Shasta grinned and leaned forward until her lips were only a fingerbreadth from Talon's. "You may kiss me now."

And Talon did just that, thoroughly and passionately until all thoughts of barbarians and war were completely banished from both of their minds. Shasta reached out and flailed a bit with her hand until she found the lamp and extinguished the wick. For the remainder of the night the only other sounds to be heard in the darkness of the royal tent were the muffled sighs of two women in love.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

True to Lyris's word, the thirty priestesses of Verdred turned up to take their places the morning of the attack, which the soldiers had begun to refer to as the "Battle of the Ranes." The holy women wore armor over their white robes the likes of which Talon had never seen before, with silver breastplates and gauntlets and skirts of chain mail slit in front and back for riding. Their filmy veils were held by a band of metal across their foreheads. But they carried no weapons.

The Verdred priestesses were not the only ones to appear. They were joined by priestesses from the Great Temples of the four other southern provinces as well as the Honored Mothers from the northern provinces of Aster, Zarneth, Hollis and Cibli, each with an entourage of veiled women. These provinces were fighting for Kumire, and yet the Mothers declared their intention to stand with the Princess, as commanded by Ithyris.

All in all, there were approximately three hundred priestesses, and they paid no attention to the soldiers' disbelieving stares and hoots of laughter. Talon found their cool determination disconcerting. These women were going to fight for the Princess, with or without her permission, and they didn't seem to care what any of the military men had to say about it.

Captain Vaughn had already expressed his reservations. Like most of the soldiers, he could not imagine how the Ithyrian women would be able to handle themselves on the battlefield in their flowing veils, riding bareback and weaponless. Still, he respected their status and determination and instructed that they be positioned behind the provincial guard, hoping that at least the soldiers might be able to provide some protection. The Honored Mothers seemed disinclined to take his orders and insisted calmly that they would go where the Goddess directed them to go.

As if the battalion of priestesses were not enough, Talon nearly fell off her horse when the Princess rode out before the assembled soldiers. Sunlight glittered off a molded silver breastplate that fit like a second skin. She wore rounded shoulder guards and silver gauntlets on her arms and legs. Talon could make out a shirt and leggings of chain mail beneath, the weave so fine that it moved like shimmering scales in the morning sun. Her long brown hair streamed from beneath a silver helmet that came down over her ears. There was a strange contraption in her hand that looked like an open-ended metal cone.

Talon gaped for a long moment before turning to Captain Vaughn. "Did you know about this?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are, Lieutenant."

"Where in the name of the Goddess did she get that armor?" From Talon's other side, General Harneth coughed guiltily, and Talon whirled to glare at him. "Did you have something to do with this, General?"

"Her Highness drew up the plans, had all the measurements, asked me to help her get it done. How could I refuse?"

"Oh, you could have refused," Talon replied testily. "Why didn't you say something?"

"She said it was to be kept secret."

"I'll bet she did."

Talon almost had to plug her ears when Shasta lifted the metal cone to her lips and spoke.

"My people, I want to thank you for being here today." Her voice rang so loudly across the moors that Talon was certain even Striniste and Olsta on the far ends could hear her words. "I am Princess Shasta Talia Soltranis of Rane, and contrary to what you may have heard, I am very much alive."

A deafening shout went up from the soldiers lining the moors, and the Princess had to wait for the noise to die down before she could speak again. "We are here today because the man who has laid claim to my father's throne is a traitor. Chancellor Kumire murdered Prince Daric, my twin brother, and I watched him kill my father, King Soltran Novaris, with my own eyes." Outraged cries erupted from the assembled troops at this shocking information.

"I will not let Kumire take the throne of Ithyria without a fight. Over the past century, the unchecked greed of the Ithyrian nobility has crippled our kingdom. Feudal lords destroy entire villages in their squabbles for power, while barbarians from Dangar are allowed to roam freely across our lands, thieving and raping and killing as they please." Shasta's eyes sought out Talon's in the crowd and held them a moment before she continued. "Our people are forced to sell themselves and their families into indentureships for years at a time just to survive. Chancellor Kumire and those who support him would have you believe that this is the proper way of things. I am here today to tell you that he's wrong."

Now the fields were silent, and even Talon found herself listening breathlessly as the Princess's voice carried through the morning stillness. "My people, I dream of a very different Ithyria, a place where the provincial governments protect their people instead of exploiting them, where everyone has the opportunity to reap the rewards of their own labor, and most of all, where the life of every man, woman, and child is treated with equal respect. No one should be allowed to strip another person of their most basic rights. No one should be allowed to purchase and sell another human being like a piece of furniture. And no one should ever, ever have to watch their family suffer and die from the selfishness of a few rich bastards who think they're better than everyone else!"

A cheer erupted from the soldiers then, so loud that Shasta had to lower the cone and clap hands over her ears. Talon cheered right along with the others, her heart soaring. It didn't matter that they hadn't yet won. Shasta was, at that moment, as much a Queen of Ithyria as she would ever be. After a minute Shasta waved her hands for quiet and lifted the metal cone again.

"Most of you are here because you believe I am chosen by the Goddess to lead you. Yes, I am heir to the house of Rane. But I am only a person, just like everyone else, and you must not follow me into battle simply because of my title or my parentage. I ask you to stand with me this day against Kumire, not for my own sake, but for yours. For the future of your own families and children. It's time to take back the dignity that has been denied the Goddess's people for far too long."

Shasta turned to face the palace. Just on the edge of the horizon, the dark seething line that every man recognized as the barbarian army waited for them along the palace walls. With her free arm Shasta unsheathed the sword at her side and waved it over her head.

She lifted the metal cone to her lips one last time and yelled, "For Ithyria!"

The soldiers echoed her war cry, and it thundered across the moors until the ground itself vibrated beneath their feet. Ithyria! With a mighty roar, the men surged forward as Shasta kicked her horse and led the charge. The ground trembled beneath thousands of pounding hooves. Shasta's little white mare was quickly overtaken by the big warhorses that lunged past her, but it was just as well. It was one thing to fire up the men as best she could and start the attack, but what was true for Kumire was also true for her. If she were killed, their cause would be finished. She had to fall back, and so she did, letting the troops surge past her with deafening cheers.

As she retreated behind the charge she glanced around, already knowing what she would see. Sure enough, Talon was closing on her at a gallop.

"Don't be mad," Shasta called with a grin, her voice nearly drowned out by the thundering hooves.

Talon drew alongside, and Shasta could see mingled reproach and pride on her face. "You could have told me."

"Scold me later!" Shasta slowed her horse and dropped back until even the line of priestesses galloping bareback had passed her. Gradually the din quieted.

Talon reined in her horse as well and regarded the Princess with exasperation, as if she was trying to decide on a response. Evidently adoration won out, for she reached out and pressed Shasta's hand to her lips. "You won their hearts out there. I'm so proud of you."

Shasta nodded, but she saw her guardian's eyes darken and she knew what was coming next. Before Talon could say anything else, Shasta inclined her head toward the battle. "Go on. I know you have to."

Talon grimaced apologetically. "I'm a soldier, Shasta."

"I know. Just...be careful, please." She wheeled her mare and leaned as close as she dared, catching Talon to her in a sweet, firm kiss. "I love you so much."

"And I love you. Go to the command tent and wait there. I'll come back, I promise." Talon gazed at the Princess for one more long moment, then kicked her horse into a gallop and raced away to join the charging forces.

Shasta blinked away the tears that blurred her vision. It was going to be a long day, and she prayed fervently that if Ithyris really was backing her in this battle, perhaps the Goddess would see fit to extend a special touch of protection to her beloved.

Lyris followed closely behind the Honored Mother of Verdred, the horse beneath her galloping so hard her teeth rattled. She was surprised she didn't feel more apprehensive. Though she and the other women had practiced the shaa'ri, none of them were certain exactly how it worked. Yet she felt confidence surging inside her, a certainty that she was somehow well protected despite her inexperience.

The barbarians came charging toward the line of soldiers, flanked on either side by provincial guard of their own. Lyris recognized the red uniforms of Aster and the deep burgundy of Mondera. She could distinguish two other colors besides, turquoise and brown, though she couldn't remember which provinces those belonged to. That was as far as she could see. The enemy army extended off into the horizon in both directions, and she gasped when she saw the ocean of men amassed before them. Princess Shasta's troops consisted of almost six thousand. There were easily twice that number standing between them and the palace walls.

The priestesses slowed their horses when the barbarians and the front line of soldiers came into contact for the first time in a terrifying roar of clanging metal and bellowing voices. Men started dying immediately, cut down beneath the swinging blades of the barbarians. Slowly the two opposing forces began to meld together as soldiers from both sides plunged more deeply into the opposing ranks. And then Lyris had her own first encounter with one of the enemy.

They were behind the Verdred guard, at the center of the line, and so their entire section was faced primarily by barbarians. The creature who came lunging toward the priestess on a massive, wild-eyed horse was more beast than man, so covered in leathers and furs and facial hair that it was hard to determine what was a part of his clothing and what was his own body. He snarled to reveal yellowed teeth that had been filed into little points and lifted a heavy club over his head.

Instinctively Lyris lifted a hand, slicing it through the air with the same concentration they used in their meditative shaa'ri sessions. But this time it was different. She felt a strange gust of air and energy, as if her hand had somehow extended beyond itself. The barbarian clutched at his throat as a deep gash opened across his neck. He slumped and fell and disappeared beneath the pounding hooves of the horses. Lyris stared at her hand in amazement but did not have time to ponder as another of the hairy, smelly men came charging from the other side.

This time she extended her arm forcefully, palm out, and again felt a strange surge of force. The barbarian grunted as though the wind had been knocked out of him and flew off his mount to disappear on the ground like his comrade.

And so it was that the priestess finally understood the true use of the shaa'ri. Slicing motions directed the Goddess's power like a blade at whatever enemy she was focused on. If she thrust out the tips of her fingers in a straight line, it was like stabbing with the point of a sword. Using the palm of her hand had the same impact as a blunt club. She did not have to touch her adversary in order to attack him, and the shaa'ri seemed to work from as far as twenty paces away. All Lyris could do was marvel with renewed adoration at Ithyris's incredible power.

Looking around, Lyris could see the other veiled women catching on as well. In spite of their small size and harmless appearance, the Ithyrian priestesses quickly cut through the lines and moved to join the soldiers on the leading edge of the attack.

Lyris discovered, too, that when she used the shaa'ri to directly protect someone else, it had a greater range and more powerful impact than when she tried to use it offensively. She spent a great amount of time, therefore, scanning the battle for soldiers who were in danger and using her powers to protect them and herself. The barbarians learned quickly that the little veiled women on horseback were by far a greater threat than the armored men. Yet very few of them could even get close enough to a priestess to attack her.

Still, there were only about three hundred priestesses and thousands of enemy troops. The most the holy women could do was to provide some defense for Shasta's army, and in spite of their best efforts, the sheer volume of the enemy was gradually pushing them back.

The wounded began to pour into camp almost immediately as the sounds of the battle carried across the moors to Shasta's ears. She didn't have time to be afraid or shocked into inertia. Each of the provincial guard had brought their own healers, but all in all they had only about twenty, and the injured quickly began to number in the hundreds. They needed every available hand, and Shasta was grateful to have something to do, though at first she thought she might be sick from the sight of so much blood.

One of the healers, a brusque middle-aged woman with a startlingly gruff voice, took the Princess under her wing. She barked out orders, demonstrated how to clean and cauterize wounds, and showed her how to stitch up open gashes. Her no-nonsense, unsympathetic approach made it easier for Shasta to concentrate. They could not afford the luxury of squeamishness or even horror, and Shasta quickly found herself doing things she never could have imagined: piercing a man's skin with a needle over and over to stitch a gash closed, pressing a red-hot blade against an open wound while others held the injured man down and he screamed in agony as the metal seared his flesh to prevent blood loss.

Ordinarily she would never have believed herself capable of such things, only she didn't have time to think very hard about what she was doing. The wounded kept pouring in, many of them to be patched up just enough so they could head back out again.

Shasta had never imagined people could bleed so much. The healer made her wash her hands over and over again until she wasn't sure if their redness was due to bloodstains or all the rough scrubbing. She hadn't had time to remove her armor, but it fit so well and was lightweight enough that she scarcely noticed.

Once she had mastered the basic skills the healers required of her, the day became a whirl of blood and skin and stitches and screaming, a blur of scarlet. She saw things with her own eyes that she'd only ever read about: severed limbs, missing eyes, horribly disfigured faces on some who had been unlucky enough to survive an enemy's axe. She watched men die while she held their hands. It felt surreal, like a garish nightmare too terrible to actually be happening, and Shasta felt like she was seeing everything from somewhere deep inside herself. She was glad of it, because without that strange disembodied feeling she was certain she would have fainted or lost her mind hours ago.

She was startled when she realized the day had passed and the sky had grown dark. The battle continued into the evening and through the night, the moonlight still bright enough over the moors that the enemy forces could see one another.

Erinda came and tapped her on the shoulder as she was tending to one soldier's pierced shoulder. It had been shot clean through with an arrow, and though they had managed to get the shaft out, he had already lost so much blood from other more superficial wounds that Shasta knew he wasn't going to make it. The man's skin was already turning the ashen gray color that she'd come to recognize as a sign of imminent death. Shasta wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and faced the chambermaid wearily. Like her own, Erinda's clothing was caked with blood.

"Your Highness, you have to come quickly. It's Captain Vaughn."

Shasta glanced back toward the soldier she'd been tending, and his glassy, empty gaze told her that he had died. The realization struck dully. She'd seen so much death that day that she found it difficult to summon emotion at all anymore. She reached out and gently closed his eyes, pulled the bloodstained sheet up over his face, and dropped the rag she'd been using to wipe his face with into a pan of scarlet water.

Erinda led her to one of the healer's tents, and Shasta gasped when she saw Vaughn stretched out on his side on the table. A long spear pierced his lower abdomen, above his hip. It entered right above the hipbone in the front and exited upward through the back.

"Captain!" She ran to his side and took one of the large hands in her own, the numbness of the day suddenly shattered by the sight of a familiar face. "How did this happen?"

He winced as one of the healers wrapped cloth around the base of the spear, trying to slow the bleeding. "Got careless." His voice came as a wheeze. The spearhead must have grazed a lung. "One of them came at me from the ground while I was going after a barbarian commander. Never saw it coming."

Shasta turned to the healer. "Quick, we have to get this out of him."

But the man only shook his head grimly. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but the shaft is too wide. We could break off the head and pull it out, but he's already lost so much blood that it would just kill him faster. At this point even cauterization won't stop the internal bleeding."

Shasta stared in horror. "You mean..."

"I'm sorry, Highness. There's nothing we can do."

Shasta shook her head as tears spilled down her face for the hundredth time that day. "No..."

"It's all right, Princess." Captain Vaughn squeezed her hand weakly. "I'm just sorry I couldn't see this through to the end."

Shasta drew his hand to her face. "No, Captain, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got us all into this mess. These men are out here dying because of me."

"We're here because we believe in what you stand for, Your Highness. I'm..." He coughed a little and grimaced again as the motion jarred the spear impaling him. "I'm proud of how you've grown, Princess. You've become the leader that this country so desperately needs. No matter what happens, you can't let that rat cousin of yours sit on the throne of Ithyria. There's not a man here today who wouldn't be proud to give his life for Princess Shasta of Rane. We all believe in you."

Shasta looked up at the healer, tears streaming down her face. "Master Healer, your services are probably needed elsewhere. You may leave us. I'll stay with him." After dipping a cloth in a bowl of clean water beside the table, she gently pressed it to Vaughn's forehead. "I'll never be able to thank you enough, Captain, for your valiant service to my family. You're an excellent soldier...and a true friend."

Vaughn closed his eyes with a faint smile. "It was an honor to serve the King...and you."

"Captain..." Shasta was ashamed of her own selfishness, but she had to ask. "Did you see Talon out there? Is she alive?"

"I saw her right before this happened," he replied, every word an obvious struggle. "She was fighting well. Didn't seem to be hurt."

Shasta let out a heavy sigh, and Vaughn opened bleary eyes to gaze at her knowingly. "You love each other."

Shasta was startled, but after only a slight hesitation she nodded. "Yes."

Vaughn closed his eyes again. "I think of you both as my own children." He inhaled with difficulty. "I am glad...you have found happiness, together. Take care of one another." Shasta felt him squeeze her fingers, lightly. His last few words were hard to hear. "Long live the Queen."

And then he let out a breath, and never took another.

Shasta held his hand to her face and cried. She felt Erinda's touch on her shoulder and turned to throw her arms around the chambermaid. "What are we doing here, Erinda?" she sobbed. "How can this be right?"

Erinda let her cry for several moments before she eased back to regard her sadly. "This is war, Princess. It's supposed to be terrible. But Kumire on the throne-that's definitely not right. Captain Vaughn knew that. And so do those men out there."

Shasta wiped her eyes and nodded. "Then I'd better get control of myself, hadn't I?" She gave Erinda a tremulous smile. "There's more need of us out there than in here."

With one last look at Vaughn's body, she followed Erinda from the tent. They still had a war to win.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Talon's arms were so tired of lifting her sword they'd gone numb. Now, hours into the battle, she was moving mechanically, thankful for the keen instincts and acrobatic training that had saved her life more than once this day. So long as there was enough moonlight that they could see their enemy, they could not call a retreat, not unless Kumire's army called one first. While Kumire had a palace and thick stone walls to protect him, Shasta did not have such a shield. If Kumire's army pushed past them, they would reach the Princess in the camp, and that could not be allowed.

On the positive side, they were now actually able to hold the line. After the start of the battle, the Honored Mothers of Tabin and Fyn arrived with their following of priestesses and joined the Princess's ranks. Only Mondera was not represented among the holy women now in attendance. This brought the priestess's head count to nearly four hundred, and Shasta's army adopted the strategy of grouping around a priestess, about fifteen or twenty men to one woman, so she could provide cover for them while they fought.

Most of the men had lost their horses by now, but they made sure to keep their priestess mounted at all times so she'd have a clear vantage point to protect them. This method proved quite effective, and after fighting in this way for some time it seemed that perhaps they were finally beginning to level the playing field in terms of numbers. They might not have had as many men to begin with, but the priestess's powers gave them an unexpected, invaluable advantage. After struggling all day to keep from being pressed back, they were finally able to stand their ground as night fell.

Now it was a matter of who would tire first. The barbarians, as massive and bloodthirsty as they were, seemed to be feeling the fatigue of the day as much as the soldiers. If Shasta's army could hold out long enough to wear them down, there was the chance that they might be able to pin them up against the palace walls after all. But this was far easier said than done. Even Talon was beginning to feel a little foggy in the head.

She spun to block a sword that was headed for her midsection and slashed upward with her own, effectively relieving her attacker of his arm. He fell to the ground with a scream, and for a moment she stood staring numbly down as his open wound added a fresh pool of dark blood to the soaked grass. There was a guttural shriek behind her, close to her ear. Too close. She turned to see one of the barbarians, his axe raised, fall backward with glassy eyes, and when she looked up in surprise she saw her sister gazing at her with concern, her arm still outstretched with pointed fingers. Her veils were spattered scarlet.

"Lyris," Talon breathed, and the priestess wove through the knot of fighting men until she was within earshot.

"Talon, you're too tired to keep this up. Go back to the camp and rest awhile or you will get yourself killed. Have that looked at while you're there." She pointed at the gash across Talon's forehead, then gasped sharply and waved her arm in a swift arc at something over Talon's shoulder.

Yet another axe splintered into pieces in midair, the fragments striking Talon in the chest where the blade would have embedded itself if not for her sister's intervention.

"All right, all right, I'm going," she said. "But only for a few minutes."

Lyris offered her a hand. "Up here. I can get you away from the fighting."

Talon sheathed her sword and jumped up behind her sister. Lyris guided her little horse between the fighters, calmly cutting enemies down until they broke free of the cluster of soldiers. Talon dismounted quickly and waved a good-bye. But Lyris was already riding directly into the fight again.

Talon picked up one of the wounded men lying on the ground. He had a deep gash in one leg and was unable to walk back to the camp on his own. If she was going to go all the way back she might as well help out someone who needed it at the same time. "Come on, friend, let's get you to the healers. Lean on me, all right?"

It was a long way back to the camp. The distance had seemed much shorter during the excited charge on horseback, but when she was on foot and half dragging a soldier who was easily twice her size, it felt like miles. Still, Talon was thankful for it. The farther the battle was from Shasta, the better.

When they finally reached the camp, Talon flagged down one of the healers to help her lay the injured man out on a blanket in the grass, which was all the room they had left. It was brighter here due to all the lamps that bobbed in and out among the rows of wounded soldiers as everyone who was able played nursemaid to everyone else. Talon rubbed her forehead wearily, then winced as she remembered the gash there. It had been bleeding for the better part of an hour, stinging her eyes most inconveniently, but it was not anywhere near as grave as most of the injuries she could see around her.