KIERAN POV
"Ashfeld! On your feet!"
Ser Davos's boot slammed against my cot before dawn had even broken. I jerked awake, my heart hammering.
"Commander Voss wants all new conscripts in formation. Now."
I stumbled out of the tent, still half-asleep, and nearly crashed into Finn. His red hair stuck up in every direction, and his face was pale as milk.
"What's happening?" he whispered.
"No idea." But the sick feeling in my stomach told me it wouldn't be good.
The war camp stretched forever in every direction—thousands of tents, horses, wagons loaded with weapons. Smoke from cooking fires mixed with something sharper. Metal being sharpened. Oil being heated. The smell of war getting ready to kill.
Soldiers rushed past us, shouting orders I didn't understand. Everything moved too fast, too loud. I felt like a child lost in a market crowd.
"Move faster, fresh meat!" A sergeant shoved me forward. "Commander doesn't like waiting!"
We joined hundreds of other new soldiers in the central training ground. My legs shook as we lined up in rows. Around us, experienced soldiers watched with cruel grins. They knew something we didn't.
Then Commander Voss appeared.
He looked like heroes from the stories Mother used to read me—tall and strong, with golden hair that caught the morning sun like a crown. His armor gleamed. His sword hung at his hip like it belonged there, like he'd been born wearing it.
When he smiled at us, half the conscripts smiled back without thinking. Even I felt my chest swell with something like hope.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe we really were the good side.
"Soldiers!" Voss's voice boomed across the field. Everyone went silent. "I look at you and see heroes. Men who will save everything we love!"
The crowd cheered. I found myself cheering too, caught up in the moment.
"The orc savages mass in those mountains—" He pointed at the dark peaks looming behind camp. "They sharpen their tusks. They prepare to sweep down and destroy our homes. Burn our villages. Murder our families. Eat our children!"
My stomach twisted remembering Davos's stories about orcs cooking children. I thought of Mira, pregnant with my baby back home. What if orcs really did want to hurt her?
"But we will stop them!" Voss raised his fist. "We will break their armies! We will burn their caves! We will plant our banners in their bones and prove that humanity cannot be defeated!"
The soldiers roared approval. Weapons clashed against shields in rhythm. The sound was deafening, terrifying, thrilling.
"Tomorrow, we march to glory!" Voss shouted. "Tomorrow, you become the warriors who saved civilization itself!"
The cheering hurt my ears. Beside me, even Finn was yelling, his earlier fear forgotten.
But something felt wrong.
I couldn't explain it. Commander Voss said all the right words. He looked like a hero. He sounded like a hero. The other soldiers believed him completely.
So why did my skin crawl?
"Dismissed!" Voss ordered. "Rest well. Tomorrow, we make history!"
The formation broke apart. Soldiers clapped each other's backs, excited and eager. Finn grabbed my arm, grinning.
"Did you hear him? We're going to be heroes, Kieran!"
"Yeah," I said quietly. "Heroes."
But I kept thinking about that crying orc woman from yesterday. The one they'd executed. The one Voss called an animal.
She hadn't looked like an animal. She'd looked sad. Scared. Human.
"Ashfeld!" A voice cut through my thoughts.
I turned and my blood went cold.
Father's Church friend stood ten feet away, still wearing those expensive robes. Still smiling that same cold smile. Beside him stood Commander Voss himself.
"This is the boy I mentioned," the priest said to Voss. "Lord Edmund's youngest son. The... disappointing one."
Voss studied me like I was a horse he might buy. "Disappointing how?"
"Too soft. Too curious. Asks too many questions." The priest's smile widened. "His father worried he might lack the stomach for necessary work."
My face burned. Father had warned them I was weak. Of course he had.
"Is that so?" Voss stepped closer. His golden hair and shining armor made him look like an angel. But his eyes were cold as winter. "Tell me, boy—do you have the stomach for war?"
Everyone nearby went quiet, watching.
I wanted to look away. To run. But something stubborn in me refused to give Father the satisfaction.
"I'll do my duty, sir."
"Your duty." Voss tilted his head. "And what if your duty requires killing things that cry? Things that look almost human but aren't?"
My throat closed up. He knew. Somehow he knew I'd seen that orc woman crying.
"Orcs are animals, sir," I forced out. "That's what we're taught."
"Taught." Voss smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Not what you believe?"
The priest watched me like a cat watches a mouse.
"I believe... I'll follow orders, sir."
Wrong answer. I saw it in the way Voss's smile sharpened.
"I have special orders for you, Ashfeld." He motioned to a sergeant. "Tomorrow, this boy marches in the front line. First wave. I want to see exactly how much stomach he has."
The front line. First wave meant first to die.
"Yes, sir." The sergeant grabbed my shoulder. "I'll make sure of it."
Voss leaned close enough that only I could hear his next words. "Your father thinks you're too soft for war, boy. Let's find out if he's right. If you survive tomorrow, perhaps we'll talk about those supply crates you were nosing around yesterday."
My heart stopped.
He knew. Voss knew I'd found the Church supplies in the orc village. Knew I'd seen evidence that didn't match the story we were told.
"I didn't—"
"Dismissed, soldier." Voss turned away, already forgetting me.
But the priest lingered, his smile growing wider. "Do try to survive tomorrow, young Ashfeld. It would be such a shame if you died before we could have a longer conversation about what you've seen."
They walked away together, laughing about something.
I stood frozen, soldiers flowing around me like water around a rock.
Finn appeared at my elbow. "What was that about?"
"They're going to kill me tomorrow." The words came out flat. "They know I found something I shouldn't have. They're putting me where orcs will finish the job."
"That's crazy. Why would Commander Voss—"
"Because the Church supplies I found prove they're lying about this war." My voice shook. "And they can't let me tell anyone."
"Kieran, you're scared. You're imagining—"
"Look at me." I grabbed Finn's shoulders. "If I don't come back tomorrow, if I die in that first wave, you need to remember this: something is wrong with this war. The story they're telling us doesn't match what I saw. Promise me you'll remember."
Finn's eyes went wide with fear. "You're really serious."
"Promise me."
"I... I promise."
I released him and turned toward my tent, my mind racing. Front line. First wave. They were going to send me straight into orc blades and call it bad luck.
Unless I found a way to survive.
Unless I found proof that even Commander Voss couldn't ignore.
That night, I didn't sleep. I lay in my cot, staring at the tent ceiling, listening to other soldiers snore.
Around midnight, I heard voices outside. Quiet. Secretive.
I crept to the tent flap and peered out.
Commander Voss stood near the edge of camp with three other officers. They thought no one was watching. But moonlight caught their faces, and I saw Voss hand something to the others—papers, sealed with red wax.
Church seals. Just like the ones I'd seen on those supply crates.
"Burn everything," Voss said quietly. "No evidence. No witnesses. When we take the mountains tomorrow, I want every orc camp destroyed completely. Men, women, children—it doesn't matter. Dead orcs can't contradict our story."
One officer hesitated. "Sir, some of the men are asking questions about the raids. They say some villages looked like they were defending, not attacking—"
"Then those men meet unfortunate accidents in battle." Voss's voice was ice. "Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir."
They separated, heading to different tents.
I ducked back inside, my whole body shaking.
Commander Voss—the golden hero, the savior of humanity—had just ordered the murder of anyone who questioned the war.
Including me.
I had to survive tomorrow. Had to live long enough to expose the truth.
But how do you survive when your own commander wants you dead?