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Nineteen

Fight For The North

P iper and I talk right up until we have to leave for the meeting. She seems excited about my vision, and even gives me some very smart input regarding my plan, tweaking it in a way I hadn’t even considered.

She truly will be an amazing leader.

When we arrive at the room for the Summit, the others are there.

It seems important to hold it here, as if Major is present and supporting me.

It also serves as a reminder of just how easily our North was broken and ripped apart by one man, who could have been stopped if we all worked together sooner.

My eyes catch on the bloodstain, and pain hits me, but it’s lessened. The feeling is also filled with warmth and love. Love from his support. I know he would agree with what I am doing here. He would support me all the way, and today, I need to use all of his lessons he taught me.

Dray is waiting on my seat to the left, and I point at Major’s chair for Piper.

She hesitates when everyone stares but then takes it.

Maxen, Thorn, Drax, and Jax are spread out behind my seat as I sit, and the door closes.

Bern is standing guard. Nan, Priest, Jon, Piper, and everyone here are ready and wondering what this is about.

“Thank you all for coming. We have some important things to discuss, and I would appreciate you staying silent until I’m done.

” I run my eyes around them all then. They recognise my serious tone and sit straighter.

“The war was a stark reminder of just how far The North has fallen. Never before would The Cities dare come north to take and kill our people. For too long, we have been separated, fighting each other instead of protecting our land and our people.”

Sometimes, it’s not about being the loudest voice in the room, but the calmest and the quietest, listening and learning.

“I have been a slave. I have been abused, tortured, killed, and tossed away. It will happen to no one else, male or female or child, ever again. No one like Ivar will get through our midst. We are taking a stand against slave traders, rapists, murderers, cannibals, and everyone who is a threat to our new way of life. If you don’t like that idea, speak up now.

Once this is decided, there is no going back.

We show a united front. A new nation…The North Nation. Together.”

They frown, wondering where this is going. Dray’s hand lands on my thigh under the table, reassuring me. “The treaty we used to bring down Ivar would be extended, and our clans would no longer be competitors, but allies. We would work together to secure our lands.”

“Wait a fucking second!” Jon starts.

I narrow my eyes as he leaps to his feet.

“Sit the fuck down. Now!” I roar, and he wilts and does as he is told, grinding his jaw.

“I wasn’t finished. You would have your own lands with borders, you can still punish trespassers and thieves as you see fit.

You still rule your people, but we all abide by the same laws.

We work together to protect our people instead of hunting and using them like fodder. ”

“And who would enforce these laws? You?” Priest questions, but he’s not being confrontational.

“Yes, and my team of enforcers.” I look to Piper then, who sits up taller, her chin tilted back. “A team of dedicated men and women who live and work out there on the road, dealing out justice to those ignoring the new rules.”

“And who sets the new rules?” Priest queries, frowning and looking around. “We have existed like this for years.”

“Just because it’s what you know doesn’t make it right.

History can be rewritten, and we can do better than those before us.

We can start this world on the right path again.

We have been given a second chance to do better.

This world is a hard enough place without us killing, hunting, and stealing whatever we see.

Yes, not everyone will agree, but they will have a choice.

We can’t let what has happened occur again—massacres, torture, rape.

We all nearly died.” I look around, taking in their silent, contemplative expressions.

Nan is grinning at me. “Our women are raped and killed, our children are taken. We live in constant fear of death. Slavery is rife, as is pillaging and stealing. We live in these clans and communities to band together because it’s the only way to survive…

Why don’t we take back The North and make it one big clan?

We would be providing hope for a better future. ”

I meet each and every eye then. “Aren’t you tired of burying your people?

Aren’t you tired of watching the horrors committed by others with no retribution?

I am. I’m tired of the sand running red with innocent blood.

It’s time for a change, and though that’s scary, I think sometimes the fear is what makes it worthwhile.

You want to be remembered? To have your legacy live on?

Then give them something to remember, to talk about.

Be the people who changed The North for the better.

Show The Cities just what they were fucking with. ”

I lick my lips nervously, but I tilt back my head. “We fought a war together and won. United we stand, fractured we fall.”

It’s quiet for a moment as they all share looks.

“About fookin’ time!” Nan laughs.

Priest nods for a moment, but seems to be thinking it over.

“And this one?” Priest asks, glancing at Piper. “She is not blessed or destined.”

Piper shrinks under his gaze for a moment, her eyes flickering to me. I know it’s her concern, that I’m choosing the wrong person to have at my side, but I have faith in her. She should too.

“She’s blessed by me. I chose her, and you already said I was chosen, so in turn, that would make her chosen also. She is a warrior, a leader.”

“She’s a pale face,” Jon scoffs.

“Was,” I snap. “Now she is more of a warrior than you. She has fought, lived, and almost died for our lands and people. She has experienced its cruelty out there in the dead lands, and still fought for us anyway because she saw the potential. She saw what we could be.” I look to Piper then, uncaring about them watching.

They need to hear this, but so does she.

“You don’t have to prove yourself to me or anyone else, kid.

You’re a fucking warrior, a hero, a leader, so own it.

Without you, we might have lost the war.

You put your life on the line for us, never doubt my loyalty to you for that.

But you still want adventure, I see it in your eyes.

You would never be happy sitting at a desk, leading like that.

You want to be out there, and I understand, I was the same.

I could use a general, a right-hand woman to help me protect our people, and I’m choosing you.

I’m too old to be running around out there in the sands.

I’ve seen it and what the sands have to offer, now all I want is a home.

A place to lay my head and rest my feet with my family.

It’s time I settled down. I’m still a warrior… but now a queen.

“This is your world now. You and the other young ones are our future. I think it was always yours, you were needed here all along. Without you, this wouldn’t be possible, and I am forever grateful for our lives becoming entwined.

” Tears fill her eyes as she watches me, and I reach over and clasp her hand.

“A wise man once told me that not every choice you make will be right. It’s how you handle the consequences and outcomes that make you a leader.

He believed in a sanctuary, in a better world.

He believed in us, The North. He told me to never stop fighting, even when it’s hard…

and you do that. When I look at you, I’m reminded of the way he saw me—a butterfly, scarred, but still able to fly.

” It seems right to pass this on to her, on to our future.

I know Major would have liked that. I can feel him helping me even now in my heart and memories.

I hear Nan sniff, but I don’t drag my gaze away from Piper until she nods. Then I look back at the others.

“Those men and women didn’t just die for me, they died for an idea, a hope for what we could be, and for one blinding moment out there, we all stood as one and we were unstoppable.

Let’s be that again. Let’s create The North Nations, let’s create a home.

But these are your lands too, and I can’t do it without you.

You have a choice.” I get to my feet. “I will leave for a bit to let you discuss this together, and when I come back, we will vote on the future of our people and The North.”

I leave the room without a backwards glance, my men following me.

They are always with me, always loving me.

I won’t say I was lost before I met them or any of the fucking lovey shit.

The truth is, they reminded me of who I really was, they brought that girl back, and then every day since, they made me want to be more than just a scared slave running from her past.

They made me want to love.

To be fierce and raw.

To be a leader worth following.

They made me want to be a true queen.