Chapter 25

Jacob had picked out a new mount for Thomas, but Frost didn’t like him. She made it clear that if Thomas rode that particular horse, they would both be wolf food.

“Okay, bossy. You pick my mount,” Thomas said.

Jacob squealed like a little girl when the direwolf cleared the corral fence, scattering the horses. That is, all but one. An old warhorse, his numerous scars attesting to his veteran status, just looked at Frost as though he was contemplating whether or not she was worth his time.

“That’s my father’s old horse, Tramper, who we brought as a spare. We mostly use him for breeding now. In his day, Tramper was celebrated for his speed, strength, and stamina. My father would be pleased to have you ride him, my prince,” Jacob said.

Thomas’s head snapped around to find Jacob with a neutral look on his face. Then he explained.

“I eavesdropped on your conversation with General Angen,” Jacob admitted.

“Then you also heard that news of my marriage to Catherine hasn’t been made public.”

“Can I ask a favor?” Jacob asked.

Thomas’s eyes narrowed due to the implied blackmail he was hearing. He nodded.

“Would you give your blessing for Maeve and me to be married?”

Thomas didn’t have to think about that as his face split with a smile.

“I take it that she’s agreeable?” Thomas asked to make sure.

“Oh, yes. We’ve restrained ourselves, but after yesterday, we don’t want to wait.”

Thomas understood completely. They’d both faced death, making it only natural for them to get married. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

“Yes. I will bless the union.”

Thomas was less than impressed when Jacob left him standing there to go share the news with Maeve. He told Frost to quit tormenting the horses and went to introduce himself to his new mount. He had no doubt that Tramper would be fine but would never replace Fury in his heart.

As they were breaking camp to move further north, Duncan found Thomas.

“I sent men to watch where General Angen went. He returned to King Doyle’s side. Shortly after that, they began to move north.”

“Very well. Once we get settled tonight, we’ll give everyone the news,” Thomas said.

Duncan went to gather his council as Thomas mentally kicked himself for not depriving Virden of its general.

They pushed hard to travel far enough north that they could rest for a couple of days. Thomas ordered the Royal Rangers and Wildlings to trail their main force, both to guard their backs and cause some mischief. They were instructed to find easy opportunities to make the Virden forces’ trek north more difficult without endangering their men.

On the morning of the second day, Griffin and Duncan found Thomas.

“You both look like hell.”

“They sent scouts to try to find our main force. We had to eliminate them before we came back,” Griffin explained.

“Well, go get some rest. Tonight, we are honoring our dead. Everyone needs a chance to say goodbye. Tomorrow morning, we need to make some hard decisions,” Thomas said.

“Are you thinking of engaging them again?” Duncan asked.

“Jacob has a plan, but it’s unclear whether we have enough men to pull it off. It’s a roll of the dice.”

“That will make getting some sleep a bit harder,” Duncan complained.

“No, it won’t. I’m too tired to worry about it right now,” Griffin said.

Everyone spent the day catching up on sleep or doing the chores that they hadn’t been able to do since they started north.

Thomas went to the stream to bathe and wash his clothes. He also got Frost riled up when he splashed her. It was sometimes hard to remember that the giant direwolf was essentially still a pup at heart.

When Duncan and Griffin finally woke up, Thomas called together his war council.

The first order of business was to discuss the condition of their men. Thomas was told that three more had died of their wounds that day. Their fighting force was down to half the healthy men they’d started with.

“I’m afraid that all that we’ve sacrificed might not be enough. We are only two days in front of Virden’s main body, and we are ten miles from the border. They could be marching into Abingdon in less than three days,” Thomas worried.

He had to figure out a way to hold them up for at least another week, if not two.

“We could make a stand at the bridge. It would force them into a funnel, and they wouldn’t be able to flank us,” Griffin suggested.

“We don’t have enough men to even slow them down. Plus, they could build rafts, and we would soon be surrounded,” Roland said to shoot that down.

“The only solution is to burn the woods. If we give them a nice target, we might stop them completely,” Jacob said.

His plan was to draw the Virdenese army into the Downdale woods. Unlike the grasslands, a fire in the woods could kill many of them. They would be boxed in on each side, and the heat and smoke would cause panic. Perishing in a fire was a horrible way to die.

Talk of it had Thomas doubting whether that was their best solution. Then he thought about Catherine and what would happen to her if King Doyle got his hands on her.

“If we can stop this before they reach Abingdon, then I say we do it,” Thomas said to give his approval.

“We’ll get started tomorrow,” Jacob said.

With that decided, Thomas made an announcement.

“Tonight, after we have eaten, I want to gather everyone and have a remembrance. It will give all of us a chance to say a few words about those we’ve lost.”

Everyone in the tent was lost in thought for a moment.

“I’ll see you all after we eat,” Thomas said to break up the meeting.

After dinner, everyone gathered in the middle of camp to say goodbye to the men who had made the ultimate sacrifice. Anyone who wanted to was given a chance to speak. It was a chance to mourn their losses and share fond memories.

Finally, it was Thomas’s turn. He’d gone last, wanting to hear what everyone else said before adding his part.

“Thank you for sharing your remembrances of the ones we’ve lost. I look around and can only think that it could have been worse, a lot worse. Hearing the stories of the sacrifices our men made so that we can be here today gives me hope. We pulled together when it counted.

“I want to share with you one loss that stands out for me, and that is Alek. He was not ordered to come with us. Alek was brought out of retirement and asked to train the Royal Rangers. He volunteered to accompany us, to offer us his wisdom and be a steadying hand to counter our youth. He could have been back home sitting in an inn, commiserating with his fellow veterans. Instead, he was with us.

“There’s not one of us who is not a better Ranger or soldier because of what he taught us and his example. The last example he gave us is this: when our team is at stake, it’s more important than any one of us. Alek saw that. He purchased our lives—especially my life—at the cost of his own. It’s up to us who survive to make his sacrifice worth it,” Thomas said.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as his eyes teared up. Thomas’s lips pinched, and he got a determined look.

“Don’t take Alek’s example to an extreme. He told me once over a pint of ale that there was only one job in the war trade that was more dangerous than being a hero, and that was being the man next to a hero. Most of the time, most of us go out, do what has to be done and do it well. We’re all heroes in the eyes of the people who never see the battle.

“When everything goes well, we don’t need heroes. But towards the end, it went badly, and Alek paid the price for my shortcomings. He sacrificed himself to save my life. I feel a debt that I’ll never be able to repay. I am sure you all know what I’m talking about.

“What do we do with such a debt? All that I can think of is to pay it forward. Each of us needs to do our tasks well. We have to be sharp, think ahead, and prevent situations from going totally to the devil. I blame myself for Alek’s death because I let us become overconfident. I didn’t anticipate what the enemy might do if they were competently led. I’m going to do my best to accomplish our mission without making any more of you heroes,” Thomas promised.

No one said anything. It was eerily quiet as the men began to leave the circle. Thomas went back to his tent. He still felt the loss of so many of his men, but he also felt better after speaking about it.

For their plan to work, they needed to keep the Virdenese scouts out of the woods. The Virdenese couldn’t know what they were about to face. To that end, Thomas would utilize both the Wildlings and Royal Rangers to hunt enemy scouts today.

“Every fairy tale begins with the same warning: ‘Don’t go into the woods alone.’ There are monsters out there like hungry wolves. It’s time to unleash our wolf,” Thomas said dramatically to the gathered men.

Frost bounced around in anticipation. This was her favorite game.

“The Virdenese will be sending scouts. Frost, lead the Rangers to the bad men,” Thomas ordered.

Frost ran in circles with her nose in the air, and then she stopped and sniffed again. Her head lurched about, and Thomas’s big bad direwolf ran straight to him and sat with her tail wagging.

All the Rangers burst out laughing as Thomas scowled.

“What’s going on?” Jacob asked.

“While training, we played a game of finding Thomas to help us become better trackers. I think Frost just won in record time,” Griffin explained. “At least she didn’t pin him to the ground this time.”

Thomas wasn’t impressed that Frost thought of him as a ‘bad man.’ But Griffin was right. At least she hadn’t treated him like prey and pounced on him.

“Very well, you got me,” Thomas conceded as he bowed to Frost. “Now go find the real bad men.”

She yipped in excitement, and the Rangers were led off on their hunt for Virdenese scouts. The Royal Rangers had all shown woodsman skills before they were recruited, so they were comfortable in the forest. Thomas watched as his men spread out and slipped into the woods, following Frost.

“I bet we find more,” Duncan boasted.

“Name your bet,” Jacob said.

“If we lose, I’ll buy all your men a round once we finally find a tavern. And if I win, I get one of your fancy horses,” Duncan shot back.

Jacob’s men began to taunt the Wildlings in a good-natured way. Roland stepped up beside Thomas with a big smile on his face.

“This is good. Look at how happy they all are. I haven’t heard laughter since we started north.”