The battle was worse than she’d imagined it would be. Veri had never really experienced anything quite like it. The fight in Draga had been bad, but this…

This was so much worse.

She couldn’t tell if they were winning or not. All she could do was keep fighting – keep pushing forward as they fought side by side with the rebel Neprijat.

Asher had taken over the small army they had brought with Sozav. Right as they’d started to move for Khara. Adelina had asked William to lead the Draga Royal Army. Ajax and Vasara helped him alongside Sirus and the other lords and ladies.

So many warships.

Enemies fell from the sky – broken parts raining doom on the planets below. Reports from the warriors on the ground gave a muddied picture. Her hands started to ache from gripping the steering on her fighter so tightly.

Veri just kept firing at the Neprijat – keeping a wary eye out for their allies in the same ships but with red and gold splashed across their bows.

She would never lie to Adelina. There had been a few mistakes and some of the Neprijat rebels had been taken down by friendly fire, but chaos reigned. Keeping everything straight with the chatter on the fleet-cast and the ships flying in every direction was not easy.

The Draga warships were nearly too far and she would have to turn back around soon. Otherwise the cover fire would be out of range and she’d be a sitting duck.

Veri was tired and hungry and her tongue felt thick from thirst. All she needed was a quick break, but there didn’t seem to be an end to this battle. Every time she thought they’d cleared a good section of space, more Neprijat appeared out of nowhere to fight back.

The teams on the ground were having just as much difficulty. Some had found the slaves that had been freed. Some took out the anti-aircraft tech, and others still had taken military outposts. But not enough.

When the Neprijat had realized what was happening, they’d slaughtered thousands of slaves before they could leave their pens. Then they’d released what felt like all the hounds that existed. Those howls and screams over the channels felt like a never-ending nightmare as she took out ship after ship.

Thank all the gods for the tech and weapons Adelina had taken. Without them Veri didn’t want to think about what would have happened – the slaughter and genocide of her people that would have occurred.

Adelina’s small fleet had broken off a while ago and was taking care of Khara Prime’s space.

The Draga Royal Army had gotten through the first border planet, Kepri, from the Hai System inward. Veri had felt sick to her stomach to see the devastation there. It had been one of the first to fall to the Neprijat and all the royals from Serval House had been confirmed dead.

The Neprijat had planted most of their military there as the first line of defense. Getting through that would never have happened without the rebel Neprijat firing on their own – confusing the enemy with familiar ships.

“Veri, get back in the Rosanera’s range,” Asher snapped, flying alongside her for a brief moment before diving back into the fray.

She gritted her teeth, hating that she had to give up hard-won ground. They were so close to the next planet, Leva. Only one more after that and they would meet with Adelina at the capitol.

The speed the queen’s ships had was nothing short of remarkable. She’d left most of the fleet in the dust other than those starships she’d taken with her to work on the inner planets. The Drakesthai warships were ungodly fast as well.

Firing and taking down enemy after enemy, Veri headed back – following Asher’s orders. Fighters screamed around the larger ships, firing at each other – at the weapons on the warships, and even the med-ships.

There were no rules of war in this Goddess-forsaken place. The Neprijat must sense the end for them was near because there was no mercy. They took down everything they could, even the non-combat ships meant to support the fleet.

They’d tried to target the supply ships first, but Adelina had made sure those had the best shields.

It had infuriated Veri enough she’d taken out those bombers first with her squad. Asher led another, and William still another. The Neprijat rebels had four squads of their own, plus Brogna, the Unchanged, and a few Drakesthai.

All fought for Adelina – for Khara’s freedom.

For their own freedom.

Because if they lost…

Veri cursed. She’d been too slow and her ship took fire. The plasma struck an engine and the thing exploded, rocking her off course. Her luck had finally run out. “I’m hit,” she told Asher, making sure to select both his and her squad as well as the Rosanera. “I’m right over Kepri.”

The fighter shook as alarms blared. A fire had started and she coughed as smoke filled the cockpit.

“I’m going to have to make an emergency landing,” she shouted, keying in commands and activating her helmet. The top of the cockpit popped off, sucking the fire out. Thank the Goddess for these suits of armor.

“Veri, send me your coordinates now,” Asher demanded, cutting through the other chatter.

“I’m sorry, mia principe,” she said, tapping more keys. A spare piece of plas-glass slid over her head and sealed the cockpit once more. Then Veri aimed the fighter for Kepri. “I’ll have to finish the rest of this battle on the ground.”

“I’ve locked onto your signal,” Asher snapped, hiding the fear she knew was there. If their positions were reversed she would have been frantic. “I’m coming down with you.”

Asher handed over command of the squad to his lieutenant at the same time she did to hers. Veri shoved down the relief she felt that he wouldn’t let her fight alone. Without a legion she would be in danger until they found their people, rebels, or even the enslaved Corinthians.

Despite the fact they’d taken the space around Kepri, the fight on the surface was a completely different battle.

When she hit the thin atmosphere of the border planet her fighter nearly tore apart. Veri needed it to hold just a little longer so she wouldn’t burn up in the descent to the ground, but who knew what Adelina had designed this armor to do.

Veri didn’t think it would be prudent to test its limits.

“I’m aiming for the largest base,” Veri told him. She studied the schematics as her arms started to hurt from keeping the fighter steady. “It looks like enemy debris hit most of the base.”

“Veri…be careful,” Asher gritted out, his fighter on her tail.

It took all her skill and training to steer the fighter in the direction she wanted it to go. One engine was down and the other was barely limping along – having to do the work for two.

Then she burst through the minimal cloud cover and saw it wasn’t clouds at all, but smoke from the buildings burning. There was so much fire and chaos Veri veered the ship toward a landing strip outside the base she’d picked.

From what she could tell it looked like they were winning Kepri, even if there were swarms of hounds here and there.

“I won’t die,” Veri promised Asher. “At least not landing this thing. Meet me on the ground my love?”

His tired chuckle was music to her ears. “Anything for you, Veri. I’ll be right behind you.”

And she smiled, the ache in her hands easing a bit. Because she knew he would be – deep in her soul Veri knew Asher would always be there for her, even in death.

Asher ripped the cockpit open and pulled Veri from the destroyed fighter.

She’d landed as best she could, but the terrain had been rough – tearing off the landing gear. It had sent her tumbling end over end – ripping the ship apart with each impact.

“Hey, Veri, open your gorgeous eyes,” Asher pleaded, checking her over as gently as he could.

Her helmet had deactivated at some point and he was frantic. A quick scan told him she was breathing, but unconscious. Another scan indicated a shard of metal in her ribs. “Don’t you dare die,” he snarled.

How had the metal even gotten through the armor? Asher gently laid her down on the sand, eyeing the terrain and his holo of the surrounding area. They were alone. For now.

Apparently her armor malfunctioned when the ship had been hit, shorting the shield when they landed. It had allowed the metal rod to pierce her ribs, and then shear off when she hit the surface of Kepri.

There was so much blood.

Asher’s hands shook as he followed the instructions of the field medic program spouting off the steps from his gauntlet. He leapt to his feet and grabbed the med pack from her ship, tearing it open before he knelt by her side again.

This battle had been nothing like the one in Draga. It had been nothing like anything he’d ever studied before. The strategy had been sound and they’d pulled off more than he would have ever guessed. Asher would never admit to anyone how deep his doubts had gone, but they’d taken three of Khara’s planets back – even if there were still fights on the ground and above.

The tide was finally beginning to turn.

But none of that mattered to Asher if Veri died. If he couldn’t save her…

He cursed again as the scan showed two broken ribs where the metal had practically pried them apart with her rough landing. Asher’s DNA overrode her suit’s commands and the armor widened the hole in the spidersilk around the wound so he could work.

The med-seal would keep her from bleeding out, but he would physically have to pull the metal shard from her ribs. Asher paused as he studied it, shoving down the queasy sensation that rose up.

This was why he’d never pursued the medical field. Asher could barely stomach injuries.

It was a completely different situation to tend them rather than cause them.

He wrapped his hands around the metal shard, his gloves protecting his skin, and then pulled. The second it gave he slapped the med-seal over the massive puncture and let it do what needed to be done. Special med gel filled the hole while nanites investigated the interior.

It would hold her together long enough to get her back on one of their ships.

Asher checked his gauntlet again and cursed when he saw the hounds on the move. He didn’t know if his enemy would come to the outskirts of this city, but the hounds didn’t have that kind of sound logic.

They would go where they smelled blood.

Tapping a command into her suit, he ran through all the possibilities while he watched the armor seal back over – repairing itself in the process. Then he slid his arms underneath her and lifted.

Asher would not lose her.

He eyed his fighter and growled his frustration. It was too small for two people and damaged from his sloppy landing after he’d panicked when he lost her transmission.

They would have to walk to another ship – per his map of the terrain there were a few close by he could commandeer, but those hounds were making their way to his location.

He didn’t have a choice.

Cradling her to his chest, Asher ran as fast as he could. He watched the map and scanned the terrain with his own two eyes. Both were what would keep them alive for as long as possible. He’d already sent up a signal for rescue – but who knew when someone would make it to the ground?

The battle still raged above them.

Asher eyed the skies as well, praying that falling debris caught in the planet’s gravitational pull wouldn’t obliterate them before he could get them both to safety.

Cursing, he stopped. The hounds must have caught their scent because they were heading straight for them rather than in hunting patterns.

A signal came through and Asher almost didn’t answer it – but then he saw it was the queen.

Gritting his teeth he answered. “What?”

“The king is dead,” Adelina stated – her voice was nearly unrecognizable with how cold and unfeeling it was. The same voice she’d had since they’d lost Giselle.

The king was dead.

Despite the overwhelming relief he felt, Asher feared it was too late.

“Congratulations sister, but I’m not sure I’ll make it off Kepri to celebrate with you.”

More dots on his holo appeared. There was nowhere for them to hide. He could escape back to his fighter and take off, but he would never leave Veri to these monsters.

Asher glanced back, seeing his fighter off in the distance. Could he make it back before the hounds came while carrying her? He could squeeze them into the cockpit and activate the shield until help arrived.

His sister didn’t respond to his statement.

“How fares the battle on the border?” the queen asked.

“We haven’t made it to Khara Prime,” Asher stated, still contemplating his next move. “Sirus?”

“The horde is closing in,” Sirus reported. “I’m holding the border, but everything I’m reading says their weapons are priming. Do we know their range?”

Gods be damned bad luck. Asher turned back to his fighter, sprinting as fast as he could with the precious cargo in his arms.

They’d managed to fail even though they’d killed the king. It hadn’t stopped the horde.

Instead they were probably going to obliterate everything in retaliation and take all three systems for themselves. A Neprijat prince – only one, was leading that horde.

At least there was that, Asher thought as he ran – hearing the howls and screams of the hounds as they got closer. The Neprijat were too territorial to have more than one king and one prince. Any royal males conceived after the heir were slaughtered in the womb.

It had disgusted him when Sozav had told him, but now he was grateful there was only one. Perhaps Adelina would still find a way to take the Neprijat – even if he doubted the majority of them would survive this. He was already on his last legs…

There—bloody hells.

Asher picked up the pace as the hounds burst from the brush, scurrying after him faster than he could run.

He wasn’t going to make it.

“I’m on my way,” Adelina stated. “Hold the lines just a little longer. Make sure our people are inside that line I drew. And Asher? I don’t give you permission to die. Find a solution.”

He wanted to call her every nasty name in the book, but the dominance in her command forced him to speed up.

“I’ll do what I can,” he gritted out.

Veri groaned as the hounds grew closer, their hunting screams spurring him on.

They were so close. And Asher realized they might actually make it – or at least Veri would. He couldn’t get them both inside in time, but he could toss her up just before the hounds reached them.

Five more steps. Then three.

Asher tossed her into the cockpit and spun around, unsheathing his blades. Plasma sparked and he beheaded two of the hounds in mid-leap. Still more came.

He fought back with everything he had – everything he’d ever learned; every dirty trick in the book. Asher fought for Veri – he fought for their future. He fought for his people and the time they needed to finish this.

The king was dead, but they had one more obstacle to survive – and to die now…

Asher wouldn’t allow it.

“William, drop your current orders.” Asher grunted as he managed to dodge a bite that would have taken his head off had it landed. “Assist Sirus in reinforcing the border. Leave the planets to those on the ground.”

Thirty hounds surrounded him, but his queen’s will would be done. Even if he had no bloody clue why she was so insistent on bringing their people behind the line she’d drawn on the map before this all had started. At this point Asher didn’t have the luxury of questioning her. He could only obey.

Which included somehow not dying.

He roared as he fought off two at once and then suddenly…they were obliterated.

Asher blinked in confusion, but then more plasma fire from his fighter hit the hounds, scattering them and sending them to the sky in pieces.

Veri was awake.

Grinning, Asher climbed up into the fighter while she took out hound after hound with a fierce look on her face. Before she could say anything he grabbed her and kissed her hard – needing the reminder she was alive and well—that they weren’t dead yet.

“You have the most perfect timing, as always,” Asher murmured, watching her take out more with that irresistible smile on her face.

“It’s part of why you love me,” she agreed. “Now can you help me out and get us a ride off of this rock? I want to be in the skies with our queen when she unleashes herself on the horde.”

Asher keyed in another request – commanding his ship to drop what they were doing now and fetch them. “What makes you say that?” he asked.

Veri grimaced and took out the last two hounds. She released the steering and leaned back, sweat beading on her forehead. Asher checked her wound again and sent off another message to send a med team to greet them as well.

“Because,” Veri said, rolling her head to the side to stare into his eyes. “She’s been holding back. And Giselle’s death was the key to those locks. Whatever she has planned – she’s not going to be gentle about it.”

A Rosanera transport descended, landing nearby. The med team ran to them and Asher helped Veri stand. “I hope you’re right, my love,” he said, carefully handing her off to one of the physicians. “It would be no less than they deserve.”

Giselle had regained her honor with her death – but losing her could not go unpunished.

And Asher couldn’t wait to see what the true Queen of Draga had come up with to punish them for ripping their family to pieces.

Push their enemy outside the Kepri border – as many of them as they could. Sirus didn’t understand why when the queen had given them that order, but he’d obeyed. Now he relayed her instructions to hold that border and anyone on the other side to retreat – to the Scyrian Army. And William did the same with the rest of the fleet.

They all turned around, left the rest to be dealt with later – and pushed as many warships to the border as they could. They rounded them up and sent them fleeing if they did not destroy them altogether.

It had been hours – half the day?

Time was strange during a battle and Sirus had lost all sense of it the moment they crossed into the Khara System.

The king was dead.

Those words rippled through their forces over the channels – repeating it over and over. The vid footage would be watched later, but their queen had killed the king and given his final death blow to the Corinthian royals.

Whoever had been there had started whispering the details over the transmissions and it had spread like wildfire. It reignited the hope and determination in their fighters. Sirus could see it in the way the fighters became bolder – taking more risks but coming out the victor rather than perishing for getting tired and sloppy.

The young warrior was out there, and per his console he was still alive. Sirus tried not to think too much about it – about the kindness he’d done him when he’d started slipping.

All the gods…he missed Joslynn.

His army kept pushing, getting right up to the border and then stopping. Sirus repeated the order for any forces outside the line to pull back – get behind the Warrior’s Curse. Instantly they obeyed. But some were slow on the return.

As he watched, Sirus remembered the way Joslynn smelled. How her red hair looked splayed out on a pillow. The taste of her lips. The sharp-tongued sass that drove him up the wall—that teased him.

For her – for her he would make sure Pedranus was safe. The horde would not make it past that line. Even if he knew the weapons they were powering up would shatter every ship in his army – and all the warships behind him.

It didn’t matter as long as it gave Joslynn a safe home and a future.

“Shields up and weapons at the ready,” Sirus ordered.

Even with what they’d scavenged from the Neprijat – their range couldn’t reach the horde. They would be in the horde’s range long before they could ever get a shot off.

But it didn’t matter, because even if this was the end for him. Sirus knew in his heart Adelina would lead them to victory. Somehow she would win. And Joslynn would be safe. For that he was willing to die.

Varan was furious with her – she could tell.

But Adelina was too focused on what she still had to do to care, or take the time to comfort him.

Nash was rattled, but Kaiden…he hadn’t been there. Thank the Goddess for that at least.

Adelina could still feel the blood on her nails, sticky and thick. She squeezed her hand into a fist and relished the king’s death.

The debt had been paid.

Now she had to make sure they would all live to see their victory.

Weapons were primed and ready to fire on her forces. Reports said the Neprijat horde was locked in on every planet in Khara. As well as the border planets in Hai. Not to mention every damn warship they had.

Three minutes and they would fire.

Adelina couldn’t wait until she reached the border. “Is everyone behind that line?”

No one really understood the reason for her orders, but regardless they had obeyed as best they could.

More reports flooded the channels and the captain gave her a grim look – speeding through the Khara System at the same reckless speed they’d used to reach the capitol. “Most of them yes, others still are on their way back after holding those lines.”

“Good.” Adelina pressed the seal on her palm to her chest and the panel slid open to reveal a tiny pocket. Just large enough to hide something of importance. Everyone stared at her as she pulled out the key P’draic had given her.

It was nothing special. About the same size as a disc, but it had two buttons on it which only her DNA could use.

All three of her mates zeroed in on it and she could feel the way they bristled behind her. No doubt they felt irritated she’d left them out of her final plan, but Adelina had really hoped it wouldn’t come to this.

And if she failed…they could blame only her.

“Adelina, I’m aboard the Rosanera. Where are you?” Asher demanded over the channel – cutting across all the other voices.

“Stay behind the line,” she ordered, hiding the relief that he was alive. Then she pressed her thumb to the first button and waited.

Shouts over the channels as the shield began wrapping around the Khara System. Khara was a little smaller than Draga, and she’d had P’draic improve this shield. It spread like a roaring tidal wave – covering in minutes what had taken her father weeks in Draga.

“What the bloody hell is this?” Asher demanded over the transmission.

And then the Jasmine reached Kepri and pulled up alongside the Royal Rosanera.

No one on Command said a word as they beheld the sparkling shield covering the entire system – protecting them from the horde.

Those weapons fired regardless and Adelina watched as the shield shuddered but held. They couldn’t take much more of those hits. P’draic had only enough time to make her what she’d needed for a desperate chance – not a long term solution.

“Adelina, please explain?” Kaiden said, always the peacekeeper.

“I need a report on those females, children, and rebel males that were on the horde ships,” Adelina said instead. “Sozav, Asher?”

“Adelina!” Asher yelled over the fleet-cast. “This is a death trap! We cannot sit behind this shield forever.”

Still, she didn’t answer. Her hands trembled as she tapped the side and a tiny holo popped up over the small device.

“What is going on?” the captain finally asked, cutting through the chatter on the fleet-cast and the various channels between the squads. “Are we making our final stand?”

More shots fired against the shield and it started to buckle. Adelina didn’t have time to waste answering questions that would keep until they survived – or they didn’t.

“What are your orders?” Asher demanded. “Are we supposed to just sit here?”

“Adelina, I’m still outside the shield with a few other Draga warships,” Sozav reported. “They’ve evacuated who they can and we’re coming at you. They’re firing on us.”

“Send me the vid and your exact location,” Adelina ordered. Her sharp voice cut through everyone else’s. She leaned into her dominance and everyone aboard her ship went silent.

Sozav rattled off the numbers and she went to her console in the center of Command, right before the massive window that showed her the glowing purple shield, their fleet and through the shield – the horde.

A vid popped up and she expanded it with a flick of her fingers and then shoved it to the side so everyone could see, but it didn’t block her view. Then she tapped out the commands she’d made sure were in this shield as well.

Thank the Goddess they’d been able to test it in Hai.

“Come to these coordinates as quickly as you can, all of you,” she told Sozav. “You have fifty seconds before it’ll be too late.”

Sozav didn’t question her. He didn’t ask why.

Kaiden, Nash, and Varan stepped closer to her until she could feel them brushing against her shoulders in support. They may be furious with her – but they would stand with her no matter what.

Even now when it looked like she was about to sign their own death warrant.

“Adelina, please tell me what’s going on,” Asher practically pleaded. “Tell me what I need to do.”

“Nothing, little brother,” she murmured, calculating the time and the distance as she entered the code into the device. “You’ve taken care of me my entire life. Let me take care of you now. Let me take care of our people. If I fail…just know there is nothing else we could do now other than die. Let me try it my way first.”

The words were private, full of the love she had for her family. Adelina wanted them all to live. She wanted them to have a future where Asher and Veri were able to get married and William could fall in love.

She wanted all of this and more.

It didn’t matter that everyone could hear her over the fleet-cast. Adelina didn’t care. She wanted them all to know. This was her acting as queen, but also as a friend, a sister, a daughter, a wife…

Adelina glanced over her shoulder at Varan and he nodded. She was doing this for them too. Because if they had to fight that horde – most of them would die. Even if they won, the victory would be nothing more than ash with a handful of people left to rule over.

“The shield is open,” she told those outside the shield. “You have ten seconds.”

Then a small portal opened to the left in a square just large enough to let a few ships through the shield at a time. Neprijat rebels poured in and she tapped the console, ordering the other rebels, the pirates, and Brogna to guard that tiny square in a shield so large it covered an entire system.

More shots fired at her shield and it flickered in locations, weakened by the opening. A few more and it would disintegrate.

Adelina’s heart pounded as she counted out loud the remaining time before she had to close the opening.

Everyone on command was tense as they watched those ships full of innocents pour in. She knew, even before she got to the final number, that she would have to cut off some of those still behind the shield.

Battle still waged within the shield, but her people had done well. Most of their enemy had been eradicated or put outside the line however they could.

It wasn’t just innocents outside the shield. Some of their warships were as well and Adelina felt tears fill her eyes as she reached two and then one.

Her thumb hesitated over the command for a split second and then the captain was yelling at her that more enemy weapons were primed, that they’d primed them all.

A single tap and the square closed – trapping any of their people still on the outside with the horde and whatever innocents who hadn’t made it in time.

But that wasn’t why she was crying. Those tears finally spilled down her cheeks as she moved her finger over the second button, sending up silent prayers to all the gods and goddesses to forgive what she was about to do.

Adelina pressed down on the second button.

A glimmering shield appeared behind the Neprijat horde and wrapped around the entire system as well. She made sure to display all the readings and vids she could find and put them up for all to see, making the information public and sending it to the updated livestream.

“What in all the hells?”

She didn’t bother responding to Nash as she entered a second code – one that would damn her soul for the rest of her life. Adelina would spend the rest of her existence trying to repent for this.

“They’re trapped,” the captain said in confusion. “They’re trapped between both shields.”

“Yes,” she agreed, looking up and finding their ships on the outside. Thankfully there weren’t many, but more than she could stand. “I apologize for not being able to save everyone, but at least this will keep the majority of our peoples alive.”

No one questioned her this time – somehow the entire fleet-cast was silent as they waited to see what she would do.

Adelina tapped the final key that would send her soul to hell when she died.

A wall of fire built from every point that supported the inner shield.

It burst outward, straight toward the horde.

She would never forget the sounds of those on the other side – the screams of fear before their transmissions were cut from the fleet-cast. Adelina would never forget the destruction that wall of fire caused as it ripped through the space between the inner shield and the outer shield – one massive wave that would clear the space around the entire Khara System.

The weapon P’draic had created didn’t just break apart the ships, destroying them as it ripped through anything in its path with a fury that matched her own.

It vaporized them.

There was no debris left to float in space – no bodies of the dead to collect. Trillions of ships were nothing more than dust.

Adelina had gotten retribution for her people and so many others. But she’d also had to sacrifice so much.

The entire fleet-cast was silent as they took in the utter destruction. They all watched as that wall of fire hit the second shield and came back. It would slowly die down, bouncing between the two until the force of that blast died.

It wasn’t normal fire. It was made of many things and didn’t require oxygen to burn. Adelina had no idea what P’draic had discovered, but one day she would read his dissertation on it.

“There’s nothing left,” Asher murmured over the fleet-cast.

No. There was not.

Not a single horde ship had survived out of trillions.

And neither had those she’d been forced to leave outside the inner shield or let everyone perish. The weapon could not be used without both shields or everything within the Khara System would have been obliterated as well – and if it had made it to the sun…

Adelina kept her shoulders back and nodded as they all stared at her in a mixture of wonder and horror. “I need reports on the fight within Khara.”

“We’ve taken Minara,” William managed.

“Kepri is taken,” Asher murmured. His voice was still quiet from witnessing what she’d done—done to save as many as she could. “Leva will fall soon and we have their space secured as well as Lithia. Both will be completely ours shortly.”

The Drakesthai reported the same within the inner planets.

Adelina had won.

But it had cost her.

Those tears dried on her face as she nodded.

A lifetime to repent.

The Wolf of Draga protected its own.

And that’s what Adelina had done. She did not regret her choices. But she would carry their weight forever.

Then she crushed the device in her hand into a million pieces and let the shards covered in her blood fall to the ground.

“Our hunt has ended in blood and victory,” she stated, looking back at her husbands. “Gather our forces. There is still work to be done yet.”