and slice it off, letting it land in the mud at his feet. I flinched as it fell. Thedragon’s head-shaped bead he’d cut was the one that showed which of the fighting companies he belonged to, and who he served. Or had served until today.
Goran nodded once, not even glancing down at the fallen braid. “Stay far away from me, Dustin, once of Warrior’s Ridge. If you come within reach of my sword, I will finish what you started.” He shouted to the crowd. “Wolf and bear companies? Prepare to defend the Eastern pass. Dragon company, follow me to the Omega’s Keep.”
Then he was gone, and I was left blinking. “The Omega’s Keep? What is that?”
“It’s what the troops call his new home, Warqueen,” Dustin replied softly. “Where he lives with the Omega’s family, when he’s not off fighting.”
“He really lives with another Omega?”
Dustin’s gulped affirmation had my cheeks burning. I wished I hadn’t asked. A part of me wanted to run in the other direction, but the searing pain in my belly when I even thought about running away reminded me that I had promises to keep.
And I didn’t have time for jealousy, or obsessive thoughts about what the Omega at the end of this ride must look like. Smell like.
Feellike, in the quiet hours of the night, buried in the center of a pile of soft pillows and plush blankets.
Alexios cleared his throat, and I realized I was holding knives in both hands. I put them away and reached for the reins of the saddled horse Dustin brought over.
No, I had no time to think of her. But the three days it took to get to the coast gave me more than enough opportunity to dream up a hundred ways to geld a Starlakian warlord.
KELLIN
She’s coming.
