She shook her head. “That doesn’t support your case at all,” she noted.

I sighed. She was right, of course. “Case or no case, it doesn’t change what is fact.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hollis. Love is a fact.”

Twenty-Eight

I WAS UNTHINKABLY TIRED. BUT as I kept watch, all I felt was nervousness and excitement, a fear and hope intermingled, stirring in my heart and stomach and hands. That won out, and I never faltered. When the darkest part of the night came, I squinted, looking for a torch. And when the inky blue sky turned to purple and the purple turned to pink, all I could think was: he’s coming any minute now. He had to, right? He had to have made it.

And then, when the anticipation might have been ready to kill me, a grayish line appeared on the horizon.

I sat up taller, and Scarlet, noticing my change in posture, shifted beside me, squinting.

“What is . . . ,” I started.

“That’s an army, Hollis,” she replied in hushed wonder.

We watched a moment longer, just to be sure, to see the outline of his face. It only took a second. And once they were all but on top of the gate, a trumpeter sounded. He arrived with appropriate fanfare.

“He’s here!” I cried, as if the horn wouldn’t have drawn everyone to the window. “Oh, he’s here, and there are so many people with him!”

I had expected to be able to count the numbers behind him, but I was completely shocked by the men—and the occasional woman—riding and marching under a silver flag as they came upon the castle.

“He’s all right!” Aunt Jovana said, her words breaking over tears, tears of a mother carrying quiet worry over her last living child.

“So regal,” Mother whispered, awed by the sight of it all, and Scarlet could only nod in agreement.

Everyone gaped at the sheer size of Etan’s army, but all I could see was him.

His posture was tall, and his face was unapologetic and unafraid. He wore no crown yet, and I was sure that even if one had been available, he wouldn’t put it on before everything was said and done. But he was wearing armor now and looked far more regal in this lone ride to the castle than Quinten ever had.

“It’s time,” Uncle Reid said. “Straighten yourselves up. We’re going down to greet Etan, and we need to alert the others.”

I’d been in the same dress for more than a day now. And maybe red was the wrong color for the occasion, but it was too late to fix it. I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling it over one shoulder.

“You look lovely,” Scarlet insisted. “I can see the worry in your eyes.”

I swallowed. “There are bigger things. Come.”

We followed Uncle Reid down the hallway, and I watched as he passed each room, knocking three quick raps on the doors. Lord and Lady Dinnsmor sprang out of one, and Julien’s family—the Kahtris—came from another. As we neared the stairs, Lord Odvar, who’d greeted me so sweetly when he learned I was Silas’s widow, was coming down with scores of people behind him. It seemed several families had harbored together overnight, and within a minute, we had an army of our own.