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“Regner has a regiment a few hours’ walk from here. If you take one of my horses, you can reach it quickly.”
Satisfaction curled through my gut. Regner’s regiments were made up of between four and six battalions. Each battalion would have anywhere from 300 to 500 men. I would need to be prepared for anywhere from 1200 to 3000 soldiers, all of them armed with fae iron.
I smiled, my mind providing me with the scent of blood, the sound of screams. It had taken everything in me to behave as normally as possible up until now. But there was a chance one of those soldiers knew where Prisca was…
“Lorian?”
I forced my mind back to our conversation. “Regner is moving his people into position.”
She nodded. “They’ve cleared several thousand footspans of trees and have made their camp away from the main roads and any trails. But they’re not being particularly quiet about it.”
They wouldn’t need to be. Any humans who learned of their location were likely more than happy the soldiers were there, protecting them from the wicked, vicious fae.
“Your power?”
“Back in full.” I didn’t tell her about the fae fire. I hadn’t told anyone yet. Prisca had wanted to talk about it, and then we had learned of the attack on her village, we’d gone after the hourglass, and she’d been taken.
It was unusual for a fae of my age to deepen their power. Practically unheard of for us to gain a completely new gift. And never had I heard of someone wielding fae fire.
I’d attempted to bring that power to the surface a few times, and yet I hadn’t achieved my goal. I could only feel it bubbling beneath my skin when I thought of Prisca in danger. And even then, I suspected I could only control it when there was a direct threat to her life.
The rest of my power had slowly returned once I’d healed from the caves, and now I had to actively clamp down on that power. It felt alive. As if it wanted to destroy and burn and kill. Since I wanted the same things, it was particularly difficult to keep it contained.
“Going alone is suicide,” Valdoria said. “Even for the Bloodthirsty Prince.”
I felt my mouth curve, imagining Prisca’s reaction to hearing Valdoria call me that name. Valdoria frowned at me, clearly confused.
I glanced toward the spare room. “Give them something to eat. Keep them contained. If they ask where I am, tell them I’m on watch outside.” Usually, Demos would be paying careful attention, but his focus was split at this very moment.
“And if they figure out where you’ve gone and attempt to follow you?”
“They won’t.” Asinia would need everything the healer had. She wouldn’t be going anywhere, which meant neither would Demos. Part of it was his commitment to Prisca and making sure her best friend stayed breathing. But that wasn’t all of it—despite the way he was lying to himself.
“You should eat something,” Valdoria said. “Rest a little first.”
“No.”
Since Prisca had been taken, I’d spent every moment desperate to do something. Despite my exhaustion, energy surged through my body at the thought.
My footsteps were silent as I made my way out of the house, across the sliver of grass and to Valdoria’s small stables. She had three horses, and I took the largest, a mare who tossed her head, clearly eager to stretch her legs.
I saddled her, led her out, and met Valdoria, who handed me a fresh waterskin and a canvas sack packed with bread and cheese.
“Thank you.”
“Be careful.”
I nodded, nudged the horse, and we made our way back toward the main trail.
The mare had a smooth gallop, and I let her run. The trail was wide enough for two horses to travel side by side, and any horse Valdoria owned would be clever enough to avoid stepping in a rabbit hole and breaking a leg.
In the silence of the night, with no one poking at me to discuss plans, I was left to my own thoughts.
And they tore through me.
When we found Cavis…we would take him back to the fae lands where he could be safe and where we could monitor him carefully. Somehow, I’d find that fucking book Regner had used to create his spiders. And I would figure out a way to undo his dark magic.
When Cavis was finally free of Regner’s spells…it was time for him to live his life with his family. No longer would I drag him across this continent, watching as his gaze turned dark with longing when he thought of them. At least one of us deserved to have a normal life. And Cavis had always wished for that normalcy, even as he’d fought with everything in him to help our people.
