The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (27 page)

They rode for the most part of the day, stopping once to let the horses drink by a small lake. Rose splashed some water on her face, rubbing off the dust that stuck to her while they were riding. This was not a place for a woman, she thought miserably. It had been days since she had taken a real bath; her hair was becoming knotted and flat. She sighed loudly, causing Callum to turn toward her.

“My hair is a disaster,” she said sullenly. He laughed. “You soldiers wouldn’t understand.”

“No, I can agree with you there. Men don’t find such things important when on the road.”

Getting up, she walked back over to their horse, drying her face on a cloth she kept in the saddlebags. Callum was stretching a little bit away from them. His sword lay on the grass beside him.

“Callum,” she called out. He turned toward her, his eyebrows raised expectantly. She rarely used his name; it sounded weird and familiar when she did. “Can you teach me to fight?” she asked, nodding her head at the sword. His eyebrows rose higher, following her look to his weapon.

“You want to learn how to use a sword?” he asked uncertainly. She nodded her head. “Why would I teach you how to use something you could use against me? That would be pretty stupid of me, don’t you think?”

She shook her head angrily. “If I had wanted to attack you, or kill you, I would have done so already.”

“You did try to attack me,” he corrected her. “And if you did so again, you wouldn’t get very far.”

“Is that a challenge?”

He smiled. “Rose, the sword would be too heavy for you even to swing at me. This is foolhardy.” She stood defiantly, challenging him with her look. He laughed out loud, shrugging his shoulders. “All right, if you insist.” Walking over to the horse, he pulled another sword from its sheath, handing it to her. He was right—it was extremely heavy—but she didn’t let him see her struggle.

They walked over to where there was more room, him picking up his other sword where it lay as they went.

“You have to remember to keep your wrist strong,” he instructed. “It can easily break, and you’ll lose your sword. Keep your feet spread apart, so your balance is strong.”

“What is going on here?” Brutus said, sounding amused as always, as he approached them.

“She wants to learn to use a sword,” Callum replied, his voice just as amused.

Brutus barked his laughter. “Is that wise?” he said to Callum. They both just smiled.

“I don’t appreciate the lack of confidence from either of you,” Rose said with as much dignity as she could muster.

“Our apologies.” Brutus chuckled. “Please, continue.”

They faced each other, Rose holding her sword as strongly as she could. It took all the muscles in her arm to keep the sword steady. Bracing her feet, she waited for him to move. He came fast, stepping toward her in a quick, fluid motion, bringing his sword down on hers. The sword flew from her hands, landing only a few feet away. The hit ran through her arm, stinging it from the force. She held her hand, looking at him accusingly.

“I told you to keep your wrist firm,” he said, picking up the sword again and handing it to her. “How do you expect to win, if your opponent can disarm you so easily?”

The wind of the spring day whipped through her hair, keeping her cool in the sunlight. Her face was hot, however, more from embarrassment than anything. She tried again, keeping her arm firm as he attacked once more. This time he didn’t hit the sword with his own; instead, he twisted in front of her, ending up behind her with his sword at her throat. The weapon she held remained useless in her hand. Brutus clapped, clearly enjoying the whole exercise.

They continued like this until they were ready to leave. He outwitted her every time, barely giving her an opportunity to attack. She had never felt so useless in her life. From then on, every time they stopped for a break he would practice with her. Eventually, she learned how to dodge his attacks, finding her movements quicker because of her small size. Her attacks were hopeless, though, the weight of the sword making her movements slow and ineffective. Still, Rose appreciated the effort Callum put into teaching her. If anything, she knew how to read his body language when he approached her, guessing which way he would attack, and manoeuvring herself the opposite. He complimented her on that, telling her that if she couldn’t fight back, at least she’d have a good chance of getting away. Rose could only hope.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They were woken up at dawn, having slept only a couple of hours, and told to start packing a small bag of just the necessities. Aiden was exhausted, and found himself dragging his feet around the small room he had called his bedroom for the last two weeks. Time had flown by, each day full from the time he woke up until the time he went to sleep. He had barely enough time to miss his parents and sister, or even to think of his life back at home. The approach of battle started to send his mind down all sorts of paths. Memories from home finally came flooding back as he packed, and he was suddenly violently homesick. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he began to wonder how he was going to manage all this. Elisa walked in to find him sitting there. She walked over, taking a seat beside him.

“Do you need to talk?” she asked gently.

“I think I’m just overwhelmed,” he admitted. “I haven’t seen my family in a while, and I miss them a lot. This whole thing, this battle and everything that rides on it … it’s just too much for me to handle.”

“The outcome of this war does not ride on you alone,” she comforted him. “We all feel that way; anyone would in a time like this. I’m sure the men of the northern army even feel that way. War is never a simple thing—there will always be a winner and a loser. Even when it is over, it is never truly over.”

“Why bother then?”

“We do what we have to, Aiden, to protect those who need protecting in our lands. Think of all the small children who haven’t grown up yet to enjoy the world. They need that chance. If Brutus the Red takes over, all of Eden will be torn to shreds. There will be no freedom for those who live here, those who even survive. This has to stay in the back of our minds as we go to fight. It will keep us strong and determined.”

He looked over at her. It was obvious she believed in everything she was saying, but he felt it was easier said than done. Of course he thought about all the people who had been killed, or were still in danger, but that didn’t make it a simple task. Two massive armies would meet only a short time from today, and he would be expected to lead the first line of defence toward the opponent. Him—a boy who wasn’t even of this land, who had never even dreamt of doing something like this. What did he know about leading men? What did he know of war, besides what he read in history books, and those wars were nothing like this one. This world that existed alongside his own, a land filled with people who lived and laughed like his did, where there were two large moons that lit up the sky, and forests and hills that filled the landscapes. Where witches lived, and sorcerers, and mystical creatures that could tear you to shreds. It was all so much, all so complicated. Now he was leaving this tiny room he had grown accustomed to, to meet whatever was being led toward them. It was the finale, the point where it would be decided who would be left to rule, and who would die. He wouldn’t be one of the numbers who died during this battle—he had been made aware of that—but one of his friends could be. Then he would go back home and have to live with the memory of losing someone he had grown so attached to. His heart hurt, the weight almost too much to bear.

“Come on,” Elisa said, rising. “We need to go down and meet the others. It will be a long journey, and there are many of us to travel.”

He stayed where he was, unable to move.

“Aiden, everything will work out. The God and Goddess will make sure of it.”

What can they do,
he thought bitterly. They didn’t help all the people who had already been torn from their homes, their whole villages sent up into flames. Where were these Gods then? Anger burned in him now, resentment toward the deities of this world. He quickly stopped himself, pushing away those thoughts.
Now is not the time,
he reminded himself.

“All right.” He sighed, getting up and stretching out his legs. “I guess it’s now or never.” She smiled encouragingly at him, waiting for him to grab the small bag he had packed. They walked out together, heading toward the city gates, out where all the others already stood.

Wolf was waiting for them, just outside the wall, with their horses. “What took you so long?” he asked lightly. The excitement was practically radiating from him. Aiden could only guess that this was exactly what Wolf had been born to do. He probably had been waiting for this moment, lived for it. No second thoughts would cross his mind. He was ready.
Damn him,
thought Aiden.

“Just grabbing my things,” Aiden answered, tying his bag to the back of Ty’s saddle. The horse snorted, also visibly excited to be going for a real ride this time. Aiden hadn’t ridden him very far yet, so this would be new for both of them. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” he whispered to the beast.

Logan and Felix rode up on their horses, Logan holding another one for Elisa. Aiden watched as she swung herself up onto the back of the horse just as naturally as Wolf did. He expected it from Wolf, knowing that he was from the west, where riding was like breathing for them. He hadn’t expected it from her.

“What?” she asked, catching the surprised look on Aiden’s face.

“I didn’t know you could ride so well,” he answered honestly.

She laughed, twitching the reins, jolting the horse forward. “How else did you expect me to get around?”

Aiden and the others watched as she rode off.

“What a woman,” Felix breathed. They all looked back at him with the same startled face and then burst out in laughter at the same time.

“You need to meet more women.” Wolf laughed, kicking Grumpy forward to follow Elisa’s retreating form.

Aiden pulled himself up onto Ty, whispering in his ears to be careful with him. The horse huffed in response, which was good enough for Aiden. They rode all day, not stopping until the sun started to lower in the sky. The High King picked an open field for them to set up camp. It had a small lake nearby where the horses would be able to drink. Aiden could tell that Ty was tired, though he seemed to be holding up better than some of the other horses. Ty and Grumpy seemed to be much larger than most of the horses around them. He wondered what made them different from the others.

“They are genuine wild horses,” Wolf said when Aiden asked. “We catch them in our lands, and train them to be our own. They run in large groups, filling our fields with their massive bodies. Beautiful creatures, aren’t they?” he asked, smiling up at his miserable horse.

Aiden suddenly appreciated Ty more, realizing that he could have been free from this life too, left to roam the west with the other wild horses. They shared that common detail.

“We’re roasting some sausages,” Logan yelled to them.

“Bless him.” Wolf grinned over at Aiden. “I’m starving.”

They left the two horses by the water, walking over to where the others had set up camp. Aiden was sharing a tent with Felix, and Wolf and Logan were in the other one. They hadn’t seen much of Elisa that day—she stayed up by her father for most of the ride. No one had seen her since they stopped for the night.

“How’s your backside?” Logan asked, grinning at Aiden.

“Sore,” he admitted. Sitting all day in a saddle, while you felt every bump in the road, made you go numb. He hadn’t actually thought he’d be able to last much longer, when the King finally had called a halt. “I can only imagine what it will feel like tomorrow.”

“Ha, worse, I can tell you that much!”

“What is the plan when the armies meet?” Felix asked, looking toward Aiden. The question made Aiden feel breathless, like someone had just punched him in the diaphragm. Of course, they would be asking him this; everyone would expect him to have some sort of
plan
for the battle. Throughout the whole time he had been training, it hadn’t once occurred to him to devise a plan of attack. Now it was the last minute, and he’d be scrounging for one. His face was probably the picture of panic. Wolf reached out a hand, placing it reassuringly on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Aiden,” he said, obviously noticing his fear. “We’ll figure it out together. No one is expecting any grand ideas from you.”

“Yeah, we all know how much you suck at this stuff,” Logan said. Aiden looked up to see him smiling at him from the other side of their tiny fire.

“I don’t know how I would have survived this long without you guys,” he blurted out.

“Well, let’s hope we survive even longer,” Logan replied, lifting his glass up in cheers.

Wolf grabbed a cup, handing it to Aiden, and then grabbed another for himself. Holding up his cup along with Logan’s, he said, “To surviving past these next couple of days, and returning home to take full advantage of all the rewards that come to soldiers who return home from war!”

“Hear, hear!” Logan and Felix cheered. Aiden smiled, lifting his glass with theirs, and took a large swig before he realized what it was they were drinking.

“Is this alcohol?” he asked, coughing as the liquid burned his throat.

“How else do you think men sum up the courage to go into war?” asked Wolf, looking at him like he was crazy.

Needless to say, they spent most of the evening sitting around their fire, refilling their cups as they drained them quickly. Everyone’s nerves were on edge, and the drink seemed to be the release they needed. Aiden was sufficiently drunk—his head felt light and free of worry.

The boys were lying down, Aiden between Logan and Felix, and Wolf on the other side of Logan, on the side of a hill, looking up at the night sky above them.

“I think I’m going to be ill,” Felix said, breaking the silence that had filled the space around them for so long. They were set apart from the rest of the army, the shouting and laughter sounded far off to them. The three others laughed. “I’m serious,” he said, springing up and running off into the distance. They heard him vomiting a second later.