Page 77 of Wild Reverence
LVII
One Perfectly Aimed Arrow
VINCENT
“Where is your wife?”
Hugh’s voice cut through the din of the hall.
I was not surprised this was the first thing he said to me.
He had stepped up the dais stairs to sit at my side, but his eyes had roamed the warriors who had gathered to eat supper by firelight.
I knew he was seeking a flash of crimson hair, the languid grace of her movements, but she was long gone by now.
“She is away,” I said.
Hugh pressed his lips together—he had never been good at hiding his disappointment, but not many lords were—and took Nathaniel’s empty chair.
I said nothing; my brother had preferred to take his meals in his bedchamber.
“When will she return?” Hugh asked, nodding when one of the attendants filled a tankard of ale for him. “Surely before the sennight ends?”
“Yes, she will be back by then.”
We fell silent, the mood tense between us.
The air was still somber from mourning. We were weary from digging graves, collecting names of the dead, tending to the wounded, preparing for the next battle.
We had four days left to rest, and I was not certain how to prepare.
Grimald would most likely put the trebuchets to use; the fortress walls were destined to crumble. Fury Gate was still blocked by rubble.
“Lord?” A young man ascended the dais. In his hand was a sheet of parchment. Tentatively, he extended it to me. “The remaining names of the dead, to be sent to Drake Hall. As you wanted.”
I accepted it, grimly. I had requested this list yesterday. I knew most of the fallen warriors were beloved by those who had taken shelter in Hugh’s fortress. They would want to hear news of their loved ones and, if needed, begin their own mourning period.
I read the names. I let them bruise me.
Hugh tugged the parchment from my hand.
“Give this to me,” he said softly. “I will send one of my fastest riders back home to deliver it to your people.”
I nodded, too weary to oppose him.
We ate in silence, and when Hugh asked me to follow him to the war chamber, I did.
A table stretched between us, covered with a well-worn map of the fortress as well as the two bridges.
With the gates and portcullises still broken from Warin’s spell, Hugh had set a watch over the western bridge.
No one could come or go without his notice; his warriors constituted a makeshift gate while the castle foundries burned tirelessly through the night, my blacksmiths keen to remake hinges and iron teeth to guard us.
But here, as the night deepened, we pored over the map and prepared for the second assault.
“Have you heard from the god of rivers?” Hugh asked.
“No,” I said, but my blood went cold at the mention of Warin. He had not crossed my mind the past few days. “He was last seen fleeing the battle on the bridge like a coward. He vanished in the wind. There has been no word from him since.”
“Do you have any intention of bargaining with him?”
“Bargaining?” I repeated, and I could not ignore the gooseflesh that crawled over my skin, the suspicion that roused like an ember in the darkest corner of my mind.
How did Hugh know of Warin’s request of me?
The toll he wanted? I had spoken of it to no one, save for my brother, Matilda, Hyacinthe, and Edric, all of whom I trusted with my life.
“Yes,” Hugh said, leaning on the table. “What I mean is… surely this god wants something from you. This is not a novel idea; the gods always want something from us. And so I am wondering… if there is a way for us to turn the tide in our favor. I know you have Matilda, but what good is her power against water and iron? She is a herald, no? What can she do to help us?”
I curled my fingers into a fist at my side.
She had already won one battle for us by directing the eithral, but only I and the god of war knew of that.
No one else even suspected the power she had wielded, the danger she had placed herself in.
I still did not fully understand it, but nor did I need to.
“Matilda has proven herself an ally in other ways,” I said, keeping my voice level.
“How so?”
“She is very good at espionage. She gained me more time when I needed it. She bolsters the warriors’ morale.”
“Is that where she is now? Gathering intelligence?”
I nodded, but only to appease him. She was Skyward, this much I knew, although I could only wonder as to why her father had summoned her.
“Well,” Hugh said, heaving a sigh. He tapped the map, his yellow nails striking the three towers of the western bridge.
The ones he had sworn to guard. “We cannot risk the eithral returning during the next battle and ruining our efforts, scattering our warriors, causing chaos. We cannot afford to lose another tower like Fury. Yes, it would be helpful if the monster fought on our side, but these beasts cannot be controlled. It will inevitably wreak havoc upon us.”
I was silent, but I was drowning in words.
The eithral had aided us, but only because Matilda had directed it. I would not ask it of her again.
“What do you suggest, then?” I said, my voice thick.
“Permit me to commission your craftspeople to make five ballistas and five bolts of obsidian. I will erect them at the roof of each tower. We will shoot the beast down the next time it glides over us. Then we can reap its scales for weapons. No god can stand against their sharp edge. Not even Warin and his power. We can end him with one perfectly aimed arrow, so long as its point is made with a scale.”
I turned away, gazing out the window. It was night, and the river was swathed in fog. I could not see the stars, only the faint halo of the moon as it waned.
I knew Hugh had fought for Adria during the last war.
It had been a long and bloody conflict. It had torn through our land like a jagged sword.
But he had garnered experience from those dark years, like a crown set with jewels, and he knew the price of victory, as well as defeat. The ruthlessness that was required.
“Vincent?” he prompted.
I could hear the excitement in his voice. The thought of creating ballistas, of shooting an eithral down from the sky, stirred his blood. Had he not been hunting the creature days before?
“Yes,” I said, but something cracked within my chest. “I agree. See that it is done.”