14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Zadé - Two hundred years ago

Z adé Brightleaf blinked as the sun crested the hills behind her, casting shadows across the field below. Smoke from the campfires over the ridge clogged her nose and burned her eyes. But the wind, like her militia, was at her back. The same couldn't be said for the humans on the opposite side. Being downwind was advantageous in certain situations; a battlefield wasn't one of them.

She smiled. At least the other army had both smoke and sunlight to their disadvantage, just as she'd planned. Lady Cressida Brightleaf was finally learning to heed Zadé's advice.

Footsteps sounded on the first of the fallen leaves behind her as Roland Enorathil, King of the Sun Elves, stepped up beside her. His stylized headdress cast a long shadow in the morning light, but then, as his other portions attested, royals were all about excess. More appropriate to court than battle, the headwear would only serve to make him a target when the two armies met. Unlike Cress, Roland was too proud to take suggestions from a half-breed, so she didn't bother.

She was fortunate the moon elves had no such thing as royalty. Cress, and a few other renowned scholars, were about as close as they got. Rule by birth rather than merit…what a stupid idea. But then, that was part of the humans' problem, too. Most of the soldiers across the way were likely as unexcited to be there as hers.

If only their king was less ambitious in his attempts to acquire more territory. The Cerels had been salivating over the elven lands for far too long. This generation of royals were more violent and aggressive in their annexing of territory than previous ones, and they'd finally pushed the elves too far.

Today, the humans would pay for their king's hubris. She'd see to it.

Roland studied the army on the far side of the valley, not deigning to glance at Zadé. "Where's your aunt? She should be here."

Unlike Roland, Cress had more important things to do than stand at the top of the hill before a battle and look important. That said, so did she. Yet, of the two of them, she'd drawn the short stick and had to stand here and placate the sun elf king.

Ugh. Politics. If she'd known Cress was going to pull rank so soon after promoting her, Zadé might have thought twice about accepting. Dealing with the sun elves and their ridiculous obsession with law, proper procedure, and reputation regardless of reason was enough to give her a headache.

Zadé nodded to the hillock on her right. "The humans sent a raiding party. Cressida took Vaeri Adnorin and a handful of others to deal with them."

He grunted. "Sometimes I wonder," he said, more to himself than her, "what they're thinking. They have hardly any decent mages, and their weapons are inferior to ours. Why throw their resources away on such a futile endeavor?"

Zadé didn't answer. There was no point—no one understood how human minds worked.

He peeked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Will it be today, do you think?"

She nodded and pointed south. "They'll send a few more raiding parties out, testing our defenses, probably through the ravines down there. Killing time until the sun won't be directly in their eyes, then they'll charge."

"We should move while we have the advantage."

It was about time.

She saluted. "The army will march on your orders, Your Majesty. We may, however, want to order a small advance force to clear the gulches to the south, lest we find ourselves flanked."

"Make it so, Zadé."

She raised her eyebrow and glanced at him. "Me?"

"Well, your aunt just promoted you to General, right? Go take care of it, General ." He looked pointedly at her, then to the south.

Surely, he didn't mean her, personally. That's what the scouts were trained for. She was a decent fighter but didn't have the stealth such a task required. Though, knowing Roland, he probably wanted her out of his way so he didn't have to constantly be reminded that the most skilled tactician in their army wasn't a sun elf. Or even fully elven.

Zadé glanced at her feet. She wished the human half of herself gone just as much as he did.

She glimpsed Sorisana Svialto, one of her best scouts, sitting on a log at one of the campfires eating her breakfast rations. "Give me thirty minutes, Your Majesty, and it'll be done."

Roland grunted as she walked off.

The gold and vermillion leaves fluttered in the full morning light. Autumn had always been Zadé's favorite season, and not just for the pumpkin and cinnamon spice. For several weeks a year, the gods splashed brilliant colors across the trees of the land, a transient beauty to be admired before it disappeared for another eleven months. Even if the shades were more muted here, on the human side of the border. How ironic the first—and final, if she had her way—confrontation between the two races would happen now, before winter drove the two sides to the ground to lick their wounds and let their anger fester for another season.

"Sorisana!"

"General!" The scout leaped to her feet and saluted.

"King Enorathil is ready to sound the charge. But the ravines to the south should be cleared first. Can you do it in thirty minutes?"

Her chest swelled as she smiled, nodding. "It will be done, General."

"Take whomever you need. Dismissed."

The mountain elf dropped the salute, pivoted, and strode away to gather her team. The clank of armor and weapons rang in the background as word of the King's intent spread through the soldiers and they prepared to move.

"Niece."

Zadé spun around, arms and torso at attention. "Aunt?"

Cressida Brightleaf watched Sorisana's retreating figure. "Making use of your new rank already?"

She snorted. As if. "Roland wants to attack and is worried we'll lose the advantage of the light. The southern border needs to be cleared."

"It's King Enorathil. In public, you will show him proper respect." Cressida awaited Zadé's nod of apology before continuing, "And the south is handled. I left Vaeri there to keep it so."

"She's better used at the front."

"No."

Zadé ground her teeth. "I know she's your friend, and you want her safe, but mages of her skill are rare. We need her defending our soldiers. And she's fully capable of taking care of herself."

Tension stretched between them for several heartbeats. Zadé clenched her jaw, refusing to look away or back down.

Cressida sighed and pulled out her scrying mirror. "Fine. I'll tell her to allow Sorisana to relieve her." The tremble in her voice shattered something in Zadé's chest.

Valek. If she'd had someone she cared for as much as Cress loved Vaeri… Zadé took a deep breath. "Aunt."

Cressida turned back to her and raised an elegant eyebrow. The corners of her lips were pinched together as though she were trying to hide a frown.

"Tell her to position herself on the southern flank. There should be less direct fighting in that quadrant."

With a sigh that released the tension from her shoulders, Lady Brightleaf nodded her thanks and walked away.

Zadé sat down in Sorisana's vacated seat and pulled out her packet of jerky.

A cool autumn breeze blew through the camp, carrying several fallen leaves with it. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. No matter how tight she made the bun, her fine flyaways refused to stay in place. She'd have to do it again, right before the charge. Leaving it down for some human to grab mid-battle was asking for a slit throat.

She'd kill for some ripe fizzleberries. But it had been weeks since the army had more than hard tack available. If they could win this, fresh fruit would be waiting at the victory celebration.

At least she could tell herself that.

With a sigh, she pushed off the log. Time to check in with Roland and make sure everyone knew their orders.

The sun was barely a finger's width above the horizon thirty minutes later when Zadé sat astride her white gelding at the top of a small rise to the north of the camp, directly to Cressida's left. King Enorathil and his general were on her aunt's other side.

Raising his sword aloft, he pointed it at the humans, scurrying about their camp in the early morning.

Zadé grinned, flashing her fangs. Today was going to be fun, and assuming everything went as planned, they should be home in time for Samhain. Then she could have all the fizzleberries and spiced pumpkin she wanted.

Roland met Lady Brightleaf's gaze. She nodded once.

"Charge," he said. Cressida's magic amplified his voice so it echoed across the valley.

Behind them, two horns sounded, the blending of their tones startled birds from the nearby trees. As one, the elven host surged forward.

Zadé's chest swelled with pride. Despite two weeks' of hard marching, the army's precise ranks, even the matching angles of their weapons boasted the high level of training. The silver of the moon elves' uniforms glittered in the morning light just as much as the gold on the sun elves'. The humans would wet themselves.

The synchronized stomp from thousands of boots shook the ground. Zadé nodded as the northern and southern battalions broke off, circling around to ensure the opposing infantry would be funneled directly into their main force.

"Many are going to die today, all for the stupidity of the Cerels," Cressida murmured.

Roland shrugged. "What do we care? They're only human, their lives are but a blink of an eye. This is what they get for allowing the Cerel family to occupy their throne."

Cressida raised her eyebrow. "The human peasants have no more say over who rules them than your subjects do."

King Enorathil huffed as his cheeks turned red. His face contorted in a grimace as he turned his mount to face them. His voice raised, carrying to the nearest soldiers. "Are you comparing me to that human filth?"

Zadé bit the corners of her lips to hold back the snort. While Roland wasn't nearly as evil as King Cerel, his lack of patience and mercy was legendary. As was his ego. And only someone of equal status would be able to draw the comparison to his face and without consequences. Someone like Cressida Brightleaf.

Cress turned her attention pointedly to the battlefield. "Of course not. But it is the curse of the commonfolk to suffer for the choices of their rulers. A pity."

Zadé peeked at her aunt from the corner of her eye. She'd have never guessed Cress felt the same way about Roland as she did.

Lady Brightleaf caught her gaze and winked as the sun elf king turned back into position.

The lead weight in Zadé's gut evaporated. Perhaps playing this politics game wouldn't be so bad, after all. She focused on the army in front of her.

The elves were halfway across the field, the human troops scrambling to meet them.

Zadé's gaze scoured the human camp, searching for a figure she knew wasn't there. Their king would hardly be present at his own battlefield. He was a coward that way, leaving the work, and the risk, to greater men and women.

The two armies met. The clang of metal on metal echoed across the valley. Arrows hissed as they peppered the ground from above. Zadé grinned. Elven armor was superior quality, and few of the projectiles would find their mark. The humans, however…

Something large and round erupted from the distant encampment, landing with a thunk in the middle of Sun Elf Regiment Two. Thunder split the sky as the area was obscured by flames.

The relentless breeze carried the smoke back to the humans, revealing a blackened crater several yards across.

"What in the name of Light was that?" A gnawing pit opened in Zadé's gut, chilling her blood. Screams from the injured and dying assaulted her ears.

No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen.

Cressida's eyes were wide, her jaw slack. "What is this devilry?"

Her soldiers scattered. Chaos broke out on the battlefield. "Reform the ranks!" Zadé called. Behind her, the horn echoed the command, bellowing over the field.

Another black ball landed amid Regiment One to the north, exploding on impact.

"Valek!" Without thinking, Zadé drew her sword, spurred her horse and plunged into the fray.

"Niece! Wait!" Cressida's voice was lost in another explosion.

The army was falling apart. The smell of rotten eggs and smoke bombarded her senses. She relied entirely on her mount to guide her through their fractured forces.

"Elves, to me!" Another detonation several yards away overpowered her call, the debris pelted her face, drawing blood. "Engage! They won't use the weapon on their own men!"

At least, she hoped they wouldn't. Humans were even less predictable than sun elves.

Zadé swung her sword, and it came away red as a body tumbled to the ground. "Woop!" She leaned forward and parried as the next opponent lunged for her.

Her world contracted until there was nothing but the feel of her mount's panting beneath her and the hum of her blade as it cut through the enemy. Explosions reverberated somewhere behind her. She wiped the blood from her face with an even bloodier arm.

The horde parted as a thick, muscular human stepped up, his axe pointing at her, as though he could claim her life so easily. The morning sun reflected off the mirrored sheen of his plate armor. It was almost as fine quality as hers.

Impressive. She bared her fangs and growled as she leapt from her horse. Planting her feet in the red mud, she centered her posture and nodded to him.

"Come on, then."

He pulled his weapon over his shoulder and charged, screaming.

Zadé dropped to her back, letting his blade cleave through the air overhead, where her gut had been moments ago. With a twitch of her abdomen, she flipped upright and brought her sword in to kiss his inner thigh, first one side, then the other, before he could recover from the momentum of his swing.

Lightness burst through her chest as she howled in victory.

He didn't realize it yet, but he was already dead. "Your arteries are severed, human. Time to make your peace with whatever god you hold dear."

The deafening explosion threw her forward, face-first into the mud. Something heavy landed on top of her as her ribs fractured with a painful snap. The world went black.

Present Day

Cressida breezed into Filathas's guest house like she owned the place. Zadé snorted. Who was she fooling? As matriarch and head scholar, everything here pretty much belonged to Cress. She must've waited for Elsan to step out so there'd be no one to run interference.

Valek.

As if the pounding headache wasn't enough to deal with—she'd forgotten how bad elven wine hangovers could be. She cracked her eyes open. Everything was still double, which meant the hangover wasn't even in full swing yet.

Rolling over, she pulled the blanket over her head. "Go away."

Footsteps reached the foot of her bed and her covers disappeared. "Niece, wake up. We're long overdue for a discussion."

She glowered as her linens dropped from her aunt's fingers to the floor.

Lady Brightleaf's gaze hardened. Clearly, she had no intention of leaving until Zadé endured whatever she had to say.

"Fine." She shoved herself up into a sitting position, crossing her legs and leaning back against the headboard. Opening one eye and glaring, she grumbled, "Say yer piece and leave me t' my nap."

With a sigh, Cressida sat on the corner of the mattress. "I know it's late, but I wanted to apologize."

Zadé blew air through her lips like a horse. "Yer sorry? Fer what? That I lived? Or fer kickin' me out when I didn't roll over ‘n die like a dutiful soldier?"

Her aunt shook her head as her eyes lined with silver. "No. For the misunderstanding when you left."

Zadé chortled. "What misunderstandin'? Ya'll made it plenty clear yeh didn't want me ‘round." And that hadn't changed in the last two-hundred years, judging from their less-than-warm reception. "I never even figured out what I did wrong, ‘xcept survive."

Cressida met her gaze. "Contrary to what you think, we were happy you lived. Elated. But we didn't know how damaged you were, and we were still trying to figure out how to relate to the new you when you disappeared."

"You would'a skipped town, too, if all you got day in ‘n out was people looking at you with pity and silence whene're you walked into the room. It was so obvious y'all wanted me gone. You didn't even bother to invite me to the officer meetings." She crossed her arms and looked away. "And General Raloven did nothin' ‘cept complain to anyone who'd listen ‘bout how I'd lost us our best advantage against the humans." As if it was all her fault their spies hadn't picked up on the humans' new weapons.

"Oh," Lady Brightleaf murmured. "I'm sorry. He didn't mean for you to overhear."

"Yeah, well, man's got a loud voice. Kinda hard ta miss." And he'd known full well she was right outside the door.

"That he does." Cressida sighed. "We've been concerned about you. Stay here, with us."

"Why?" The word snapped out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Yeh hopin' I'm still smart enough ta help in the war?" Would she even want to be involved now, even if she had anything to offer?

"Perhaps, but—"

Zadé rapped her knuckles against her temple. "Sorry, Aunt. Lost all my smarts in th' ‘xplosion. At this point, safe ta say they ain't comin' back." She reached for her flask and poured its contents down her throat, biting back the frown. It was better than water, but strawberry wine still wasn't the best for taking the edge off, and she'd pay for it later. She should've kept the Pálinka instead of switching it out.

Cressida pulled the bottle from Zadé's lips. "You served honorably. We would like to repay your service and find you help."

Zadé guffawed. Like that'd happen. She didn't want to stay here and be reminded how broken she was compared to everyone else. "What, so I can come back ‘n be cast aside twice? I may be stupid, but I ain't dumb enough ta let y'all hurt me again." She yanked her flask out of her aunt's reach and shook it at her. "Yeh wanna help? Git me a bottle o' th' good stuff. Th' stronger, th' better."

Lady Brightleaf sighed and stood. "Think about it. You could have a home here, instead of living on the fringes of society with the humans. Your friends, the human queen and Sorisana's boy, will be here for a while. Take your time before you make a final decision."

Zadé locked her jaw and glared at Cressida as she swept from the room.

Well, valek. If her family planned to guilt her into staying, where she'd always be aware how broken she was, she needed to leave yesterday. Elsan and Princess would be fine without her as a third wheel, too. She chortled. Maybe he would finally manage to get into Princess's pants, since it was so obvious that was what he wanted.

Fishing her blankets off the floor, she pulled them over her head. She'd go as soon as her headache cleared and Elsan followed through on his promise to buy her a bottle of Filathas's best.