“Whose side are you on?” Fergus asked.
My gaze stayed steady on him, but everyone around us held their breath, waiting for my answer. I cocked my head as I eyed him. When he shifted under the weight of my stare, I shot him an amused smile.
“No one’s,” I answered simply, earning gasps from everyone but the king standing across from me. He kept his composure. I liked that about him. “But I’ll tell you now to stop this foolish war. She’s with your child, and you can’t lose your life in this battle.”
Fergus’s blue eyes widened, and a bellow came from the king who knelt in front of me. He got to his feet, not caring I would stop him as he charged Fergus after he swiped his sword up from the mud. The fool raised his weapon to strike the king, who raised his to begin their fighting again.
“I’ll fuckin’ kill you!” the fool roared.
I took one step forward and appeared in front of Fergus to intercept the blow of the blade. The edge of it sunk into the palm of my hand as I gripped it, holding it in place as I scowled at the foolish king. His eyes widened, then narrowed in a matter of a split second, and he bared his teeth as he put more weight into the weapon.
My horse trumpeted, followed by a low growl as he stormed toward me with his eyes dancing between the idiot and me. I sent him comfort, easing his mind and letting him know I was okay. He calmed only by the slightest but still made his way toward me.
Blood dripped down the dirty blade from my wounded hand as he tried to force it farther into me. When it didn’t budge and his hands began trembling from the exertion, regret and fear rolled off him. A ghost of a smile lifted the corners of my lips as I pushed with less than half of my strength and sent him flying back. With a loud grunt, he landed on his back several feet away from me.
My fingers curled tighter around the sword’s blade still in my grip as I strode toward him. Before he could raise himself on his elbows, I connected my foot in the middle of his chest and forced him back down. I glared down at him, throwing his sword off to the side. His worried amber eyes followed his weapon, then snapped back up to my face. He bared his bloody teeth.
“I’ll fuckin’ kill you,” he wheezed, venom dripping from each word.
This wasn’t about just a woman with him. There was more to this war, and I knew that was how humans were. Land, riches, food, livestock, homes, water, and pride. It never surprised me what they fought over and what their prerogative was. But when it came to men and their pride...
That would be their downfall.
I pressed my sandaled foot on his chest to keep him down, and he narrowed his amber eyes as he clenched the teeth he continued to bare at me. A small smile formed on my lips as I put more weight onto his chest, noticing he had a nasty old wound he had patched from another fight before today’s battle that had festered.
My brown stallion stomped up to me, providing protection with his large body. He craned his neck so his head dipped by mine and watched over me. His nearness to me provided comfort and allowed me to focus on the king and not on keeping my senses open to make sure I wasn’t attacked. As much as everyone around me showed fear and hesitation, I still wouldn’t take the risk of turning my back on someone and taking a knife.
Holding the man’s stare beneath me, I leaned forward with a humorless smile making its way to my face.
“You can try,” I taunted, curving my lips into a more sardonic smile. “But in the end, you’ll fail. Cease your foolish antics and your childish temper tantrum.”
I held back the laugh that bubbled in my chest as he glared at me and clenched his teeth so hard I heard them grinding. I didn’t have to search his mind to know what he planned to do.
He was going to try and retaliate. He was going to throw another tantrum because his manhood was insulted.
But he wouldn’t harm me.
He couldn’t.
It would be like a rabbit sleeping with a pack of wolves. It was ignorant and foolish to think the wolves wouldn’t sink their teeth into its fragile neck and snap it with one flex of their jaws.
His ego and pride were going to get him killed faster than he wanted.
I curled my bloody hand into a fist, itching to be the one to make him learn a lesson. He most likely wouldn’t survive with the way he was acting.
I curled my lips into a smirk. “Man-child.”
My steed snorted his agreement and huffed in a laugh, which came through into my head as a deep, rich laugh.
The king’s nostrils flared, and a deep growl built in his chest as he bared his bloody teeth at me again. Large veins popped up on his neck and a few smaller ones on his forehead.
“This does no’ end here, bitch,” he snarled, then spat a large bloody wad at me that hit my shin.
My horse growled and snorted angrily as he shifted, stomping a hoof on the ground that was close to hitting the king beneath me. His large, brown head hung past my shoulder as he glared down at the man-child while he growled and stomped again to drive his point. The stallion’s growl vibrated against me as his shoulder bumped against my back.
I didn’t flinch at the disrespect the king showed. For a brief moment, it was nice for someone to not show fear toward me, but it was gone and replaced with irritation. I didn’t have an ego or pride like humans did. I didn’t care about titles or wanting everyone to bow or fall to their knees when I walked into a room. Or when I showed up at a battle, whether it was mine or someone else’s. Granted, it always surprised me when someone didn’t know who I was right away. Like the men and women here who didn’t know until I told them.
Leaning forward a little more to put added pressure on his chest, I grinned when he made a pained groan from the festered wound.
