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“They want what everyone wants—power. But they aren’t getting it.”

I saw the smoke from the fire long before we arrived. It was a black mass in the sunset sky, ominous and heavy with destruction. Whether it was caused by a trail of fire from a dragon or lit by a torch from an enemy was unclear.

Now that we were close, my heart started to pound. The battle was near, and I could smell charred flesh on the air. I’d practiced with my father and some of his other soldiers all my life, but I’d never seen battle. When I’d fought those men on the ship out at sea, that was the closest I’d ever been to bloodshed.

Zehemoth came in for a landing.You don’t have to do this, Lily. You can stay here with me.

My father told my mother to launch the ships across the sea and come to our aid. He deployed dragon riders to seek aid from the Northern Kingdoms as well. But by the time everyone was prepared for war, this battle would already be decided. We could all be dead or prisoners of war. Or we could be the victors, and they need not come in the first place.

I hoped it was the latter.

Zehemoth landed outside the forest with such speed I nearly rolled forward over the horn of the saddle. The world spun for a moment before I found my bearings and climbed down to the ground.

Zehemoth dipped his head so he could look at me.Please be careful,Sunieth.He rubbed his snout against me.

“I will.” My gloved hand caressed his scales, and I rested my cheek against him for a moment. “I’ll see you soon.” I turned away from Zehemoth, the other soldiers dismounting from their dragons and heading to where my father was in the lead.

“Follow me,” my father ordered, because not all of the men had been to Riviana Star. “We make haste.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. It was like a boulder that broke past my ribs and plummeted to the bottom of my spine. Without even seeing the enemy, I felt frozen to the spot with fear.

Then Wrath appeared beside me, dressed for a battle he couldn’t participate in, a foot taller with the calmness of a river and the strength of a mountain. He turned his head and looked down at me. “I’m here with you.”

It shouldn’t comfort me, not when he couldn’t raise his sword for me, but for some strange reason, it did. Made me feel safe when it didn’t change my circumstances at all.

My father gave an order from the front. “Valik and Gonro, protect the princess.” He regarded two of his lieutenants. “Only leave her side if death takes you.”

“You don’t have to?—”

Wrath’s hand moved to my wrist. “Don’t undermine the king in front of his men.”

In silence, I watched the lieutenants head to me at the back of the line, powerful men who could cut heads from shoulders, whose main purpose was to keep me alive even if it left them dead.

My father took the lead, and we marched forward into the forest, following the path through the trees, the smoke becoming thicker under the tree canopy. It’d been a long day of travel, and by the time we arrived there, we would all be weary.

At least we had the adrenaline.

Wrath walked at my side the entire way, taller than all the soldiers in line, even taller than my father. He marched to war like the rest of us.

An hour later, we heard the screams.

“Their armor is weak around the neck,” Wrath said before we entered Riviana Star.

The music I used to hear at the heart of the forest was no longer audible. It was either silent, or the sound of battle drowned out the beauty of the song. The smoke grew thicker, and the rise in temperature was sudden.

My father’s voice was audible from the front. “Riviana Star fought for the Southern Isles when we had few allies. Because of them, we found the last free dragons. Because of them, we prevailed in that fight. We are not here to fight someone else’s war. We’re here to fight our own war.”

I could picture my father’s face as he spoke, kingly in his armor, his eyes ferocious with blood lust.

“Fight with me.”

All the soldiers raised their swords, even Wrath.

I did the same.

Then we moved into Riviana Star, the smoke obscuring the place I’d visited often as a child. The air was so harsh on my lungs, it was difficult to breathe without the desire to cough, but I refused to let it bother me.

“They’re in the clearing,” Wrath said from my side.