Free Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) by B.T. Narro Page B

It’s only been a few days since they’ve overrun us, but those few days have been the worst of my life. How are Steffen and my sister?”
    Sanya wiggled one of her arms free to pat Gabby on the back. “They’re fine.” Although your sister would give anything to see me dead for what I did to Alex. “What’s been happening in Oakshen?”
    Gabby pulled Sanya back toward her pouch, lying askew against the tree roots, and glanced around nervously. “They’re forcing everyone to stay in the city, whipping anyone who even voices a complaint! They’ve taken control of the farms and haven’t yet fed anyone. They feed their soldiers well, making sure they eat where the rest of us can only watch. Some have joined the army in order to eat, but I’m not going to let hunger weaken me. I’ll never join.”
    “What do the men in charge look like?”
    “We call them Fatbellies. They speak like something’s bitter in their mouth, and they wear these enormous coats of some unknown black and brown fur.” She gestured around her shoulders as if wearing one of these coats. “They must come from somewhere else.”
    Greenedge. “How many are there?”
    “In charge? A baker’s dozen at most. I suppose there’s more in the capital, though. They’re forcing everyone to stay in Oakshen under threat of death. The old and sick are already dying from hunger.”
    “How many soldiers are in the city?”
    Gabby shook her head as if in pain. “It would be a tough battle. At least a thousand, and they’re building a wall around the city. It’ll take weeks before they’re finished, but if more keep joining from hunger, it might be sooner.”
    Starving the citizenry must’ve been Tauwin’s idea. He’d always needed complete control, acting like a child in that regard. If there was something he couldn’t have, he wanted it more. Even when his own father was the one standing in his way.
    “Has there been any talk of rebellion?” Sanya asked.
    “Yes, but none who want to rebel stay in Oakshen. They find a way to Trentyre or die trying. I want my family to rebel, but they’re fearful. They don’t know I’m out here because they would never allow it.”
    “Why haven’t people run to the Academy instead of Trentyre?”
    “It was announced that everyone will be fed once the Academy falls. They say the Academy is surrounded with no way in or out, and the headmaster will give up soon because he knows the people of Oakshen will starve until he does.”
    This was a patient and cunning plan. Tauwin couldn’t have come up with it. He must’ve actually listened to his advisors, who didn’t want to lose more men trying to take the Academy.
    “I think most of it is lies,” Gabby continued. “But people believe what they’re told. They think that if they behave, their children in the Academy will be delivered to them unharmed once this is over.”
    “Does anyone know how many men Tauwin has in total?”
    “I’m not sure, but he has people everywhere in common clothing, many acting as if they’ve lived in Oakshen for years. We don’t know where they came from, but people noticed them before the takeover.”
    Thousands of them arrived by sea. King Kerr’s charisma had made it difficult for Tauwin to recruit anyone loyal to the late ruler, but Kerr didn’t have enough men watching the small town of Gendock, or anyone who saw the boats docking at night never alerted him.
    “What about catapults?” Sanya asked.
    It was in Gabby’s wide and expressive eyes, now twinkling with fear and resentment, that she differed the most from Effie, who usually had a wiser and calmer look about her. “That must be what they’re working on! We’ve heard sounds of construction from the northern end of the city. The area has been closed off, yet people have seen something tall.”
    Building the siege weapons to the north means the Academy’s scouts might see them. Terren will attack preemptively if he’s as smart as he’s lauded to be. But