Kingdom of Ash

prepare for the siege.
There was no way to outrun it. Not with the
Staghorns at their backs, Oakwald to the west,
and the army advancing from the south. Yes,
they might flee eastward across the plains, but
to where? To Suria, where it would only be a
matter of time before they were found? To the
hinterlands beyond the mountains, where the
winters were so brutal they claimed no mortal
could survive? The people of Orynth were as
trapped as their army.
Aedion knew he should square his
shoulders. Should grin at these people—his
people—and offer them a shred of courage.
Yet he couldn’t. Couldn’t stop himself
from wondering how many had lost family,
friends, in the battle by the river. In the weeks
of fighting before that. How many were still
praying that the streaming lines of soldiers
making their way toward the city would reveal