The shrike on the pommel glittered in the firelight and my heart sank. We’d etched those shrikes on our weapons with our own hands – shrikes for House Shrike. They were ours. They belonged to no one else.
And we needed them. I’d used mine today to bring down a Forbidding tree. I’d used it two days ago to slay a Forbidding bear, twisted and ravaged into a creature that fed on merciless slaughter, more snake than bear in the way it swayed side to side and struck with a neck too long to be real. Without a weapon, I might not last a week in Far Reach.
And my father had just given up his sword.
So much for making a stand no matter the cost. So much for being relentless.
Someone in the dining room whimpered and Alect drew his sword, tossing it to the ground without hesitating.
My sister Adigale was trying to calm the crying child, but at least two more were sobbing now, too. I saw their fathers twitching as they fought the urge to battle their way to them. Hands shook next to sword pommels and eyes grew wild.
“All of you will disarm,” Juste Montpetit said, his expression twisting into something cruel. “Or we’ll have to make an example of you for your neighbors. Small corpses are the best incentives. Or so my father has always said.”
His father.
Le Majest of the Winged Empire.
Everyone I knew trembled at his name. And spoke of him with lips twisted with spite.
But that had been from afar. Now, what we hated was right here, just steps away. And I was powerless before it.
The rush to unsheathe their swords was so fast that my brothers were blurs of movement.
The soldiers around the crown prince tightened their guard.
Raquella screamed and my eyes shot to her as my hand gripped the pommel of my sword. The Imperial Claws nearest her put their blades to the throat of little Ambren in her arms. She tried to move to shield the toddler with her body, but the swords moved with her.
I caught a flicker of terror in her wide eyes and then the blue-coated bodies blocked her from view.
The prince’s smile widened.
My brothers flung their swords to the ground with curses and wet eyes. They clattered when they hit the ground – too loud over the children’s sobs and the little gasps of fear.
Tears of frustration pricked my eyes, too. They couldn’t do this to us.
Without swords, we’d be defenseless on the trails and in our fields. Forbidding creatures could tear us – or our little ones – to pieces and we’d have no defense.
But they had to know that. They must not care.
My gaze went to the Wing. He snapped his fingers and the massive bird disappeared, but his gaze held mine – intense and searching. I tried to put all my hatred into my gaze. He should be ashamed of himself. He should die of that shame.
“These weapons were made for only one thing and they are very good at that one thing,” Juste Montpetit said. There was so much satisfaction in his eyes that he couldn’t mask it, even though he was trying to cover it with a show of fatherly lecturing. “They were made for killing. An axe may split wood and a knife may gut fish. But a sword or dagger is only for killing men. And no Imperial subject needs one.”
“How do you expect us to defend our families?” Royn asked quietly, his hands forming fists at his sides. “How will we fight back the Forbidding and the Forbidding Beasts?”
“I’m stationing Imperial Claws here. That is protection enough. If you need their help, fly a red flag high on a pole and they’ll come to any settlers in need.”
“They can’t get here in time,” Royn protested. “We’d die before they could make it, even if we sent out a pigeon immediately.”
I held the gaze of the Imperial Wing. Something stirred within those blue depths. But if it was pity, he didn’t act on it. I memorized his face. When I saw him next, I wanted to remember the face of my enemy.
“Our Imperial Claws are the best in the world. They are committed to the protection of our citizens,” the crown prince said smoothly.
“They won’t be able to see the flags from over the mountains.”
“Our Claws will do whatever is necessary for the promulgation of our Empire.” His cultured drawl never faltered.
“That’s not an answer.” Royn’s face twisted with emotion he could no longer control.
Juste Montpetit nodded and the Swan Claw closest to Royn turned his sword and struck him across the temple with the hilt.
Royn groaned, spitting blood as he fell to the floor. Retger caught him before he could smash his face on the floorboards. He hugged his brother-in-law’s unconscious body to his chest, tears of frustration leaking from the corners of his eyes and his fists balling with the need to act.
I felt it, too. I wanted to fight them all. I wanted to make them feel as helpless as I felt right now. I leaned forward, fighting against the desperate need to act.
“Please don’t do this,” my father said. I’d never heard him beg. I didn’t know he knew how. His fingers were white where they dug into the wood floor for strength. His voice was raw. “Please don’t leave us defenseless.”
“Our Imperial Claws are dedicated to the protection of our citizens.”
“Please, I beg you.” He was groveling now, on all fours. My brothers were stiff and red-faced around him. I couldn’t even look at him. Not like that. I kept my eyes away.
I felt, carefully, for the sword still at my side. They had no right to take our defense. To steal our only protection. To make my father grovel.
They had no right.
My breath was coming quickly now. I needed to act fast. If I could just think of some way to turn this all around ...
Heavy footfalls came down the stairs and the Sergeant returned, his arms full of weapons – swords, bows, halberds. Everything we had. Everything we’d saved up for or made. Everything we’d carefully sharpened and oiled and cared for every evening of my life.
“I found it all. Tucked here and there,” he said. “Under beds, hanging on walls, hidden in closets.”
They weren’t hidden. They were just kept close. In Far Reach, you never knew where you might need a weapon.
I leaned forward, just enough to put my weight in my toes. If I moved fast, I could ... I could ...
Juste Montpetit stepped into the room and lunged toward me so suddenly that I didn’t have time to flinch before his narrow sword blade was already through the back of my hand, pinning it to the leather wrappings around the handle of my sword.
I couldn’t help the cry that escaped my lips.
“I said all the weapons, girl.” His voice was ice and sharp as a whip crack.
I gasped at the pain, my hand trembling as blood spilled hot from the back of my hand, running down my leg and into my breeches. I blinked back tears, refusing to cry out or moan at the sharp pain shooting from the wound.
Alect’s eyes were huge as he watched me, his hands trembling at his sides. He shook his head as if he could read my thoughts – as if he knew I was measuring the distance between me and the crown prince.
“Take that sword from her,” the crown prince said, wrenching his sword from the back of my hand. I couldn’t help gasping, but I refused to allow any other sound as I clutched my injured hand to my chest.
The Imperial Wing took a step forward and leaned in so close that I could make out the black freckles dotting the tops of his dark cheeks. He snatched my sword from the scabbard while the others searched my family roughly, looking for any weapons they’d missed. His eyes met mine for a brief instant – their bright blue still startling. He winked and then shook his head slightly as if he was trying to warn me against fighting back anymore.