“We should concede now before it’s too late,” someone else cried and I looked to see another one of our men turn and try to run for the steps.
To the left and right of me the troop’s faces showed their fear. A few more started to back up as the rebels’ battle cry grew louder. If I didn’t do something, this was going to spiral out of control. Already soldiers had started to drop their weapons and break ranks.
I’ve never tried to stretch my powers over so many, but digging deep, I reached inside and gathered my magic, and then sent it out over our troops, pushing calm and peace into as many as possible. I specifically targeted the two that had started yelling and trying to flee. Immediately their bodies sagged in relief and they grew silent.
The murmurs that had begun to circulate throughout the rest of the troops also ceased. Soldiers picked up their discarded weapons and fell back into line.
With the troops calmed, I slowly pulled my influence from them. It wouldn’t be fair to let them go into battle with a false sense of peace and security. They needed to be sharp, and sometimes fear is what gave that to them. I wouldn’t take their autonomy away from them at a time such as this. I wanted them to fight with me. Needed them to. But I wouldn’t force them.
When I’d pulled all of my magic back, there was still a heightened sense of alarm hanging in the air, but no one was bolting.
“You can do this! We must stand as one,” I yelled, raising my voice as loud as possible so that it would carry far. “For your lord, and for your kingdom!”
“For lord and kingdom,” someone shouted and then the rest of the troops started banging their shields and stomping their feet until the enemies’ battle cry was drowned out.
The rebel army was almost within striking range. The plan was to take out as many as we could with arrows. We didn’t have the numbers, but we had the high ground, and that counted for something.
Captain Greylocke pulled his blade and then raised it into the air and our troops stilled.
He looked down on me and said, “On your mark.”
Shock froze my tongue. In fae battles, the ruler always led his or her troops into battle. If Stryker had been here, Captain Greylocke would have deferred to him, but since the Eastern lord wasn’t here, he was letting me take the lead.
This wasn’t a small thing. This act showed the entire army that I was in charge.
A ball of barbed wire formed in my gut.
Who was I to lead an Ethereum army? I was just a princess of Faerie. A stranger in a foreign land. But the way Captain Greylocke looked down at me gave me the confidence I needed.
If the last several weeks proved anything, it was that I wasn’tjusta princess. I was a survivor. I was a champion. I was a warrior, and it was about time I acted like it.
Stryker was counting on me. I wouldn’t let him down.
Nodding once to Captain Greylocke, I faced west, cupped my hands around my mouth and screamed, “Archers, ready your bows!”
To my left and right arrows nocked and bows tilted up. “Aim for under the arms and their necks,” I said, reminding them of their opponents’ weak points. “If they are flying, shoot through their wings!”
I watched the approaching army. The ground shook beneath their feet as they pounded toward us. I lifted an arm, signaling that they were nearing the mark. Every second that passed my heart beat stronger than the next, but I knew I needed to wait until just the right moment. We had to take out as many of the rebels as we could in this initial round. And we wouldn’t get a second chance.
The rebels were now close enough that I could make out some of their features. It was clear that unseelie outnumbered seelie in their army at least three to one. The only reason that made me nervous was because I wasn’t versed in all the magic of the unseelie, and also that could mean they had a good number of troops who could fly.The flyers would have the easiest time breaching our walls.
The first fae finally crossed the marker in the field in front of us that told me they were in our archers’ range. I counted a couple more seconds to make sure a good number of them were in range, and then screamed, “Fire!” At the same time I dropped my arm.
A spray of arrows shot into the sky, muting the sun’s rays for a few seconds as they soared through the air before plummeting back down to the ground. Death cries rang out as our arrows found purchase in the enemies’ flesh.
The battle had begun.
The first three rows of rebels fell dead, which caused a clog of five rows back to stumble over them. Relief rushed through me that we had bought time to reload.
“Reload!” I screamed.
By the time the rebels had crawled over and trampled the dead, our archers were ready for another round.
“Fire at will!” I announced.
Another onslaught of arrows loosed, some of them dipped in oil and lit on fire and I grinned as they hit their mark.
“They’re splitting. I’m going to the north wall,” Captain Greylocke said, running along the top of the wall, leaping over the crouched legs of our bowmen.
