“Are they rabbits? I have no idea why we’re standing here,” the Mountain King said, staring at the large round opening in the ground.
The moon was full and bright, lighting the night almost as brilliantly as a midday sun.
Ida wrung her hands, her upper lip quivering.
“Am I talking to hear myself talk?” the king said.
“They are coming, I can hear them,” she said. “I can feel them.”
King Hermon sat on his mount, his hands on the saddle horn. He looked around. The Balefire River coursed behind them. Castle Deed was to their north. Owls hooted in tree branches. “I don’t hear them.”
“We should get ready,” Ida said. “Any moment and they will emerge.”
“You are sure?”
“I am.”
King Hermon directed the men with a gesture. “You know what we must do. It needs to be done fast. Sebastian, you a
