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I sucked in a breath even as I nodded. At least Asinia and Demos would guard each other’s backs.
Demos glanced at her, but unsurprisingly, he didn’t argue. My brother preferred Asinia where he could see her, even if he still refused to admit such a thing to himself.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I refused to think about the risks. Instead, I considered the tactical implications. We could have used Demos’s power for Jamic’s rescue. Asinia was also becoming incredible with her crossbow.
Vynthar prowled over to me. “I will go with them.”
“Really?”
“I do not say things I do not mean.”
Some of the weight lifted from my shoulders. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
* * *
While Prisca cooed to the monster—who preened for her like a house cat—I nodded at Galon, who rolled out his map, laying it on the floor in the middle of the room.
Everyone leaned closer.
“While traveling, we heard rumors of Regner’s ships moving south along the eastern coast,” Galon said.
Madinia nodded. “I heard the same.”
“And then there are his regiments,” I said. “We visited a number of them while searching for Prisca.”
Her eyes met mine, her expression softening slightly.
Demos moved until he was sitting in front of the map. “Regner’s positioning his foot soldiers southeast along your border, while he readies his fleet to attack from the coast.”
I studied the continent.“They’ll either attempt to take Quorith or bypass it completely as they navigate the southern coastline. From there, they’ll attack the fae lands from both the south and the northeast. If Eryndan cooperates with Regner, and so far, I can’t see why he wouldn’t, then the Gromalians will also attack from the east.”
“They’re not attempting to get to the hybrid kingdom,” Galon mused.
A tiny bit of luck. We wouldn’t have had a chance if the humans had been able to attack on both fronts.
“No,” I said. “Thanks to the sea serpents, they can’t get their ships across the Sleeping Sea. And they know the hybrids on this continent are currently forced to rely on the fae for protection. Regner’s aware of the hybrid camp. It’s why he wants to break the ward.”
“You think he can break it?” Marth spoke up from his spot in the corner of the room.
I met his eyes. “If Regner brings down the barrier and takes that power, there’s no question he could break our ward. It may be ancient, but since the theft of the amulet from the fae responsible for shoring up that ward, it has barely been reinforced. Even without the barrier, if he feeds enough of his stolen power into those on the front, they could likely take it down.” And the slaughter would be unimaginable.
Prisca paled. Turning her attention back to the map, she pointed at the border between Gromalia and the fae lands. “Eryndan can’t position himself along this section of the border yet—since the Gromalian rebels still hold it.”
Asinia let out a bitter laugh. “Eryndan was never going to ally with us. He wanted us to lay waste to that camp so he could station his own people there, ready to march on the fae lands.”
Prisca nodded, but she raised her head, addressing both Asinia and Demos. “We need the rebels on our side—and not just for our own tactical reasons. If they don’t ally with us, they’re dead.”
It was risky, but the rebels had no one else to turn to. I watched Prisca as she squared her shoulders. They’d taken her brother, and she was still trying to save their lives.
Regner had taken her, and I’d slaughtered hundreds.
I wasn’t fit to be in the same room as Prisca. But I was keeping her anyway.
Demos nodded, glancing at Asinia, who stuck out her chin. “We’ll take care of it, Pris.”
I considered our options. If Prisca succeeded with Rekja, convincing him to turn on his father…
