Chapter 19
Desperation
Ruarnon: Tarlah City, the Siege of Tarlah, Day Nine
Ruarnon’s eyes flew open. Pale grey light drifted through the window hangings, and the tolling of a bell cut the air. It was distant, but a nearer bell began tolling, repeatedly. When a servant withdrew the window hangings, twin blue fires burned at North Gate and a third flame rose from a watchtower in the city centre. The Zaldeaan army was assaulting the walls.
Ruarnon leapt out of bed, calling for servants to help with their armour. The cuirass the servants fastened to Ruarnon’s torso was iron this time, as were the discs of the kilt and the helmet they seized off the hook on the wall. Ruarnon was Regent now. The Tarlahn army was about to enact strategies Ruarnon had devised and their Council had overseen. Kn
