AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I huffed in distress, my gag back in place, tears pricking as I begged him with my eyes to let me do it.
“What happened?” came the leader’s voice from the open doorway.
Geylan averted his gaze from mine, pulling the dagger from my hands and standing. “She tried to hurt herself, my lord.”
The leader crouched down beside me, pinching my chin and turning my gaze so I was forced to look into his crimson eyes. He examined me intently.
“Yes,” he seemed to mumble to himself. “You would do it, wouldn’t you?”
I said nothing. Not that I could with the coarse rope back in my mouth.
“No, my lady.” His voice was hard and cold, a merciless whip. “You’ll pay for starting this war. And before we send your pretty corpse back to your family in Issos, you’ll end it.”
Chapter 2
GOLL
The wind rattledthe door and windows as the snowstorm howled outside. We sat around Ogalvet’s dining table where I’d been studying the map of my father’s troop movements. The hearth burned brightly, heating the room despite the blizzard sitting over Silvantis.
Soryn pointed his finger to the map. “They’re gathering here on the south side of Belladum.”
“How many?” I asked, referring to the allies we’d collected in the city closest to Silvantis.
Pullo crossed his arms. “Three hundred. Maybe four.”
“That’s not many,” said Ogalvet, setting two bowls of hog stew onto the table.
“It’s enough to take the palace,” I assured them. “With the hundred we have here.”
It had been more difficult to gather allies so close to the castle. We had to be cautious. Many here feared my father’s punishment should they be caught for treason. That fear overrode their hatred for him. I knew that their fear would onlyhelp me in the end. When my father was dead, I’d instantly gain their allegiance.
“And what of hisentirearmy?” asked Soryn, scowling at the map.
“Goll only needs to take the palace. The rest will fall in line,” said Dalya, still wearing her priestess cloak, the hood over her delicate, curved horns.
“She’s the seer,” said Pullo with a shrug. “She should know.”
Soryn grunted. “Pardon my skepticism, my lady. But I don’t fucking trust seers. I trust the facts. And those are that Xakiel has a force of one thousand protecting the castle of Näkt Mir. And an army of tens of thousands scattered at the southern border making its way across Lumeria. As it stands, it will still be two to one in taking the castle. And all of that depends on having a plan for a surprise attack to kill the bastard.” He turned his red-eyed gaze on me. “Which we still don’t have. Let’s not forget the hundreds of wights beneath the castle, and why are you fucking smiling?”
I chuckled. “Because the pieces are falling into place, Soryn. I appreciate your candor and your skepticism. It keeps me grounded. But we have what we need.”
I’d planted my own soldiers within his army who’d been spreading discontent for this long war that kept them from their families and homes. Not to mention those who’d died in battle, burned in pyres on foreign soil. I only needed the right moment to kill my father. I was certain I could turn the tide in my favor. And then I would need to end this war swiftly.
“He’s right, though,” said Dalya. “You need a perfect plan to take Xakiel by surprise. Or you won’t get to him.”
“His wights,” I acknowledged.
If my father felt any threat to his life, he’d summon his army of wights to protect him. But if I killed him by surprise, then his wights would die with him, giving us the upper hand to takethe castle and the throne. And those who weren’t so loyal to my father would fall to their knees and pledge fealty to me.
“Look, our primary goal is—”
The door opened with a flurry of snow followed by a small, cloaked figure who pushed it shut. The hood fell back, and Hava sneezed.
“Hava?” I ushered her toward a stool beside the fire. Her black, leathery wings shivered where they protruded through her cloak. “Why have you come?”
Hava was my mole within Näkt Mir. We met only rarely in Silvantis to keep suspicion low.
But she’d left on a night like this. Even with her ability to fly—granted by her half-blood gift on her father’s side—it would’ve been a treacherous trip in this blizzard.
