"Pleasure." Auri’s gaze rakes over me with an assessment that makes my skin prickle, giving me the distinct impression I've been weighed, measured, and found severely wanting. Or worse yet, that Auri knows what Ellie and I were discussing before the fae got here.
Kai growls at her, his shadows snaking around his forearms like bands of midnight.
Auri gives Kai a vulgar gesture without even looking in his direction.
“You. Food.” Logan breaks off a piece of bread and dips it in the stew before holding it to my lips.
“I can feed myself.”
“But you aren’t, are you?” He waggles the food in front of me the way one does to entice a puppy. Or, I suppose, a wolf cub. "You haven't eaten solid food in a week. Your body needs to remember how this works. Plus, I like doing it.”
Logan watches every swallow. Offering more until I finally gather myself together enough to take over.
"So, what's happening?" I ask, taking up the spoon. I hope to hell I sound nonchalant. Normal.
"Nothing that you need to concern yourself about," Auri says. "Does it really take all three of you to deliver a bowl of soup to one human?"
"It takes only one of us to throw you into a lake," Kai says.
"Initial reports put the incoming Eryndor force at three times our number," Kyrian says, earning a disapproving look from Auri.
“You do know that Rowan here is technically part of said Eryndor force, right? And, if my understanding is correct, the blood niece of the Eryndor queen?” She waves a hand in the air. “The undying love between her and Kai notwithstanding of course.”
“She is also about to be in the middle of battle. She deserves to know what we are facing.”
“Eryndor. We are facing Eryndor,” Auri says, enunciating the word. A faint gust of wind slips under the tent flap ruffling the bedding and cooling the air. The smell of wet earth moves in on the scent of stew. “I’d wager a guess she knows what that means better than we do.”
Kyrian lowers his head for a moment then turns on Auri, his shoulders spread. “Enough.” The word is clipped. Quiet. Powerful. “We made a pact with Rowan. She gave us her word and I take her at it. When we are on Slate territory, you may do as you wish. But right now, we stand on Flurry ground. Please do not overestimate the welcome of your council on this matter.”
The food that tasted so delicious moments ago suddenly turns to lead in my stomach.
Without waiting for Auri’s answer, Kyrian deliberately spreads the map he’s been carrying on the low table, ensuring that I can see. Outside, a fat drop of rain hits the tent right above us and runs in a thin line down the canvas. The growing rhythm of the drops makes the conversation feel urgent. As if anyone needs the extra stress. “In the ideal situation, we’d simply retreat,” he says. “But that risks the egg and we will not do that to the draken. That leaves us three options: One — set up a stronghold around the draken field and defend it with everything we have.”
“That lets you leverage defenses to their maximum,” I say, wanting to show that I’ve at least some competence in strategy. I’m not sure who I’m trying to impress exactly, but I suspect it's Auri. Also, she seems unimpressed. I clear my throat. “But it also centers the fighting around the very youngling you want to protect. And, should the defensive line fall, there won’t be any recourse. I’d think luring the entire engagement away from the draken field is the wiser choice, especially since Eryndor thinks draken are more like flying horses than anything else. No reason for the marching army to veer away from the real fighting to go raid what amounts to a half-empty stable.”
Sorry, Nyx, I say in my head, though I have no idea if the draken can hear me. I’ve only heard him speak once, when first learning about Logan’s mating bond.
There is no reply.
A heartbeat later, relief and terror flood me in equal measure. Thank the stars there is no reply—because if there had been, if Nyx could read my mind…
“What’s wrong?” Logan’s brows narrow as he seems to search me for signs of sudden injury. “You’ve just gone pale as milk.”
I shake myself. “Just still getting used to the whole not being dead thing. It’s tiring.” I make a point of bringing my attention back to the group leaning over the map. “So, am I right?”
Kai nods. The motion is small, almost imperceptible—yet it makes warmth spread through my chest.
I hate how much his approval matters to me.
Kyrian doesn’t seem to notice the exchange. “My thinking matches yours. Perhaps if we were defending an actual stronghold like a castle, the strategy would make sense, but even Autumn’s impressive wards won't turn a field into a fortress overnight.”
“The second option is the flip of the first,” says Kai, looking at Logan as he speaks. Right. Logan had been with me the entire time, and away from the command tent’s discussion. “We take the offensive. Meet Eryndor’s army head-on and as far from here as possible. Hard, fast, a surprise all out assault.”
“You could leave the retreat route open.” I catch Auri’s frown and lift my chin. “Kyrian said just a moment ago that not having this engagement at all would have been the ideal choice. They will retreat before they die. So the engagement will be over faster.”
“Debatable,” Ellie mutters. “They’ll die before they retreat. Especially with your mother in charge.”
“I guarantee they won’t retreat after they die.”
