Page 215 of Of Iron and Moonlight

One of the Norrelians lifted an arm, the gesture almost casual. A narrow shard of ice formed along his fingertips.

It shot forward.

Duncan saw it with merciless clarity. The arc through the air. The icicle’s clean path through Brannoc’s abdomen, punching through armor, leather, and flesh without slowing.

Brannoc jerked violently as the impact tore him from the saddle. His body spun through the air before slamming into the ground. His horse screamed and veered away.

“Bran!” Duncan roared. He pressed harder, driving toward the fallen form, and leapt down before his horse fully halted. The big man lay twisted on the ground, one gauntleted hand pressed against the wound. Blood bubbled at the corners of his mouth with each strained breath.

Duncan dropped hard to his knees beside him.

Osric and Cairon reached them as Duncan pulled Brannoc against him, holding him upright with both arms, willing the force of his grip to anchor the big-hearted man to the world. He rocked him gently, instinctively, as if comforting a child.

“I failed you,” Brannoc rasped. His chest lifted once. Then again, like a forge bellows losing air. Blood flecked Duncan’s cheek as he coughed.

Duncan shook his head. “You have been the best High Marshal a duke could ask for.” He shook his head again, disbelieving. “The truest friend a man could ask for.”

“You blabbering fool,” Osric dropped to his knees, “You cannot leave us now.”

Cairon knelt on Brannoc’s other side and held his hand, saying nothing.

Duncan’s Guard closed ranks around them, forming a tight circle with their shields. Inside that small ring the world narrowed to four men on winter ground.

One dying.

Three breaking.

Brannoc swallowed. “I am from Ardor, you know,” he rasped. Then he grinned faintly. “But Lemierre was home.” His grey eyes searched Duncan’s face. “Tell me… about home.”

Duncan forced a smile he did not feel and leaned closer, nearly brushing Brannoc’s ear as he spoke. “The hills are green, Bran. Greener than you remember. The river runs high this time of year. Loud. Fast. You always said it was the only sound that could compete with your laugh.” Duncan closed his eyes and saw Brannoc commanding the muster yard. At the council table reaching for sugared plums. “The forges are burning. You can hear Cairon’s hammer from the main road. The banners are out for Goldfire. The whole valley is bright with summer colors.”

Brannoc drew one last breath. It slipped from him in a soft exhale. His body went still.

Cairon let out a raw cry.

Osric’s eyes filled as he lifted his face toward the sky, toward the Three Moons hidden by daylight, as if demanding an answer for their betrayal.

Duncan closed Brannoc’s eyes with unsteady fingers.

No tears came. There were none left.

Chapter 97

Koraleise

Merrick pulled their horse to a halt. Kora hit the ground running without waiting for him, boots striking hard enough to sting through the soles. She raced through the sprawling war camp, past the mingled banners of the Empire’s noble houses, toward the familiar cluster of derWhitte standards at the center, and seized the first Lemierre soldier she saw by both arms.

“Where is the duke?” she demanded, her voice raw with a fear she had tried not to acknowledge. The image of Duncan injured or dying flashed across her mind.

“Your Grace!” the guard stammered, trying to bow awkwardly while still caught in her grasp. “In the command tent. Taking a short rotation from the field. Meeting with his—”

Kora thanked every moon and goddess that came to mind and ran again.

Nearly five agonizing minutes later she reached the command tent and pushed past the two somber guards at the entrance. Warmth struck her first, a heavy wave rising from brazier fires and too many bodies gathered within the canvas walls. After came the faces—faces so familiar and welcome she nearly lost her footing.

Rensaya’s surprise softened almost at once into relief. Cairon’s stern composure cracked into something like happiness. Osric pushed halfway out of his chair. Garric stopped mid-sentence, ushering the space into a sudden quiet.

Then she saw Duncan.