sickened him to serve the Queen, it would be worth it if he could rise in the military ranks and find a way to destroy Throllo.
It would have been easier to approach one of the soldiers with his intentions. But every khimaer he knew that joined the army had made the pledge to the Queen’s Army before the General, and Aketo didn’t think he could look Throllo in the eye without attempting to murder him.
That night, after the bodies were buried and prayed over, Aketo stole a horse from the soldiers’ barracks and led it through the caves surrounding Sher n’Cai. He took what little food his mother had to spare, a handful of their family’s dwindling jewels, an aged map, and a letter from his mother addressed to the King.
It took him two months to reach Fort Asrodei. He survived by riding at night, keeping wide of every village and stealing eggs and vegetables from the few farms he passed.
When he rode into sight of the military fort, half-starved and more than a little delirious, his requests to see the King were ignored. They put him in magick-dampening shackles and left him in a cell for two days until the King was notified there was a Prince in his dungeons.
In the following weeks, Aketo regained his strength and began training with the rest of the recently enlisted soldiers. He sat through lectures offered by the Generals in residence. He watched and listened to the humans. The King forced General Sareen to honor the earlier agreement with Daischa, indicating that she had to be notified of any hangings, but that incensed Aketo more than it soothed him. In months the man might very well change his mind again on a whim. And besides, what good was notifying his mother if she could not petition for their lives?
By the time summer was on the horizon, Aketo was restless and angry that he’d left. He went to the King and asked to rescind his vows.
Instead, the King showed him a sketch on his desk. His daughter, he explained, needed more soldiers in her guard. His daughter, the King had assured him, would be interested to know why he left Sher n’Cai. And he implied more than once that his daughter would be sympathetic to khimaer in the Enclosures.
Aketo had heard from others in passing that the Princess used to live in Asrodei; she was well-known among the soldiers. He didn’t put much stock in the power of the Princess’s curiosity, though, in the short term. If the King’s word wasn’t enough to sway the Queen, he doubted she could do more. But guarding Evalina would take him to Ternain, where he would see his father, meet his extended bloodkin family, and go to Court. And if the Princess did become Queen in the future, even better if he could come to trust her.
Aketo agreed, even though the few months at Asrodei did not leave him confident any of these humans, save the King, could be trusted.
The following days, while he waited to join a larger party of soldiers to travel south, might’ve passed easily if not for the arrival of five thousand soldiers. Fort Asrodei had always been busy, much busier than he was used to, but overnight it went from comfortable to tight, to near to bursting.
With them came a host of new higher-ups and Generals. The King insisted Aketo be introduced to each one. He’d been called on to serve watered wine and kaffe in meetings and to display his skill with a blade. Most wondered why he hadn’t been assigned to a battalion, and when King Lei told them his plans, several tried to sway him.
Of the half-dozen khimaer soldiers he’d met since fleeing the Enclosure, each was assigned to a special force within their battalion. Every army unit included one large group of soldiers led by one General, known as the First, and another much smaller force led by another General, called the Second. The Second’s elite band of ten to thirty soldiers were chosen for their skill in combat magick.
Aketo barely remembered the names of the First Generals, who for the most part were older men and women who’d gained their status through nobility. The Second Generals, though, had each stuck in his mind because they were younger and each walked around with an animal mask strapped to their back. Everyone called them by the animal masks they wore—hyena, leopard, monkey, and boar.
The one General who had