hand from my grip. I let her get away. She only gives me a death stare and then shouts to the army, “Move out!”
“You’re a real charmer,” says Jericho quietly.
“Tell that to her,” I reply just as softly. Percival only chuckles.
She refuses to even look at me for the next two days.
On the third, we approach the location of Fort Greymane.
I approach her. “It may be swarming with enemy soldiers,” I warn. “They will have followed us into the tunnels.”
“Do you not think I may have already thought of that?” She looks at me with contempt.
“And your plan is?” I push.
“Why do you care? I didn’t think you were going to follow my orders anyway.”
“As true as that is, I still want to know what your plan is so I can explain to the Jarl what exactly was going through your head when you died.”
She rolls her eyes and stares at me like I’m a moron, most likely because she has no comeback.
“We need to be discreet,” I say. “If they raise the alarm, our cover is blown and the army inside will be expecting us when we try to get inside.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Exactly what the Jarl said. Wait for cover of night. We can try to sneak in and take out the guards before moving in our main force.”
“Or we can wait until night, sneak past the guards, and kill them once we are inside.”
“That’s what I just said.”
“It was my idea.”
I take a deep breath. “Let’s go with it.”
She smiles in the victory I gave her. “Good. We wait until nightfall.”
Then she turns to the army and starts to spread the word. We wait until nightfall, and then send scouts and wait for the signal to proceed.
I turn to Percival and pretend to wring her neck, breathing deeply.
“You’re doing better than I would,” Jericho says. “Or James.”
Luckily we don’t have to wait long until nightfall; it’s only about an hour or so. At that time, Magnus comes to me and says, “I’m moving out with several men. We’re moving in the trees to the left. I’ll give you a signal when the Fort is clear.”
I nod. “Good.”
Then she moves out with her ‘several men.’
We wait, without building fires. We huddle in blankets and bedrolls, as the high altitude night quickly becomes cold. Some of us eat a little something. This may be our last chance before we enter the Keep and begin to battle.
After only a few minutes, Magnus appears out of the darkness bearing a torch. “The fort is taken,” she says.
The small army rises and we get into view of Fort Greymane. Torches line its wall, making its entire shape visible in the moonless night.
There is a yell. Somebody on the wall turns our way. Then a man only a few rows behind me falls dead.
We panic. “I thought you said the fort was taken!” I growl angrily.
“It was!”
“With how many men?!”
She doesn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought,” I mutter. “Ready!” I shout, rallying the forces. “Form ranks!” The men form into lines behind me. “CHARGE!”
Our line has nobody to cut down. Still we charge, up to the wall of the Fort and into the open archway. Then there are guards to fight.
I’m the first one in. I slam one guard across the room and charge further into the Fort, running for the second door on the right. Nobody stands against the might of my hammer. Percival, Jericho, Gunther, and Nathaniel stay close behind me.
In the door, I sprint down the stairs and incapacitate the three guards I see within. Quickly I open the heavy door that leads into the tunnels. I see no one.
I take a deep breath and close it, shutting myself in the fort. “Do not let anyone in or out of this door,” I command some of the men that have followed me down. “No one leaves. You understand?”
“Yes, sir!” they obey. Then they make a formation in the center of the room. One of them hides to the side of the archway that leads back up. I and my friends dart back up to the battle.
There’s really not much of a battle left. The last few guards have been killed or disarmed and bound. I find Magnus in the center entrance room.
“What the dingflies was that about?” I rage.
She raises an eyebrow. “I told you it would work.”
I’m dumbfounded. “What?”
“The only thing I checked when I came up here was that there were actually people in it. I knew a