The boy’s shoulders wilted. “I’m only f-fifteen,” he finally confessed, his gaze dropping to his crusty boots.
The lad was tall for a fifteen-year-old. So tall, I would’ve believed him when he claimed to be nineteen. “Where are your parents?” I asked, crossing to the staircase. I couldn’t imagine his mother and father approving of him wanting to join the battle.
The boys eyes widened when they found me. “N-never knew my Da, b-but the Queen killed my mam in the fires. I-if it’s all the same to ye, I’d like to help.”
With no one to look after this boy, the responsibility fell on our shoulders. Losing an able-bodied fighter wasn’t ideal, but I wouldn’t have this boy’s death on my head the way his mother’s was. “You will stay with the other children.”
His chin jerked up, and he shoved his sleeve to reveal toned arms almost as big as my brother’s. “But I’m strong, my prince. I can fight.”
“Just because you can fight doesn’t mean you should,” Rían said, leaving me in a state of utter shock. Who knew he could speak to another person besides Aveen without his tone oozing contempt?
“With all the able-bodied men and women out on that field, there will be a whole heap of little ones vulnerable if we cannot hold the line,” Rían went on. With a flick of his wrist, a short sword appeared in his hand. The young lad’s eyes widened when Rían held it out to him, but before he could take it, Rían said, “I want you to promise me that you will use it to protect the children. And I want your word that you will not leave this castle unless given permission by an adult.”
“Ye have it, sire.”
The sword was so heavy, the lad had to hold the hilt with two hands. The awed look he gave my brother before practically skipping out the door left me chuckling.
Rían whirled, pinning me with a glower. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.” I smirked—I couldn’t help it. Each day, joy seemed a little harder to find, so I had to grasp it when I could.
“I want to gouge out your eyes right now,” Rían muttered, stomping back into the great room.
The sentiment only made my smile widen.
As predicted, my brother cursed and grumbled for the entire hour. We’d decided to keep the training sessions short. No sense exhausting everyone on day one. Besides, they would need to build up their stamina before we fought the Queen. However, since time wasn’t on our side, we had given ourselves three weeks to prepare for our final battle.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, my own arms stiff as stone as I shifted my sword back to the armory beneath the castle. It had been a long time since I’d trained like that. My muscles could do with a long soak.
I clapped one of the grogochs on the shoulder, his shirt wringing wet beneath my palm. “Well done, everyone. We’ll reconvene at the same time tomorrow. Take your weapons and send in the next group. Lunch will be provided at the rear of the castle.”
The volunteers shuffled past on heavy limbs, sweat beading their brows and staining their clothes. Time to do it all over again. But first…
I shifted a plate of biscuits Eava had left on the counter just for us. Rían and Ruairi grabbed for them like they hadn’t eaten in days. I only allowed it because I was feeling magnanimous today. These two men had been at my side for the entirety of my rule, through thick and thin, helping me get by on the hard days and taking over completely when I couldn’t handle life. The least they deserved was a biscuit.
“That was awful,” Rían murmured around his bite, dusting crumbs from his shirt.
The biscuit crunched loudly when Ruairi bit into it. “The next group has to be better.”
One could only hope.
A loud bang echoed from the hallway. Oscar skidded into the room, his face as red as his scraggly beard. “Prince Tadhg! Prince Rían!”
“What now?” Rían groaned.
Oscar’s next words sent ice through my blood. “It’s the Queen. She’s here.”
52
KEELYNN
We’re not ready.
That was all I could think as I stared through the gates to where the Queen waited on the hill, flanked by shadow guards and Danú. The plan had been to bring the war to her. We’d wanted to separate those who could fight from those who couldn’t. To put up a line of defense around the castle.
Instead, all that stood between us and the Phantom Queen were ancient stone walls that could easily crumble and wards that wouldn’t keep her out. It wasn’t a matter of if she would breach our defenses but when. Those of us hiding here wouldn’t stand a chance.
Ruairi filed in next to me, the fresh scar across his chest hidden beneath his white shirt. Since Rían had taken his heart, the pooka had been quieter than usual, more pensive. Then again, we all had, so perhaps it was the heaviness of what we were about to face and not his missing heart at all.