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“As far as the guards were able to tell us, he’s also not massacring wherever he attacks. He does cause high amounts of damage and slaughter, but he’s leaving far more survivors than he ever has before. It’s like he’s not trying to wipe out entire towns.”
“Like he’s looking for someone,” I said.
He was clearly trying to find Ayla, which meant that Yvonne’s magic was still working, and it also meant that the Shriek was searching for my mate. He could clearly tell she was still alive, too. So, some part of him had to have at least a vague connection to her we hadn’t managed to sever yet.
“Who could he be looking for? The Shrouded Shriek doesn’t have any family or any known allegiance beyond helping Vekas slaughter thousands of innocent civilians. He’s less of a man and more of a monster. No one has seen his face in generations, and he’s older than even the oldest cryptids.”
“I’m well aware,” I said. “Is Aodin around? I would like to discuss this with him before I need to speak to the council.”
“Of course. I’ll fetch him now.”
“Actually.” I glanced at my sister and gave her an apologetic look for leaving her side once again. “Could you find Miss Seraphina and Miss Halle here lodgings where they will both be safe and able to freshen up? Also, clothing that’s more fitting for Blath. I will go to Aodin if you tell me where he is.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the Arbiter said, tipping his head. I wanted to correct him so badly, to tell him to call me Kai, but the whole reason for staying on Blath was using my position as Prince Nikolai to help the growing rebellion land a blow to my father.
The Arbiter quickly told me where to find Aodin, and I was pleased that I did, indeed, remember that building from my second day of meeting with different political figures while Ayla had basically locked herself in Aodin’s impressive library.
I walked in on him speaking with two other people I didn’t recognize but were dressed in what looked like a public official uniform. For being so young, Aodin was awfully well-connected, which made me respect him all the more. Clearly, he’d worked hard to build himself up and wasn’t just a case of nepotism, yet he’d nearly thrown it all away in a moment to help me and my found family.
I was never going to forget that.
“Ah, Prince Nikolai!” he said, giving a small bow to the two he was speaking to before crossing to me. “We’ve had an exciting morning, haven’t we?”
“We have.”
“Where is your mate, by the way? Were you able to find the—”
“She was injured. We found the smuggler’s hold you showed us, and she’s there now. I would appreciate if you sent some healers there the moment the coast is clear.”
“I’m so sorry,” the fae said. “Why are you here, then? I wouldn’t expect you to be far from your mate if she’s injured.”
“I’m afraid I needed to talk to you. After everything you’ve done for us, I need a favor.”
“A favor? Whatever I can do to help the people, I’m game.”
“Can you send someone to Fort Canid to get a full report on the situation there? I’ve heard from the Arbiter you sent to me that there have been more sightings of the Shriek, and I have a theory I want to chase.”
“Hmm, it is quite difficult to get anything to the borders, considering how locked down Camdaria is right now. I don’t believe we could send any of our normal scouts, even with the different covert tunnels and safe houses we’ve established across the continent.”
My stomach sank at that, but I couldn’t be defeated so easily. Ayla needed me to go above and beyond, and one of the best ways I could do that was by getting information. “Is there nothing else available?”
Aodin thought a long moment before snapping his fingers. “I suppose we could ask Semir to help. It would be dangerous, but he’s always been fairly passionate about the cause.”
“Semir? Oh. The eagle shifter!”
“Yes, exactly. As you said before, avian shifters are so rare that Camdaria doesn’t really anticipate them. That’s a huge part of how we’ve managed to set up our covert points. We could send him there to contact one of our implants at the closest town and have them go to a contact within the fort.”
“You already have a contact around Canid?” I asked, surprised yet again. It really struck me as so bizarre that the fae had so much infrastructure built into a land mass they didn’t even live on.
“We try to have at least one around every military installation on the borderlands in case they need some help or are taken over. Keeping an eye on how far Vekas is from our land is of huge importance to all of our government.”
“Good to know. Thank you for doing all of this. Really.”
“No need to thank me. Anything that will give us an edge up, I’m game for, and one of the stupidest things to do in a war is to forget just how powerful a tool information can be.”
“Amen to that,” I said, feeling much more confident despite everything that’d happened.
A covert invasion by a ship filled with several dozen soldiers intent on viciously sacking Blath wasn’t great, but the bravery of my sister managed to subvert it. She really had made me and her people proud.
