Ascension to the Lost Throne novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: Reinstated
The Black Banner broke at the North Pass an hour after dark.
They had come with trucks and rifles.
They had met a wall of Compact riders with full magazines, an old man with a bandaged arm, and the war leader at the narrows.
When the last truck turned back, Jude counted his riders by torchlight.
He had lost three to wounds and none to the grave.
Fisk had fired twenty rounds from the wall before a splinter took him through the forearm.
He had not left his place until the horn sounded.
Jude walked back into Cairn Hall at nine with soot on his coat and blood on his sword hand.
The Council was waiting in the long room.
Every one of the twelve stood when he came through the door.
The quartermaster's sister held a folded garment across both arms.
It was the war leader's coat, black wool with a cairn stitched at the collar, the one he had worn for six years.
"Tobin wore this for two days," she said.
"The Council had it cleaned and the cairn restitched."
"Twelve to nothing, Jude."
"Every aye was spoken aloud, as you asked."
He took the coat from her and put it on.
It was heavier than he remembered.
He said no speech.
He nodded once to each of the twelve, and then he went to find his wife.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Ascension to the Lost Throne are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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