Cyrene loved her bravado. She patted Sarielle’s flank in response. Then, she trekked back into the camp. She passed the combined strength of the Network’s ragtag company and the might of the Eleysian army. Soldiers stared at her. Some with wary expressions. Others with awe. She didn’t know what they saw when they looked at her. But she kept her head about her and walked straight to the war tent.
And was pleased to find the war council already assembled.
All heads turned her way when she swaggered in.
“Good morning,” she said with a confident smile.
Everyone spoke at once. Orden jumped to his feet, having taken her place in her absence. Avoca stood behind him. Her ice-white blade in her hand. Her face blank. Gwynora was at the head of the long table that had been brought in. She looked put out that Cyrene was back. Their truce a fragile thing in the aftermath of their loss.
The rest of the council included some that she knew, some that she didn’t. Some that hated her, some that she might believe were allies.
Brigette, the queen of Eleysia and Dean’s sister, who still blamed her for their parents’ murder. Darmian, a close friend of Dean’s, who had been promoted after the fall of the Eleysian capital. Fenix was a former Network spy, who was apparently dating her closest friend from home, Rhea. Then, there were Joffrey and Brendt. Both Eleysian politicians who thought the sun shone out of their asses.
“Where have you been?” barked Gwynora, her voice ringing out above the others.
“Where I’ve been doesn’t matter. Yesterday, I learned the history of our enemy from her sister. Then, Malysa revealed herself to me.”
A gasp rang out around her.
“You saw her again?” Orden asked in concern.
She nodded once sharply. “She came to me in a dream in an attempt to break my will. She didn’t win. And she’s not going to win.”
“She trampled all over us, hardly lifting a finger,” Joffrey spat. “Now, you’re saying she managed to get into your dreams, and that isn’t cause for concern?”
“She reached in through a loophole. It won’t happen again,” she confidently told him.
“You don’t know that,” Brendt said. “You could give away all of our battle tactics without us being able to do anything about it.”
“As far as I know, we don’t have any battle tactics. We’re sitting here, unable to decide what our next move is.”
“If you didn’t notice,” Brigette said with intense superiority in her voice, “we’re planning them right now. Thanks to your disappearing act, we were actually able to get something accomplished. You interrupted.”
“Enough,” Gwynora said, silencing the room. “Tell us what you came to say, Cyrene.”
“Malysa is not a goddess. She might claim to be the Destroyer, the goddess of destruction, but she is a mere mortal, like you and me. She can be killed,” she told them. “What we saw on the battlefield was the undoing of a powerful splitting spell. A long time ago, her body and spirit were severed, and she was trapped away in the Haeven Mountains. She reunited with her body and is gaining power with every hour that passes. She remains in the Haeven Mountains as her base. And we can’t sit here and wait for her to become unstoppable. We must march on the Haeven Mountains and slay her.”
Silence followed her proclamation.
Eyes skittered around the table, as if everyone was waiting to see who would be the first to speak.
“It’s a trap,” Fenix finally said. He leaned back in his chair and cocked an arm back over the back. “She’s taunting you.”
“Trap or no, we can’t sit here like ducks, waiting for Malysa to make her move,” I told him.
“The Haeven Mountains are inhospitable,” Joffrey chimed in.
“Not to mention, a thousand leagues away from here,” Brendt added in.
“The frozen tundra cannot be penetrated. How would we survive the cold?” Joffrey continued.
“Or transport men and food and equipment?” Brendt asked.
Cyrene had answers for that. She knew about the portal at Tenchala in the Sand Plains. That she had a coin that could walk them through it to Byern or Aonia, the ruined Leif city.
“There is a way,” she told them. “Magic can get us there.”
“We want to believe you, Cyrene,” Gwynora said. She placed her dark hands on the table and leaned forward. “But it is a lot to ask.”
“We don’t want to believe you actually,” Brigette jumped in. “What you’re suggesting is preposterous.”
“What we need to be considering is what to do about Aurum,” Brendt said, talking over the rest of them.
“Yes. They are without a sovereign at the moment,” Joffrey said. “It would be beneficial to put our own on the throne rather than to wait to see if the Dremylon boy returns or someone else puts themselves in the position.”
“Do you even have a sovereign right now?” Fenix asked with a smirk. His tall build and broad shoulders made him look like a giant next to the sniveling politicians.
“The Queen’s War is on hiatus,” Brigette snapped. “I, for one, think the vote of no confidence shouldn’t even stand. I have proven myself here. And, when we take Aurum, it will be undisputed.”
“That’s not really how it works though, is it?” Fenix asked.
“Watch how you speak to my queen,” Darmian threatened.
“You’re not taking Aurum,” Orden growled from his position. “My sister was once queen, and I am a lord of the realm. If there is no current king in Aurum, then the lords will assemble to determine a regent in the interim. In no world will I sit by and let you talk about conquering my country.”
“We’re not invading Aurum,” Gwynora muttered in exasperation.
“We have to secure the country while we can,” Joffrey said.
“Civil unrest helps no one in this situation,” Brendt confirmed.
Cyrene slammed her hands down on the table. “You are sitting around, discussing the fate of one country, and I am talking about the fate of the world! What you are speaking about doesn’t matter. None of this matters. I’ve seen Malysa at the height of her powers. There is only one choice here. If we do not move, if we do not stop Malysa, then we will all surely perish.”
5
The Vote
They didn’t understand. Cyrene could see it on their faces. They didn’t understand what Malysa could do or her conviction to burn the world to the ground.
“Malysa will stop at nothing to see this world burn. She fought against the Doma long before our histories were even recorded. She created the Nokkin and Indres and Braj. She can self-portal to places without a talisman. With just the flick of her wrist. She believes humans are beneath her. Just mongrels to rule over. And she is not just going to go away because you want to conquer another country,” she tried to reason with them.
Joffrey laughed. “Indres don’t exist. And these Nokkin, I’ve never even heard of. Braj are just twisted assassins. Nothing magical.”
Cyrene glared at his ignorance. “They are magical beings. Indres are giant wolflike creatures that run in packs. They’re wicked smart and deadly. Nokkin are hooded wraiths that suck the magic out of magical users. And, if you have no magic, they just suck the life out of you. Braj are most certainly not plain assassins. They steal the faces of their victims. They keep coming until the person is dead. And even then—”