AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was already done with her and fixing on Foalan. “I want you to increase the guard presence in the village, Bevin, and the other outlying towns. Reassign the palace guards if necessary. Attackers can’t invade the palace if they never get past the village.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Aeris,” I continued. “Round up the palace staff and begin clearing out and preparing all the empty rooms. Evacuate the families in the villages beyond Hathal and bring them here to shelter until the threat has passed.”
“If they leave their homes, their plants and crops will wither and die,” Aeris replied. “They’ll return home to no food.”
“Precisely why I hired five more traveling merchants this morning. Riordan will have company when he sets out within the next few days. Two of them are traveling to Quatassa—much closer than Lyrica.” I shook my head. “It has to be this way, Aeris. We’ll spread our forces too thin if we try to cover every single village. When the threat has passed, we’ll provide food assistance until they are able to revive their resources.”
“Yes, Lady Ana.” She set out without another word, ready and able to carry out my will.
Holding court in my bedchamber wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t leaving Alisdair’s side and there was a kingdom to rule. Especially because the morning after the wolves attacked, Foalan returned to the scene and found four corpses—the three wolves who aided Meallan, and the lone guard who went back alone after I dragged Alisdair away. The only trace left of Meallan was his severed hand.
Somehow the loathsome rat survived and scuttled off. Foalan had enough time to order the wolves living in Lumenfellout before the rest attacked Bevin, Gibarden, Lutran, and a bunch of innocent people—heeding the orders of their vengeful, humiliated alpha.
The attacks continued for days until they were driven out to the darkest, coldest part of the forest where only the best trackers with senses better or equal to the wolves could follow.
What Meallan hoped to achieve with these attacks, I had no idea. If his plan was to piss off and enrage the citizens so much they overthrow me and Alisdair, and hand him the throne, it wasn’t working.
“What about the other war we’re waging?” I asked when it was only the three of us in the room.
I eyed the babies sleeping, cooing, nursing, and slung on her back. Actually, the nine of us. “Were you able to find Mahoun’s heirs?”
Treasa walked past the baby cots I had brought up for her as if they were cacti, and not comfort for her and her babies. “So far we’ve found one,” she replied. “As you know, there’s no point killing one if we can’t find the rest.”
I sighed, gazing at Alisdair. He was impatient for this war. Emiana was impatient for this war. I was impatient for a better life for my mother and my sisters, so impatient, I gave them both the key to bringing about their blood-soaked victories.
But is this truly the only way? Just because Alisdair believes change can’t come without blood and slaughter, doesn’t mean I can’t prove him wrong.
“There’s nothing that can be done,” I finally said. “When Mahoun dies, they’ll swear in the new king, everyone will come out of hiding, and our spies can kill them then. That will give us a few months to think of something better.”
“Better?” Treasa bounced up and down, burping two fussy babies and rocking the other four. “My lady, the plan you chose is as wise as it is creative as it is merciful. You found thepath of minimal and only necessary bloodshed. No messy war. No collateral damage,” she said kindly. “I don’t believe there is another way. Certainly not a better one.”
“But that’s just it, Treasa.” I talked while I picked up Alisdair’s broth and began the slow, gentle process of feeding him. “To assume there will be no messy war or unnecessary bloodshed is to assume we can create a power vacuum, appoint ourselves the rulers to fill it, and everyone in Elva will simply fall in line.
“Of course they’re going to fight back,” I cried. “They’ve been raised their whole lives to believe faeriken are evil, bloodthirsty beasts. They will not take kindly to one slaughtering their kings and forcing them under his rule.”
She inclined her head. “There will be rebellion, yes, but those would be easily quashed if you proceeded with developing a weapon with the siren’s voice.”
“Excuse me? You can’t possibly be suggesting I torture an innocent, beautiful creature to create a weapon of genocide!”
She appraised me calmly. “It is not for me to suggest, my queen. Merely to inform you of the resources at your disposal, and how they can be used. The decision is only yours.”
“No one touches the siren.” A thought occurred to me. “And if I ever say otherwise. If I rant and scream and order you to hurt that poor creature, ignore me. Matter of fact, tell me to shut my horrible fucking mouth up.”
She laughed. “What an odd request. But your point is made. You will not step on the throat of the innocent to ascend the ladder of power. It’s what makes you a good queen, my lady,” Treasa said, surprising me. “Maybe even a great one.”
The barest smile tugged my lips, and I deflated—slumping next to Alisdair. “A great queen would have another solution except the obvious one. One Alisdair said himself all those days ago.”
She gave me a look like she already knew, but needed me to say it out loud.
“The curse has to take Elva,” I rasped. “All of it. Everyone.”
“Why?”
Again I had the sense she knew the answer, but wanted to hear me say it.
“There will be rebellion. There will be attacks and war from those who want Elva to stay exactly how it is, but those of us who have been stepped on so others could ascend the ladder of power... they’ll fight beside us because our kingdom is the only kingdom that wants them to be free.”
