Chapter Ten
KYELLA
“We expected a few ships to be docked in their harbor for fishermen and merchants,” Tristan muttered while rubbing his chin roughly. “But we foolishly didn’t anticipate them launching their own full-scale attack so soon after having sent their scouts to take Kyella and bring her back.”
Thankfully, we were able to stealthily push our fleet back enough to be safe to use a few torches to illuminate the large map resting in the middle of our table.
We had to form a new plan—quickly. Gathering each of the captains and leaders on our ships hadn’t taken too long, using the smaller boats tied to our large ships to gather for the emergency meeting.
I knew I needed to focus on where our ships would dock, but I struggled to force myself to think of anything besides the miscalculation on our part. We had been so methodical in our plans.
If Malakai had given the order to Holmeth not to return until they had vital information on the Tridian Empire, that could have taken days to obtain.
Then there would have still been two days of travel back to him across the Cursed Divide.
There was no way they would have known for sure that something was wrong yet.
A thought came to me, and I murmured it out loud before I had even fully processed it myself. “They never intended on letting Holmeth and his crew come back with me. It was a guise.”
My eyelashes fluttered as my breathing grew erratic and the reality of the situation sank in. Fuck. How had I not seen that until now? I felt like such an idiot. I had spent years in Malakai’s grasp, witnessing first-hand how important I was to him for his own gain.
The chatter about where we could dock our boats died down at my words. An eerie silence permeated the air, only broken up by the lapping of the waves against the siding of the ship and creaking of wood as we rocked with it.
Elijah’s gruff tone brought me to present as he asked, “What do you mean, Kyella?”
The wheels in my brain were spinning as I pieced it together.
Flicking my eyes up to him, I explained my thought process.
“I thought it was so strange that they said Malakai gave them orders not to return until they had useful information to share about the Tridian Empire. If I was his prized possession, wouldn’t he want them to take me back to him immediately? ”
Kolvar’s boots scuffed against the floor as he kicked absentmindedly, mulling over my words before nodding in agreement with me.
“All I was worried about was getting you back, and when we did, I never gave it a second thought, but you’re right.
It doesn’t make sense that he would value information about the Empire over returning you to him. ”
Elijah’s eyes sparked in realization as he seemed to catch up to my train of thought. “It was a ploy,” he breathed out as his hands curled around the top of the chair in front of him, cracking the wood effortlessly.
Crossing my arms against my chest, I took a deep breath before blowing it out and adding on, “It was. They always intended on launching their fleet into a war against us, and they wanted us focused on a single ship…on my capture by Holmeth. They didn’t want us focused on the fleet that would be sailing toward us.
I was merely bait. They must have begun to gather their forces the day after we left this wretched land. ”
“Fuck,” Dakath grunted before smacking the table hard in his frustration before stepping back to pace. “We played right into his hand! They were likely just going to keep you at sea until Malakai arrived and took you onto his ship, not drawing any focus back to their lands until it was too late.”
While I understood his anger and frustration, I knew this setback wasn’t the end for our strategy. Or for us. I refused for it to be.
Letting my voice rise, I infused every ounce of calming energy I could into my words.
“Initially, we may not have seen his intentions, but not all hope is lost. We still came to their lands before they could launch their attack, giving us the upper hand. It is still true that he is a prideful, arrogant man who likely expected us to cower after Myrin’s death. But did we?”
“Nos” were mumbled, but the paltry response wasn’t good enough for me.
“I said,” I paused for emphasis as I looked around.
I met their eyes, shoulders pushed back as I stood tall.
I clenched my jaw and drew a deep breath before continuing, “He thought we would cower in fear. DID WE?” I yelled in sharp demand, staring each man and woman in the room in the eye, daring them to cower even now.
“No!”
“No, we didn’t!”
The energy of the mood instantly turned from somber and dejected to one of fizzling energy. It permeated the air, almost tangible, like I could wrap my hands around it and feel a jolt in my bones. It was infectious, and I knew it was enough to use in our plans.
Focusing back on the map, I laid my hands against the wooden table and squinted at every little detail as I mulled over our options. There was an empty patch, beige in tone near the water that had nothing written on it. Pointing to it, I looked at Tristan on my right and asked, “What is this?”
His brow furrowed, a contemplative look on his face before a smile lit up his entire face. “That, my friend, is our new dock.”
Smirking at his jovial attitude, I asked, “Care to inform the rest of us of your brilliant plan?”
His chuckle permeated the air before he said, “Don’t mind if I do.” His smile was devilish as he turned and yelled, “Listen up! Plans have changed. We will be splitting into two groups moving forward: a stealth team and the main force.”
I raised an eyebrow in question and a devious glint flickered in his gaze as he smirked.
“Let’s use his own ideas against him. The main force will draw their eye to the harbor and send all abled bodies to fight there. Our stealth group will dock at the beach you pointed out and will travel through the towns on the outskirts until it reaches the back of the capital city.”
“Brilliant,” Elijah murmured. “We’ll trap their forces between our two in a pincer movement, and it’ll expose their backs to us.”
Barnabus fluttered down from the wooden beam he’d been watching from quietly and landed on my shoulder.
This is the perfect opportunity to evacuate the towns as you go.
Reiterating what Barnabus said, I was pleased that everyone was seemingly in agreement with this new plan, however, there was one small snag. “How are we going to get the main forces docked at the harbor?”
With a grunt, Tristan glanced at my three men, who’d gathered at my back, before admitting, “Our stealth team needs to take the small boats to the harbor and light their ships on fire before the masses wake and the daylight gives us away.”
Dakath’s voice dropped dangerously, vibrating as he asked, “And why do you look like we’re going to kill you for this plan?”
That was an easy assumption. There was only one thing that would rile all three of them up so quickly.
Standing to my full height, I announced, “Because I’ll be leading the stealth group, and Tristan will lead the main forces on our ships.”
Reaching up to scratch Barnabus beneath the chin, I hoped my guys would understand the advantage of him being able to scour the sky and scout ahead for us while relaying anything he found into my mind.
We had to use every single advantage we had if we were going to pull this off, and with Tristan noting the way I interacted with Barnabus, I had a suspicion he was beginning to wonder about our connection.
Turning around to face them, I hoped they saw the earnestness on my face and heard it in my tone.
“You three will be coming with me, along with a few others, to light as many ships as we can on fire quickly enough before retreating to safety. I will not be doing this alone, nor even attempting to,” I vowed.
“We’re honored to fight at your side, Empress,” Kolvar responded, bowing his head.
Dakath clasped his hands in front of him and nodded in agreement, a small curve tilting the corner of his lips up.
Elijah’s eyes all but bore into my own, peering into my soul as he whispered, “Thank you.”
Smiling softly at them all, I nodded and turned back to the table and Tristan.
“If we’re to light their ships on fire, it’s likely the docks will also catch,” my right hand surmised.
“We need to focus the fire on the ships that are anchored in the water instead of tied to the docks. They’re out of reach of the docks and have nowhere to go, with the anchor lodging them in place.
The ships will crumble in place, scattering amongst the water before sinking once they’re lit. ”
A thought occurred to me at that moment, and I piped in.
“But there will be guards watching the harbor, undoubtedly. If they’re concerned about the fire spreading amongst the ships and to the docks themselves, would they not send the burning ships out to sea and away from them?
They need to protect their own assets. It could handle our issues completely: clearing out the ships in the harbor and keeping the docks intact for our arrival. ”
“Smart,” Elijah praised. “But you will need to order all our ships to retreat even further so we are not spotted. If we’re spotted, the true battle will begin.
If we want to bide time until the morning, we must have the stealth team row back to one lone ship waiting to take us back to safety.
With how much we need to navigate, the rest of our fleet needs to immediately begin moving back when this meeting is over. ”
Tristan gave a sharp nod. “Agreed. This ship will stay until you return. Empress, do you agree with these plans?”
With the weight of the room looking at me, I lifted my chin and spoke. “I do. Commence them at once. Move the remainder of the ships back, and we’ll gather our torches and oil into the rowboats heading for the harbor. I want eight bodies total, so find four more that you believe is a good fit.”
“On it,” Kolvar and Dakath echoed.
“We will reconvene after this,” I told Tristan as he dismissed the captains and leaders to their ships with their instructions to retreat. “We must discuss the next steps for our land invasion further.”
“Yes, Empress,” he agreed, tipping his head down.
As I turned to help gather supplies for my team, he called out, “Kyella.”
Pausing and glancing over my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow in question. “Yes?”
His lips thinned and his jaw clenched, eyes dropping to the ground as he said, “Be careful and come back in one piece. Rina and Bailey would never forgive me if I let you get hurt or captured, and I’d…
” he trailed off before finally looking me in the eyes.
“I’d never forgive myself either. So come back, okay? ”
My heart warmed at the sentiment from the man who seemed so stoic outside of his interactions with his wife and daughter.
“I’ve got this,” I promised, offering a full smile as I turned forward and left the room.
Before long, we were climbing down the rope ladder from the side of the ship and settling into the small rowboat that would carry our team toward the docks. We were split into two small vessels, with the instructions for the second team of four to head for the right side while we head for the left.
“Remember,” I whispered-yelled as our boats began to drift opposite ways, “light as many as you can, but do not risk your life. Get out of there if anything goes wrong.”
You sound like a mother hen watching after her hatchlings.
I held in my answering snort and snuggled into Elijah’s side as we sat in the middle of the boat guarding the torches, oil, and reserves of animal fat with Dakath and Kolvar rowing on either end of it.
We didn’t speak a single word as we trekked across the open water and finally came upon the first of their warships anchored far out in the harbor.
I all but held my breath as we slowly passed one, as if there was going to be someone on board that spotted us and gave us away.
The goal was to light the ones closest to the docks first and then to hit some of the ones that were closer to the open sea on our way out, so we didn’t trap ourselves amongst burning ships.
My shoulders sagged in relief when no one appeared on the ship we passed, but I knew the real test was about to come: How quickly would the guards watching the harbor react when they saw torches being lit and the first ship set on fire?
Without a doubt, our mission was risky, and it would only become more so if multiple guards converged on us.
The goal was to not fight at all and get away before they could see how we escaped if they did notice us, so splitting up once we docked and lighting at the same time would ensure as little time as possible between guards noticing and us escaping.
We didn’t want our faces to be seen, and we did not want them seeing that we escaped on the water and headed out to the sea.
As we approached the dock, Elijah and I began to prepare the first torch, and at that moment, I didn’t feel an ounce of fear. It was finally time to strike back at Malakai.
The battle started now.
All it would take was one strike of flint to light the path to victory, and I planned on sparking it right now.