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Noah’s father stands in front of me, looking the same as he did the last time I saw him, just with more wrinkles. He looks just like an older version Noah, and my heart clenches from seeing what my first love might have looked like if he had survived. “Erik.” I nod.

He opens his arms then and pulls me to him. I stiffen and he squeezes before letting go. “You look good.” He nods to himself.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” I reply, unsure what else to say.

I move around him before it can get more awkward, but I stop cold and turn to stare at him. “I’m sorry about Vasilisy, he was a good man.”

He winces. “He was, but he has never been the same since he lost his wife, so maybe it was for the best. Some men can’t live on without their love.

He died willingly for his family, for you, and the cause he believed in, and that means he died happy,” he states, looking at me so seriously I glance away, focusing on the table again.

One chair is left with its back to the door, so I frown.

Dray steps forward then, grabs a Seeker by the scruff of his neck, and yanks him from the seat that faces the door then offers it to me.

I can’t help but smile as I round the table and slip into it.

Henry, Bern, Erik, Archel, and the rebel from yesterday are sitting there, waiting.

I spot Evan lingering near the door and look at Dray.

“Let him look at your wounds,” I order.

He grins at me. “No.”

I hear Archel snigger, so I twist a blade from my side and without looking, throw it at him.

I hear a yelp and glance over with a smirk to see him on the ground, having rolled from his chair, and the blade sticking from the wood where his head was.

He laughs, gets to his feet, and yanks out the dagger, throwing it back to me.

I catch it mid-air and sheathe it before looking back at Dray.

More laughter booms around the room, but I concentrate on my Seeker King.

“I cut you and fucked up your back, let him look,” I snap.

“No,” he teases, leaning closer. “Just some more scars from my soulmate.”

I groan. “They might get infected, let him look. Please,” I add almost painfully.

His eyes narrow, the icy blue taking up my entire vision as the rest of the room fades away in our staring contest. He finally groans. “Fine, but they better still scar. I want them as a badge of honour,” he grumbles.

I must be getting used to his brand of crazy, because I just nod and look around him to Evan. “Doc, check out his wounds, will you?”

Evan eyes Dray worriedly, but grabs a bag on the floor I didn’t notice before, and steps closer.

Dray does nothing to help him, just sits there, waiting.

I can sense Evan’s nerves and I don’t blame him.

He places the bag on the table and opens it, before grabbing a bottle and some cloth, and then turning to Dray.

He mumbles something before stepping up and trying to get to the still weeping cut down his chest. Dray growls and steps back, Evan throws his hands up and looks to me for help.

Men.

Sighing, I stand up and kick out my seat, pointing from Dray to it. “Sit, now,” I command.

He grins and slumps into the chair, stretching his legs out and watching me. “Anything else, soulmate?” he asks.

“Lean forward,” I demand, smiling now.

He does as he is told, and I move to the side so he can wrap his arm around my waist and lean into me.

I nod at Evan then and he approaches, able to get to the scratches on Dray’s back with him leaning forward like this.

I turn back to the table. “Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. As you all know, Ivar is dead.”

Erik and a few others cheer, and I smirk and let them calm down before I open my mouth to carry on, but a growl and a scream has me looking back at Dray and Evan with an arched eyebrow.

Dray has a blade pointed at Evan, who is frozen with the now wet cloth touching Dray’s many scratches crisscrossing along his back.

I take a good look. Most are bleeding, red, and raw, but some are just scratches. Fuck, I really did let go last night.

“If you kill him, I will be really mad,” I warn.

“What about maiming?” Dray inquires, and looks up at me, blinking innocently.

“No killing, torturing, or maiming. Let him look at your wounds or I will never play with you again,” I grind out .

He growls but sheathes his knife. “Carry on, ignore him,” I tell Evan, and look back at the table where everyone is watching Dray and me curiously, all apart from a laughing Archel.

“Aww, has Dray got a boo-boo?” he taunts.

“I’ll gut you, then you’ll have to go crying to your woman about a boo-boo,” Dray fires back.

Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I try to find my patience. Sands below, sometimes I want to kill everyone just to get some peace and quiet.

“Enough!” I yell and everyone falls silent.

“So, oh great Berserker Queen…what next?” Archel calls with a grin.

“We do not have time for this. This is what is going to happen. We are going to gather our best, I will appoint generals, and then head to The Ring. We will leave men behind to defend the castle. Before heading to The Ring, we will stop at Paradise to get some information. Once there, we are meeting up with Seekers, Worshippers, Reeves, and anyone else. We are preparing.”

“Preparing for what?” Erik questions, leaning into the table with a frown.

“War.”

The room erupts into chaos, so grabbing my knife, I smash it into the middle of the table and the room goes silent again.

“The Cities came here and they took what is mine, but they wont stop there. They want the North, they just don’t realise they can’t have it.

It’s ours and we need to defend it. We will make peace once and for all, and we will drive them south until they never forget who it belongs to. ”

“Okay, so we are making a stand at The Ring?” Archel asks, confused.

“No, you are going to wait there while I go to The Cities and bring them north. We fight where we know, in the Wastes, not on their turf.”

“You’re headin’ to The Cities?” Bern inquires.

“Yes, but first I need to get back what they have taken from me. Then, I will lead them north right to our awaiting armies.” I look at Erik then.

“Gather your rebels, send word across the sands, we need every fighter.” I look at Dray then who nods.

“Bern, Henry, you are my new generals. Decide who is staying and who is coming. Archel, get your Seekers ready to leave, and send word to the others.” He looks to Dray for confirmation and then nods at me.

“We leave in two hours, go,” I order. Bern looks at Henry before he focuses on me.

“Some Berserkers left in the night, I just thought you should know,” he informs me. I nod, my face calm, I expected that. There are still monsters in these walls and after the message I sent yesterday, I expected some deserters, that’s their choice.

They get up slowly, but then Evan steps forward. “What are you getting from Paradise?”

“The key to winning this war,” I answer, and then turn to Dray, dismissing them all.

I hear them leave as I plant my hand on his shoulders and push him back so Evan can get to the wound on his chest. “Anything else?” I ask.

“Not that I can think of. You need to convince the others though, but I have a feeling they will follow you.” He shrugs, ignoring the man who is cleaning the bleeding wound. “We need to go shopping though.”

I tilt my head in confusion. “Shopping?”

He grins then. “Weapons, we need more weapons.”

I rack my brain and then smirk. “Let’s go shopping then.”