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She saluted him and rushed off in the direction of the kitchens. Drazen, Artur, and Zuriel had followed us to the wood-paneled study, and only Zuriel had the decency to glance at his dirty, bloody clothes and then around him before finding a seat on the elegant furniture. Even if we wanted to wash, I didn’t think any of us could bear the guilt of doing so knowing that the people of the Crystal Realm likely suffered every moment of the Night Realm’s army occupation.
Drazen immediately went to the shelf where Ruslan kept his drinks, tossing glasses toward each of us and then circling around with a bottle of amber liquor and pouring a measure into each of our glasses.
My hand shook as I lifted it to my lips.
“Drink it all. It will help,” he murmured before moving on.
I wasted no time knocking back the alcohol, relishing the burn as it passed my mouth and entered my throat, finally settling in my belly.
Silence reigned until Rares returned, drawing all our attention simultaneously. Behind him was Liliana, her seafoam green eyes shining with anger.
“Yrene has taken Princess Gizela back to the Day Realm and will return as soon as she is able,” Rares informed us before gesturing to Drazen to pass him the bottle.
I’d never seen the old Mage drink, and my brows shot up my forehead as he pulled straight from the bottle. Clearly, we were all rattled by the news.
Behind them, a few servants appeared, carrying plates of food from the kitchen and placing them on free surfaces around the room before disappearing and closing the office door behind them.
Ruslan returned to the high-backed chair behind his desk from his place at the window. A rough exhale preceded his knuckles tightening over the back of it. “It’s time to use the tunnels beneath the Agrenak Mountains. We can be in the Crystal Realm in two days’ time. We’ll head them off before they can enter the Day Realm.”
“But they got to the Crystal Realm in a week’s time. Who is to say they won’t be in the Day Realm by then? And moreso, how did they manage that? Desmond couldn’t have moved a force like that on his own.” The strength in my voice shocked me as I interjected, and everyone’s attention landed squarely on me.
“She’s right,” Drazen said, tipping the last of his drink into his mouth. “And since Kazimir is a fucking maniac, he probably thinks he can race right into the Day Realm unencumbered since there was no one to protect the Crystal Realm.”
Artur nodded slowly, though Zuriel only reclined backward and crossed one ankle over his knee before reaching for a bunch of grapes and eating them off the vine.
“Something to add, cousin?” I asked him pointedly, since he was the only one of us who had seen war before in his two millennia of life and was somehow acting so cavalier about the conversation.
“Both yours and Drazen’s assessments are correct,” he confirmed. “But Kazimir also answers to a council, and I suspect that they might proceed with more caution, given the… violence of his previous actions.”
Ruslan studied the Angel for a moment, head cocked slightly to the side. “We have enough forces to split between the two realms – hedge our bets. There are two exits not too far from one another that we can use as well, so if the army needs to rejoin quickly, it can.”
Liliana piled two plates with food, bringing one to me and perching on the arm of the couch. Balancing the plate in my lap, I gathered soft bread, meat, and cheese into a neat little pile and popped the whole thing into my mouth, chewing slowly and savoring the smoky flavors.
“What about Kazimir’s binding magic? That still poses a huge risk. We don’t know how much he is capable of at once, or if it will rip the flying Félvér from the skies despite the potion powering us.” The crease in Drazen’s brow told me just how much the prospect of meeting Kazimir in battle with the dark, dangerous magic in play bothered him.
My mate focused on the old Mage who was tasked with finding a solution. “Rares, have you figured out anything to stop us from losing access to our magic should he use it on us?”
He shook his head. “Fates-gifted magic is volatile, unstable, and damn near impossible to recreate. I’m sorry, but I’ve done all I can.”
Ruslan’s knuckles went white on the back of the chair, and he dipped his head, hiding from the others what I could so clearly feel down our bond – fear. He didn’t want me on that battlefield without a solution to work around the magic that had rendered me powerless and blocked my magic from manipulating Kazimir’s emotions.
But I had gotten so much stronger over the past few months.
The idea came to me out of nowhere, and I sucked in a sharp breath, kicking myself for not realizing it before.
“We won’t have to worry about Kazimir’s binding magic,” I said, setting my plate aside and sitting up straighter, confidence filling me. “I am an empath. If I can keep him calm from a distance, he won’t have access to it. When he was here during Béke, I walked him back from the edge of it several times.”
“Absolutely not,” Ruslan snarled, his head whipping up and smoky eyes boring into mine. The black fire simmering there no longer scared me like it used to, but it heated my low belly all the same.
“I will protect her,” Zuriel swore, his expression hardening with determination. “Leave a small regiment with me just off the main battlefield, and once we get an eye on his position, Izidora can concentrate while we guard her.”
“My range has gotten a lot better,” I assured my mate, who looked not at all convinced of our plan.
“Your range will never be far enough for my comfort,”he spoke mind to mind.
“Give me a choice in all this,”I snapped back.
“I would die without you, Izidora.”
