Chapter 19
They arrived before the sun crested the top of the mountain. The chilling sound of thousands of feet marching to the beat of a war drum rolled across the valley. The flanking soldiers carried torches, lighting up the army, filtering through the trees and filling up the valley floor. A moving sea of enemies.
Trystan stood with his people on the ramparts watching their approach, no one speaking a word. Lines of archers and crossbowmen, soldiers and common folk who’d come to fight at his back, all wearing identical masks of fear. Trystan didn’t begrudge them that. He wasn’t immune himself. For most of these men and women this was their true first taste of war. It was unappealing. But underneath the fear there lay more. A current of courage and strength. Trystan had a sneaking su
