Newton remained flat against the frozen ground for several seconds after Muddock collapsed. His chest rose and fell violently.
The ringing in his ears still had not faded completely. Around him, the battlefield continued moving in flashes of noise and steel. Men screamed. Horses crashed into one another. Swords still rose and fell beneath torchlight even though the battle had already broken apart.
Snow beneath Newton's back had turned red. He blinked hard and forced himself upright slightly.
A few feet away, Muddock's body lay twisted in the mud while blood spread steadily beneath him. The arrow remained buried deep in his side.
Kelvin slowly climbed down from his horse. The dwarf limped heavily across the battlefield, breathing hard from exhaustion and pain. His injured shoulder still bled beneath the armor, yet he kept moving until he reached his uncle's corpse.
Then he bent down and picked up a sword. The steel reflected firelight across his face. For a brief second, he simply stared at Muddock, not with grief, not even anger anymore.
Only finality.
Then he grabbed his uncle's hair and brought the sword down. The sound of steel cutting flesh disappeared beneath the chaos around them.
Kelvin lifted the severed head by the hair and turned toward the battlefield. "Hold!" His voice cracked against the night air.
But nobody listened. The fighting continued. Men were too deep inside bloodlust now. Fear and rage still ruled the field. Green City soldiers fought desperately for survival while monastery knights and Kelvin's loyalists continued cutting them down.
Kelvin gritted his teeth. "Hold!"
Still nothing.
He tried climbing back onto his horse with the severed head still hanging from his grip, but his wounded shoulder failed him immediately. His foot slipped against the stirrup and he nearly collapsed.
Frustration flashed across his face. Then he looked toward Newton. "Help me!"
Newton pushed himself up slowly despite the pain throbbing through his skull. "Or more men will die!" That forced movement back into Newton's body.
He staggered toward Kelvin and grabbed him beneath the arm before lifting him carefully onto the horse. Kelvin winced sharply but managed to steady himself in the saddle.
Then he raised Muddock's head high into the air. His voice thundered across the battlefield this time. "Hold your weapons!"
The fighting slowed slightly.
"The battle is over!"
More soldiers turned now. "Muddock is dead!" That sentence spread through the battlefield like a storm wind.
Steel stopped meeting steel. Men froze where they stood. Some monastery knights lowered their swords first. Then Green City soldiers began turning slowly toward the center of the field.
Every eye settled on Kelvin. The dwarf sat atop the horse beneath a torchlight with blood covering his armor and Muddock's severed head hanging from his hand.
Silence spread gradually across the shoreline. Only the waves crashing against the harbor remained.
Kelvin rode slowly toward the center of the battlefield. Newton walked beside the horse quietly, his sword still stained dark with blood.
Dozens of bodies littered the snow around them. Dead mercenaries. Injured monastery knights. Dead Green City soldiers. The price of the throne.
Kelvin finally stopped near the center. He lifted Muddock's head slightly higher. No one spoke. Not even the wounded.
The silence stretched heavily beneath the cold wind.
Then Kelvin finally spoke. "I know many of you followed him out of fear." His voice carried across the field surprisingly well despite his exhaustion. "I know many of you followed him because he promised strength and safety."
He paused briefly, scanning their faces carefully. Some soldiers lowered their eyes. Others stared openly at Muddock's severed head.
Kelvin swallowed slowly before continuing. "But my father ruled this city before him." Emotion tightened his voice now. "And many of you once swore your swords to House Ezion honorably."
He looked across the surviving soldiers. "If you pledge those swords to me now, I will not punish you for following my uncle." The wind moved through the battlefield quietly.
Kelvin tightened his grip around the sword in his hand. "I will accept you as brothers." His voice steadied again. "And I will lead you as family."
For several long seconds, nobody moved. Then one soldier stepped forward slowly. He lowered his sword, and dropped to one knee. "My service belongs to you, my lord."
Another followed immediately after. Then another. Then dozens. Armor clanged across the battlefield as soldiers fell to their knees one after another. "My sword is yours to command."
"We pledge ourselves to Lord Kelvin."
"Long live the rightful Warden."
The movement spread quickly until most of the surviving Green City soldiers knelt before him beneath the torchlight.
Kelvin stared at them silently. For the first time since Newton found him bleeding in the forest, something steadier entered his face.
Authority.
Not fully formed yet, but rising. Then his eyes shifted toward the few who still remained standing.
Roughly twenty men. None of them lowered their weapons, none knelt.
Kelvin's expression tightened immediately. "You will not kneel?" The men exchanged brief glances. Finally one of them stepped forward. A broad-shouldered soldier with scars running across one side of his face. "Heller," someone whispered nearby. The man met Kelvin's gaze directly. "I cannot swear my sword to a dwarf."
Murmurs spread uneasily through the kneeling soldiers.
Kelvin's jaw clenched. "I am the one alive. The only surviving true heir to the Green Throne. "
Heller nodded slowly. "You may still breathe," he replied calmly, "but you are not fit to rule Green City." The words struck harder than open insults.
Kelvin's grip tightened around the sword.
Heller continued without fear. "We followed your uncle because he was the last meaningful Ezion left."
Rage flashed openly across Kelvin's face. "I am House Ezion!"
The soldier shook his head. "No." The battlefield remained silent again. "The Green Throne is no place for a cursed dwarf."
Several soldiers nearby looked uncomfortable immediately, but Heller did not stop. Kelvin leaned slightly forward atop the horse. "You would rather follow a murderer?"
Heller's expression barely changed. "Your father doomed this city the moment he named you his heir." Those words landed harder than blades. "He crossed the line of nature itself."
Kelvin looked like he had been struck across the face.
Heller pointed slowly toward the battlefield around them.
"Look around you." Bodies covered the frozen earth. Blood soaked the snow. "This calamity began the moment your father ignored the gods and chose a dwarf to rule."
Kelvin's breathing sharpened. "You dare speak of the gods after following a traitor?"
Heller's eyes remained steady. "I would rather die than kneel before a curse." The words echoed across the battlefield.
Kelvin's face twisted between fury and pain. For a second Newton thought the dwarf might order their execution immediately. Instead Kelvin simply stared at them.
Silent.
Hurt deeper than he wanted anyone to see. Newton stepped closer to his horse. "Do not waste your breath on them," he said quietly enough for only Kelvin to hear.
Kelvin remained still. Newton lowered his voice further. "They have already chosen who they are."
The dwarf's eyes hardened slowly..Newton glanced briefly toward the standing soldiers. "They are stubborn men."
Then it gets colder: "Execute them."
Kelvin inhaled sharply. For one dangerous second, Newton thought he might actually give the order.
Instead Kelvin closed his eyes briefly before shaking his head. "No." He looked toward his soldiers. "Arrest them."
Several Green City soldiers rose immediately and surrounded Heller and the others with drawn swords.
None resisted. None begged. Heller simply handed over his weapon calmly. "You are making a mistake," he told Kelvin quietly as chains were brought forward.
Kelvin's face remained cold now. "Take them away." The prisoners were marched toward the city gates beneath heavy guard while the battlefield slowly began settling into exhausted silence.
Newton finally turned away from the scene. His head still throbbed painfully from Muddock's shield strike. The cold air stung the cut near his temple. But another worry had already begun rising stronger inside him.
Time.
He found the monastery knights gathered near the shoreline tending to the wounded. Torches burned around makeshift treatment areas while physicians from Green City hurried between injured men carrying cloth and bowls of steaming water.
Tywin stood nearby wiping blood from his sword. "You survived," he muttered when Newton approached.
"Barely."
Tywin's eyes moved briefly toward Muddock's head, now mounted near the battlefield center. "The city is his now."
Newton nodded absently. His attention shifted immediately toward the wounded brothers. He counted carefully.
One, two, five, ten injured. But no dead monastery knights. Relief loosened something inside him instantly. Then he spotted Ally lying against a wooden cart while physicians worked around his stomach wound.
Newton hurried over immediately. Blood soaked the cloth pressed against Ally's side. The knight still managed a weak grin when he saw Newton. "You look worse than me."
Newton crouched beside him. "Are you alright?" Ally exhaled painfully. "I will live."
Newton glanced sharply toward one of the physicians. "How bad is it?" The older man continued cleaning the wound carefully before answering.
"Deep."
Newton's stomach tightened. "But survivable," the physician added quickly.
Newton exhaled slowly. "How soon can he travel?"
The physician looked up at him like the question itself was ridiculous. "Travel?"
"We sail tonight."
The physician immediately shook his head. "That will not happen."
Newton frowned. "He requires treatment."
"For how long?"
"At least three days before he is strong enough for a sea journey." The words struck Newton harder than expected.
Three days.
His fingers twitched immediately. "No."
The physician frowned. "If he travels before then, the wound may reopen."
Newton barely heard the rest. Three days..His father's voice echoed clearly inside his skull now. You must return every weekend. Never miss the shaving.
Cold unease crawled through him instantly. He had already delayed too long. Newton stepped away from the physicians and dragged a hand across his face.
Three days.
His chest tightened. The memory of Edmond's warnings returned one after another. Never allow anyone to see your hair. Never miss the shaving. No matter what happens.
Newton's breathing sharpened slightly. Around him, Green City celebrated victory. Soldiers embraced one another. Torches brightened the harbor while bells echoed from inside the city walls.
But Newton barely noticed any of it now..He stared out toward the dark sea instead. Then finally muttered under his breath: "Oh gods."
Real panic entered his face for the first time that entire night. "My father is going to behead me."