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Hesitation and pitiful confidence were not emotions I was accustomed to. As the Nightrender, the cruel dealmaker of the East, I’d taken each step with unwavering confidence and surety. But for a stark moment breath was robbed from my lungs at the notion of leading two kingdoms.
The pressure had never been as crushing. The stakes had never been so high. Children depended on us. Malin’s right to the throne depended on these next moves. All our bleeding lives hung in the balance of the next steps.
I held Valen’s stare for a long pause. He gave me a subtle nod as if he understood the reason for my hesitation. Malin slipped her hand through mine. She gave me a small smile, one filled with a thousand words. Her confidence had never wavered in me. Even when I did not want to believe in myself when we were young, she’d always been there telling me to stop mumbling and do whatever it took until we were victorious.
She had not changed.
We would fight side by side until the end.
“We know they have Felstad, no doubt it was taken with the help of Southern folk. Our first move is seeing what we are up against. A small scouting group will go into Limericks.”
Almost immediately, the task fell to me, Raum, Thorvald, Hagen, and Gunnar. Raum for his eyes, the rest of us because of the littles. No mistake, Luca would slit my throat when he woke and discovered I’d not let him join.
“It is time to send word to Junius,” I went on. “The ring is here. We need them to join us.”
Niklas stood. “I’ll send word straightaway.”
“Isak,” I said. “Go with him to the post. Watch your backs. I’m not losing anyone else to the Black Palace.”
Niklas tugged the bronze rings over his fingers. Isak hooded his head. With a simple wave, they faded into the darkness.
“By morning, we will know our moves,” I said. “Prepare yourselves. A war is brewing.” A few grunts of agreement rose, and fists pounded over hearts. I kissed the back of Malin’s hand. “I will see you at the dawn.”
Malin rested her head to mine. “You had better.”
* * *
“I needyou to promise me something.” Gunnar said, dark and low. We were less than half a length away from Felstad when he grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the others. “If anyone has harmed my sister, Ash, or Hanna, I get to kill them.”
I could appreciate his bloodlust, but I had my own to battle against. I gripped a handful of his tunic and pulled him close. “You will need to get in line. For even if they have not touched them, I plan to place pieces of them throughout the kingdom.”
Gunnar flicked his brows, grinning viciously. “I’ve always liked the way you think, Nightrender.”
“Hold.” Raum said. “We’re not alone.”
Such a simple statement but from Raum it was enough to send my heart into my throat.
On instinct, I draped us in my shadows.
“Where?” I whispered.
“The trees,” Raum said. He pointed, but I could not see anyone. No mistake, they were near the tops, or too far away for any naked eye but his to see. “I need to get a little closer. They’re well concealed.”
“Hold tightly to each other,” I instructed the others. “It’s going to get very dark.”
Mesmer gathered all the fear in my heart and blanketed us in dripping shadows. Cold prickled up my arms. Each breath dragged the damp mist of my magic into my lungs and froze the back of my throat.
Raum took the lead. His slow, feathery steps hardly made a sound as we trudged forward. Gunnar gripped my bicep, Hagen held onto Gunnar, and Thorvald brought up the rear. The sea fae had not said much. A few questions about the direction we walked and our nearness to the sea, but he was otherwise silent, only here to look after his own interests, after all.
So long as he did not betray us, I didn’t mind his silence.
Every muscle in my body tightened and ached. We were so few, if a full unit of skyds were in the forest, even with mesmer, I wasn’t convinced we could defeat them.
Not more than fifty paces in, Raum stopped abruptly. I opened my mouth to query about what he saw but stopped when he barked a rough laugh.
“Pull back the shadows, Kase. They’re no threat to us.” Raum cupped his hands around his mouth and cooed like a shrill dove. A Kryv signal. My blood raced to my head when a few breaths later another coo returned his call.
Bushes rustled and two figures broke through. They were donned in black from head to foot, but when the hoods were pulled back, I grinned.
