by Logan Jacobs
“Then I think I know the next steps we all need to take,” I said. “Penny and Clodia, I want you to return to the Blood City and rejoin Leif there.”
“I’ll check in on the temple there,” Clodia said, “and I’ll make sure that my magic is still in place to keep the priesthood inside until we have time to deal with them properly.”
“And I’ll help Leif with whatever he needs,” Penny said. “Plus I can start to take a look at the fields outside the Blood City and plan how we might be able to defend against a possible elven attack there.”
“Perfect,” I said.
“Twila and I can send messengers to all the rest of the cities,” Cimarra said, “so we can let them know the kinds of numbers they’re up against, when they might be able to expect an attack, that kind of thing.”
“And once you can spare a few human guards to escort me,” Golierian said, “I’ll head up to the garrison and try to find Tevian’s notes on the secret wilderness stronghold.”
“Then it sounds like we have our plan,” I said.
“Where will you go from here, Wade?” Twila asked.
“Ava and I will go straight to Riverhome,” I said, “along with the main force of the Elite.”
“That makes sense,” Ava replied with a nod. “We can check in with Dar and see how the construction of defenses is going in the city.”
“Make sure you check in with this Melia person, too,” Penny said, “since I won’t be there to meet her or tease the shit out of Dar.”
“I’ll do my best to live up to your example,” Ava snickered.
“Um,” Golierian said and then cleared his throat. “Before you go, I actually, uh… well, I actually have something for you, my king.”
“Really?” I arched an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”
“I’ll be right back with it,” the night elf said. “Twila, do you think you could maybe help me?”
“Sure,” Twila said, but she just shrugged when I gave her a curious glance.
Golierian and Twila disappeared from the kitchen, but when they came back just a minute later, I couldn’t even see them. Instead, both their forms were hidden behind the huge piece of fabric that they held up, and instantly, I was so touched that I damn near felt tears spring to my eyes.
The night elf had sewn me a battle flag.
It was the same design as the flag that flew above the garrison in the City of Slaves, and I wondered how Golierian had discovered the emblem of the last human kings, much less how he had managed to sew it himself. But as I gazed at the red dragon on a white backdrop, surrounded by ten blue stars, all I could think about was how goddamn beautiful it would look when we unfurled it over the garrison in the Capital.
“Golierian, I…” I paused. “Thank you. I’m honored.”
“I’m the one who’s honored, my king,” the night elf said. “If you’ll let me, I’d be happy to fly it over the garrison here, until we’re able to replace it with one that’s a little less home-made.”
“Nonsense,” I said. “It’s fucking perfect, and it will fly as long as I’m king.”
“Then we better get a move on,” Ava said, “if we want to make sure that Tevian doesn’t come try to steal your crown.”
“You’re right,” I said and then stood up from the table. “We’ve done a lot of good work, my friends, but we still have a lot more to do.”
“Long live the king,” Golierian said with a smile.
“Long live the king,” my women echoed.
“And long live our kingdom,” I said with a grin.
I fully intended for the human kingdom to last even longer than the elven empire, but there was only one way to make sure that happened.
We would have to fucking fight for it.
Chapter 12 - Dar
I bent down to check the latest wooden spike to go into the ground, but when I tried to make it budge, it stayed firmly rooted in place, so I nodded to the worker that it was time for him to move on to the next one.
“Nice work,” I told the halfling worker. “I’ll have the lumber yard send you some more to work with shortly.”
“Thanks, Dar,” the halfling replied, and then he started to thrust his shovel into the earth to start the hole for the next defense spike.
It was slow work to erect defenses all around Riverhome, but it would be worth it when it was all done. The only real issue was whether or not we would be able to build the barriers in time, but since I hadn’t heard any word from Wade about elven troops on the move, I hoped that meant we would have enough time to finish our plans before the soldiers from the wilderness fort showed up.
I glanced along the line of defense that we had built so far and thought we had made pretty good progress. The wall of spikes extended about a quarter of the way around the city, and I hoped that by the time the sun rose tomorrow, it would stretch at least halfway around the city. That would be a solid start, but if we were able to extend the wall of spikes even further, we might also be able to cover the half of the city that was bordered by the river.
The river was a decent line of defense, but I didn’t want our troops here to rely only on the river to defend that half of the city. If the elves from the wilderness fort came from across the river, they might have so many boats that they could just overwhelm the shore, or there might be so many of them that they could just swim across and just climb right onto the riverbank.
So instead, I wanted there to be spikes on the river side of the city as well, just as an extra line of defense. Just because it was more likely that the elves would come over land instead of over water, we sure as shit could still be prepared for either scenario.
Still, I had much greater plans for the half of the city that was bordered by land, and the wall of wooden spikes was only one part of that. Each spike was about as tall as a man, but they were all planted into the ground at an angle, so the spiked end faced out.
At an angle, the spikes only looked about as tall as a halfling, but they would present a significant barrier to any horses that tried to ride into the city. The elves would have to try to jump their horses over the wall, and the height of the spikes meant that not only would it be difficult, but it would definitely be dangerous for them and their horses.
But even though the wall of spikes would be badass when we were finished, that was only one of the defense measures that I had started here. The dwarves of the city had also started to dig a deep trench in front of the spikes, so that there would be a huge ditch between the fields around the city and the wall of spikes. It would make it even more difficult for the elves to ride their horses into the city, especially if we were able to finish the ditch all the way around the perimeter of Riverhome until it met up with the river itself.
Once the trench was finished, we would have two options, but that mostly depended on the time that was available to us. On the one hand, we could try to cover up the trench with straw and grass so it didn’t look like there was a ditch at all. Then the elves wouldn’t know that they were about to ride into a trench, and as their horses galloped forward and then fell into the ditch when they tried to clear the wall of spikes, we would be able to cut them down more easily.
But if we had a little more time, then we might be able to divert part of the river into the trench itself, and that would make a sort of moat around the whole city. That would also be a good barrier against the elves, since then their horses would have to jump both a small river and a wall of spikes, and I didn’t think that even elven horses were capable of that kind of a jump.
I had been a little surprised by their response when I first told the citizens here how much we needed to prepare the city for an attack. Other than the human guards that we had trained here, the citizens of Riverhome weren’t really fighters or warriors, so I had expected them to panic or give up, but instead, they’d all just nodded like I’d told them the weather forecast and then asked how they could help.
I probably should have guessed that would be their attitude.
After all, most of the city’s residents were halflings, and my race wasn’t exactly known for our fierce fighting skills. But we were known for our hard-headedness and for our ability to carry out a task to completion once we started on it, so even though it was evening now, none of the workers showed any signs that they wanted to slow down. In fact, I had to force them to take a dinner break, and now it looked like they planned to work through the whole night.
When I stretched and glanced into the distance again, I caught a glimpse of dark-red curls at the other end of the wooden-spiked barrier, and I smiled to myself. It was hard not to be distracted by Melia every time I saw her, but I was thrilled that Wade had told me to take her with me to Riverhome.
For one thing, she had been a huge help with the city’s defenses so far. The halfling woman had grown up here, so she knew the city inside and out. She knew the quickest routes through the streets, so when the elves did attack, we would be able to rush reinforcements and supplies back and forth from the front lines as quickly as possible.
Melia also knew the best hiding spots in the city if shit went really badly, and we needed to retreat, and thanks to her illegal dealings with our whiskey and other smuggled goods, she was also familiar with the weakest spots along the border of the city, where she used to sneak things in and out. Now, her intel helped us to reinforce those spots so we would stand a better chance against the elves.
But even though I was happy that Melia could help so much with the defense of Riverhome, that sure as shit wasn’t the only reason that I was glad Wade had told me to take her with me. It was because every time I saw her run her fingers through her dark-red curls, or every time she fluttered her dark eyelashes at me, or every time she threatened to tackle me if I didn’t stop staring at her… every single time, I felt my heart do a little somersault, and I couldn’t quite remember how to make my tongue form words.
Maybe before the end of the revolution, I would finally work up the courage to tell her how I felt about her.
As long as we were both still alive at the end of all this, anyway.
“Melia!” I called, but I immediately rolled my eyes at the way my voice had cracked when I said her name.
The halfling woman looked up and smiled like she wanted to make me melt straight into the ground, but then she started to move down along the wall of spikes toward me.
Some of the citizens had brought torches to help shed light on our work as the sun sank below the horizon, and the torchlight shimmered in Melia’s dark-red curls now as she made her way toward me. She was dressed in plain dark pants and a simple brown tunic that was cinched in with a belt at her waist, but she looked like a goddamn queen to me.
I wondered if I would ever have the balls to tell her that.
“How’s it going on your end?” I asked when she reached me.
“Faster than we expected,” Melia said as she brushed her curls out of her face. “Plus, the dwarves have made really good progress with the trench over on my end.”
“Then we just might stand a chance against the elves after all,” I said. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No, there hasn’t really been any time,” the halfling woman replied. “Why, have you?”
“I was just about to go grab something from a street vendor,” I said, “but I was hoping that you could tell me which one to go to.”
“Well, I can definitely tell you which ones to avoid,” Melia said with a smirk. “We should avoid all the ones that are run by my cousins, and believe me, there are a lot of them.”
“I know that you said your family isn’t great,” I said, “but if their food is good, then--”
“Oh, it’s not personal,” Melia cut me off. “At least, it’s not personal when it comes to food. Their shit really just isn’t that good compared to some of the other vendors around Riverhome.”
“Then I’ll let you lead the way,” I said. “I’m down for anything.”
“Oh, really?” Melia snickered. “I’ll keep that in mind, Dar.”
The halfling woman led me through the streets of Riverhome until we came to a vendor’s stall that smelled like a cross between a butchery and a fish market.
“It smells bad, I know,” Melia said, “but trust me, you’re about to have the best street food of your life.”
“I think you better order for me,” I groaned, “because this smell is damn near all I can think about.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered,” the beautiful halfling woman said and then turned to the vendor. “We’ll have two orders of pulled pork buns with the seaweed salad as a topper, and one order of pineapple rice to share, please.”
“I don’t know if your order makes me feel any better about the smell,” I said.
“Just wait,” Melia said with a grin. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”
If Melia had ordered a plate full of the smelliest cheese with a topping of raw crickets, I would have eaten it without hesitation and lied that it was the best meal I’d ever had in my life, just to see her smile. But when the street cart vendor handed over our meal, and we started to eat it, I realized that I wouldn’t have to lie at all.
It really was the best street food that I’d ever had.
Somehow, the flavor of the seaweed was a perfect complement to the pineapple in the rice, so everything tasted like a delicious blend of sweet and salty, and the soft steamed bun around the pork served to tie everything together.
“Oh, fuck,” Melia suddenly groaned mid-bite. “Brace yourself. My uncles are incoming.”
I glanced up from my food and saw two halfling men headed down the street toward us. They both walked with their chests puffed out like peacocks, and before they even opened their mouths, I could already guess everything there was to know about them.
“Smelly Melly’s at it again, I see,” one of the halflings sneered. “Are our own street carts not good enough for you, so you have to come to this nose-offending stall?”
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said to try to calm the wave of rage that swept over me at their nickname for this beautiful goddess. “You must be… well, I guess no one important, since we haven’t met yet.”
“I’ll have you know--” the other halfling started.
“Actually, Melia,” I said, “we really should get going. We need to get these defenses up as soon as possible, and I can’t finish them without you.”
“How the hell could Melly help defend the city?” her other uncle demanded. “She’s just a fucking woman, after all.”
“With bad taste in food,” her other uncle laughed.
“I guess it’s a good thing that the king is in charge of Riverhome’s defense instead of you,” I said as I took a protective step toward Melia, “since you clearly don’t understand her worth.”
“What’s that supposed to fucking mean?” one of the halflings asked.
“It means that the king specifically ordered Melia to share responsibility with me for the defense of the city,” I said.
“The king did what?” her other uncle asked with wide open eyes. “Now hold on, just who are you supposed to be?”
“I’m Dar,” I said, “right-hand man to the king, and a commander in the king’s forces, so I’d suggest that you think long and hard before you say anything to insult Melia again.”
“We didn’t mean to--” the halfling started.
“I don’t give a shit what you did or did not mean,” I interrupted. “The king isn’t the only one who can tell when someone is worth a damn or not, and I can tell for goddamn sure that--”
“It’s okay,” Melia cut me off, “but thank you, Dar.”
“Alright, if you say so,” I said as I glanced at Melia. “Now, you two have yourselves a good evening, and try to stay out of trouble.”
I gulped down the last of my pork bun, linked my arm through Melia’s, and led her back through the streets. This time, we headed toward the river side of the city so we could check on all the defenses there, but we walked for almost ten
whole minutes before Melia said anything.
“Eh, who needs them?” Melia said with a shrug. “Even though I guess everybody needs family, huh?”
“Yeah, but you’re sure as hell not stuck with the family that you’re born with,” I replied. “Family is what you make it, that’s all.”
“I guess that’s true,” the halfling woman said.
“Of course, it is,” I said. “Take Wade and me, for example. It’s not like we’re related by blood or anything, but he’s closer to me than any brother could be.”
“That’s fair,” Melia said and then finally dropped my arm, so she could turn to look at me. “But, Dar?”
“What is it?” I asked as my heart started to hammer inside my chest.
“Thanks for what you said back there,” the halfling woman said with a smile. “It meant a lot. Nobody’s ever stood up to my uncles before.”
“I only told them the truth,” I said, “even though I would have liked to tell them that they could shove all their smugness up their own fucking asses.”
“Maybe I’ll let you tell them that if we run into them again,” Melia laughed. “But for now, where are we headed?”
“Let’s take a look at the defenses by the river,” I said. “I also want to make sure that the bridge has adequate defenses and guards posted there, since that’s the only way across the water.”
“Got it,” Melia replied. “You lead the way this time, Dar.”
But when we reached the street closest to the river, I saw that we weren’t the only ones who had come to check on Riverhome’s defenses. Instead, most of the Elite was spread out along the whole length of the road, Ava moved among them all like a blonde shadow, and the king himself stood on a makeshift pedestal beside the riverbank as he surveyed the defenses that we had erected so far.
“Wade!” I called.
Immediately, the king turned to face me, grinned, and then hopped down from the pedestal. He strode over to meet me and signaled to Ava in the crowd to come join us, too, and as they both hurried toward us, I felt Melia start to pull away, so I just reached down and grabbed her hand without thinking.