“No!”

“They’l never expect us.”

“There’s a good reason they would never expect us. Because I’m a lowly private and you’re a squire.”

“I’m not saying we should kil him.”

“That’s good because we can’t.”

“But maybe we can wound him. Make it so Gaius can get to him. Finish him. Otherwise he’s going to fly away and this won’t end.”

“You’re as crazy as Annwyl.”

“But she’s been right. Crazy, but right.” She pressed her hand to Brannie’s shoulder. “Al we need to do is wound him, Bran. Then we run for our lives.”

“You promise?”

She patted her. “I promise. I have plans! Can’t be promoted to general if I’m dead.”

“Yes. That eases my concern, cousin.”

And Izzy’s laugh . . . did not make it any better either.

“There had to be an easier way for him to do that,” Rhona complained, trying to wipe the dirt off her scales from where she’d slid into the ground.

“Be glad you shifted back before we got here.” Vigholf winced. “Some of Gaius’s human troops didn’t fare so wel .” She looked around, nodded. “At least we’re here. We’re back. I need to find my sisters.” Rhona started to walk off, but Vigholf caught her claw. “Be careful. We have much to discuss when this is over.”

“Aye,” she agreed. “We do.”

He nodded and said, “Behind you.”

Using her spear, she turned and impaled the Iron that had been running at her. She dragged him around and Vigholf brought his hammer down, cracking the bastard’s skul , and finishing him up.

They smiled at each other for a long moment before Rhona unfurled her wings and took to the skies, spearing Irons as she went along.

Letting out a sigh and trying to ignore how hard he’d become just watching her do that, Vigholf turned and came snout-to-snout with his brother.

“So . . . you’re alive then?” Ragnar asked.

“Last time I looked.”

“And that dragon over there? With what I’m sure Keita wil refer to as the ‘sexy eye patch’?”

“Gaius. The Rebel King.”

“So Annwyl did it then?”

“Did you real y have any doubt?”

Ragnar shook his head. “Not real y.”

Vigholf hefted his weapon, resting it against his shoulder. “Let’s get this done, brother. We’ve got an overlord to get rid of, I’ve got a female to Claim, and we have some Tribesmen to stomp out at Garbhán Isle.”

Ragnar sighed. “So much bloody work. Can’t wait to take a proper holiday.”

“We’re Northlanders. We don’t take holidays.”

“Oh, for the love of the gods, shut the battle-fuck up.”

Brastias breathed a bit easier when he saw an aerial assault in the form of three She-dragons. They were smal ish, but that seemed to only make them faster—and a wee bit meaner. They tossed the Sovereigns around like toy soldiers and happily destroyed attack weapons aimed at dragons.

One of them flew down to Brastias, slamming her back legs down and crushing several soldiers he’d been fighting with.

“Go!” she ordered, pointing toward where the army had been headed. “Annwyl’s there. Fighting alone!” Shocked, Brastias stopped a moment to stare at the She-dragon.

“Wel , don’t just stand there, you clod! Move!”

He whistled over his horse and mounted. “Danelin! Cal the troops to me! We go to Annwyl!” He couldn’t help but smile a little at his second in command. “We go to our queen.”

Rhona came around the corner to find Annwyl decimating what looked to be Sovereign commanders while on horseback and Annwyl’s troops pouring out of a side pass to engage the Sovereign soldiers.

“Rhona!” a trio of voices screeched and then the triplets were there, hugging her, squealing like little hatchlings.

She hugged them back, so glad to see them wel and strong.

“I’m so glad you’re back, Rhona,” Edana said. “To be honest, we don’t know how you do any of it. Running everything. It’s a bloody nightmare, it is.”

“Edana was busy trying to be you,” Breena teased.

“We laughed at her,” Nesta admitted.

“I’m glad you’re al okay. Where are we?” Rhona asked.

The triplets immediately turned serious, and Edana spoke first. “They set a trap for us, Rhona. They built a trap right under our bloody tunnel.”

“We started to find them inside the caves a day or two ago, but we thought there was just another entrance we missed. But they were under us the whole time.”

“They were waiting for the time to strike,” Breena added. “And they did, this morning. Leveling the Polycarp Mountains first, drawing us out.”

“How many did we lose?” Rhona asked, never one to shirk from real numbers and real information. Even when every fel ow soldier they lost cut her like glass.

“A few of the recruits,” Edana replied. “We were al evacuating the tunnels when they struck. Took the floor out from under us in one fel swoop.” Nesta looked down, her pain evident. “We lost Austel , Rhona. They had stakes built under the tunnel and when it went—” Rhona raised her claw, cutting her off. “Austel ’s dead? Where are Éibhear and Celyn?” Austel was never far from those two. So if he was in those tunnels, chances were high that so were her stupid, stupid cousins.