The Waking of Storm and Flame by N.A. Betts

Author:N.A. Betts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Adult Fantasy, Storm, Flame, Storm and Flame
Publisher: Nicholas Betts
Published: 2024-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XII

Turncoat

Three days of marching. Has it really been three days already? An eternity, some twisted nightmare that has become my waking reality. I’m sorry Cael. I’m sorry Alira. I failed you.

The Kingsway felt desolate and unwelcoming. They marched in relative silence, with those from the provinces departing the main force as they passed through each town. Sometimes, it was one or two who made it home, others–none at all.

I tried Cael, I tried saying goodbye to them. How much they meant and what their sacrifice meant to me. Never what they needed to hear; no words could express it. The wives, husbands, children, mothers, and fathers. Brokenhearted, none could chastise the army’s commander. In her eyes, they saw a reflection of their own grief—a heart shattered beyond repair. Their loss was her loss, magnified a thousandfold.

You couldn’t imagine if you tried, Alira. How difficult it was. Not to ride back through the towns that once welcomed us with open arms and return the soldiers we had left to their families, but there was a far greater pain. It was in the expression of the families who waited, and none came back for them. How was I supposed to tell them what happened? How could I? But worse, how was I to relate what is coming? ‘Make for Namelle,’ I tried. Who knows now if they’ll even listen. Our kingdom is beyond the intervention of hope.

“Look, Zahra, home.” Tallie rode next to her and saw Namelle come into view over top the final hill. The foreboding clouds overhead gave the city an ominous and empty feel. They looked to be the gatekeeper of the Embrace’s tears which Zahra wanted to unleash.

A storm is coming, and none will be spared. One by one our people will know ruin and death.

“What do we tell them, Tallie? How I do I tell her?” It hadn’t occurred to Zahra until that moment, that as soon as the army crossed into the gates, she’d look upon the queen and find that she too waited for the one she loved; a husband who would never come home.

The clop of their horses’ hooves on the dirt road filled the silence. In the distance, Zahra heard the city’s horns and the excited shouts of children running out to greet their heroes. The banners of green and gold fluttered gently in the warm afternoon breeze atop the city walls. Pipes played a welcoming tune, and the green-tinged armor of the Lucian Company lined the road. Zahra saw only calm as the breeze rippled through the grass and danced among the trees of the old forest surrounding the city.

“First, let’s get home. Then we’ll fight the next battle.” Tallie grabbed Zahra’s hand, a reassurance she’d be with her no matter what. Zahra felt a bitter coldness, trapped in the infinite black expanse of her mind. She was adrift, in the darkest reaches that no light could touch. As the last of the soldiers came over the hill, the children stopped.

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