Page 99 of Oath of Rebellion

Knox took a deep breath. "Rescue her."

Ashur nodded. "In that case, you should know that she's in the dungeons, safe for now, but there are dozens of others down there with her, including a few Robins."

Knox lifted his chin and met Ashur's wary gaze, for once his face serious. Knox sat up slowly, his spine stiffening as he waited for more details.

Knox frowned. "Dozens?"

Ashur nodded. "The king has gotten worse since the wedding. That next day, he set fire to one of his guard houses because they didn't protect the reception and stop the robbery. Each day since we robbed the nobles, he's done something new. First, it was increasing the watch on the town and surrounding areas."

Ashur took a drink before continuing. "Then he started arresting dozens of people, families even, burning down their houses and claiming they were in league with the Robins or the Glathens. Now the whole kingdom is under martial law, the returning soldiers now turned into guards and jailers for their own families."

Knox' eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Ashur rubbed his chin. "He's interrogating them for information on the Robins, even kids and women. He–he might have found the magical runes that we used to get through the forest with relative safety."

"What?" Knox released a sharp curl of smoke from his nose.

"Some of the stronger men he's using as forced slave labor to chop down the trees to make the new road. Will has stopped them for now with a stomach bug, but he can't keep them all sick for much longer. With the runes, he's going to launch an attack directly into the forest."

Knox wiped his mouth and sighed. Eirwyn would be gone in three days, but he couldn't wait around here doing nothing. He had to protect the forest and rescue Scarlet. And Eirwyn's people. She'd want him to protect and rescue them too.

Ashur waved a hand and casually said, "Also, the king had an interesting discussion with his general about raising a skeletal army on the battlefield. That's why he recalled the troops to celebrate his wedding. He's not going on a honeymoon. He's invading Glathen with a skeletal army, raising both Glathen and Busparia forces that fell and were buried on the battlefield."

Krys sat down across from him and stirred his spoon in his bowl. "Just like how the king controlled the dragon skeleton in a last ditch effort to kill Eirwyn. He was practicing, which might be why he's gathered all the battle mages at the entrance to the new road he's trying to build. He's probably going to send them back into Glathen."

Knox blinked and tilted his head to the side. "How do you know he met with his general?"

Krys sat down his own bowl of porridge and joined them at the table. "We've been analyzing more of Eirwyn's memories and saw him using necromancy before, so we know he's capable. There was a hushed overheard conversation a few months ago with the general. She might not have even realized she heard it."

Knox stared at the dwarf as his ruddy cheeks flushed redder. Knox rubbed his temples and sighed, his headache growing worse.

Krys looked at him over the rim of his glasses. "You have to stop him, Knox."

Ashur held up a hand. "Now, hear us out, Knox. I know you don't want to kill the king–"

Knox' jaw clenched, and he slammed a fist on the table. "The hells I don't. The king will die for what he's done to Eirwyn."

Knox' chest tightened, and a snort of green gas escaped his nose and sank to the table.

Ashur seemed to relax in his seat at the outburst even as he leaned away from the table. "He's not going to rest until she's dead. She's a threat to his power, as the only other drakin in the kingdom."

Silence descended around them, all eyes turning on him.

Knox sat back, the weight of responsibility heavy on his shoulders. He tried to ignore them, but he'd been doing that his entire life. He couldn't just ignore who he was anymore. There was a job to do, people to save, a forest to protect.

He took a drink of his tankard of ale. It all tasted like ash in his mouth. Without Eirwyn, it had all lost its luster. Eirwyn was all but dead already, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

But he could stop the king and save the people.

"She's not the only drakin in the land. The Glathens might help with the rebellion if it means ending the war."

Ashur arched a brow and waved to Knox' head. "You can help too, if you're a drakin. But the king will want you dead too."

Knox pursed his lips and nodded.

Ashur said. "The king might know you're a drakin. He saw you both in the mirror when he was controlling the dragon, so he might know your weaknesses too. We can't just go in blind."

Knox took a deep breath, some of his anger turning to cold resolve in his stomach. He'd known he couldn't keep who he was hidden forever. Hell, at least he knew who he was now.