Chapter 47 AT WAR WITH HIMSELF
Chapter forty-seven
AT WAR WITH HIMSELF
Rian
There was stunned silence after my announcement before Darragh went through a portal to take his usual post in the war tent and relay information to and from the generals.
Ciaran was the next one to get to his feet with his armour already materializing on his body.
Sage manifested his suit beside me, but I grabbed his arm to stop him before he could move toward Ornella.
“You should be the one to stay and coordinate between us and the generals in the war tent,” I suggested.
“Not a chance!” he protested in offense. You know as well as I do that Darragh shouldn’t be fighting so close to Mionlach and our encampment, he added privately.
Unfortunately, he had a point…
“Are you fully healed?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him because I already knew the answer.
“I am well enough to fight,” he insisted stubbornly.
We did not have time to argue. We’d both walked onto plenty of battlefields with injuries before, so I just nodded and decided to trust in his judgment.
“It’s the Fuath. They came from the south,” said Nuala as she came to my side. “The scouts spotted them trying to use the Nabaneese Mountains to sneak up on the camp. We have maybe an hour. Rian… there are thousands.”
“I’m surprised they would come here,” Sage admitted as Ornella reached him and entwined her gauntleted hand with his. I couldn’t help noticing how similar her suit still was to how it looked when Aodhan wore it.
“I am not surprised. Queen Aoibheal knows we have a Seer here, and it is only a matter of time before I find her. She has become desperate,” I assured them.
“A Seer who missed a whole army,” Nuala muttered, and I glanced down to see her scowling at the floor.
I turned to her, one finger slipping under her chin to tip her angry face up toward mine.
“I have known to prepare my army for her for weeks because of your visions. Aoibheal knows you are here. She has also proven that she knows how to move unseen. You cannot warn me of what you cannot See.”
She gave a slight nod, her eyes hopeful as they darted between mine as if to ensure I didn’t blame her. But this was my fault, I realized now. She told me she needed to be exposed to more leads in order to See more, but I had been doing my best to avoid her instead.
“Do you have a plan?” Ciaran interrupted impatiently, and I released Nuala to face the room. All the riders were battle ready in their armour, and my family were on their feet waiting anxiously for my instructions.
“I will go and hold them off while the rest of you help prepare the army. We need time to get into formation.”
“We all go,” Sage objected, but I shook my head.
“I need you to help Darragh coordinate the army with the generals. I still need to find the mage, and until I do, we cannot use full force,” I reminded them firmly.
“Killing him would be cutting the head off the snake so why would we not want that?” Ciaran growled.
“The mage has a direct link to Aoibheal,” Nuala spoke before I could. “He is our best chance of finding her.”
I knew Ciaran already knew this, he just hated to use restraint in battle.
“I just want to be clear that I will not be sacrificing our warriors just to be gentle with the Fuath. The second they get an upperhand, I will be using full force,” he warned.
“Agreed,” I assured him. “We are still a little drained from fighting the Sylvan so I will consume the magic we need and get the rest of you back up to full strength.”
I waited until they nodded.
“Sage and Ciaran are most effective when in the sky where they’ll have aerial vantage points.
Ornella will be most useful on the ground where she can access more of her magic from the earth.
You also seem to have enough control of your vargr to employ her in close proximity to other people,” I told Ornella.
I tried to conceal my envy over that since my own vargr would barely look at me.
“Once you get the army into formation, you will relay the aerial observations and directions from Sage and Ciaran to the commanders on the ground,” I finished.
I did not miss the way the dryad bristled slightly at the direct order, but she nodded in agreement.
“You all know your quadrants. Ciaran can take control of mine as well,” I added, and he nodded. “Go.”
Ciaran went into a portal without any more hesitation. Sage and Ornella took a moment to hug his family before they departed for their posts along with their vargr.
I stepped forward to address my family, but Nuala put a hand on my forearm to stop me.
“You’re going out alone?” she demanded nervously.
“I am more than capable of handling Fuath. The hard part will be not killing too many of them before I can find the mage,” I assured her.
She did not look particularly encouraged.
“Go with Asha and Carrick—” I began to tell her.
“We will be out on the battlefield fighting,” my aunt interrupted me, drawing my attention to her and my uncle who had walked over to us. Shay and her family lingered just behind them and waited for more information.
“The aes sídhe are not fully trained to coordinate with my army yet. You are not fighting!” I said dismissively.
“You will not keep us out of the fight this time, Rian. These monsters have been chasing us across Ahnnaòin, and we will meet them in battle,” she maintained.
“This is not as simple as fighting Fuath. Aoibheal has made them unpredictable,” I warned. But her expression promised she would be marching onto the field whether or not I agreed. The last thing I needed was a rogue unit, so I pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded.
Ciaran! See to it that the aes sídhe are assigned to the eastern flank, I said down the bond and felt him agree.
“You will report to Ciaran and his commanders on the eastern flank,” I informed them.
“Thank you,” Asha murmured in sincere appreciation before she stepped forward to hug me. “Be safe.”
“You too,” I replied as I gave her a reluctant squeeze, wishing there was a way to keep her and the last of my people out of the fray.
Ciaran and Sage were the ones who mostly trained the warriors, so they were always the ones who felt most conflicted during battles.
I hated sending people to fight, but it didn’t usually make me feel sick the way the thought of the aes sídhe fighting did.
I’d already lost my entire village, and the threat of losing any more of my remaining family was unbearable.
My aunt let me go and stepped back so Carrick could take his turn hugging me.
“This isn’t our first battle, Rian,” he insisted teasingly, and I tried to force a laugh as he leaned back to examine my expression.
“I know,” I assured him, and he nodded.
“Then we will see you out there,” he said with a slap on my shoulder before he guided his family outside.
I turned to Nuala who waited with her hands twisting together in front of her. She was nibbling on her lower lip but released it once I was facing her.
“Saddle éadrom and send him to me. Then you should go to Darragh in the war tent,” I directed her.
“But I could—”
“Nuala. Please. You will be able to communicate with me through him if you See anything,” I reminded her.
She looked like she wanted to argue with me, but then she simply nodded. She turned as if to leave, but then she turned back and stepped up to me. I could have resisted, but I allowed her to pull me down to her so she could kiss me because I simply could not help myself.
I had been doing my best to maintain what remained of my fragile control and not give in to the aching need to touch her.
But my will was utterly shattered as soon as her arms slid around my neck, her lithe body against mine, and I lost myself in her soft lips.
In the way it was still new between us, and yet somehow intrinsic, as if we had been kissing each other for years.
Our mouths moved in perfect and delicious sync, and the urge to consume her was so primal, it was almost unquestionable.
She was the one who pulled back and turned her face away when my mouth chased after hers. We both panted, our chests heaving while I did my best to regain control, but it felt nearly impossible with her scent in my head and her taste still on my tongue.
“Be careful,” she breathed before she pulled away and walked out with my heart still pounding after her.
I gritted my teeth and then manifested my armour and a portal at the same time, which took me to the riverbank south of our camp. Night had fallen several hours before, and the only light came from the torches mounted on the stone walls of the bridge towers.
I glanced around at the soldiers that were preparing to defend the causeway as they all bowed in my direction. Beyond them, the last of the watchtower guards jogged across the bridge from Nabeene.
“Your Highness!” called a male fey as he stepped off the bridge to walk toward me.
He was breathing heavily as he bowed after he’d undoubtedly run from the towers.
“Captain Vane of the Theas Tùr,” he introduced himself before casting an arm back behind him.
“We evacuated all the southern towers quickly once the alarm was raised. We lost a couple of the scouts in the forest but most of the outpost guards got out alive,” he informed me.
“Good. What were the names of the scouts?” I asked and then relayed their deaths to Darragh in the war tent. “Thank you. Report to your quadrant, Captain. I will hold the Fuath off until the army is assembled.”
“A-alone?” he stuttered, and I clapped him on the back with a smile as I strode by him toward the bridge. All the soldiers from the field had made it over, so with a nod at the guards still stationed on this side, I started across.