He steps aside. Three familiar figures have appeared in the doorway: Etzli, Revel, and Bravos. The sight of Bravos turns your stomach. He looks rightfully embarrassed. You stare him down and the anger you’ll need to lead armies into battle rages in your chest. All three of the defeated riders step forward and perform standard bows of allegiance. It’s a small victory to see the man who betrayed you bend the knee.

After a moment, the Brightness steps forward again. You know that he’s waiting for your answer. As if you could have ever said no. You nod to him before rising from your seat and knocking on the door. The sound brings stylists flooding back from the hallway. You hand the first one your safeguarded switch.

“Bring me a real blade and make sure it’s sharp.”

You turn back to the Brightness. War knocks on the door of the Empire again, and he looks youthful because of it. You realize the threat is feeding him energy. He’s not alone in that. You can feel the space Quinn left in your heart filling with hunger and lust. War is the natural state of your people. It is the calling of your kind. You are raised knowing it will come.

A voice in the back of your mind whispers doubt. It almost sounds like Quinn. You have not quite cleansed the taste of wrongness you felt as you left Etzli behind in the caves. It is what your parents would have done. It is what the Empire has always taught you. Win at all costs.

For now, you bury that voice.

“We reign,” you say.

“In fire and blood,” the others finish.

Chapter 47: The Price of War

Bastian marches me through the halls. He lost four of his men. They took time to bury them, and mourn them, and drink in their honor. Bastian even helped dig the graves. When the job was done, he offered once more to escort me deeper into the mountains. But a summons came first. The Longhand general who saved us at the last minute wants to talk to me.

I’m thankful that Bastian is walking beside me.

The Longhand troops are as rowdy as their captain is quiet. He camped them for a few days, but now they’re busy with movement. They’re ready to march on to the next strategic location. Bastian assured me that the Longhands didn’t come on my account. They came because the Reach is ready to rise up and rebel. They’ve been recruiting in the mountains for months. Pacts have already been purchased. Armies and supply chains are being prepared.