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The bewildered looks around me only deepened. A blue-eyed vampire started, ‘Fine, but even if we render the island permanently uninhabitable—’
‘It’s not theislandI’m worried about,’ I interrupted with a frustrated gesture. ‘The trouble is—’
‘The Labyrinth,’ Creon finished, tensing beside me.
The audible gasps from the circle suggested the news of his returned voice had not yet made the rounds among most of our allies.
‘Em?’ Agenor said sharply.
I sucked in a terse breath. ‘Do you really want to know what cursed divine magic could do to a pre-divine entity like the Labyrinth? It’s unnervingly powerful already. If—’
‘Pre-divine?’ a honey-blonde nymph queen with wasp-like antennae interrupted, her tiny nose wrinkled in disbelief. ‘What are you talking about? Everyone knows the gods are eternal.’
‘Not according to Zera.’ I felt like some ridiculed prophetess, seeing her delicate face crinkle up tighter as I spoke. ‘Look, I know it’s not what common wisdom says, but there are plenty of clues that—'
‘You know what?’ Lyn hastily intervened, her slightly panicked look a shrill contrast to the soothing tone of the words. ‘Let’s not turn this into a theological discussion. I think Em’s point is relevant no matter how old the gods are – the Labyrinth clearly has powers of its own, and—’
‘We’re talking about amountain, yes?’ the tattooed alf snapped.
‘We’re talking about a sentient magical entity that may or may not predate the birth of the gods and is in any case closely linked to them,’ I said, and no matter how hard I tried to sound patient and understanding, it emerged from between clenched teeth as if I was ready to sink my canines into him. How had I gone from the girl who barely knew magic existed to the girl who knew more about its history than even the average immortal ruler did? ‘And whatever it’s capable of doing, it’s powerful enough that bloody Korok himself decided to build a court on top of it to siphon off some of its magic. I have absolutely no idea what would happen if Etele’s insanity somehow infects it, and I have very little desire to find out, too.’
‘But that’s all hypothetical doom and gloom, isn’t it?’ the waspy nymph said, her large shimmering eyes narrowing dangerously at Agenor as ifhe, not me, had offered theobjection. ‘That blood could save thousands of lives. Just becauseshesays it’s a bad idea …’
She. The tone of that one word said all that needed to be said – I was barely even a living being in her mind. Just a collection of powers. Just an inconvenient obstacle between her and the basin full of Etele’s pulsing blood.
I could feel Creon’s displeasure before he spoke – a sensation like the weight of gathering thunderstorms that hung heavy in the air between us. But the drawl of his rough voice was alarmingly amiable as he leaned forward, settled his elbows on his thighs, and said, ‘And when did you last have breakfast with Zera herself, Olshona?’
On my shoulder, Alyra let out a trill that I could only interpret as a peal of laughter.
Oh, gods. It was slipping from my grip like a shred of slippery silk, this debate – all the old feuds and grudges we’d prepared for, all the arguments and counterarguments we’d worked out, yet never in my wildest dreams had I imagined anyone would propose to drop a mad goddess’s curse onto the most powerful magical being I’d met in my life. That anyone wouldwantto. But the disgruntled murmurs were swelling around me, unsmiling scowls flashing our way from all directions – as if I was objecting just to be contrary, not to save them from something that might become worse than even the Mother herself.
Wolves against wolves. They were so caught up in that bloody fight that they refused to see the dragons that might rise and devour us all.
‘Having seen firsthand what the Labyrinth can do,’ Agenor said, in that poised, self-possessed voice that made it impossiblenotto listen to him, ‘I agree that we should not be feeding it any nefarious powers if we can at all avoid it. We won’t be using that blood.’
A nymph queen scoffed. ‘Are you just agreeing because she happens to be your daughter, Lord Protector?’
Creon slowly sat up straighter – a measured, menacing movement I could only describe as the physical manifestation of the worddanger. But Agenor merely drew up his brows and pleasantly said, ‘Of course I’m listening to her because she’s my daughter. I know where she got her brains, you see.’
Tared burst out laughing on the other side of the map. Next to him, Lyn was fidgeting frantically with her hair, darting glances around the circle of chairs like a small rabbit trying to determine where the predator growls are coming from.
Olshona stared at us in a moment of stunned rage, then drew in a barely restrained breath and spat, ‘So how are you planning to give my people a fair fighting chance, then? Or are we nothing more than dispensable pawns to you, in true fae fashion?’
‘Olshona …’ Lyn whispered, pleading.
‘Well, she is asking a fair question, Lyn,’ the white-haired vampire said, worrying his leathery bottom lip with a razor-sharp fang. ‘We all agreed to join this fight because we believed there to be at least a chance of victory. If our strategists don’t even care to explore all possible weapons before throwing us to the hounds …’
It took all I had not to curse. ‘Wedidexplore this weapon. We just decided it was too dangerous to be used, especially at the Crimson Court.’
‘So what about other places?’ Helenka immediately shot back, with that uncompromising efficiency of hers that I was starting to get used to. ‘If we lure part of her army elsewhere and shower it with Etele’s blood there – are there any concerns associated with that?’
Plenty, I wanted to say, the first of which was that eventhinkingabout the blood made me feel sick to my stomach … but Agenor spoke before I could, in that voice that sounded like ithad never snapped or shouted in its entire existence. ‘Baiting her elsewhere is an excellent strategy, I would say. If we could pull even a few units to the other side of the archipelago on the day of the battle, that means a few less units able to defend the court for several hours.’
Not a word on whether we would or wouldn’t be using Etele’s blood in that secondary battle, I noted. No one else seemed to pay attention to that little detail.
‘We started this meeting by concluding we did not have the manpower to defend ourselves in multiple places,’ Olshona said, eyeing the wooden blocks on the map. ‘Do we have the forces to fight two battles at once?’
‘I assume we wouldn’t be fighting two battles,’ a weather-beaten alf with a missing ear piped up. ‘Just stage a threat to get them there, then fade all our people back to the Crimson Court the moment they arrive. They can’t fade. Would give us an advantage of a few hours while they have to fly back.’
