23. Chapter Twenty Three Rhowyn
Chapter Twenty Three: Rhowyn
The next week passed quickly, a tentative routine forming. After waking in the arms of one of my guys, I would find my way to the War Room, where I’d spend the rest of the day catching up on troop movements and the geography of the land. Each day after Charity’s arrival, more and more of Avalon’s citizens came from all over as word spread of my declaration of war and the need to pick sides. While it was great to have so much support, we were quickly running out of room. Tents spread out to form a small city both inside the gates and outside, though everyone still fit within the original shield and glamor. For now.
Walking the grounds, you’d find a bevy of activities, from soldiers training, led by Callum, to women and children going through the activities it took to feed and support the soldiers. Each night ended with everyone gathering for a meal, many of the citizens coming up to pay their respects and pledge vows of service.
Today was just like the day before, as I woke and got dressed, foregoing the beautiful dresses for leathers. After sitting in with Arryn, I would train more with Callum and the others with weapons and magic. It was still a struggle to keep my power contained. Each time I used it, it wanted to burst forth and lash out, only stopping because of the thin thread of control I could barely manage. I had to admit, I was fearful of losing my grip on that thin thread, and I’d been hesitant to train with it after almost burning everyone and everything to the ground not too long ago. It took the guys a full day of hounding me and providing solutions before I finally agreed to train well away from the castle and anyone who might be in the area.
Despite their efforts, I had made very little progress with my own powers. However, my use of theirs was coming more naturally. My first instinct was no longer to turn to physical combat, instead reaching for their magic to help me gain the upper hand. Callum was still trying to get me to use them in tandem, though that was taking more focus than I would like.
Pushing open the door to the War Room, I smiled, finding Arryn bent over the map on the table, studying the troops. He’d been pouring over the information from the scouts, and I had been spending my mornings studying him. His ability to lead came so naturally, and I often found myself completely turned on by the end of these sessions. His gaze jumped up to meet mine, both of his hands resting on the table, before those green eyes drifted down my body, his desire evident through the bond. I smirked at him in response, walking over to my normal seat to the side of the room. And if my hips swayed a little more than usual, it was not something I could help.
“Sir, the latest report from Summer says that Titania has been gathering troops at the border to Autumn,” one of the soldiers reported, drawing Arryn’s gaze from mine. I couldn’t remember his name, Gavin or Garrett or something like that. While I could remember faces easily, names had always been difficult for me.
“Just as I had suspected,” Arryn muttered, taking the papers from the soldier and reading over the written report. A couple of days after our arrival, Arryn had sent out several scouts, mostly farmers and villagers who could navigate the rural areas without suspicion despite having very little training in the art of spying. Brannoc and Cyerra had been busy every day, seeking out the reports from those spies and bringing them back to us.
Most nights, Brannoc came back after I had already fallen asleep and was gone before I woke in the morning. The only evidence he’d even been there was the mussed sheets in his room and little notes by my bed. I missed him already, but I knew we needed this intel. As much as I wanted to be selfish and keep him here with me for his own safety and my peace of mind, I couldn’t deny that his gifts were necessary. Without them, we’d be blind.
“What about the movements in Winter and Spring?” Arryn asked, setting the report to the side and moving pieces on the war table accordingly.
“We haven’t been able to get much information yet. The spies are still making their way to their posts, but what we have gotten is troubling.”
That little nugget had me sitting forward, paying close attention to the conversation. “What do you mean?” Arryn asked.
“It seems that as they make their way further out, they’re finding fewer and fewer residents,” the soldier reported.
“That’s not that unusual. If Titania is gathering them to her or they’re making their way here, then that would make sense,” I spoke up.
“True, Your Majesty. It’s just that…” he trailed off, unsure.
“Please speak plainly,” I told him, growing used to the way most of them seemed to clam up anytime I interjected myself.
“Right. Well, it seems that as they go further out, the more the land has seemed to fail. One usually expects little growth in Winter territory, although there’s usually some flora or fauna to be seen, but to find the same in Spring? It’s not normal. It seems the land is dying, ash coating large sections, but it’s not a clear swathe of area either. More like little pockets of devastated land with nothing and no one alive within them.”
“Where?” Arryn asked, his brow furrowed as the soldier held his full attention.
The soldier looked around for a moment before grabbing some markers from the side table, flat pieces of circular wood, and placed them down on the map. “These are the areas we’ve heard about so far.”
“Why would the land be dying in such a way? You’d think that it would be all of it rather than just pieces here and there,” I said, standing and moving toward the map. I knew it had been mentioned before that some of it was due to the imbalance brought about by Titania’s grasping at power that didn’t belong to her, but I hadn’t realized it was so far reaching. That and I had a gut instinct that told me there was more to this that we were missing. We just hadn’t figured it out yet.
Arryn looked at me, following my train of thought. “I’d expect her power to drain from one area as well, starting from further out and making its way in as she pulled more power from the land, but to have it so sporadic? That doesn’t make sense.” Arryn pondered the conundrum. If anyone could find a reason, it would be him. “We need more information. I’ll send Brannoc to those areas tomorrow and have him redirect the scouts to investigate this further.”
“That makes sense. I have a feeling we won’t solve this without knowing more,” I said, working over the problem in my head, trying to see it from a different angle. What really sucked was that I didn’t have the years of history and experience with the land. I didn’t know what was normal for magic and what wasn’t. I was having to learn everything on the fly, and so far, my learning curve had been steep.
The War Room door burst open, slamming into the stone wall as Brannoc strode through out of breath. My heart lifted at the sight of him until I took in the details. His clothes were dusty and wrinkled, his hair mussed and windblown. But what really had me worrying was the bags under his eyes. His exhaustion was evident in every line of his body. He couldn’t keep going like this. We needed to come up with a different solution and soon.
“Brannoc?” Arryn questioned, concern tinging his voice, clearly not expecting his arrival. “What is it?”
“She’s making her move.” Shit. I knew it was coming, but to hear it was so soon had me worried for other reasons now. “She’s moving through Autumn, already having burned the first village to the ground.”
Arryn’s focus snapped fully into place, his training taking over. “Where’s she headed?”
Brannoc eyed the map. “Here.” His finger landed on a spot just over the Autumn border. “This is the village she burned.” Dragging his finger closer to our direction, he continued, “And here’s where she’s heading. She hit the first village at night, demanding everyone fall into line. Those that didn’t were murdered on sight or were burned alive. Even the children. Nothing is left of it but ashes.”
Fuck . Tears watered my eyes at the thought of such cruelty, that my quest for the throne had brought this down on them. Anger quickly replaced that fear and doubt, all of which I could agonize over later. Now, we needed to act.
“How quickly can we get our forces moving to that location?” I asked.
“We can’t pull our full forces out. We need to leave some behind to guard the Keep in case this is a trap or distraction. Those we do have are barely trained, except for a handful of previous soldiers and the guards Charity’s father sent. Fuck. We needed more time,” Arryn cursed, his eyes darting over the map as his mind worked over the best course of action.
“Then we go down and help them. All of us. We can get there first with reinforcements following.” I eyed the map, finding a village, knowing that this decision would leave others in Titania’s path of destruction, but we didn’t have time. “Here. If we get there first, we can set up a defensive position, maybe get the upper hand?” I asked, looking at Arryn.
“I can head out now and warn these villages, but that would only make her arrival to our position faster,” Brannoc said.
“We can’t just leave them in the path,” Arryn said, not liking any of the options. “Fine. If we leave now, we can be there by this afternoon. That’ll hopefully give us a day to get everything sorted before she arrives and provide the villagers with enough time to get out of her way.”
Looking up to Brannoc, he nodded. “Head out now, and we’ll meet you there.” He grasped Brannoc’s forearm in farewell. “Travel safe, brother.”
“Always,” Brannoc said, turning to me.
“Come back to me,” I told him, leaning up on my tiptoes to claim his lips with mine briefly before pulling back. “That’s an order from your Queen.”
He smirked. “One I’ll gladly follow. See you in a few hours,” he said, turning to leave.
Arryn had already turned to bark orders at the others in the room, who also sprinted to carry them out. “Come, let’s go get ready. Someone will send the others to us.”
I nodded, the gravity of the situation finally sinking in. If Titania thought she’d win this without a fight, she was sorely mistaken. Even though we hadn’t had as much time to prepare as we’d like, we were still ready for her. We’d push this force back and prepare to strike back. The waiting for war was over. Now it was time to take that fight to her.