"They will put an arrow through your neck the moment you step onto that river bridge, Kael!" Kira pleaded, her voice tight with panic. "Neither side trusts you! Draevorn fears your power, and Valoria wants your head on a spike!""If I stay in this room, thousands of innocent people will die, Kira," Kael replied, meeting her anxious gaze with calm certainty. "I have to walk down to that river and speak to them.""Then I am coming with you, blacksmith," Kira said, stepping up beside him with her chin held high. "I am not going to sit by a warm stove while you get shot at by two armies.""You stay on the high ridge with Ren and your bow, Kira," Kael instructed gently, resting his hand on her arm. "If they see an armed archer beside me, they will think it is an ambush."An hour later, Kael rode alone down to the frozen riverbanks that separated the two massive hosts. On the western ridge stood five thousand bronze-clad archers of Draevorn, their long spears gleaming like a forest of cold m

"A kingdom that marches on an empty stomach breaks its own legs, General," Lady Seraphina spoke up, stepping into the lantern light. She wore a high-collared gown of white wool, her dark eyes sharp and completely unafraid."Hold your tongue, girl!" Queen Eleanor snapped, stepping forward with her hand resting on her jeweled dagger. "You know nothing of military honor or the respect a crown must command in the field!""I know that our northern granaries are completely empty, Eleanor," Seraphina countered, her clear voice cutting through the tent. "And I know that our southern provinces are burning with peasant rebellions.""If you throw forty thousand soldiers into the mountain snow to fight Draevorn, who guards the capital?" Seraphina asked, looking directly at Alden. "The peasants will march into the palace and hang you from your own balconies.""We will take Draevorn's food and crush the peasants with their own bread!" Eleanor snarled, her scarred face twisting in fury. "Weakness inv

"That is the royal court cipher," Kael said, recognizing the mathematical grid his father had taught him to read as a boy. "Hand the paper to me, Kira; keep your arrow on his forehead."Kael took the vellum with one hand, his sharp eyes decoding the hidden royal message with rapid, practiced focus. Written beneath the numbers, in plain, devastating words, was an imperial command signed with a single scarlet initial:Equip forty border irregulars with rebel weapons from the mountain cache. Burn the outer settlement of Glen before dawn and ensure the local council finds the blacksmith mark in the ash."This order was written in Queen Eleanor's personal cipher," Kael said, leaning down until his face was inches from the terrified commander. "You slaughtered eighteen innocent farmers just to frame my sanctuary."Commander Vane went completely pale, all the arrogant defiance draining from his face as he realized his secret was broken. "I was only following orders from the royal pavilion!"

"Hold your lines until their lead horses hit the frozen marker," Kael commanded in a low, steady voice that kept his archers steady. "Do not shoot to kill; shoot the snow in front of their mounts."The lead horses reached the narrowest bend of the gorge, their breath blowing in thick white clouds against the cold rock face. "Release the ropes, Ren!" Kael ordered, raising his right hand into the air.Ren swung his heavy wood axe, slicing through the thick hemp guide line anchored to an old spruce stump. A massive cascade of packed snow and loose shale broke free from the upper ridge, roaring down the cliff like a white waterfall.The snow slide slammed into the trail directly in front of the charging cavalry, burying the road beneath five feet of packed powder. The horses reared in panic, whinnying wildly as their footing vanished beneath them."Archers, volley on the tree line!" Kira shouted, releasing her bowstring with a sharp, singing hum of cord. Twenty arrows whistled through the

"Do not waste your breath shouting," Kael warned, climbing down to inspect the dented logs of the barricade. "They only tested our strength; their real commanders are watching from the trees.""They know they cannot break through the front with spears, Kael," Kira said, climbing down the ladder to stand beside him. "The trail is too narrow for two hundred men to push at once.""Then they will change their tactics," Kael replied, looking up at the high cliff walls that formed the canyon. "A good commander looks for the weak link when a door refuses to yield."Before Kira could answer, Dennis came sprinting across the snowy yard from the upper western rocks, waving his arms. "Kael! Look at the mountain flume! The water is stopping!"Kael turned his eyes toward the wooden water trough that brought fresh meltwater from the upper mountain creek into the camp. The steady splashing sound had died away, and only a thin trickle of gray water dripped into the tanks."They found the upper water c