Chapter 24
—Kienna—
Kienna didn’t want to follow Tristian. She gave him a poetry book, and he called her a curse. She didn’t know how she cursed him. By her standards, he’d put her on the same level as she put King Vaerin. She would rather sleep. Now, she had to tolerate the High Commander.
He went toward the Great Hall, Ruva said.
Kienna found him walking into the imposing structure carved from pale stone and crowned in arches that curved like ribs around massive, domed ceilings.
She hesitated a moment, realizing she’d never actually been inside the Great Hall.
It felt similar to the workings of the Heart of Trinity, where she endured plenty of council scoldings.
She yawned again, picking at the rings on her fingers before walking up the grand steps.
Inside, the walls were etched with ancient relics of heroes, faces weathered by salt air but no less formidable.
Light poured in from high slits, casting long, golden beams through the dusty chamber, illuminating its vaulted heights.
Stairwells spiraled around the belly of the building, leading to three separate floors of rooms built for various purposes.
Tristian passed the stairwell and approached the back of the building.
Kienna paused near the stairs, her eyes catching on a man speaking with Tristian near an arched doorway.
He wore a dark, fitted doublet stretched across broad shoulders and trimmed in muted silver threads.
His tall boots were polished, and a deep, navy sash crossed his chest, pinned with a gleaming insignia of Dove Port’s crest—a dove in flight with wings curved like waves.
What do you see? Ruva asked.
I think Tristian is talking to the Dove Port Army.
The Captain General? Tall man, squeaky boots?
Kienna squinted. How do you know?
Ruva laughed, the vibrations of a howl tickling Kienna’s eardrums. A giant wolf cannot pass through the alleyways unnoticed. The Captain General feeds me scraps from time to time.
Ruva, Kienna sighed. Do I not feed you well?
You hardly feed yourself well. You are not responsible for feeding me, but if a stranger offers, I’ll never turn it down.
“To people who don’t know about your wolf, you look crazy.” Tristian’s voice broke her from Ruva.
She startled, knocking her sore shoulder into the wall encasing the stairs. Stars shot through Kienna’s vision. Pain radiated down her spine, and she had the sudden urge to pass out. Tristian put his hand out to her before she stumbled.
“Why are you following me?” he asked when Kienna found her balance again.
Kienna stepped out of his grasp. “Moira wants you to come back for dinner. Who is that?” She pointed to the man Ruva referred to as the Captain General.
“Dove Port Commander.”
“Why are you talking to him?” Kienna asked.
“Is it any of your business?”
Kienna scoffed. “Are we preparing for another battle?”
His face held a blank expression. “Go home. We aren’t preparing for anything. I am simply building alliances.”
He turned to walk back to the Captain General.
Kienna could have listened and gone home, but after her run-in with Tislin’s shadows and seeing the weapons forged with dark magic, she knew war was not going to be easy for her to escape.
She followed him. The Dove Port leader met her warmly, which earned her an upward eye flick from Tristian.
“Captain General Petyr Vellorin,” said the general, holding his hand out.
Kienna returned his hand with a smile. “Kienna…uh…just Kienna.”
She wasn’t sure what surname she was supposed to be using.
Was she Kienna Ashfell? Maren’s surname in River Storm was Rowen.
Should she have claimed the title in honor of them?
Did Tristian expect her to claim Belok? She knew which one she preferred but feared the link to Vaerin would be too strong.
“Welcome to Dove Port, Just Kienna.” He studied her a moment longer, his hand resting on hers, then he continued with, “You’re the girl with the wolf?”
“She’s quite fond of you.”
Petyr’s brows shot up. “She talks?”
Kienna pointed to her temple.
“Kienna was leaving,” Tristian interrupted. “We have a lot to discuss before I depart.”
“Ah, yes. The alliance. High Commander, let me be straight with you. Dove Port has been considered an ally with the Elvish for years. We’re grateful for our seat on the council, but there are no resources we can send to the forest without a fair return. We—”
Tristian waved his hand in the air to cut Petyr off. The Captain General stopped speaking and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed. Tristian glanced back at Kienna, begging her to leave now, but Kienna only folded her arm over her slinged one to indicate she was waiting to hear this as well.
“I have no interest in Dove Port resources.”
Kienna bounced her head back. “You don’t?”
“I’d like to speak about this more privately,” Tristain said, stepping in closer to the Captain General. “Away from prying ears.”
“Seeing as you don’t want her to hear this, and I am weary to trust the Elvish, I must insist that she comes,” Petyr said, pointing at Kienna.
“Fine. Underground.”
Petyr nodded and waved for them to follow.
He led them through the back of the Great Hall, where another set of stairs descended to an underground bunker.
The room stretched wide beneath the city, a massive chamber hollowed out for protection against attacks.
The ceilings arched high above their heads, crisscrossed with support beams thick as tree trunks.
The Captain General pointed to a large opening in the room. “That leads to other tunnels. Our masons built a highly intricate, connected barricade system. Leaves us the opportunity for ample escape if anything ever went wrong down here.”
The air was damp and thick, the musty scent of wet stone and dust clinging to Kienna’s lungs.
The walls, built from layers of rock and shale, sweated with condensation that trickled in slow rivulets toward the uneven floor.
Kienna wondered what it felt like to be locked in one of these places, to feel so helpless while listening to the booms of war above.
“This will do,” Tristian said, turning toward Petyr. “I’m proposing an alliance directly with my army. Not with the Elvish. But with me.”
“What’s the difference?” Petyr laughed.
Tristian remained stoic. “I’m offering my sword to Dove Port. We will answer every call to aid. No strings.”
Kienna questioned what Tristian meant by this proposal.
By offering this form of alliance, he overstepped the queen’s rule.
She and her council were supposed to decide on how they would handle their alliances, weren’t they?
King Vaerin and his council certainly did.
He didn’t hand that work off to others like Dren.
“What’s your angle here?” Petyr asked, glancing between Kienna and Tristian. Kienna had the same question.
“We have magic. Dove Port does not. There’s an imbalance in the way the world has evolved, and I intend to fix that.”
Petyr fixed on Kienna. She shrugged. “I’m hearing this for the first time, also.”
“What does that mean in regard to our council seat? Not that our governor spends any time fulfilling his council responsibilities.” Petyr’s muscles were beginning to relax.
“Nothing changes, but you have a direct line to me.”
“How so?” Petyr folded his arms again.
Tristian pointed to Kienna, who glanced behind her and then around the room. Oh, he meant her. He had to be improvising now, surely, because not but twenty minutes ago, she wasn’t even supposed to be there.
What’s happening? It’s hard to hear you so far down, Ruva’s voice echoed loudly.
Tristian is holding me out as bait to the Captain General.
Ruva flickered through her mind, the distance between them making it hard to hear her. The audacity!
“She and her friend are current residents of Dove Port. They will be the link between your army and mine.”
Petyr watched Kienna. She worked to hide that she hadn’t even been asked about this plan.
In truth, she’d gone with Tislin to Alverton out of boredom.
She picked at her hands and made herself bleed by the mundane.
And she was sent to Dove Port under the pretense that she’d be useful to the Elvish.
She loved the workshop with Ash more than anything.
She would never give that up. She also would never say no to a little more spice in her life when all she had to go home to now was fresh berries and two people who stared at each other like they should be fucking but wouldn’t.
“I have roots in Dove Port,” Kienna said. “I’ll protect this city.”
Petyr studied Kienna’s frame, unsure of the proposition. Crossing his arms, he asked, “What could this girl even offer the Dove Port army? We have soldiers and allies.”
“I’m from River Storm,” Kienna blurted, much to Tristian’s dismay as his shoulders tensed.
Petyr seemed even more thrown by the admission.
“I mean to say, I escaped the treacherous city. I know what the stakes are in this war and what threats lie ahead for the realm. I am your ally, sir, as much as I am an ally of Tristian’s. ”
Kienna knew in her heart how true that statement was. Her love for Dove Port echoed her words and the way she claimed something, even if she couldn’t claim a title to herself.
“You do trust her, then? Why not bring her along in the first place?” Petyr asked.
Tristian kept his face still, watching Kienna carefully. “I engage in dangerous activities that could get her killed.” Kienna’s eyes lowered, thinking through the implications of what Tristian was really doing. “Yes,” he continued. “I trust her enough for this mission.”
The Captain General huffed a small laugh. “Welcome to the Dove Port army, then, soldier.”
Tristian inclined his head and extended his hand in parting. “We’ll be in touch.”
Petyr firmly clasped it, saying his farewells.
Tristian turned without another word, already moving toward the stairwell.
Kienna fell into step beside him, silent as they climbed the winding stairs and passed back through the Great Hall.
Even when they were out of earshot of the Captain General, she held her tongue.
She waited until Tristian veered from the center of Dove Port and moved toward the tree lines until she finally let herself laugh.
Tristian turned, floating his gaze to the sky. “I trust you’ll keep this to yourself.”
Kienna didn’t think she could make that promise. For one, Ruva knew. She probably didn’t count in Tristian’s standards, but Connak would find out. He always did. She’d probably pull him into a nightmare by accident, and this would be built into it. “Are you trying to take Elira’s throne?”
Tristian’s shoulders tightened, his eyes finding her again. “Of course not. Trinity politics disinterest me.”
“Well, I’m apparently roped into this now. Do you care to explain?”
“You weren’t even supposed to be there,” Tristian said, brows lowering. He softened immediately. “Your presence helped, though.” He paused again, tapping his thumb against his belt. “I’m still getting a read on you. To trust you.”
Kienna let out a breathless huff. She was speechless, reeling in her thoughts.
She gave up her family for this fucking Elvish city, to keep the Eternal Mother hidden from King Vaerin.
She fought for them in a battle that almost killed her.
She threw her whole body into saving Tislin’s life. “It’s Vaerin’s mark, isn’t it?”
Tristian pursed his lips together. “You didn’t claim a surname in front of the Captain General. I take allegiances very seriously, and who you claim to be is telling.”
“Which way would have swayed you? Do you want me to be the Elvish Belok? An Ashfell? Who would have been enough for you?”
“It’s not what’s enough for me. If you don’t know, then you’re flying by the course of the wind, and my business will remain that.”
After a long silence, Kienna said, “I respect that.”
She didn’t expect to arrive at that conclusion.
Even Tristian seemed shocked. Kienna couldn’t even suspect what Tristian was doing, but he was given the role of leadership.
Not her. He commanded armies that respected him.
He earned Broan and Danek’s respect, and even Connak tolerated his orders.
From the short amount of time she spent with the High Commander, Kienna gathered him to be a careful man who only acted out of the benefit of the people.
“You’ll need to agree to come to dinner, though,” she said, filling the void. “Moira is meddling, and I think we could all use another face between us after last night.”
Tristian didn’t need to know that Danek almost closed Moira in a room with Tislin to die to get Kienna away from the shadows.
Or that Connak left them there to get drunk because they couldn’t find a way to get along anymore.
The tension would be high enough without that knowledge living in his head.
But even Kienna could see the need for a mediator in case the topics ever came up.
“I’ll bite,” Tristian said, starting back into the city.
She fell in lockstep with him for a moment, a sense of pride overcoming her. Had she really managed to loosen the elusive High Commander? As a smile touched her face, her eye caught on the alleyways leading to Ash’s workshop.
“Oh, shit! I mean…sorry.” She blushed from her outburst. “I will meet you there. Just let yourself in. Ruva will take you back!”
Tristian cocked a brow, but she was already turning toward the back of the city where the workshop was. Through everything, she only now realized she’d never returned to Ash after checking on the ship. Had anyone even told him what happened?