Hugo knew it was a bad idea. Every spear he took from the armory made him wince and look over his shoulder, regardless of the whispered reassurance from Andre and Chase. Every chink of the chainmail shirts they had on when their cloaks snagged or their rowboats rocked made him jerk. But, by some miracle, Andre was right. No one was watching them. They were just helping their fathers empty the fishery.

  “Don’t camp with fire,” Balian said when he tethered their boats inside the fishery and helped them out. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you were helping me here until I can’t. Then I’ll tell them the truth and it will be on you.”

  “Thank you,” Hugo climbed out of the boat onto the dock within.

  He turned to grab the handful of steel spears that Andre was holding up for him. Chase and Damon were gathering the swords and belts that he would grab once he set the spears on the floor.

  His voice was trembling, “I know what this could mean for you.”

  Balian shook his head, “Don’t worry about me. Worry about keeping your hides intact. You have a long way to go.”

  Andre handed up the unlit torches first. Flints and stones were pouches on their handles for when they needed them. Hugo took them and set them against the wall, wishing it didn’t make so much noise.

  Andre and Chase laughed at him for it. They seemed too excited. He knew the truth of what they were doing. If they succeeded, they would be heroes. If they failed…they’d all be hanged and worse for him and Samma.

  “Remember,” Balian was already on the other side of the fishery dock, helping to tether the other boat Raphael, Bruce, and Samma were in.

  Round wooden shields were stacked precariously around them with helmets piled at their feet over the quivers of bolts for the crossbows they had brought. They couldn’t use bows, but they could aim those.

  Samma leapt onto the dock beside Balian and Bruce began handing him the shields while Raphael handed Balian the helmets and quivers.

  “Go left at the fork where the river edge runs steep,” Balian said as he stacked the quivers. “The cave is behind the second fall.”

  Hugo nodded, his hand out to help Chase out of the boat while Andre climbed from the rocking rowboat with a roll onto the dock. It had been a few seasons since they went hunting for mushrooms in the caves but he remembered the waterfalls and the rock he used to throw Anita from into the pool below that fed into the river by a thin stream.

  Balian grabbed Hugo’s shoulder and held a finger in front of his nose, “The cave can get you twisted. Follow the water until you find the crossing, then use your torch to lead through to the other side. It’ll search for air.”

  Hugo nodded again. He was shaking. His heart was beating through his chest. He wanted to scream and run. Balian shook him by the shoulder to draw his eyes back to him.

  “Don’t get separated,” Balian pierced deep into his eyes. “Now, your father is waiting for you outside.”

  Samma handed Hugo his longsword wrapped in its belt with a nod. Hugo took it with a deep breath. The others were strapping on their own swords and pulling the quivers over their shoulders before handing out the spears. Andre was the one who crouched down over the extra spear with a shake of his head.

  “Where’s Dalfur?” Andre looked around the fishery.

  “Here,” Dalfur came in through the door from where Hugo knew his father was waiting. He had a sledgehammer strapped on his back and his apron was smeared with blood. He took the spear from Andre with a huff. “I came with Gregor and Morin as soon as I was done helping Maud.”

  Hugo was too distracted to correct him. Instead, he pat Dalfur’s shoulder as he went around him through the door with a nod of approval.

  “With what?” Chase asked as he strapped the shield over his back, covering the quiver and spear so that he could hold the crossbow with both hands.

  “I had to help her seal the redhead’s wounds. You should have seen what they did to Adrian and the King. They butchered them. And Aurie looked like…”

  “Your mother after mouthing off on a Friday night?” Bruce chuckled, holding a spear in one hand and an unlit torch in the other, his round shield covering his strapped crossbow and quiver on his back.

  Dalfur shot him a glare, “Watch your plowing mouth, Gervaise.”

  “I saw her,” Samma admitted, helping his younger brother tie the excess of his sword belt. “She took a beating worse than I’ve ever seen, heard she was barely conscious when she got to the gates because she passed out on the way.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Hugo was half out the door when he called to them, “Just get your things together and meet me outside. We need to be on our way before the sun’s fully up.”

  He barely took two steps out the door before Gregor rushed him with a tight embrace, tighter than he could remember since he was a young boy. His breath suddenly stuck in his throat. He felt his father’s trembling encasing him.

  “You’re a fool,” Gregor said in his ear, “A brave, stupid, fool. But I’ve never been more proud of you, my boy.”

  Hugo felt tears reach from inside his eyes. He didn’t know what to do other than to stand there with pursed brows, blinking and taking in what might be the last time he would ever feel his father’s embrace. He wanted to believe that he was doing the right thing, especially with Samma being with them, since he was a Paladin and all, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing. Brave was not the word he would have used for how he felt.

  Gregor pulled back from him and grabbed his face, “My boy. My son. A man. You lead them well, son, and bring all of them home. You’ve the life of Talkro with you.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Hugo nodded jerkily, sniveling.

  He wasn’t brave. Definitely stupid, definitely a fool for listening to Andre and his idiotic plan, but not brave. He wanted to flee. He wanted to cry in his Pa’s arms and beg for him to save him from the monsters coming to kill his family. But when he looked at his father, what he saw was different this time. For the first time, he saw an old man, gray and weathered, looking to him for that comfort. And he was the one with the weapons, the shield, the plan.

  He stiffened. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  “I know you will,” Gregor’s smile was bitter sweet. “I’ll make sure Aurie knows what is really happening when the time is right. You know the paths. Stay off the road and out of sight until you reach Berone.”

  “I know,” Hugo tried to muster a warm grin. “We’ll be alright.”

  “You make my daughter a widow before giving me a grandchild,” Morin growled at Samma as he emerged with the others from the fishery, “I’ll climb into heaven after you and kill you again. You hear me, boy?”

  “Y—yes, sir,” Samma stammered, wide eyed.

  “Same goes for you,” Soran crossed his arms at Bruce from beside Morin. “Don’t care if you lose an arm or a leg, but your prick best work when you come back. I expect at least three helpers in six seasons.”

  Bruce raised a brow at Soran, “I agree with the prick part.”

  “Pa didn’t come,” Damon let his arm carrying his spear fall until it was stretched. His brother, Samma, sank with him, and the others shook their heads, all aware of why.

  “Let him stew,” Balian said, letting the door slam behind him. “He’ll know his error when this is done.” He went to Chase and spun him by the shoulder, “Josey loves you. She’s loved you since you were a lazy snotnosed shit who wasn’t worth a penny in my fields. You’re her husband now.”

  “That does seem to be the way of it,” Chase shrugged. The helmet on his head looked more like a hood because of how oversized it was.

  Balian glared, “Proving a better man than me is easy. Proving to be a better man than her uncle will be harder.” He stepped into him, his glare fiercer, “Her cousin is the Queen.”

  “Also seems to be the way of it,” Chase gulped.

  “You better come back because I don’t think I can find a husband more worthy of my daughter’s hand.”

  Chase crinkled his brow. “I once pissed on your cabbages because you called Andre a cockbite.”

  “Some things really should die unsaid, son,” Soran shook his head while Moran stifled a laugh beside him.

  “Can’t buy that kind of loyalty,” Andre slapped Chase’s shoulder even though Chase was wincing into Balian’s hard gaze.

  Balian shook as he chuckled, “Get moving, you little shit, and come home in one piece. All of you.” To Hugo, Balian said, “When you get to Berone, go straight to the Cathedral and find the nun called Felicia. She’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  “Felicia,” Hugo whispered to himself.

  He looked over the others. They nodded that they were ready. One last squeeze of his shoulder from Gregor and he turned into the forest at a jog with them following behind him.

  Only the sounds of their boots moving through the fallen leaves in crackles, their breaths puffing in the cold air, filled the air between them as they moved. They didn’t stop to catch their breaths. They didn’t stop to rest. They didn’t complain. Each and every one of them had the same look of determination on their faces. Only their fathers knew they had left. No one else would know until that night, when they would be too far for anyone to stop them.

  Andre and his father had found the scout’s boat drift ashore in the night. Hugo had read the few words of the waterlogged letter that was found in it, barely decipherable between the blotches of blood, meant for the Bastion of the Lady of Strasbourg. They didn’t wait for word to reach the Paladins. Their King was dying. Their leader was dying with him. Their Princess was the Queen. Their home was about to be surrounded.

  They swore an Oath that no one knew about. They would save Talkro as villagers who acted on behalf of their people because that’s what they swore to do. They had already agreed. They would give no names. They wouldn’t stop except to catch their breaths once they were within the cave. They would refuse any reward, any glory. They swore an Oath to God to protect Talkro and their Queen. Their families. Their people. And as Hugo led them along the path that began to rise up the hill, the trembling, the fear in his heart, became filled with determination that he had never felt before. He knew every time he glanced behind him at the others from their smiles that they felt the same.

  This was their Oath and they were fulfilling it.