The Enemy's Triumph

by Kristen Banet

  “Obviously. We’re riding out at dawn. Have you finished packing?” She pushed her eggs around, thinking about the three weeks they were about to be on the road again.

  “I have. Already taken it out to the cart we’ve been given for our things. The two horses are having their breakfast as well.” Zayden took bites of his breakfast between sentences. She didn’t say any more. Her males had packed nearly all of their things the day before, leaving out what they would wear today. Only two empty chests were left for their bedding.

  As she considered it, she heard thumping and turned to see Bryn and Luykas carrying out one of the chests. Matesh carried another on his own soon after them. A few moments later, they came into the kitchen together and took their seats.

  “Everything is ready to go,” Bryn said to her softly.

  “Thank you,” she replied, smiling at him. She was less mad at him than the others. He’d been angry at Luykas for not telling anyone he was going to risk visiting an Elvasi and chastised him while everyone else had been completely okay with Luykas’ decision.

  She finished her breakfast and waited for them. It was early, too early. They were leaving the city to the some two hundred warriors who would be helping rebuild and protect the city. More were coming with Leria’s supply run who would stay, including a younger mativa she had been training, ready to take lead somewhere.

  Mave knew it was time to go, everyone knew it, but the thought of three more weeks on the road with males she was angry with wasn’t appealing.

  Once they were done, Zayden cleaned up one last time. She waited on him as well, used to it since she normally did for their morning sparring. By the time they were outside, Mave had the sneaking suspicion they were running late but didn’t much care. She rode at the front of the cart with Bryn while Mat and Luykas piled on top of things in the back. Zayden was in the back as well, but Mave knew he wasn’t going to stick around for the entire trip. He would ride with Rain once they arrived at the caravan.

  This would be their lives since only Alchan was going to get his own horse thanks to their necessary travel arrangements. Too many needed to be hauled, unable to walk the distance. Too much needed to be carried to be loaded on a few pack horses.

  Mave relaxed as Bryn got them moving, and they headed out of the city to the large caravan mostly formed. He pulled ahead of many of them, and Mave kept track of each group as she saw it.

  The gladiators were now dispersed with the other warriors, and so were many of the other new males. As they drew closer to the front, she saw the female warriors intermingling with a few of the new females. Right behind the Company were the females with children and any elderly who needed to be watched. Not many elderly had made it out of Elliar and Myrsten, and even more were lost when the two ships were attacked passing by Ellantia.

  Brynec leaned over and kissed her cheek. When he pulled away, he seemed to have a guilty expression. Since he hadn’t done anything, Mave had a feeling he was about to.

  “Have you considered the intel Luykas brought to us after…his excursion?”

  Mave snarled and stood up, glaring down at him for a moment before jumping off the cart. Sounds of protest could be heard from all three of her males as she stomped quickly away from them, heading further to the front where she saw Alchan on his horse.

  He looked down at her as she came up beside him and sighed, swinging off his horse.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, sister?”

  “Kill your brother,” she snapped. “Actually, no. Kill all of my husbands for me, so I can blame you once I regret it happening.”

  “I’m not going to do that, but I’m sure we can round up one spare horse for you to ride next to me,” he said, thumping her on the back. “Rain! See if we can spare a horse anywhere.”

  “Yes, sir!” Rain called out behind them.

  Mave groaned. “You didn’t need to do that. I just wanted to come vent.”

  “You need a horse,” Alchan said sharply. “Rank, position, and sex, you need a horse. I wonder which one of my idiots forgot to set one aside for you.”

  “Me,” she muttered. “I told them not to worry about it.”

  He growled at her, but Mave didn’t blink. She had been hoping it would never get brought up. It felt like too much.

  Rain came back with a horse, panting as he handed her the reins.

  “Some minor readjusting, but this is the mare you rode to Kerit.”

  “Thank you.” She quickly mounted and waited as Alchan mounted his stallion. Turning, they looked back at the caravan, the sky beginning to glow.

  “Nevyn! Have all units reported in?”

  “Yes, sir!” Nevyn called back. “Everyone is accounted for. I can safely say we’re ready to move out.”

  Alchan nodded once and turned his back on the caravan. Mave followed suit, and shouts began as they started moving, growing more distant with each person as the word was spread to begin moving.

  Mave felt uncomfortable back on a horse and privately whined as she considered another three weeks on it. They started at a slow and steady pace, Mave knowing it would take the day to find the right speed for the caravan and what it could handle. She didn’t know the roads they intended to take, but Alchan and Luykas had assured her there would be no mountains this time, making the journey much smoother.

  “Why did you ask me to kill them?” he finally asked, half the day later.

  “Bryn wanted to talk about Luykas’ intel,” she admitted. “And I’m not keen on talking about it.”

  “You’ll have to, eventually.”

  “I would rather just get back to the village and begin preparing. I want to be in every mission, Alchan. I want to hit him hard.” Mave’s hands tightened on the reins, thinking of their coming battles. Shadra wasn’t just sending ten thousand men to the Dragon Spine. She was sending Lothen. Mave wanted his blood so bad, she could taste it. Between the gladiators, the other freed slaves, and that news, she had a feeling it was going to be a long summer—a long, tiring summer.

  “I can’t send you on every mission. You would never come back long enough to recover, but I promise to send you on all missions that are direct hits on him,” Alchan informed her, not looking at her. “You should talk to Luykas.”

  “I don’t want to yet.”

  “Then you’re going to talk to me.”

  “I thought you were on my side, brother,” she growled.

  “I am, but I think I’m thinking about this more rationally. You have personal experience with the Elvasi royal family, and that makes you biased. I have very little, which makes me consider them from a different perspective. On top of that, it’s been just shy of a week since we received the new intel on Lothen’s movements, and I have yet to hear from one of my best sources on him. You,” he growled, and it was strong enough, Mave stiffened somewhat. It felt more powerful than anything he had ever done at her. Whether it was his mood or hers, something felt different. He pulled his horse away from her for a moment, and she glanced to see him breathing steadily, his eyes closed as if he was trying to control himself.

  “He’s a spoiled brat,” she said softly. His eyes opened and met hers. “He’s whiny and needy. He demands, and everyone does as he asks. He likes to find faults in others, even when there is nothing apparently wrong. If he tells you to stand still, but you don’t move to get him a drink when he sits down, he’ll have you beaten. If he tells you to remain silent, he’ll find your lack of response to a question an insult. He’s been groomed to be that way. He knows he has power.”

  “Do you know anything about his skills with commanding an army?”

  “No,” Mave admitted. “I remember bits and pieces about him going through training. Some celebrations? Other than that, nothing he did ever seemed to even hold a candle to what Shadra’s actual generals talked about or even stories of the War. If I had to put money between you and Luykas versus him, I would pick you and Luykas.”

  “Your confidence is appreciated. So,
you knew the spoiled child of a prince. The one who took what he wanted, when he wanted it, and crushed the spirits of those around him. Would you like to know the Lothen I’ve heard of?”

  “Sure.” No, not really, Alchan, but I don’t think you’re going to let me get out of this conversation.

  “He’s an Elvasi noble of the greatest house. On his father’s side, he stands the most recent member of a long line of conquerors, kings, and emperors. Those who stayed in power the longest? They were great military leaders. Those who weren’t in power long? They were considered weak and oftentimes displaced for more promising siblings who showed the ruthlessness to crush enemies. Every aggression he showed was him honing his image. He wants to be seen as one of the strongest of his family. He wants to rise up and become greater than all the others. Sure, in private, he might have some petty and childish tendencies, but take it from my experience, every royal does. We’re mortal and flawed.”

  She snorted. “Get to the point,” she said with a huff.

  “He’s been trained by her generals, her admirals. He’s probably sat in on meetings with her advisors, just watching and waiting for his time. He’s probably prepared his entire life for something like this. Don’t underestimate him because you’ve seen his petty side. He’s out to achieve the greatness of his predecessors, and he’ll do anything to further his ambitions.”

  “He’s not that smart.” Mave refused to believe Lothen was anything more than a high-strung boy. “I’ve never even seen him wield a sword.”

  “Why would you? Not to sound crass or disrespectful, my sister, but when would he ever show off those skills to you?” Alchan gave her a sad look, and she knew he had tried to put it in the nicest way he could, but the meaning was clear.

  He only saw me when he wanted to…

  Mave closed her eyes and felt a hand wrap over hers on the reins. Her right wing brushed against Alchan’s, a reminder that he was her friend, and he had meant no offense. He hadn’t wanted to trudge up the past, hadn’t wanted to hurt her.

  “I’m fine,” she said finally. “You’re right. There’s no reason he would have ever exposed his strengths to me or put himself or me in the position to see what he was like outside his bedroom or hanging out with his mother during their entertainment.”

  “I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant to—”

  “I know.” She turned her hand to squeeze his. “You don’t intentionally hurt people like that. He does. He’ll aim for the most vulnerable part of you, Alchan.”

  “Of course, he will. He’s his mother’s son, after all. I just don’t want you underestimating him.”

  “And I think you might be overestimating him.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he whispered. They rode in silence for a time until Mave sighed heavily.

  “And Nyria? What do you think of her?”

  “She’s her mother’s daughter,” he answered. “And apparently, better at the game than anyone gives her credit for. Did you ever know anything about her? Have run-ins with her?”

  “No, not really. No one ever really spoke about her. I would see her at some functions, but never the parties people liked to buy my attendance for. When it was a formal affair for Shadra, she would be there, but she never made a splash that I noticed. I think I remember her only for how…disregarded she was. No one cared about her.”

  “Apparently, it was a carefully constructed image.”

  “Do you believe that?” Mave asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Honestly? I think I do. This last winter has reminded me to expect the unexpected. It’s as if we’ve started something, Mave. Everyone who has silently lived under the tyranny of the Empire, direct or indirect victims of Shadra’s ruthlessness, are banding together, making their plays. When we get back to the village, look for new faces. You’ll see them. Remember in late summer? We hit those farms near the Dragon Spine?”

  “How could I forget?”

  “Leshaun sent me a message a few days ago. I’ve been keeping it quiet, but another four hundred Andinna have escaped on their own and made it into the Dragon Spine, where Senri’s guard patrols found them and brought them to the village. He’s hoping we set up another village and quickly. He thinks come spring, we will see a rush of Andinna finding a way out and getting north to us.”

  “Oh…” Mave wasn’t sure how to feel about that—elated or stressed. There were even more Andinna waiting on them, even more to come. “This is what we wanted.”

  “This is exactly what we wanted. And if we have someone like Nyria helping our efforts and keeping people connected, we can continue to grow until we have reasonable numbers to take Shadra in a fight.”

  “But if Lothen is bringing up to ten thousand men…Alchan, I’m not one for the numbers, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have the numbers for that, and if we did, we can’t feed them all.”

  “You’re right, but we’ve been good about keeping our location secret, and we can always fall back beyond the Dragon Spine into one of the numerous abandoned villages. I’m already handling the food situation. It’s one of Sen’s immediate goals with his trips to and from Olost. The three captains who made it to Kerit? They’re joining in. They’re going to slowly empty my accounts in the Free Cities of Olost to buy food and goods to help us re-establish ourselves. Leria is handling trade routes between the three main areas of the rebellion—her territory, Kerit, and our village. If she can get trade through those three running smoothly, we have a chance to address problems before they become pressing.”

  “My head is starting to hurt,” Mave mumbled, rubbing her temples.

  Alchan chuckled. “Welcome to my life, sister.”

  She laughed in return, almost pitifully. She wasn’t cut out for the management side of his duties. She didn’t know how he did it without threatening to kill anyone, which made her think about another thing she had noticed over the last few weeks.

  “You’ve been in a good mood,” she pointed out.

  “I am. Hopeful for the future,” he answered, not seeming surprised by her comment.

  “That’s good.” Mave realized quickly he probably wouldn’t elaborate further and went back to focusing on the road. After only a few moments, he sighed.

  “Forgive my brother.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he loves you,” Alchan said softly. “He loves you and is more committed to you than I’ve ever seen him with anyone.”

  “I know he does,” she whispered. “But the idea of him…doing that scared me, and I didn’t like it. And I really didn’t like that he didn’t tell me he wanted to try.”

  Alchan looked over his shoulder. Mave’s gaze followed, wondering what he was looking at. Rain and Zayden were right behind them, followed by the rest of the Company.

  “What?” Mave didn’t understand what they were looking for.

  “I was making sure no outsiders were around,” he explained. “She’s his sister. I know that side of his family is dangerous at best, but she is still his sister, and she’s been helping our cause, not her mother’s. That must have been a shock for him, and I know he would have felt the urge to confront her.”

  “I should have approached him about it when I felt him leave Kerit, but everything I got from the bond told me he wanted to be alone, and I wasn’t there when all of you learned who our spy was.” She shook her head, disappointed in herself. “I should have stayed. I could have visited the females the next morning.”

  “No. You were doing what you needed to do. He’s the one who went off the beaten path, and if not for you worrying about how the bond felt strange while he was astral projecting, we would have never known what he was doing.”

  Mave remembered that moment when he must have done the spell, a sudden distance that made no sense since she could tell where his body was. It had been close by, but he hadn’t felt close. It was as if the bond was fading and had freaked her out enough to barge into Alchan’s home, demanding to know where her husband was. Alchan had gone to the ro
om with the black blood smeared on the door and swung it open when she wouldn’t quit bothering him. It hadn’t been easy convincing him to open the fucking door.

  “You should have interrupted him sooner,” she muttered.

  “It wouldn’t have changed anything. There’s no telling what would have happened if we moved his body while he was doing that magic. It was safer to let it happen for a moment.”

  “I know,” she growled. “But…”

  “You were worried, and so was I, but I’ve known Luykas longer. If he thought Nyria was a danger to him or any of us, he wouldn’t have done it. He was reaching out to a sister he never knew he had, and I think we both need to accept he’s allowed to do that.”

  “Why?” She snorted.

  “Because I want him to do it again,” Alchan said, an order in his voice. The king was talking now, not the brother. “It’s an amazing source of intel if they can coordinate times when they can visit each other, preferably him visiting her, so she doesn’t see anything. Just in case.”

  “Alchan…”

  “I’ll let you talk to him and decide whether you feel comfortable with it, but he wants to, Mave. It’s one way we can use his Elvasi bloodline to our advantage.”

  Mave’s stomach sank.

  “I’ll talk to him,” she promised. “Once we’re home.”

  “Fuck,” he cursed softly. “I was really hoping we wouldn’t have to go this entire trip with you mad at him.”

  “I’ll go to him right now and end the silence, but I don’t want to discuss more until we’re secure in our village. That’s the line I’m drawing, Alchan. If you respect my relationship with your brother, don’t try to cross it.” She pulled the reins of her mare, letting him get ahead of her. He looked over his shoulder at her and nodded once before tapping his heels into the horse and driving to move a little faster.

  She moved to the side and let the slow caravan pass her until her males were there and moved beside them.

  “Nice. Rain found ya a horse,” Bryn pointed out, grinning. “That’s good. Ya will be able to check on different areas of the caravan for Alchan.”