Helly frowned at her entrance. Bastian hung back with Kress, who stroked his ginger beard as he listened to whatever Bastian was saying. Anahi read the notes over Lockney’s shoulder. Alsia checked and double-checked her weapons, pulling knives out of various places on her body. Lorian stared off into nothing. He must have taken the news of his daughter hard.

Then, another figure stepped out of the crowd. Kerrigan stopped dead in her tracks when her fiancé appeared before her.

“March,” she said flatly.

He shot her the most dazzling smile he could muster. “There you are.” He swept forward, taking her hand in his and pressing a firm kiss upon it. “When I heard that my fiancée was among those set for battle, I came as fast as I could.”

“You’re… with the military?” she asked, pulling her hand back from his.

“Lord March brought the foot soldiers,” Helly said with an arched eyebrow.

“The House of Medallion is at your service,” March said.

“Oh,” Kerrigan whispered. Her stomach roiled. She was glad to have the reinforcements, but she had never considered that March would lead the charge.

“You can leave the reunion for later,” Trulian said gruffly. “You lot have proven your merit against the opposition. I’m putting your contingent in my regiment on the front lines.”

“They’re new recruits!” Helly objected.

“I agreed with you when we got here. Now, they’re veterans as far as I’m concerned, and we’ll use them where they can be best utilized,” Trulian said, rejecting Helly’s worries. “They took down the princess. Let’s cut off the king’s head.”

Fordham didn’t even blink at the talk of killing his father. He hated the man for all he had put him through, but still… it was his father.

“To your stations. We fly with the sun.”

Trulian dismissed them, and Kerrigan hastened out of the tent before March could say anything else.

She grasped Fordham’s arm to slow him down. “How are you feeling?”

He glanced at her. “Fine. I’ll do what must be done.”

“Fordham, yesterday…”

He jerked her into a faster clip. “I have to appear completely unaffected, Kerrigan,” he said low into her ear. “They see me as the traitor in their midst. Trulian is only moving us to the front lines to keep an eye on me. So, no, I cannot discuss my feelings. My feelings don’t matter. All that matters is that they do not remember that I am the crowned prince of the enemy. That they do not turn on me.”

Then, he released her and stomped away. Her heart broke for him, but this was war. There would be time to fix this once they won.

Clouds rolled in, dark and ominous, as the army prepared for battle. It felt wrong to leave Alura behind, but they had no choice. So, Kerrigan called Tieran and climbed onto his back.