It zips through the bars to spear Boone so deep in his left eye that the man staggers back, garbles, and falls down.
Dead.
For a second, no one moves. This was…unexpected. Hell, I knew Rian’s aim was good, but I didn’t know it wasthatgood.
Everyone else seems to process what happened at the same time I do, and chaos erupts.
The remaining two Cold Coins shout to their men to fire arrows at us. A few sentinels—those loyal to the Cold Coins—nock arrows and take aim, but most stand stunned, unmoving.
“You heard me, you bastards!” Mallik shouts. “Fire!”
Now, even the few loyal to them seem to have second thoughts.
That’s all I need to see. I whip around to my own troops and give the order.
“Archers, hold! Guards, roll back the gates. Infantry, prepare to surround the traitors!”
To their credit, none of my troops hesitate at my command. They rush to roll back the gates and flood into the street withswords raised, shouting for the sentinels to surrender. It fills me with a feeling I don’t know how to handle.
I’ve never led before—I’ve certainly never beenfollowed.
The air crackles, ready to ignite, as the soldiers face one another. One wrong move, I know, and full-on war will erupt.
So, I raise my sword at the opposing army.
“Lay down your weapons! You will be pardoned. But if you choose to strike my men, there will be no mercy.”
My soldiers form a tight circle around them, shields and swords at the ready. They’re exhausted, untested, but there’s courage there. I can use that.
It seems to trigger something in the sentinels, too. An archer in the middle of the crowd tosses his quiver to the ground and takes a knee. A few murmurs of dissent spread through the others, but two more archers surrender. Then, the rest of them fall like a house of cards. Dropping weapons. Bending the knee to me.
“Cowards!” General Gaez spits at them. Sweat pours down his bald scalp, into the thick folds of his neck. With a grunt, he suddenly slams into one of my soldiers, knocking the man clean to the ground, and sprints off.
A few sentinels bolt too, fleeing along with him.
“Archers!” I shout. “Fire! Hunt them down!”
A team of my soldiers peels off to pursue the defectors. But they have a head start. Archers fire but miss, and Gaez darts around a corner.
My adrenaline is roaring, but my heartbeat is steady as stone. I snatch the squire’s bow, nock a quick arrow, and set my aim at the back of General Mallik’s fat head.
I let it fly.
It slams through his skull just as he rounds the corner. Blood sprays out of his mouth as he collapses to the ground. The other fleeing sentinels trample his body as they make their escape.
My chest heaves as I toss the bow back to the squire, who stares at me with wide eyes.
In fact, the entire battle zone falls so quiet all I hear is ragged breathing, as the prisoners and my men alike look to me, awaiting orders.
I wipe sweat off my brow with the back of my hand. “Round the prisoners up, get their names, and secure them in the city dungeon. And someone get Lord Kendan to a healer.”
“I can walk,” Kendan mutters. He pushes to his feet, clutching his arm, and gives me a nod. “Not a bad first act as king, Majesty.”
As he limps off toward the castle, my men move quickly to collect the surrendered sentinels’ weapons and line up the prisoners along the outer gate. From upper windows of the nearby shops and houses, I see citizens peeking out, as though afraid to dare believe the siege is at an end.
Dammit, it does something to me.
This feeling, is it…pride?
