Elea gave her a half smile. “I called for the soldiers’ souls and they came to me. I saw their faces and I knew that I had killed them. That I had condemned their souls to the lowest purgatory.”
“Taking life is not easy,” she said, gripping the reins of her horse tighter. “Watching your soldiers die sometimes feels harder than taking a hit, but you did not ask my father to usurp your throne. Those soldiers chose to betray you. To betray their country. And their goddess.”
Her cousin nodded.
Nora cleared her throat. “You should give your horse to another soldier and stay on the hill.”
Elea bristled. “Just because I am afraid doesn’t make me a coward.”
“I am not calling you a coward,” she explained, “but your best weapon is a bow, which should be shot from a distance. You are not trained in hand-to-hand warfare.”
“Then, I can fight?”
“We need everybody we can get.”
Elea smiled a full smile. “You must be truly desperate if you want my help.”
Nora laughed. “I am. You should probably trade places now before we get too close.”
She watched Elea swallow and then slide from her horse. The woman who took her place had two swords strapped to her back and a hard face. She saluted her.
Nora pulled out her ether sword. It was as light and as powerful as when it had been forged. A weapon made for a celestial warrior.
“It’s time,” Matteo whispered, unsheathing his own sword.
She squeezed her knees and urged her horse to a canter before turning around and facing her army. Some of their cavalry had spears, but most only had swords. She held her sword up high into the light.
“Today we fight for our country. Our queen. And our goddess. Màthair has protected us in the past and she will today. . . . Today we fulfill a prophecy five hundred years old. Your children and your children’s children will remember this day forever. For Queen Eleanora!”
They lifted their weapons and echoed. “Queen Eleanora.”
Nora tugged on her reins to urge her horse forward. “Charge!”
She did not look back to see who was with her. She felt Matteo by her side and the power of the prophecy in her heart. Lifting her sword, she cut down the Urkan soldiers with every slice. She cantered through the troops, dodging bullets, and separating soldiers from the wagons. Yesterday she had fought with the power of hate and it was strong. But it was nothing on the power of love.
Orla had been right. Her greatest strength was always her heart.
A man sat on a horse at the front of the army. It was her father, Laird Lochdon. Her first memory of him was of his fists. He’d killed her mother, her uncle, and stolen her cousin’s throne. Nora had wanted to kill him for most of her life, but she pushed the hate back down and allowed her soul to fill with love.
For Matteo.
For Elea.
For her people.
“I’ll attack from the right,” Matteo called over the clatter of swords.
She nodded, but before she could speak, a wagon exploded with gunpowder. Their archers had hit one of the cannons. Lifting her sword to attack position, she urged her tired horse to a gallop.
Laird Lochdon had seen her. He was riding toward her on the largest stallion she’d ever seen. A hammer was in his right hand, ready to strike. Nora leaned back in her saddle and his blow swept over her. Swinging upright, she struck him in the back as Matteo hit him with his shield. Her father fell off his horse.
Matteo had an opportunity for a kill-strike, but he didn’t take it.
She knew that he wouldn’t. He would let her destroy her own demon. Circling back around, Nora jumped out of her saddle and brought her sword down hard against her father’s armor. It sliced through his left arm, but with his right, he gave her a blow to the chest with his hammer. It knocked her off her feet.
“My useless daughter,” he spat at her, holding his hammer above his head. “I should have strangled you the day you were born.”
Nora twisted out of the way as the hammer hit the ground, and with both of her hands on her sword hilt, she rolled to standing and sliced off Laird Lochdon’s head.