Chapter 22 #2
Just before the meeting, he’d caught me alone and asked for the details on how I’d acquired the royals.
He was surprised to learn of my oath to the king, yet pleased with what I’d done.
My father had always been suspicious about my activities.
Finding out many of them involved work for the monarchy—a secret I could finally reveal—drastically reduced his suspicions of me.
If I were loyal to Karganoth, I could have easily killed the heirs.
Loden cleared his throat. “Although I agree we must handle the dark elves wherever they attack, Lord Jacthor proposed a theory a few days ago that I feel has merit.” He paused to look at the blue-gray Frostdar, who dipped his chin for him to go ahead.
“The more magic we use, the faster our land dies. I’m inclined to believe there could be some credence to that.
I wrote to a druid researcher in Tuireen about the matter and received a response shortly before we left the Andalagar territory this morning.
She agreed it is highly probable we’re poisoning the planet faster than ever. ”
Murmurs ran around the room, contemplating the implications. The more we fought Karganoth, especially with our powers, the more the blight would spread. Perhaps the dark elves had discovered the effect in recent years and began testing it. They would do something like that.
“If this is true,” I said, voicing my train of thought. “There is no predicting where the land will die since it isn’t always near our battles. Alavaar has numerous dead spots, and they don’t use nearly as much power as we do since they are peaceful.”
He nodded. “The researcher’s response pointed that out as well, but she believes it has to do with the ley lines. Places near them can still regenerate more easily than those farther away. They all feed back to where the fountain once stood, growing weaker by the day without it there.”
“And as a result, the lines can’t push as much magic to areas far from them,” the prince concluded. “Porrine sits on several, as do most of the castles and major cities in Zadrya, so those locations would likely be the last to die.”
I clenched my fists. “Karganoth will want to occupy every stronghold.”
“Also,” Loden continued, “the Alavaar capital is farthest from the fountain’s former location, even with being over two ley lines.
If it is already struggling against the blight, that can’t be a good sign.
We must not let Karganoth distract us from saving Paxia before it’s too late.
Otherwise, we may have no choice except to move to Faelaria. ”
The dark elf king, Sagan, must have been in league with the Unseelie to make that happen. No doubt he’d be rewarded immensely with his own land and other incentives should he succeed in forcing us back to our native planet. My grandfather wouldn’t care what happened here.
Vas had warned me that they wanted us back in Faelaria.
I’d read the note he’d given Aella yesterday while I was still recovering.
It didn’t fully explain their reasoning beyond the fact that they sought to balance the races on their planet.
The disparity they had now was causing “problems.” Most likely, there weren’t enough non-Unseelie to feed upon.
My brother swore that he’d aid Aella and me in any way he could that would help us reach Earth so that he could find alternative sources for his people. It was exactly as I’d assumed. Despite his saving me from our uncle, I didn’t trust his motives or want to ally with him.
I gestured at Loden. “You need to focus on the fountain recovery above all else. Check on Idwal's planet and star calculations, and ensure he finishes them soon. Also, find out how we can obtain the necessary materials to repair the ring in Penoria. We’ll adjust our focus and resources accordingly as soon as we can further our progress on it.”
“I already inquired about Methelaga, the ice giant, and confirmed she gave birth a couple of days ago. It will be about six weeks from now before she’ll accept visitors, so we must wait that long before she calculates the rune sequence to Earth,” he said, touching on the last significant piece of the puzzle.
“The blight hasn’t struck Hisgar, which has made them less concerned about it. ”
That didn’t surprise me. They were very close to the fountain's original site and rarely used any magic, which would insulate them from the effects. If they weren’t so stubborn and impossible to fight, I’d try forcing the matter.
History had grim tales of anyone who attempted such a thing.
All the times I’d gone there for trade had taught me that they’d do what they wanted when they wanted.
No matter how desperate we were, we couldn’t rush them.
I nodded. “We’ll just have to hope the situation doesn’t get too much worse before then.”
“Next topic.” The prince clasped his fingers together. “I suspect many refugees will be heading toward Veronna as Karganoth’s army expands. We need to discuss the current food and supply stores, as well as the harvests coming in soon. They’ll need to be guarded and rationed.”
Nameless ones save me. I could handle battle strategy as long as it didn’t become redundant, but not other tedious topics.
“Do I need to be here for this?” I asked, sighing.
Armin glanced at me. “Yes.”
Lord Gannon echoed him, despite knowing I was useless for such subjects.
Leaning back in my chair, I balanced it on two legs.
My father shot me an admonishing look. I returned it with one that said as long as they insisted on boring me, I would make myself comfortable.
He scowled. I set my boots on the table next, with a plop loud enough to make everyone jump. Incredulous gazes fell on me.
“Please.” I swept out my hand magnanimously. “Continue.”
The prince shook his head and led with a discussion on grain that had me pondering whether it could be useful for choking dark elves to death.
Could I catch them with their mouths open and stuff it into their lungs?
No, too many variables, such as needing a silo nearby.
If I had one of those, it would be easier to just toss them all in there and let them drown in the grain. That could be amusing to watch.