Chapter 17 – Vale
VALE
My hand trailed along the skin of my mate’s stomach, smooth and exposed, just like the rest of her.
“Are you teasing me?” Isolde turned in our bed, and her breasts fell heavy to one side.
“Maybe.” I leaned in and kissed her.
Isolde moaned into my mouth and pressed her lush body into mine. Fates, we’d indulged in each other five times the night before, and yet, we both wanted more.
“As long as you follow through on the teasing, I don’t mind,” Isolde whispered. “In fact—”
Three swift knocks came at the door to our suite, making us both startle. I pulled a quilt over my mate. No one would enter without our say so, not with a vampire guarding the door, but the gesture was instinctive.
“I’m sorry to bother you so early, Princess Isolde and Prince Vale,” a voice I recognized as Lord Balik’s personal butler, Valintin, drifted through the door. “But Prince Vale received a raven, and, well, Lord Balik thought you might want it right away.”
I rolled out of bed, pulled on a pair of pants, and went to answer the door. Next to Astril, Valintin stood, holding out a scroll smelling of raven feathers.
“Thank you.” I took the small scroll. “Is there anything else?”
“Nothing. Again, my apologies for intruding so early in the morning.”
I shut the door and, to my dismay, found Isolde standing there, tying a robe.
“Whose the message from?”
I looked the scroll over. Blue-gray wax, stamped with a sea serpent, sealed the message. I opened it and my heart rate kicked up.
It’s from the Lady of Ships herself.” I scanned the letter.
“She says that Sayyida and Vidar have sided with you. That they’re on their way south with a small fleet.
Lady Fayeth is waiting for their raven to decide if she will give you her entire fleet, but the ships in the south are to be used at Vidar’s discretion. ”
Isolde placed a hand on a nearby chair. “Thank the stars Saga wrote to Sayyida. Though I can’t see how they’d choose to side with us from that. Saga hadn’t met Thyra at that point.”
“Friendship.” I handed her the letter.
Isolde read it over, and her eyes misted. “Sayyida and Vidar believe in us, so they stand with us.” She wiped a tear that fell down her cheeks. “I can’t wait to see them.”
I could not agree more.
Isolde lifted her gaze to meet mine. “Vale, if Lady Fayeth can be swayed fully, that’s three great houses on our side. We stand a chance.”
Yes, the Falks remained outnumbered, but the Virtoris Armada might turn the tides of any war. Especially if we took the fight right to Avaldenn. Much of the city was open to the sea, making an armada a pivotal piece on the board.
“Now that I know we have the support of Houses Balik, Riis, and very possibly, Virtoris too, I need to write to House Armenil,” Isolde said.
“I hope that since my maternal grandmother was born of that house, they’ll be easy to win over.
If we get them, then maybe the king will see a war is futile, and many lives can be saved. Would you mind adding a note too?”
I doubted King Magnus would back down, but nothing was impossible.
“I’ll write a letter to Connan and send it alongside yours.” The new head of house after Sten Armenil’s death. “Lady Orla and Lord Sten were mates. The high lady will not be able to deal with matters of war, but in your letter add a condolence note to her.”
“Of course.” Isolde kissed my cheek before strolling to the desk in our room. “You should shower. I’ll get to writing.”
We gathered around House Balik’s black-stone war table, a great map of Winter’s Realm spread before us. Over key cities loomed carved stone animals representing the great houses of the kingdom. Those with wealth and influence and armies.
A white bear, a lion, a snow leopard, a silver stag, and a burnt orange fox congregated in Avaldenn, where the king was calling armies.
Not just great house armies were present either, but those of lesser houses.
We left those representations off, not having enough information to correctly determine the entirety of who and what we might be up against.
The ram of House Balik sat alongside an ice spider, a white hawk that came with rebel fighters, and a polished gray stone to represent the dwarves of Dergia. A sea serpent rode in the sea to the east.
The direwolf of House Armenil remained in its home city of Morial, where Isolde’s letter was already winging its way. If the winds were fair and we met with no opposition from the great house of the north, we might count them as allies as soon as next week.
“Lord Lisika’s army is the largest in the realm.
Add four more armies to that side and we’re greatly outnumbered on land,” Tadgh Balik said.
“However, with the Virtoris Armada dominating the sea, that might not matter so much. If we can come at Avaldenn from two fronts, land and sea, there’s potential to end this quickly. ”
Quickly, in war terms, was relative.
I’d fought many battles. Most of those were against orc tribes, but a few had been against mage pirates that had once tried to claim the eastern islands near Grindavik for their own.
Never had I been involved in a full-blown war against other winter fae.
I’d been too young during the White Bear’s rebellion, and we’d had peace since.
Yet here we stood, planning to shatter that peace. To strike first in a war. I tried to take heart that Lord Balik was right in his assessment. That if we took Avaldenn, the war might end up being a single large battle, and extend only to a single city.
But through all the planning, a large part of me could not help but imagine Tyiel, the god of battle, and his father, Odan.
Neither were known to favor brief battles.
Above all, they loved the drawn-out fight, the blood-soaked prayers uttered to them as death lurked nearby.
The matter if the gods were dead or hiding away was hotly debated in Isila.
In my opinion, it might be better if those two gods were gone entirely.
At least in that case they could not instigate more bloodshed.
“We can’t discuss the precise contributions of House Virtoris until Vidar and Sayyida arrive,” I pointed out. “And I’d like not to make a move north until we receive word from House Armenil.”
“That might be too late,” Lord Balik countered. “With the snow beginning to melt, we could be at Avaldenn in a short time. A week and a half at most.”
“I, too, would rather move sooner.” Lord Riis said. “Before Magnus has time to coordinate his forces. We ought to send another raven to the north. Tell Lord Connan to march as soon as he can.”
“I already sent a raven,” Isolde spoke up. “And we can’t offend House Armenil in that way.”
My mate had been quiet during the meeting, and for good reason. She was intelligent and caught on quickly, but Isolde had limited knowledge of fighting, and none of war. Of those at the table, only Lord Balik and Lord Riis had fought in a war before.
“It will cost precious time. Souls too,” Lord Riis said.
Isolde looked to Lord Balik. “Besides, we cannot force potential allies to act. If we do, then are Thyra and I any better than King Magnus? Forcing your children into marriages? Forcing fae into his disgusting harem?”
“We wait,” Thyra echoed. “Besides, we have the army of Dergia arriving soon. What would be the point of having them travel here only to leave before they arrive?”
Thyra had an excellent point. I hadn’t gotten the sense that King Tholin of Dergia took offense easily, but leaving before our first allies arrived would be no small slight.
Thyra lifted the hawk representing her house from the table, turned it over in her fingers. “If we must act in the meantime, my rebels are skilled in irregular means of fighting. We can send some to the capital to cause chaos while armies are moving.”
The rebel forces totaled only about three hundred and fifty fae, just over two hundred of which were not suitable for fighting. At just twenty-three, with precious few resources at her disposal, Thyra Falk had gathered a small but devoted group that had caused substantial damage in their own ways.
“Very well,” Lord Balik agreed in word, though his tone was skeptical. “When will the forces from Dergia arrive then? If we know that, then we can plan for a smooth and fast exit.”
“After they’ve had time to recover,” Isolde added, her tone cooler than before.
Now that the Virtoris Armada was within our reach, Lord Balik and Lord Riis were pushing hard for the Falks to take on King Magnus right away.
To win quickly and minimize damage and in the case of Lord Riis, to save my mother, which I wanted too.
The longer a war went on, the more likely their own people and properties would sustain damage.
And while I understood their reasoning, and wished to save my mother as well, I understood that she’d known this would happen.
Or at least suspected it. So, I stood with Isolde and Thyra.
Together, Prince Thordur and Princess Bavirra stood. It had taken some convincing her brother that Bavirra should join us in the war meetings, but the princess had won. She had gotten a taste for adventure, and I did not think she’d let go of that ever again.
“The tunnels under the mountains aren’t combed often by scouts.
Only every turn or two and not all of them are done at that time.
We rotate.” With his finger, Thordur traced a path that ran beneath the Ice Teeth Range, a secret series of tunnels that only his people knew.
“If all is well in the passages, I assume they’ll be around here.
” He gestured to a place on the map. “Only three or four days away.”
“Besides the tunnels being obstructed, what would stop them?” Sian asked. Since the dwarves’ arrival in Myrr, my friend had not stopped showing his curiosity about the Kingdom of Dergia.
“Ice spiders and other creatures that are not fae, but equally as dangerous, live in the tunnels. And then there are the orcs, ogres, even frost giants that have slipped into the lost dwarven kingdoms,” Bavirra answered. “Our soldiers have fought all of them. To the death.”
The dead told no secrets. They couldn’t spread the word that Dergia thrived beneath the Rock, when all in Winter’s Realm thought they were dead and gone.
“In the meantime, should we venture into other towns and cities?” Luccan suggested. “We might be able to rouse more support around the common people.”
Uncomfortable silence settled over the table, which Isolde broke.
“We might, but they could support King Magnus,” my mate mused. “He’s using the Ice Scepter to melt the snow. That will gain him popularity. And outside of Avaldenn, I’m not sure how far his cruelty spread.”
“Mostly, fae were angry that the winter never ended, as much as it can in this kingdom, anyway,” Thyra said.
“Of course, they heard rumors of the atrocities the king committed in Avaldenn and closer cities and towns, but it’s easy to forget that sort of behavior when it’s not directed at you.
When you don’t have to see it and live under its thumb, and you have other matters to deal with.
And especially when your hardships are lifted. ”
“It’s worth a try, though.” Excitement sparked in Sian’s eyes. “A small number can roam cities. Not Thyra or Isolde or Vale—no one so recognizable. But they can get the temperature of the common fae. Recruit if they’re sure it will not be in danger.”
I arched my brows at my friend. “That means you’re staying here, Sian.”
He frowned. Not what he wanted to hear, but when his father nodded, I knew he wouldn’t have been able to go, anyway.
“I can offer services there. Many in my spy network are still loyal to me. I’ll have them put out feelers.” My father’s gaze shifted to the Falk twins.
It seemed to take great effort, but Isolde met his gaze and nodded.
“And have you learned anything of the Fr?r Crown or the Blade?” Lord Balik asked. “You focused on Shadow Fae, but your Hallows might be of use, too.”
“We have learned nothing new on those fronts,” Isolde said. “And you’re right. We need to look into those more. They’re hiding secrets.”
We covered a few more matters, and the meeting adjourned. I took Isolde’s hand as we left.
She exhaled, looked up at me. “That was intense. Care for a drink?”
“With you? Always.” I leaned closer. “Lord Balik gets spirits sent from the Autumn Court. Ones we don’t get in Avaldenn.”
“Did I hear you whispering about my father’s liquor collection?” Sian butted in. “If so, I’m in.”
“Not that you were invited,” I teased. “But please, take us to that trove.”