Chapter Thirty-four #3
Before the shocked quiet could sink into the room, Anya ploughed on.
‘We know that Artos is slowly making his way across the midrealms, attempting to curse its people and devour its lands with darkness. We’ve all witnessed the fading daylight, the tears in the Veil and the barren forests.
Reports from the other kingdoms share similar findings.
Rivers are turning brown. Crops are wilting on the vines, buds are no longer blooming…
The world festers with each passing day, with more monsters encroaching than ever before – many of them cursed with the same blight of the wraiths and reapers. ’
‘I’m assuming you have a broader proposal for us? A plan of attack?’ Thea asked. Wilder noticed that she hadn’t touched her wine; she had been watching the conversations unfold intently, her hand still covering his.
Anya nodded. ‘Adrienne?’
Adrienne stood, wearing the same hardy expression Wilder had seen several times during his time in Naarva, whenever she spoke to her rangers.
‘First,’ she started, her voice clear and confident, ‘the midrealms need to be made aware of what’s happening. Artos can’t hold the wool over their eyes forever, and they need to pick a side… Light or dark, men or monsters.’
Dratos made a noise at the back of his throat. ‘I resent that.’
Adrienne rolled her eyes. ‘You know what I mean. The remaining kingdoms need to be united against Artos and his host of reapers, wraiths and cursed creatures. Yes?’
‘Yes,’ several voices sounded.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Thezmarr also needs to be united against him. We need the Guardians, the shieldbearers, and most of all… we need your alchemists.’
What? Wilder twisted in his chair to look at Wren and Farissa.
Both women sat with their shoulders back and their hands clasped neatly before them, completely calm.
Wilder supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, given what Thea had told him about her sister’s talents – he’d seen them in action himself on occasion.
But alchemy? To face an army of monsters?
‘Audra told us we would be needed,’ Farissa said, her voice smooth. ‘We’re listening.’
Adrienne bowed her head in respect. ‘And we are grateful to you. We have reason to believe that your particular skillset will serve us well in Naarva —’
‘Naarva?’ Thea demanded. ‘You want to send Wren to Naarva?’
‘And the Alchemy Master, yes,’ Adrienne replied patiently. ‘We have been working on a substance over there that could turn the tides of a war against the reapers and their kin.’
‘We have already created an alchemic gas to patch the Veil, though we’ve had very few chances to test it… What kind of substance do you speak of?’ Wren’s curiosity was clearly piqued.
‘We do not talk of it outside of our safe houses, but know that it is heavily guarded and protected by the most powerful of our kind.’
Wren stared at Adrienne. ‘So, you expect us to turn our backs on Thezmarr, become known traitors to the midrealms, and go with you willingly to a fallen kingdom to meddle with some substance we know nothing about?’
‘Sounds like your dream come true,’ Wilder heard Thea mutter to her sister, who shot her a disapproving look.
‘I’ll give you more specifics after this meeting,’ Adrienne reassured them.
‘But as for the rest of us, the tasks are clear. Anya and Dratos are to gather the shadow-touched folk into a unified fighting force. I will be gathering intel and doing what I can to free prisoners from the shadow camps we’ve mentioned.
We need a party to go to Tver to speak with King Leiko; we need another to convince Queen Reyna of Artos’ treachery.
And we need more to cut out the rot at Thezmarr and install fair rule there. ’
‘Is that all?’ Cal mumbled.
Adrienne ignored him. ‘There’s one more thing. Audra… you may have called this meeting, but there’s something you’re not sharing —’
The librarian looked up, leaning back in her chair and resting her hands on what she insisted were ceremonial daggers. ‘What?’
‘Word has it that you know someone who knows where the women Guardians of Thezmarr fled twenty years ago.’
‘Don’t know where you heard that.’
‘I don’t recall,’ Adrienne said. ‘However, were that possible, I’d encourage you to get in contact with that person, and seek them out.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Audra said coldly.
‘Naturally,’ Adrienne allowed. ‘But all the same.’
Farissa raised her hand – which, from the look on Adrienne’s face, she found both amusing and disconcerting.
‘Yes?’ the ranger asked.
‘I was wondering what you propose regarding the Delmirian heirs?’
Wilder felt Thea tense beside him.
But Farissa ploughed ahead. ‘One is currently apprenticed to me, another to a supposedly fallen Warsword of Thezmarr…’ She eyed Wilder sardonically. ‘And the other is a half-wraith, which is far from ideal, given the royal family’s previous reputation. What is your plan of action?’
Thea jutted her chin at Anya. ‘She’s the oldest. She’s the heir.’
But Wren interjected. ‘She’s a shadow wraith. No citizen of the midrealms will accept her as a ruler, even of a fallen kingdom.’ She spoke harshly, several of the Naarvians flinching at her words.
‘First,’ Anya addressed her coolly, ‘we prefer to be called shadow-touched. Second, I don’t see how any royal announcements would impact our battle plans. No one is rallying to our cause based on the Embervale name, I assure you.’
‘They might if they knew the truth,’ Audra said, twirling one of her daggers between her fingers. ‘That your mother and father weren’t responsible for the darkness that descended upon Delmira.’
‘And how do we prove that? All we have is my word,’ Anya said bitterly.
‘The word of a shadow wraith, as my dear little sister put it, works against us entirely. And our mere existence doesn’t prove Artos’ treachery.
Storm-wielding heirs aside, as far as the midrealms know, the Embervale family brought about the destruction of their own kingdom. ’
‘What about the letters?’ Thea asked. ‘Between our mother and the Queen of Naarva?’
Anya shook her head. ‘Anyone can forge a letter.’
‘So, you find someone who knows the truth —’
‘Anyone alive who knows such a thing will never come forward, not now. We have to find another way.’
‘What does it matter?’ Thea said.
Wren made a noise of agreement. ‘Can Delmira even be saved? It’s nothing but rubble and ruin.’
‘It’s been done before,’ Torj murmured from across the table. ‘I know of a kingdom like it that came back from destruction.’
Noting the conflicting emotions warring on the Embervale sisters’ faces, Wilder cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps we should prioritise the preservation of the kingdoms that are still standing first.’
It was Kipp, as always, who broke the tension. ‘Judging from the location of today’s meeting, I’ll assume we still wish for a degree of discretion as we go about these important tasks?’
There was a murmur of agreement and several nods around the room.
‘Then myself, Marise and Everard have means of passage, some of which you have uncovered, much of which you know nothing about.’
Thea leant close to Wilder. ‘Is he some sort of cross-kingdom bootlegger as well?’
Wilder huffed a laugh. ‘I think there’s a high chance of that.’
The Son of the Fox motioned for Marise and Everard to join him. ‘Once you know who is going where, come to us and we’ll find you safe passage, under the noses of those who hunt you,’ he told the rebels, the cheeky glint gone from his eyes.
Wilder gave Thea’s hand a squeeze before he got to his feet, unable to stand the stillness any longer. ‘Kipp makes a good point… Who decides on everyone’s missions, should anyone here actually be willing?’ he asked.
Adrienne smiled. ‘That’s the beauty of it,’ she replied. ‘You do. All of you.’