CHAPTER 17 The Line of Fire

Everyone stared at the torches on the ridge.

There were too many to count. The light stretched far along the hill, like a slow river of fire moving through the dark.

"How many men is that?" I asked.

"Enough," Cassian said. His voice was tight. "That's not a small raid. That's an army."

Elira let out a shaky breath. "That's them. The rebels I told you about."

"How did they know to come tonight?" Cassian turned on her fast. "Speak."

"Because tonight was the plan," Elira said, her voice breaking. "Aurora dies out here at Hollow Ridge. Word spreads that the Iron Keep is weak, distracted, mourning. The rebels hit the walls while everyone is grieving and confused. That was always the plan, Alpha. I just didn't know how big it really was."

"And if Aurora didn't die tonight?" I asked. "What then?"

Elira looked down. "Then they attack anyway. Just with less of an advantage."

Cassian didn't waste another second.

"Fall back to the keep, now," he ordered his men. "Bring the prisoners. Move fast."

Soldiers grabbed Marcus, still bleeding from the arrow in his leg, and pulled him roughly to his feet. Two others took hold of Elira, who didn't fight them at all. She looked more scared of the torches on the hill than of anything we could do to her.

I climbed onto my horse, my hands shaking on the reins. Cassian rode up beside me.

"Stay close to me," he said. "No matter what happens once we're inside those walls."

"I'm not running from this," I said.

"I didn't ask you to run," Cassian said. "I asked you to stay close. There's a difference."

We rode hard through the dark, the torches on the ridge growing brighter behind us with every passing minute. By the time the Iron Keep came into view, I could already hear the sound of horns blaring from the towers, warning bells ringing through the cold night air.

The gates were already being sealed shut as we rode through. Soldiers ran along the walls, lighting torches, grabbing weapons, shouting orders back and forth. The whole keep had woken up in a matter of minutes.

Cassian dismounted the second we were inside and turned to face the courtyard full of confused, frightened soldiers.

"Full defense," he shouted. "Archers to the wall. Everyone else, arm yourselves and hold your positions. We are not losing this keep tonight."

The soldiers scattered fast, years of training kicking in even through the fear on their faces.

Baron ran up to us, out of breath. "Alpha, the scouts confirm it. At least three hundred riders coming down from the north ridge. We don't have that many men ready for a fight like this."

"We don't need to match their numbers," Cassian said. "We need to hold these walls until reinforcements arrive from the capital."

"That could take days," Baron said.

"Then we hold for days," Cassian said simply.

I stood there, watching the keep transform in front of me. Just an hour ago, this had been a quiet fortress full of sleeping soldiers. Now it was a battlefield waiting to happen.

"What can I do?" I asked Cassian.

"You know logistics better than half my generals," he said. "Help organize the supplies. Food, water, weapons. Make sure every soldier on that wall has what he needs to survive the night."

I nodded and moved fast, pulling together whatever staff hadn't already fled to the cellars in fear. We worked quickly, passing out weapons, filling water barrels, checking bandages and healing supplies in case the fighting turned bloody.

Through it all, I kept glancing toward the walls, watching the line of torches on the ridge grow closer and closer.

By the time the rebels reached the base of the keep, the sky had turned a pale gray, the first weak light of morning breaking through the clouds.

I climbed the stone stairs to the top of the wall, ignoring Cassian's earlier warning to stay close, and looked out over the field below.

It was worse than I imagined.

Hundreds of riders sat on horseback just beyond arrow range, their weapons catching the early light. At the very front, sitting tall on a black horse, was a figure wrapped in dark armor, a helmet hiding most of their face.

"Who leads them?" I asked Cassian, who had come up beside me without a word.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But whoever it is, they know exactly what they're doing. Look at their formation. That's not some rag-tag group of rogue wolves. That's a trained army."

The armored figure at the front raised one hand, and the entire line behind them went still and silent.

"They want us to see them clearly," Cassian said quietly. "They want us afraid before the first arrow even flies."

"It's working," I admitted.

The figure on the black horse rode forward slowly, alone, stopping just outside arrow range, close enough that their voice carried clearly up to the walls.

"Alpha Cassian Sterling," the voice called out, deep and cold. "Hand over the Bloodmoon princess, and I will spare your keep and everyone inside it."

Cassian's hand tightened on the stone wall. "And if I refuse?"

"Then everyone behind these walls dies today," the voice answered simply. "Including her. I will take the throne either way, Alpha. The only choice you're really making is how many bodies pile up before I do."

I felt every eye on the wall turn toward me.

"Don't," I said quietly to Cassian, before he could even open his mouth. "Don't you dare consider it."

"I wasn't going to," Cassian said, his jaw tight with anger. "I just wanted to hear exactly how far this coward is willing to go."

He turned back toward the field below and raised his voice.

"You'll get nothing from me," Cassian shouted down. "Not my wife, not my keep, not one inch of this territory. Come and take it, if you think you can."

For a long moment, the armored figure didn't move at all.

Then, slowly, they reached up and pulled off their helmet, letting it drop to the ground beside their horse.

I gripped the stone wall so hard my knuckles turned white.

It was a face I recognized instantly. A face I had grown up seeing at royal dinners and court gatherings my whole life, a face I had trusted since I was a child.

"No," I whispered. "It can't be."

Cassian looked at me sharply. "You know him?"

My mouth went dry with horror.

"That's my uncle," I said. "My father's own brother.”