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No matter how badly I want to give up.
How badly I wish to lie here until I, too, die.
I know that I cannot.
If the giants are awakened, then everyone will have died in vain. Fort, Bowman, Alysia, Lacrae…my entire family. Their deaths will mean nothing because we lost. So, I gather what courage I have left. What strength remains—despite how waning—and I begin walking.
I may have lost everyone. But I have not lost the realm…yet.
* * *
The tree I’m perched in is not nearly as tall as I would have liked, but it keeps me hidden from the four Tenebris soldiers below. They laugh as they walk, making jokes about humans they slaughtered mere hours before.
They speak so callously, recounting the story as though it’s a damned joke. One holds up a necklace with a golden trinket on the end. “This is my trophy. That bitch was so broken up about me ripping it from her husband’s throat after he’d died. Pathetic.”
“She was more worried about that than him,” another laughs.
Fury singes my soul, and I grip the rock in my hand with new strength.
I have no shoes. No armor. No weapon.
But I have my anger and grief to strengthen me in this moment.
“I need to take a piss,” the one with the trinket says as he shoves the golden necklace into his pocket.
“Then be quick,” another snaps. “We don’t have time for continuous stops. Catch up when you’re done.”
“Fuck off,” he grumbles but hangs back as the others keep walking.
He tucks into the bushes just beneath my tree and sets his sword aside before undoing his trousers and pulling out his cock. The moment he begins peeing, I leap down, slamming the rock into his head as hard as I can.
He stumbles forward, no sound coming from his lips. Even when he hits the ground, though, I do not stop. I slam the stone into his head over and over again until blood splatters my body and mats in my hair.
Only then do I stop and stumble backward. He no longer breathes, but I suck in ragged breath after ragged breath, staring down at the figurative giant I just slayed. Alone.
I smile.
It’s been three days of no food and little water.
Three days of barely surviving.
But I—Carleah Rossingol—Princess of Navalis and Queen of the Third Realm, just brought down a Tenebris soldier with a fucking rock.
Not wasting anymore time, I rip the boots off of his feet, even knowing they will be far too large. I retrieve his sword, the dagger tucked into his boot, and the coin pouch attached at his waist.
The sword is heavy and unfamiliar in my hand, but thanks to the life I’ve lived over the past few months, I’m strong enough to carry it. As soon as I’ve tucked the coin pouch in one boot and the dagger in another, I slip back into the trees, disappearing from sight before the others discover that he’s dead.
Chapter 30
Fort
“We need to move now,” I say as I stare down at the map before me. “According to Alastair, it’s likely they took the ship around this corner, passing through the canal that sits between Siren Harbor and Soreno’s Eastern shore. That puts them at a month before they arrive in Navalis.”
“If that’s where they’re headed,” Lacrae says. The elf’s face is marred with yellowing bruises, his lip still swollen. But this is the first day he’s been on his feet since we took Soreno three days ago.
“You don’t think they’re going to Navalis?” Bowman questions.
“It seems foolish to bypass their true goal and add another week onto their journey when they already have what they need.” His tone is cold, emotionless, just as it’s been since we put Alysia to rest.
