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slipped through the lines until he found Brice. “We can’t fall back,” he said. “Lagon’s men—”

“Look,” she said, pointing.

Cam followed her gaze and found men with spear and shield, lined up at the mouth of the cavern. Lagon was nowhere in sight, but a man with a nasty wound through his right eye waved a hand toward them, beckoning them closer.

“They’re going to help,” he said.

“You knew they would.”

“I wasn’t sure.” Cam flicked his sword, splattering blood droplets on the rocky ground. “But I hoped.”

The column fell back, each step hard fought and hard won. As the armored men reached the mouth of the cave, Lagon’s light infantry swarmed to either side of the heavies. They hit fast and hard on the wolf flanks, and as the beasts filtered into the bottle neck and slammed against the bronze wall of shield and armor, the light infantry created a killing field and slaughtered the animals.

Soon, the stench of blood and guts filled the humid cavern air. The wolves pulled back after ten minutes of grueling slaughter. One-Eye led the infantry on a chase that forced the remaining wolf stragglers back down the slope and into the valley.

Cam walked among the men and barked orders. He sheathed his sword and made sure the wounded were tended to. The wolf corpses were pushed to one side, opening up the cave mouth again. Cam waded through the muck of blood and innards to meet One-Eye out in the last dregs of evening light.

“You stepped up,” Cam said. “Saved our lives.”

One-Eye gave him a hard look. “Wasn’t a choice I wanted to make.”

“But you made it.”

“Lagon thinks—”

“Did Lagon lead you out on that charge?” Cam asked.

One-Eye stared then shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”

“You did.” Cam reached out a hand. “What’s your name?”

One-Eye grasped Cam’s forearm. “Sicha.”

“You saved lives today, Sicha.”

The man just nodded and released Cam’s arm.

“We came here to fight the godlings,” he said. “We were told you loved them too much to spill their blood. I believed it until today.”

Cam looked at the men standing with Sicha. They were bloodied and exhausted, but they looked wary.

“You all truly thought I didn’t want to kill the wolves?” Cam asked.

“That, and that you wanted to give the Mansion to the Elves.” Sicha wiped a bloody glove on his leathers. “That I might still believe.”

“The Mansion isn’t mine to give away,” Cam said. “The Mansion belongs to Galla Remorn by rights, and I have no plans to change a damned thing.”

Sicha grunted in response. “So what now?” he asked. “We defied you.”

“Find me Lagon,” Cam said. “Bring him to me.”

Sicha didn’t move. Cam stared at the man and wondered if the fighting was over, or if he was going to have to draw his sword on his own people again.

Sicha pressed his right fist to his chest then moved past Cam. The rest of the men followed. Each of them avoided Cam’s gaze as they split around him like he was a rock in a river.

Cam watched Sicha and his men slip into the cavern and through the heavy infantry. He heard shouts from within and some of Brice’s men stood and stared at the scene unfolding deeper inside.

But a few moments later, Sicha returned shoving Lagon ahead of him. Cam stepped forward, hand on his pommel. Lagon limped and pressed a hand to his right ribs. He looked furious and terrified as Sicha threw him forward. Lagon stumbled over the uneven rocky ground and fell to his knees in front of Cam.

“You fucking godling fucker,” Lagon said. “I’ll make sure you—”

Cam slid his blade from his sheath and pressed the bronze against Lagon’s throat.

“If you speak again,” Cam said, “I’m going to finish you here and now.”

Lagon shut his mouth.

“You’re going to be held responsible for every single one of the men you lost,” Cam said. “You’ll be treated as though you murdered them yourself. Do you understand what that means?”

Lagon stared fury back at him but said nothing.

Cam looked at Sicha. “You and your men will be spared,” he said. “Swear loyalty to the Mansion and you will all be integrated back into the army. Any wounded will be treated. This whole nasty thing will be forgotten.”

“We’ll swear it,” Sicha said.

“Good.” Cam pulled his blade back and sheathed it. He kicked Lagon in the chest, sending him sprawling. “Bind his hands. If he starts talking, shove a gag in his mouth. I don’t want to hear a word from him until we reach the army tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” Sicha said. He stooped down, pulled Lagon to his feet, and marched him back into the cave.

Cam took a deep breath of stinking dead wolf corpse and let it out slow. As far as he could tell, they hadn’t lost a single man, which was a miracle in itself.

Brice joined him as darkness grew.

“We’ll camp here for the night,” she said. “The cave will be defensible. Then we’ll march back in the morning after the men get some rest.”

“Good.” Cam looked at her and felt tempted to pull her close against him. But he knew he couldn’t do that where her men could see. “This isn’t the last of it. There are more men like Lagon in the army. More men that think I’m some kind of race traitor.”

“I know,” Brice said. “We’ll root them out, one by one.”

“Felin will, at any rate.”

Brice smiled at that. “You seem to have found a role for her.”

“She’s good at it. So long as she doesn’t fall back into violence.”

Brice nodded and touched Cam’s hand. It was a small gesture, but it held so much.

Together, they walked back to the cavern and rejoined their men.

28

Cam returned to camp several hours into the morning with Lagon in chains. The march back was uneventful, despite the men being on high alert. He made sure the light infantry was integrated back into the army and given medical attention where necessary.

But whispers dogged the army’s slow march north. Felin appeared in his