"He was there for your birth?" asked Nia.

We sat on the floor in the room given to me by Gunner. Trapped in a fortress for months at a time, I had served under him unwillingly. On one of my missions, Sunday the opoamer had given me a special leaf. Greenspring now held the leaf in his hand, inspecting it closely.

"No. I wasn't named at my birth. For druids, it is tradition to receive your name after you are accepted into the order. Once you complete your ordination ritual, the spirits of the forest give you a name. Sunday was there at my ordination ritual," said Greenspring.

"How old were you when you were named?" I asked, leaning against my bed frame. "I can't imagine living without a name."

He stroked his beard. "Seven? Maybe six. It's been so long I don't fully remember."

"I'm six!" exclaimed Arienne.

I laughed. "Yes, you are. Soon to be seven if I'm not mistaken?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Neither do I." We sat in silence for a bit.

"That's a long time to live without a name, Greenspring," said Nia.

Greenspring shrugged. "My father and I lived alone so it worked out for us. I have heard other druids go by temporary names until they get their official name."

Glancing at the door, I nervously tapped my fingers against the floor. While I was sure my spell was still working, I was unsure if the guard assigned to my room would try and check on us. As someone who had raised kids, I knew that silence for too long was never a good thing.

"Greenspring, do you know how to use the leaf?" I asked.

"Yes. Who did you want me to talk to?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The Diagum Leaf, this leaf here, can be used to communicate over large distances. You can talk to anyone with a Diagum Leaf, well, any druid. As long as you can imagine who you're talking to, and they have one of their own, you can talk to them from across the world."

"Anyone you recommend?" asked Nia.

Greenspring stared at the leaf, turning it over in his hand. His eyes glanced up at me. "If I asked my druidic order to come rescue me, they would gather every druid that was able to do so. It would be an army no force could rise against. Norman, if I do call for them, many harska will die. I also can not guarantee the safety of your brother or Tamara."

"What about us?" I asked, glancing at Nia and Arienne.

"Hopefully, you will be next to me when they come. If not, then no."

"And if those we wanted to save were with us?" I asked.

He nodded. "Then they would be safe too. As long as they were with me."

I looked at the leaf, imagining hundreds of Greensprings invading the fortress. In the chaos, the likelihood of any of us surviving on our own was slim. I had seen harska fight, it never ended well for the people around them.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to think of a way to increase the odds. "What if they met me outside the fortress? I could tell them who to save and who to fight."

"That could work, but how are you going to do so without alerting Gunner?" asked Greenspring.

"The harska, Bagheera, is on my side. If I go on a mission with just him, we can go meet with your druid friends and lead them to the fortress."

"I don't like it," said Nia, folding her arms. "This is all too risky."

"Aren't you the one who forced us to charge into this fortress unprepared?" I asked.

"And look where that got us. Even if you and that harska meet with the druids, in the chaos of battle, anything could happen. What if a stray spell they cast hit Tamara? Or Arienne? I can't take that risk, and you shouldn't either." Nia glared at the two of us.

I understood her feelings. If something happened to Henry or Arienne, I wouldn't forgive myself. After thinking about it, I knew there was no way this was going to work unless we knew our friends and family were safe. That would take time. Everything needed more time. Our plan's chances looked bleaker by the second.

Glancing toward the door, I tried to think about how long we had been talking. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow. Hand me my mandolin." I pointed toward the closest where my mandolin lay on a bundle of my clothes. Greenspring picked it up and leaned over to hand it to me.

Running my fingers across the strings, I started to play. "Tomorrow, after breakfast." The two nodded. As I played the counter-melody to the silence spell I had cast, I thought about our chances of getting out alive. We needed everyone to make it out alive. If Princess could take over the throne, that would be preferred, but I wouldn't risk the others to make that happen. Sunday had given us a chance, and we needed to take it.

Once the spell was gone, I continued to play. To the outside observer, I had just started to play music. The guard banged on the door. "No music," he said, his voice sounding younger than I had expected.

"Sorry," I called back.

The four of us got ready for bed. Arienne, Nia, and I slept on the floor, giving Greenspring the first night in the bed. While I now knew he wasn't a feeble old man, I didn't want to see him sleeping on the hard floor. He had tried to offer it to Arienne, but she turned him down. "If Poppy wants you to have the bed, then me too."

After a lot of arguing, we agreed to switch off nightly. Maybe in the future, Gunner would give me two extra beds if I asked.

I didn't sleep well that night, but I did sleep better than I had in a long time. Hearing everyone breathing softly, and peacefully, next to me, made me smile. Sleep soon took me as well. Their breathing became the wind, rushing across the farm. Beth stood next to me, watching our children playing. That dream continued until I woke up.

I still imagined the sound of their laughter as I lay staring up at the ceiling. Turning over, I glanced at my daughter. Arienne was sleeping next to Nia, having cuddled up in her arms during the night. Smiling, I carefully stood up and left the room to get some breakfast.

I walked to the mess hall, where several other harska were already eating. Most of the harska ate later in the day. After my first day of waiting in an hour-long line for breakfast, I made sure to wake up earlier.

Breakfast was apples and salted meat. After grabbing a plate for myself, I spotted Patches enjoying her breakfast at a table by herself. Of the four harska I traveled with, I only hated one. The rest were nice enough to me that I tried to ignore the awful acts they had committed. I waved to Patches before grabbing another plate for Arienne. It would take more than one trip, but that was alright with me. As I was loading the plate with the various cuts of meat, I felt a tug on my shirt.

I looked down to see the white and black spotted figure of Patches. She glanced around nervously before gesturing for me to bend down. Once I did, she whispered in my ear, "Have you seen Damian lately?"

I shook my head.

Sighing, she looked around the mess hall. "I haven't seen him since our last mission. Do you think something happened to him?"

I shrugged. "He's tough. I'm sure he's fine. Maybe Gunner had a special mission for him?"

She nodded, barely listening to what I was saying. "Okay. Yeah. You're right. Sorry to bother you."

I watched her walk away, her head turning to look at every harska with black-colored fur she passed. Out of all the harska I had met, Damian seemed to be trusted by Gunner the most. If he had gone missing... Was it possible Gunner had gotten rid of him? That didn't seem right, but Gunner had been acting weird the last time I saw him.

I dropped off the two plates of food before heading back for Greenspring and Nia's. I wasn't sure how much meat Greenspring would want, so I gave him lots of apples. On the way back to my room, I also tried to look for Damian. Harska with black fur weren't uncommon from what I had seen, so it was difficult to tell. Damian had a crook in his tail, so I looked for that. No other harska I saw had anything similar. Brushing it off as a non-issue, I returned to the room and began to eat.

Nia and Greenspring were already up when I got back. Arienne was still sleeping on the floor. After shaking her awake, we ate and shared stories. Nia and Greenspring devoured their food like they hadn't eaten in weeks. To my surprise, Greenspring ate the meat on his plate first. I made a mental note to get him more meat in the future.

We were sitting back, relaxing after our good meal when I heard a knock on the door. A harska with orange and white fur peeked inside. Unlike the other harska, who wore wooden armor, he had on a full metal shirt made of chains. He looked around the room before his green eyes fell on me.

"King Gunner says for you to follow me."

I stood up, cracking my back in the process. "Lead the way."

I expected to be led to the throne room, but instead, we walked through the entire fortress. Unable to fully explore the fortress since the day we first arrived, I made a mental map of our route. It was difficult to tell where everything was since it was only lit by torchlight, but I still tried. When the guard wasn't looking, I peeked around every corner. The dark halls teeming with harska didn't give me much hope. Getting lost would be too easy in a fortress as big as this.

When we arrived in the entrance hall of the fortress, my legs felt like jelly. Unlike the first time I had seen it, the entrance hall was decorated with banners and statues of Gunner. Harska stood guard on the sides of the room. The banners were colored green with a crude representation of a harska's claw sewn into them. Like the guard who led me there, each harska wore chain armor made of metal.

Gunner, who was pacing in the center of the room, wore a full golden suit of armor. It looked better fit for him than the armor his guards wore. His yellow eyes glanced at me, a smile widening on his face. Holding out his arms, he gestured toward the room.

"What do you think, Norman? Fit for a king?"

"Indeed. Any reason for the pomp?"

"As king," he said, pushing out his chest. "It's only right that my castle looks as nice as me. Besides, I wouldn't want our guests to think of me as some kind of low-class commoner."

"Guests?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see. Go stand over there, they'll be arriving soon."

We waited for another hour. Stumbling through the doors to the fortress came a rough-looking crowd of people. They were armed to the teeth. Each person carried swords, axes, bows, spears, and other uniquely shaped weapons. Dressed in furs and leather, they smelled disgusting. A trail of mud was left behind them, most likely mud from the river.

Walking in front of the crowd was Damian. Unlike the others, his clothes were neat. His fur shone as if he had spent hours brushing and cleaning it. Moving in front of the crowd, he got down on one knee before Gunner, bowing his head.

"My king, your army."

The crowd stopped in front of Gunner, who stood proudly at half their height. He waited for a moment before he spoke. His voice echoed around the hall, heard even by those at the back.

"Welcome bandits, brigands, and debtors. I thank your master for sending you to me, so that we may tear this world asunder. My name is Gunner, King of The Harska, The Rebel King, lord of this castle. As of today, I am your king as well. I'm sure Master Trafford explained the rules to you all?"

They murmured in agreement. I noticed some of them staring at me, but Gunner didn't seem to notice.

"At the dawn of winter, you will go and attack all the nearby villages. Take whatever you want, except for the land. The land on which those villages were built is mine. Of course, you will each be paid a handsome sum for your efforts."

Sweat dripped down my back. The plan Nia, Greenspring, and I had come up with assumed we would only be fighting harska. They were tough, but we doubted many would openly fight for Gunner. But a crowd of heartless warriors with their hearts full of greed was troubling. I did my best to hide my worries, respectfully clapping at the mention of payment.

The crowd; however, seemed to love Gunner's speech, happily cheering for their new king. Gunner let the moment linger for a minute before he called for their attention again. This time, all eyes were on him.

"You will be led by this man," said Gunner, pointing toward me. Everyone turned to look at me. Some of the thinner-looking bandits seemed like they were sizing me up. Others barely looked at me before turning back toward Gunner. "Do not underestimate this man. Norman Benson is a master bard, an experienced leader, and a trusted friend. Under his leadership, you cannot lose."

Both Damian and Gunner turned to look at me. Could their eyes see my fear? I faked a smile for Gunner, who seemed to buy it. He let out a cheer of his own. Damian didn't seem so happy, he glared at me from across the room. Jealousy and anger were evident in his eyes. A look of murderous intent.

Another cheer erupted through the chamber. There were two weeks until the first day of winter. Two weeks to meet with the druids, locate Tamara and Henry, set up Princess as the new queen, and escape. My heart pounded in my chest. Two weeks.