Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅ ◈ ⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

~~ A WEEK LATER ~~

Despite being able to hide it, he was freezing.

Landon sat upright on his horse, his hazel eyes sparkling in the light of the rising sun as he watched the oncoming Southerners. In front of them was Ulysses with Audrey, Annalee, and Will.

Getting there had not been easy: they had been met with ferocious resistance while crossing through the South, but they had made it through. Most of the Southern army was busy defending the port cities from Asher's naval attacks, clearing a path for the Northern soldiers to Teravardi.

His promised castle. Landon could see its distant grey spires from where he was positioned on a flat plain, able to see in all directions. The castle had once belonged to the Shadowharts.

It should have been his.

Landon smiled and rode forwards. Jasper and Jax stayed close behind, one smirking and the other stoic as ever. Jax had come to the South straight from the West with some leftover men to join Landon. Ethelind had betrayed them and taken the West, but Landon would ignore her until he had dealt with the bigger problem. The South was his primary aim, and he wouldn't let an overly ambitious woman get in the way of that.

"Hello," Landon said, turning to Audrey first. "It's been some time."

Landon could see the fear in her eyes. She was concealing it well, but Landon missed nothing. Her brown hair was in a braid and she had a bow and quiver on her back, a knife sheathed on the belt of the short petticoat she was wearing. A black cloak was tied around her shoulders, edged in fur with golden embroidery that matched the patterns on her knee-high leather boots. In the frosty air between them, their breaths turned to mist and mingled, intertwining with each other before they floated away, dissolving into space. The cold was such that her pale cheeks were flushed rosy pink, making her sharp blue eyes shine even brighter.

Audrey smiled slightly. "Hope you enjoyed the wedding."

"I missed you." Landon's smile was charming as he dismounted. "Come; let us speak together like civilised people."

"Audrey, stay," Annalee warned.

"This is not your business, I'm afraid," Landon said without looking at her. "Come on down, Audrey. And you too, King Ulysses."

Audrey stepped off her horse and, handing the reins to Annalee, walked up to where Landon was standing in the middle of the two armies.

Ulysses followed reluctantly, as did Will.

"Good, good." Landon tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, delighting in the hatred boiling behind Ulysses' expression. "The last time you did something like this, my brother ended up dead. Let us hope you will not use such subterfuge again." He glanced at Will. "You were never invited here, as I recall."

"I invited myself." Will shrugged.

"Jax would love to hear that, I'm sure," Landon said.

"Go back, Will." Audrey didn't even look at him.

"But—"

"Go. Back."

Will glared at him but backed away.

"What do you want?" Ulysses asked when Will was further back. "I have an army and could crush you easily."

"But could you, really? We have far more troops than you, more trained and disciplined warriors, and what do you have? Some drunken soldiers from the West? Please, spare yourself the lies." Landon moved forward.