I stride out into the courtyard, and here, at least, I feel like I belong. The stockpiles of weapons. The hastily erected tents, gaunt soldiers with sleepless eyes. I might as well be in an army encampment in Mag Na Tir Forest, not a palace.
At my appearance, the royal soldiers snap to attention. I have to give them credit—for as exhausted and malnourished as they are, they manage to present a semblance of order.
“King Basten,” each one says, bowing his head as I pass.
There’s commotion on the other side of the gate, where the Sentinels part to allow their three generals to approach.
I use the term “generals” loosely: Two are meathead former swordsman-for-hire I know from the fighting ring. Mallik and Gaez. Brutes, despite their golden armor. The third is a mean, wiry little gray-haired spy named Boone.
The notorious Cold Coins.
I stride straight up to the gates, puffing up my chest like a charging wild boar, my hand showily resting on the heavy iron sword at my side.
I stop six feet from the gate, far enough to avoid a thrust blade. Kendan follows behind me, dragging a reluctant Rian along with him.
“Generals,” I bare my teeth, hissing out the word. “Let me introduce myself, because it’s been a while since we served together. Basten Valvere, King of Astagnon, though I believe you once knew me by a different name. Wolf Bowborn?”
Gaez leans forward to spit as his response. The manreeksof cheap brandy.
I smile inwardly, because he just made this a lot more fun.
I grab Rian by the shoulder and drag him, stumbling, to the gate. “Maybe you’ll recognize him, then, eh? You were stupid enough to choose this ass for your leader, and now he’s given you an order.”
I point to the black sheets dangling from Honor Tower.
Gaez squints theatrically as he looks over Rian. “Can’t tell who that is under all the bruises. Could be anyone.”
“And those sheets?” Mallik cuts in. “Nah, don’t remember any signal about sheets.”
Rian’s hunched posture explodes as he hurls himself against the bars, swiping a hand through to try to grab the general by the neck. “You lying bastards! You know it’s me!”
The three of them step back in feigned surprise, holding their hands out helplessly. “Rian? That really you?” Boone says.
Mallik shakes his head, breath heavy with booze. “Nah, can’t be, rumor has it Rian fled to Duren.”
Gods help us, Mallik is even drunker than the others.
Gaez grins wolfishly at the other two. “This is just a nobody.”
Rian garbles a furious growl and lunges again, but this time, Kendan intercepts him, grabbing both shoulders and yanking him back hard enough to drag his boots through the dirt.
“You can’t even control your own fucking temper, let alone command your so-called army!” Kendan snaps, his voice low but scalding. “The army that was supposedlyloyalto you!”
They grapple—Rian twisting in his grip, Kendan holding fast.
“You think you can hold this city without me?” Rian spits at Gaez, breath ragged, straining against Kendan’s grip. “You’ll lose control in a week.”
“Done plenty well without you so far,” Gaez answers, casually picking dirt from his nails. “Figure, why not keep up the party? The Cold Coins are famous here. All the wine, cards, women we want.”
“Because everyone’s terrified of you,” Rian blusters. “You’ve throttled them to within a few days of starvation!”
He manages to tear free of Kendan and grips the bars, pressing his busted face to the gap. In a low, poison voice I know all too well, he threatens, “I put you where you are. Gave you the keys to this city so you could safeguard it for my return, not pillage it. Do you know what happens to those who cross a Valvere? The last man who tried ended up on the sharp end of a?—”
“Enough.” I slam my iron shield against the bars, silencing him.
I spare a few moments to scowl at the generals, then direct my attention to the sentinels behind them.
“Golden Sentinels,” I announce, loud and resounding. “Your disgraced leader, the erstwhile king—” I jerk my head in Rian’s direction “—is done playing at wearing a crown. He’s hung the black sheets, the signal to surrender. As your new king, I command you to lay down your arms, return control of the city back to me and my royal army, and kneel before me. Do so, and your treasonous actions will be pardoned. Refuse, and be strung up alongside those sheets, right next to the Cold Coins.”
