While the royal’s gaze searched the panicked crowd, Vigholf careful y pul ed his sister off his shoulder and carried her in his arms to the Iron.

“King Gaius.”

The king turned and saw his sister. First, he seemed stunned. Unable to do anything but stare. But as Vigholf moved closer, the king reached for her and took her into his arms.

“Agrippina?” He dropped down to one knee, cradling his sister. “Aggie?”

The royal opened her eyes, reached up, and pressed her palm to his cheek. “Gaius.” The king laid his forehead against his sister’s. “Aggie, I’m so sorry.”

“No. Don’t. You apologize for nothing.” She turned her head, looked over at the city she’d just left behind. “It was her. I want her. ”

“Our army is right outside this gate. One word—”

“She’s gone. Slithering snake that she is. She’s slithered away. We could burn the city to the ground and we won’t find her.”

“Then I’m getting you out of here.”

He stood and carried his sister out of the castle gates.

To be honest, Vigholf didn’t think much about it until Annwyl ran up to him a few minutes later. “Where’s the royal?”

“Her brother took her.”

“They’re gone?”

“Wel —”

Snarling, she ran off after them.

“Annwyl!” When the royal didn’t stop, he looked over his shoulder at the stil -battling females. “Rhona, come on!” He didn’t wait, assured they could take care of themselves. It was the lunatic he was concerned about.

Vigholf fol owed, catching up to Annwyl as she cleared a hil . On the other side stood King Gaius’s army. And they were, in a word, vast.

“You promised!” Annwyl was saying to Gaius’s back.

The king stopped and slowly faced the Southland queen. “I’m not leaving my sister.”

“You wouldn’t have your sister if it wasn’t for us.”

“What’s she talking about, Gaius?” Lady Agrippina asked.

“Nothing.”

“You promised!” Annwyl insisted.

“You’re irritating me again.”

“I don’t care.”

The king’s sister motioned to the ground. “Put me down, Gaius.”

“You’re not wel enough—”

“Don’t argue or we’l be here al damn day. Just put me down.”

Gaius put his sister on the ground but kept an arm around her waist, letting her lean against him while Varro covered her naked body with a cape.

“Now tel me,” she ordered. And it was an order.

“You!”

A hand gripped his tail and Nannulf was tossed back and into the side of a mountain, moving the mass several feet. “Worthless little beast dog!

How dare you interfere with my people!”

The wolf got to his paws and bared his fangs. He didn’t like most other gods, but he especial y didn’t like this one. Chramnesind, the sightless one. An angry demon god whose only desire was to become the one and only god everyone worshipped. The only one everyone turned to when in need.

Something that Nannulf found completely unacceptable! “Do you think you’re stronger than me, dog? Do you think you can real y stop me?” Nannulf didn’t know, but he was always wil ing to try. He charged Chramnesind but even without eyes, the bastard stil saw wel enough, and he was fast. He caught Nannulf by the throat, slammed him to the ground, and held him there.

“It’s too late,” Chramnesind told him. “It’s much too late. Without your help, they’l never get there in time and Thracius wil destroy them. But you . .

. you wil pay for what you did to my mage. He was mine! Mine!”

A sword slid under Chramnesind’s chin and a soft voice asked, “What do you think you’re doing to my friend?” Chramnesind hissed, his tongue—a forked one—slashing across Eirianwen’s cheek, flesh burning.

Eir, the goddess of war, reached down and grabbed Chramnesind by his throat, lifting him to his feet.

“You,” she snarled, “dare chal enge me?”

Chramnesind pul ed his sword and slammed it into Eir’s bel y. They both looked down as her guts poured to the ground.

And that’s when Eir pul ed back her arm and shot-putted the demon god away from her.

“From my sight, you worthless bag of flesh! ” she roared, her voice booming across the land. “Or I will wipe your existence from this world! ” Chramnesind hissed at them again and dug into the ground, disappearing under the dirt.

Eir took in several breaths to get control of her rage; then she faced Nannulf.

“And you . . . what the f**k were you thinking?”

Nannulf shrugged.

“I protected you from Rhy, you know. Lied to him! Told him I had no idea where you were or what you were up to. But he’l know now, I can promise you that, because everyone wil tel him. Och! And don’t look at me like that. This is al your fault and you know it. You should have stayed out of it!” Eir spun away from him and marched off. “Wel , come on, you idiot! Let’s see if we can fix this!”

“You promised!” Annwyl said again while she and Izzy removed their ogre-blood-splattered tunics and army sandals and put on their own clothes.

“Would you stop saying that!”

“What did you promise?” the king’s sister asked again, but it was Annwyl who answered.