“Why are they doing that?” I whispered to Stryker.
He peered at me with an unreadable expression. “Because I told them before I left to find you at Mount Grimhorn that you were the lady of the house, and now that you’ve led them in battle they are your men to command as well. If you want to them to be.”
I swallowed hard. Did he just? Lady of the house meant …
“Stryker, are you asking me to marry you?”
He grinned. “Only if you’re going to say yes.”
I laughed, feeling butterflies take flight in my stomach. Proposing on top of a city wall, at the end of a bloody battle among hundreds of dead bodies was exactly what I would expect of this man.
“Yes. A thousand times yes.”
I leapt into his open arms and he pulled them around me, holding me tightly as he crushed me to his chest. The men on the wall began to cheer and everyone stood.
“Hey!” someone called from down below. “You going to invite us in for a meal or are you still mad?”
I smiled as Stryker pulled me back and we peered down at Zander who now sat atop his horse with Adrien and Zane beside him.
Stryker crossed his arms. “I’ll think about it.”
I smacked his chest. “Open the gates!” I cried and the soldiers below did my bidding.
Stryker gave me a playful glare, but I shrugged.
“You said they were my men to command as well,” I reminded him.
That got a belly laugh out of him. “I have a feeling you’re going to keep me on my toes.”
With a grin, I grabbed his hand and took the steps one at a time, slowly. I was a mess, still slightly dizzy and crusted with blood, but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity to patch things up with Stryker’s brothers go by.
* * *
An hour later, after both Stryker and I had cleaned up, Dawn arrived. Apparently, she and Zander never really left. They’d decided to head south to seek Adrien’s help, but he was already on his way with his entire army. Then they met Zane and his men on the way and the rest was history.
Dawn had hidden out in a carriage nearby until Zander sent one of his men to give her the all-clear. Since we’d released the household staff for the day, I offered to make dinner.
“Have you ever cooked?” Dawn looked at the raw chicken in disgust.
I laughed. “Of course. My mother taught me how.”
She looked sad for a second. “You and I have very different mothers.”
I matched her wan smile. “We do. But mine isn’t perfect, and yours means well …”
I think.
“She does. But she has a very one-track mind. She will not stop until one of Zander’s brothers’ hearts is carved from his chest.”
It was a dark truth that we needed to remember.
I rubbed some spices into the meat. “So what are we going to do about it?” I asked as I lit the gas stove.
She chewed on her lip. “I may or may not have learned some information recently that could help us.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s coy.”
When the oil was hot I threw as many chicken breasts as I could find into the frying pan and a satisfying sizzle filled the space.
