Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
“Are you sure they’re ready?” Iryana asked Pyetar as she paced in the clearing.
The sun was just rising; the tips of the trees were engulfed in light, but the forest floor held lingering shadows.
The air was still cool, even through the armor they wore.
She wished she had the familiar overlapping hardened leather plates of her guardian armor, but Karvek would find that too suspicious.
“I’m sure. They sent most of their forces into the city throughout the night. They are in position. And Jesha is on her way to meet us. I had a message from her this morning.” His head was lolling back and forth as she paced, tracking her movements.
“Good.” Even though it had to be the third time she had asked.
She looked to the sky, to the slowly advancing line of light, and then into the trees. “They’re late.”
“Barely.”
“Everything has to run smoothly.”
Pyetar stepped into her path, forcing her to stop so she didn’t barrel into him. He grabbed her arms, and the unexpected contact cleared her mind for a moment as she focused on him. They’d been keeping their distance, not touching or lingering too close.
“The plan is good,” Pyetar assured her. “We have to trust we’ve done all we can.”
The crack and swishing of people quietly moving through the trees reached them both. Iryana sagged with relief, but Pyetar stiffened slightly.
“Iryana,” Pyetar said urgently, an awkwardness to the way he held her gaze. “Please promise me you will do everything you can to make it through this. No reckless heroism, no rushing off to handle it all yourself. I don’t know what I—just promise me.”
Her breath caught as she traced his features with her eyes. “Pyetar, we’re attacking the fort. I’m going up against Karvek. I can’t promise I will survive it.”
“Promise me you’ll try. Please.” He pulled her closer now, urgently. Her body was nearly pressed against his.
“Alright,” she whispered.
Iryana felt a little shaky staring into his blue eyes.
They were an impossibility, but the way he was looking at her—was it just the impending danger?
Or would the intent behind the heat in his gaze last?
She wanted to fold into him, to feel his warmth and his strength around her.
For him to make her feel safe just a little longer.
The snapping of a branch broke the trance they’d found in each other’s eyes. Pyetar stepped back as the Kleesolds started entering the clearing.
Iryana found her sister first.
Hadima wore her guardian armor, but she would stay in a camp nearby, ready to follow behind the others once the fighting was over.
To heal the injured. Still, her presence worried Iryana.
Hadima wasn’t fully recovered yet, though she put on a brave face.
Iryana would have preferred Hadima stayed home with Misha, but they’d need her healing skills.
The First marched up to Iryana, looking healthier than she had in months, with a fierce look on her face. It was the first time Iryana had seen her grandmother in guardian armor since they had settled at their post. A wave of nostalgia and memories from her youth brought a current of confidence.
“Are you ready to go the rest of the way?” Iryana asked the First, stepping away from Pyetar.
Her grandmother nodded. “We camped last night, so we’ve only been marching a few hours this morning.”
“Karvek and most of the soldiers we’re expecting to be the biggest threat should be sleeping still. The sooner we get to the fort, the more disrupted they should be.”
“And we have control of the gate?”
“Yes, Sergeant Vaneshta will be ready to open it for us. And there will be friendly guards near the river and the secret path through the rope line, so the forces waiting to enter that way won’t have trouble.”
“I still can’t believe he’s the better option,” Grandmother Vesima mumbled quietly, eyeing Pyetar as he talked with Dinhal.
The question made her feel strange, knowing her worlds were overlapping. Her family, her grandmother in particular, knew a very different side of Pyetar than she did now. “Yeah. There’s a lot more to him than you think. He will lead the 18th after Karvek.”
Her grandmother squinted her eyes further, not trying to hide her scrutiny.
There was no love lost between the military and the guardians.
“Tonight is the full moon,” the First reminded her. “An auspicious night to celebrate our victory.”
It felt wrong to think that far ahead, so she just nodded awkwardly. “We should get moving.”
“You’re right.” Grandmother Vesima grabbed Iryana’s hand. “I am very proud of you, my granddaughter. And glad to have you as Third. We have many wounds to heal, especially among you and your sisters, once this is over. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
Iryana could only nod.
When they started heading toward the last meeting spot, Pyetar found his way to her side again.
Major Jesha was waiting with a small force exactly as planned, and the group split up to cross the river at different points quickly and efficiently. It worried her how smoothly things were going, but Iryana didn’t let herself question it.
The only bit of contention was the tension between the different groups, exchanging suspicious glances and avoiding walking next to each other, but a common goal united them. For now, at least.
Iryana marched with the largest group, careful to avoid the patrols, and when they reached the edge of the abandoned city outside the fort, they split again into groups of ten or twelve.
They filtered through the buildings, staying out of sight from the wall, and meeting up with the others hidden inside.
Iryana climbed to the top of one townhouse, the rest of her group waiting down below.
She looked out across the city and toward the wall that they’d have no hope of breaching if the gates stayed shut.
The cold morning air seemed to claw at her armor and through the layers of her clothes as she waited.
Seeing a flash of blue, Iryana let out the breath she’d been holding.
Small scraps of azure fabric slipped over the sides of the wall across the entire length as all the soldiers that were behind Pyetar signaled their readiness.
So many.
There would still be soldiers on the wall that weren’t on their side, but they hopefully had a large enough majority to overwhelm them. To keep their cover from being blown as long as possible.
She let out a bird call, listening as it repeated around the city. All the teams were ready to move.
Iryana hurried back down the floors of the abandoned townhouse, ignoring the deep claw marks that littered the steps, and slid back into the alley.
“Ready?” Pyetar asked.
He looked like a general, his armor fine, every piece matching as if it’d come from one set. Leather-wrapped steel, a fur-edged wool cloak, and a determined expression that one couldn’t fake.
Swallowing, Iryana nodded and wished she wore as much armor. She at least had her training leathers on, which Karvek wouldn’t find unusual even this early. She’d even worn a pale pink, flowered headscarf over her braid. Something Karvek would know she’d never risk going beyond the walls in.
The soldiers with them followed as quietly as they could as Pyetar led them through the city.
Her ears were listening carefully for any sign of an alarm being raised, and she could tell Pyetar was doing the same as he moved beside her. Every step seemed too loud, every glimpse of the wall too long, but they drew closer and closer.
It was wild to think that within a few hours, it should all be over.
Karvek would be dead. Pyetar, the new general of the 18th. A concerted effort beginning to deal with the dakii. Or if they failed—
No, she wouldn’t think of it. It felt like something would go wrong if she did. Yet they reached the last few rows of buildings outside the gate uneventfully.
Iryana crouched in a secluded alcove and peeked out, looking around the corner and across the street. She could see other groups filtering in around them, filling the alleys and the side streets. Anticipation made her heart pound loudly in her chest.
Pyetar crouched down right beside her, legs almost pressed to hers.
“Iryana?” he called, her name soft on his lips.
“Are you ready?” she asked, settling back into the alcove and turning toward him.
Pyetar cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, quick and fast. And then he was pulling away before Iryana had fully registered the kiss. “Now I am. On your signal.”
“What was that?” she asked, breathless and confused.
“Hope? A prayer?” He chuckled, not sounding nearly as nervous as she felt. “Just in case.”
She couldn’t let herself think too long on that, so she let out the whistle Vaneshta would be waiting for. For a few agonizing moments, nothing happened. And then the gate started to open.
“Good luck,” Pyetar nodded at her with a tense smile.
She nodded, looking him over, what little she could see with all his armor. She hoped this wouldn’t be their last moment together.
Iryana charged across the road, Dinhal and Teshya following her, while the others waited. She needed a head start before the alarm was raised.
She had been at the fort just the day before, but it felt strange marching in now. She was there as a guardian for the first time.
Right inside the gate, Vaneshta and Lidishta waited with a group of soldiers. She met their eyes. Saw Mezhimar, Vabihn, and Pepha. No Shahn.
“You don’t have long,” Vaneshta said, clapping her on the shoulder as Iryana briefly paused. “The longer we wait, the longer we risk losing control of the gate before the others make it in.”
“I won’t need long,” she promised, gesturing for her uncle and Teshya to follow her.
Iryana’s Uncle Dinhal came to her side. With his full guardian armor on, he looked fierce: broad chested, tall, and with a vicious look in his eyes.
“Ready?” Iryana asked.
“Completely,” he said, his voice deeper and more gruff than usual.
Teshya looked less sure, cloak wrapped tightly around her.