CHAPTER 30 #3
Sebastian didn’t falter. He turned instantly into the disciplined soldier, his tone crisp, clipped. “Then I need the guard rotations. Patrol routes. Weak points in the line. If you can move a platoon, even for a few minutes, that’s all I need.”
“Yes, I thought you might,” Tobias said, reaching into his cloak. He pulled out a roll of parchment and a quill, and settled himself at the table. “The current protection looks like this...” He began to sketch a neat map, precise and efficient.
Kara moved closer for a better look but something else caught her attention: there was food on the table. Several days’ worth.
He thought about us being hungry.
A small lump appeared in her throat. Her own father left her in nightshade...
Sebastian’s was feeding her. For some reason, that made her trust Tobias more than his careful words.
Sebastian had seen it too. His gaze lingered on the food for the smallest moment, before he turned back to his father’s map, leaning over it as if he’d seen nothing at all.
Absentmindedly, Sebastian shoved up his sleeves, bracing his hands against the table.
Tobias paused mid-stroke, quill hovering, and scanned the once-scarred forearms of his son – now healed and perfect.
The silence stretched far longer than was comfortable.
Sebastian glanced up, and met his father’s eyes. “What?”
Kara was surprised. There was no shame in his tone, no apology. If anything, it was a challenge. Tobias didn’t answer him. His face unreadable. But then he set his quill back on the parchment and picked up where he left off, like nothing had happened.
Kara sat and listened with rapt attention, but Sebastian drew her gaze far more than the map, the way he leaned over it, sharp and assessing.
She hadn’t seen him like this before – utterly focused, calm and collected as he questioned his father on troop placement, terrain, timing.
No hesitation. No reckless fury. Only strategy. Competence.
The soldier in command.
Her cheeks flushed in spite of herself.
Why is that so attractive?
“The Shard is held in the heart of the Fire Temple here,” Tobias said as he marked the square bastion he’d drawn.
“Fortified on all sides. Sorrel archers will have made their way to their stations by now. Tighter formations to the north and east. To the west lies the bridge – exposed – watched day and night. You’d be killed before you reached halfway. ”
Sebastian studied the markings, shoulders tense. “So not the west. What about the south?”
His father inclined his head, tapping the parchment. “The southern terrain is the hardest to defend – uneven ground. But harder to cross for that very reason. We’ve stationed fewer men there. That’s your best option.”
Sebastian nodded once. “Good. If you shift some of the men north? Thin them further? That should give me enough opportunity to break through.”
Kara gaped at him, incredulous. Break through? He made it sound like storming through a garrison of soldiers was a morning errand.
“And after?” Tobias asked.
Sebastian smiled grimly. “After, I’ll improvise.”
“You will not improvise, Sebastian,” Tobias chastised. “You will plan. Know exactly how you are getting in, your extraction route, and your contingencies before you step foot in the temple.”
Something passed across Sebastian’s face. Not quite embarrassment. But close.
“I will,” he said quickly.
Tobias looked at him for a long moment. Kara stared down at the table. “Good,” he said finally. “Now, just you?” He glanced at Kara. “You mean to make the assault alone?”
Sebastian didn’t even hesitate. “She’s not coming with me, Father.” His tone made it clear it was not up for discussion.
Excuse me?
“Like hell I’m not,” Kara snapped. Both men turned to look at her. She flushed deep red, but lifted her chin stubbornly. “You’re not going alone.”
“Kara, I’m not putting you at risk again. I’d be–” Sebastian broke off, looking for the right words, “I’d be distracted–”
“I am not letting you go in there alone, whilst I wait in some tower not knowing if you’re alive or dead,” she interrupted fiercely. “I can help. Let me help.”
Sebastian sat resolute, saying nothing. Tobias was watching them both closely, his expression carefully controlled. “How effective was it?”
Kara frowned. “What?”
“Your sleep magic,” Tobias said, looking towards Sebastian, who shifted uncomfortably, his hand fiddling with the edge of the map.
Though they had talked about it since, Kara didn’t think he’d appreciate her sharing it with his father. So she said nothing.
Finally, Sebastian said, grudgingly, “Very.”
Tobias leaned back slightly as he considered that, brows drawing together in concentration. He looked back to Kara. “And if you share magic with my son?” His voice was quiet, assessing. “I imagine Thorne strength makes it considerably more potent, Lady Hale.”
Kara thought back to the moment when they had woken up surrounded and their magic had turned gold. She had put four soldiers under without trying.
“Yes,” she said. “It does.”
Tobias’s eyes widened a fraction, and his look turned calculating. He tapped the map with one finger. “Then perhaps the question is not whether you should go, but how best to use you.”
Sebastian’s expression darkened, his hands now fists on the table. “No. She’s not a soldier. I won’t have her dragged into the middle of this.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Kara pointed out.
“And I almost lost you because of it,” he snapped, standing abruptly from the table. He paced the room like a caged animal. “I can’t risk–”
“You think I don’t understand that?” Tobias interrupted. “I buried my wife. I know what it is to lose someone you can’t replace.”
Sebastian made to speak but Tobias held up a hand.
“I also know this – surviving this will be difficult – even for you. And if Kara makes that survival more likely, then she goes. That’s good strategy.”
Sebastian looked as if he might argue again. Or hit something. His hand actually twitched towards the hilt of his blade.
“He’s right, Sebastian,” she said quickly.
He didn’t look at her, but his shoulders dropped – a reluctant surrender – and he sat back down, exhaling sharply through his nose. The sound of a man who knew he’d lost.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered.
“No,” Tobias said evenly. “You’re not meant to. But I want you alive, Sebastian. Both of you. If that means bending the rules of what you think a soldier is – so be it.”
Kara reached for Sebastian’s hand under the table.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked tentatively.
“It will be easy enough for me to justify pulling a platoon away from the south under the pretext of reported sightings elsewhere.” He tapped the northern edge. “That will leave the south weaker.”
“How weak?” Sebastian asked.
“I’ll have to leave one platoon on guard,” Tobias said evenly. “Anything else would arouse too much suspicion.”
“How many soldiers is that?” Kara asked.
“Around twenty,” Sebastian said.
Kara bit her lip. “If I put them all to sleep, we’d have enough time to slip in and out – without having to hurt anyone.”
“How long does it last?” Tobias asked.
“I don’t know exactly. It was at least an hour when I–” Kara looked to Sebastian, then turned away quickly. “–but that was different.”
His father noticed her pause, but didn’t comment. “Then an hour is what you have. You don’t want them waking whilst you’re inside. You’d be trapped.”
Kara nodded, swallowing hard.
“And,” Tobias added, softer now, “I agree with Lady Hale. I prefer this way. I have no wish to spill Thorne blood if it can be avoided. Better our soldiers wake confused, unharmed, than dead on their own blades.”
Sebastian nodded seriously. Tobias marked two small crosses nearer the temple walls. “The patrols. Subdue them quietly and you’ll have a clear path. After that, it’s just the inner guard.” He looked up. “Your fight to the Shard will be... easier. Not easy. But easier.”
“I can manage,” Sebastian said grimly.
“Be swift, Sebastian,” his father advised. “Don’t linger.”
Kara saw Sebastian avoid rolling his eyes with great difficulty. “Yes, Father.”
He’s worried about you. Like I am.
“So, the question is, when?” Tobias asked.
“We’re only a day’s ride away,” Sebastian said.
“There are Thorne patrols in Sorrel looking for both of you, you have to move carefully, even if that means slowly,” his father said.
“I know,” Sebastian said irritably.
“I need time to move the platoon. Two days. Make your approach at nightfall.”
Sebastian nodded his approval.
Two days.
Kara’s heart beat faster. The reality of it sank in. Sebastian had to survive it. She wouldn’t allow anything else.
Tobias set the quill aside, gazing intently at his son. “And then?”
“We unite the Arcanth. And wait for Draknor. They’re coming.”
Tobias inclined his head, his scarred face looking older in the firelight. “I know.”
Neither man spoke then. Eventually, Tobias stood and rolled up the map. He glanced at Sebastian. “You’ve got it? Every detail?”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Yes,” he said dryly. “I’m not a recruit, Father.”
Of course he does. He could probably draw it himself from memory.
Tobias moved to the hearth, throwing the map into the flames without ceremony. It disappeared into ash. The proof that Tobias had betrayed the Council burning with it.
When he turned back, he looked at his son. “You’ve become the man I hoped you would be.”
Sebastian dipped his head, cheeks reddening. “Father–”
“Stay alive,” Tobias said. “Both of you. That’s all I ask. Lady Hale is under your protection, Sebastian.”
Sebastian met his father’s eye. “Yes, Sir.”
“And when the time comes,” Tobias said, “I’ll stand with you on the battlefield.”