Morgan Rice - A Vow of Glory

He screamed out like a girl, losing his grip, and she freed one arm, pulled it forward, and then elbowed him in the solar plexus.

He gasped, and knelt down, wheezing.

Then he looked up at her, death in his eyes, and stood, preparing to charge again.

Gwen reached for the dagger in her belt, prepared to draw it.

But Alton suddenly screamed out and dropped to his knees.

Gwen saw Steffen standing there, and realized he had just punched Alton hard in the small of his back. Steffen grabbed Alton by his hair, pulled his head back to the sky, pulled a dagger from his waist, and held it firmly to Alton’s throat.

“Give me word, my lady,” Steffen said, “and this piece of trash will be gone from the annals of the MacGils.”

“Please, please!” Alton whimpered. “Please don’t do this! I didn’t mean it. I just wanted to be with you!”

Alton looked pathetic, kneeling there, whimpering, begging for mercy.

“I should have him cut your throat right now,” Gwendolyn seethed, still reeling from being pushed over the edge like that. It scared her to think of how close she had come.

“Please!” Alton pleaded. “You can’t kill me! I am royalty after all! It is forbidden for you to touch me!”

There was a sudden commotion and several men burst onto the roof. Srog led the way, along with Kolk, Brom and several members of the Silver. They all ran up to her, and several soldiers grabbed Alton roughly, yanking him to his feet and holding him in place.

“My lady,” Srog said, breathing hard, looking embarrassed, “please accept my most humble apologies. Somehow this boy slipped past the guards. He told them he was royalty, that he was related to you.”

Gwen was still shaking from the encounter, but she dared not show it.

“I thank you for your concern,” she said, trying to use her queenly voice, trying to step into the role they expected of her. “But I am fine. He is but a foolish boy, and Steffen was here to help.”

Srog nodded gratefully to Steffen.

“Silesian law demands that any person who lays a hand on a king or queen must be put to death,” Srog said.

“NO!” Alton screamed, weeping like a child. “Please! You can’t!”

Gwen looked down at him, shaking her head. As pathetic as he was, she couldn’t stand the thought of killing him—even if he deserved it.

“My lord,” Gwen replied to Srog, “I am new here, so I ask a favor. This one time, I would ask to bend your law. In this one case I do not wish to have him killed. I would rather some lesser form of judgment.”

“As you will, my lady,” he said. “What did you have in mind?”

Gwen thought, trying to devise a way to rid Alton from her life for good.

“Well, seeing as this boy claims he is royalty, let’s give him the royal right of fighting with the soldiers. Give Alton armor and weapons, and send him out in the field with the common troops to fight on the front lines.”

“No, my lady!” Alton screamed. “I am not a fighter!”

“Then you shall learn to be one,” Gwen said. “Maybe you can take your martial skills out on our enemy, instead of on a defenseless girl. Take him away,” Gwendolyn ordered.

The guards rushed to do her bidding, dragging Alton away as he screamed in protest the entire way.

“A wise decision my lady,” Srog said in admiration.

“My lady, onto more important matters,” Brom stepped forward. “We are receiving reports of the mobilization of Andronicus’ army. It is hard to separate truth from rumor. But if most reports be true, we may not have as much time to prepare as we think. We must make our final preparations and lock down this city immediately.”

“This city was built with an outer layer of defense,” Srog added, “built for times like this. We can seal up our outer gates as well—but once we do, they cannot be opened. No one can come in or out.”

Gwen thought; she knew they needed to prepare, but she wasn’t ready to seal the city just yet.

“My brother Kendrick is still out there,” she said. “And so is Thorgrin and the other brave Legion members. I don’t want to seal the city until they’ve had a chance to arrive.”

“Yes, my lady,” Srog said.

Gwendolyn hoped beyond hope that Thor could return before they sealed the city gates; yet she knew, with a pang of sadness, that that would likely be impossible. She hated the idea of shutting him out.

“My lady, there is one more matter,” Srog added, clearing his throat, hesitating. “This city was built with escape tunnels, deep beneath the surface. If we are in dire circumstances, there is a way for a few of us to get out. For you to get out. If we are completely surrounded, and our fortifications give way, Andronicus will destroy us all. We can get you to safety. Beyond the walls. Far from here.”

Gwendolyn was touched by the offer, but slowly, she shook her head.

“I’m deeply grateful,” she said, “but I would never abandon any of you. Or this city. You have taken me in. I will treat it as my home. If Silesia goes down, we will all go down together. There will be no escape. Not for me.”

The men all looked at her with a new look, and she could see the respect in their eyes. For the first time, she was beginning to feel like a ruler. A true ruler. This was what it meant to rule, she felt. To lead by example.

Gwendolyn turned and looked out over the Canyon, at the swirling mists, lit up by the setting sun, and she thought once again, of Thor.

Please Thor , she willed. Come home to me.

Thor followed the boy closely, the others beside him, as they all finally emerged from the thick foliage of the jungle, the second sun long in the sky. It had been an arduous hike back up from the bottom of the crater, where the mudslide had taken them. It had felt as if they would never stop sliding, Thor and the others completely covered in mud as they slid hundreds of feet into a huge mud pit. They’d had to fight their way back up to the top, and it had taken too long.

Now it was almost dark, the boy more anxious than ever, constantly watching the sky, and the boy seemed immensely relieved as they entered the large clearing in the jungle, the first that Thor had seen. For a while he had been sure that they’d never surface from that mud pit—and that they’d never get out of this jungle.

Thor was surprised to see the large clearing before them, perhaps a hundred feet in each direction, and in the center of it, a small cottage. Smoke rose from its chimney, which Thor could understand, since the temperature had plummeted over the last hour, as night began to fall. It was startling to see this cottage here, a dwelling in the midst of such a vast wilderness, bordered by trees that reached into the sky. Thor and the others exchanged a look of wonder. Who could live here, Thor wondered, in this lone house in the midst of this wilderness? It was so unexpected.

“My grandpa doesn’t take to most people,” the boy said, turning to them. “Wait here, let me speak to him. Hopefully we’ll catch him in a good mood and he’ll let you stay the night here.”

“Thanks,” Thor said, “but we don’t need to stay the night here—”

Before he could finish speaking, the boy was gone, entering his grandpa’s house.

As they sky grew darker, strange night birds began to make all sorts of noises. Thor leaned back and looked up at the towering trees, reaching into the sky; they climbed so high, he could barely even see the top, and he felt overwhelmed by the immensity of nature here.

There came a sudden shouting from inside the cottage, and Thor looked at the others, shifting uncomfortably, and wondered what to do. On the one hand, he did not want to stay the night here—he wanted to keep moving. Yet he also wanted to meet this old man and find out if he knew anything about the Sword before moving on.