“We had gone four days without being able to bait the Elvasi into an ambush, so I went closer to their position. I snuck in and was able to hear a bit of conversation. They knew we were trying, so our luck for a couple of missions is running out. They’re on to us with the ambushes. Not only that, but the reason the second location of Lothen’s army exists is to support a massive scouting operation. They’re hunting us, and we don’t have the numbers to stop them.” Zayden pulled out several papers and began unfolding them. “I can’t read Elvasi well, but the information here is clear. They’re finding and marking off abandoned villages throughout the mountains, narrowing in on where we are.”
“And they have already been able to narrow us down to this area of the mountains,” Luykas said softly, picking up one of the maps. “They’re getting close.”
“They also report where they lose their scouting teams,” Zayden pointed out.
“Where they meet my guards,” Senri hissed. “Fuck.”
“That’s problematic,” Alchan growled, taking the map when Luykas held it out to him. “They narrow us down, find Senri’s forces, then develop a route to attack us at home without us figuring it out in time. We’re going to need to escalate before they do.”
“Alchan…” Luykas seemed worried. “There are five thousand men in each of these camps. At our best—”
“We’re not going to defeat the army,” Alchan snapped. “But I think we should escalate our plan to get hold of Lothen. It’s underhanded, but we’ve already discussed how useful it would be to either ransom or kill him.”
“But that doesn’t stop them from knowing where we are,” Mave pointed out, worried. “Someone else will be put in charge, storm across the mountains, and attack us.”
“They knew where our main base was during the War,” Nevyn said patiently, shrugging. Mave frowned, hoping he would explain more. “If we work south of them and hit their supplies, they can’t push safely into the mountains. Really, every year was the same thing, season after season. We stopped them from getting too far into the mountains from the beginning of spring to the end of fall. Everything pauses through winter because they can’t handle Anden winter, and the Spine will see them starve or freeze to death. We also move much faster in the mountains. It would take Lothen ages to move the army to us, and we would have ample time to whittle away at his forces. It’s not good positioning for him in the valleys where his force would be able to camp.”
“What are you trying to say?” she asked, feeling a little lost.
“He needed the element of surprise and no longer has it,” Alchan said quietly, still frowning at the map.
“Brother, what do you really want to do? Think for a minute, just take in the intel,” Luykas spoke as he leaned to his brother. They both took everything Zayden dropped on the table and turned away from the room and began to whisper. Mave was close, but they were talking fast and too quietly to hear or understand.
“Will you listen to me?” Luykas finally snapped loudly, and everyone in the room jumped. No one intervened, however, not even Mave. “If we start—”
“If we don’t start, he breaches the mountains, and we have to push him back,” Alchan growled. “We need to deliver a strong hit that will buy us a few more seasons. Capturing him is the answer to that.”
“He’s not going to be in a vulnerable position again. He wasn’t part of the fight Deago was in. He didn’t come out. He won’t, not after meeting Mave on the battlefield. He knows she has a death wish to kill him.” Luykas seemed frustrated. “How many would we send?”
“Forty to fifty,” Alchan answered immediately. “Night operation. Get into the camp fast, grab him, and go.”
“You would lose half if not the entire fucking mission, and you know it, Alchan,” Luykas growled.
“I’ll go,” Mave finally said. Luykas spun on her, snarling.
“I know,” he growled.
“And that’s why I’m not listening to you,” Alchan said softly. “Because you and I can’t go, but she can. The entire Company can, but we can’t, and you don’t want to risk her.”
“Would you send…” Luykas stopped for a moment at Alchan’s snarl. “Would you?” Luykas pressed, never finishing the sentence.
“Yes,” Alchan answered. “Now, let’s fucking sit down and make a plan. We’re sending in a team to capture Lothen and destroy whatever intel he might have on our location and the locations of other Andinna in the mountains. This mission will be dangerous, but it must be done. It’ll take some time to plan. I expect the team we pick to leave in two weeks.”
“Yes, sir,” they all said in response.
Mave felt something sing through her blood.
She was going to have a second chance at Lothen sooner than she had expected. Before she left to help, Alchan held up a hand for her to stop.
“I’m going camping for a couple of nights,” he said quietly to her and Luykas. “Also, Mave, if you haven’t, you should talk to Senri.”
Mave frowned and looked to her friend across the room, wondering how and why Alchan of all people was telling her to talk to her mother.
As she walked out, she grabbed Senri, annoyed.
“Alchan just told me to talk to you, and that he’s going to be away for a couple of days,” Mave said sharply. “Explain.”
Senri, looking back at the door. “How does he know? It has to be a bedru thing…”
“Senri…”
“Remember, my family and I dealt with my fertile cycle this past spring,” Senri said softly. “I think I’m pregnant.”
Mave’s eyes went wide. “You already know?”
“No, I think I am, which is why no announcement has been made. A Blackblood healer should be able to tell come the beginning of winter, but I have a feeling.”
Mave smiled.
“I might be a big sister?” she asked softly. “Then I guess I really need to get my hands on Lothen as fast as possible. No little brother or sister of mine is ever going to have to live in fear of him or the Empire he serves, not while I live.”
Senri kissed her cheek, running a hand over her own stomach.
“I knew I loved you,” Senri whispered. “I’m blessed to call you a daughter. Now, go be a warrior and prepare for your battle, Mave. Know I always have a place for you to come home.”
Mave grinned and jumped up, ready to get to work.
34
Luykas
Luykas sat quietly at the table, looking around at the strange family that was developing. He loved it, but one face was missing. Zayden was looking more relaxed than he had before his mission, and it was good to hear he and Mave were going to take things to the next step. Mat and Bryn were also glad Zayden was considering becoming a permanent male in the family. Mave was relaxed, and for the last week, she had been more involved in mission planning than she ever had been before. Rain was even helping her, and he would be going on the mission as well.
Luykas knew the only face missing from this family built on blood and love was Alchan.
He needs to talk to Rain about going public. Or Rain needs to talk to him. I’m tired of seeing them and knowing they’re falling further in love but have to be secretive. And it’s so obvious. Rain looks at my idiot brother like he’s the center of the world, and Alchan treats Rain like his most prized possession, which is a giant compliment from a bedru.
His brother wasn’t at the table because only Luykas, Nevyn, and Varon knew of the deep love growing there. He didn’t talk to the lovers about the relationship, and they didn’t come to him, but sometimes, he looked at them when they saw Rain and Alchan together, and the knowledge was in their eyes.
Luykas didn’t like keeping the secret from his family. His wife and lover demanded a lot of his heart and soul, but he was torn between Mave and Alchan many days, and this was another added burden to the problem.
“Later tonight, I have to contact Nyria and try to gather whatever information I can about Lothen’s protection or his camp,”
he finally said, breaking into whatever conversation was going on around him. He figured getting down to business would keep his mind off his personal problems, of which there seemed to be many.
“Oh.” Mave looked up, surprised. “I knew you would be, but…”
“I’ll have Alchan with me,” he said quickly. “I know you would like to be there, but…”
“No, it’s fine. He’s who you’ll need to report to right after, anyway.” She smiled. He was so amazed by her. She was so different from the female he had met that night outside Elliar, who had been cold, unmoving, angry, scared. She was still fearsome, but she was softer and more relaxed, more confident in herself and what she knew. Her immediate acceptance of his work was evidence of her confidence in him and their relationship. He just needed not to fuck it up again.
Let’s hope I don’t. I don’t like having to stay away for so long because I’m scared to face her.
“Thank you.” He pushed his empty plate back and stood up, sighing. “It’s late, and I’ll need to prepare. I’ll be back in the morning after I sleep off the magic.”
“Be safe and don’t overexert yourself,” she said as he walked over and leaned down. They exchanged one simple kiss in front of the family, then he walked out, taking a deep, shaky breath as he stood quietly on the porch.
He knew what his problem was, and he hated it. He hated how it made him feel. He hated the secret well of pain and guilt he didn’t know how to crush.
Jumping into the air, he flew directly to Alchan’s home and saw his brother waiting for him on the porch. He didn’t bother landing, angling up so Alchan could follow him to his private residence. He got the door open in time for Alchan to walk in as he landed.
“Do you think Nyria will help?” Alchan asked immediately. “I know she’s trying to tell us whatever she can, but I don’t want to assume she’ll help with this and accidentally cause her loyalties to switch.”
“We’ll find out,” Luykas replied softly. “Alchan…do you know what you’re asking me to do?”
“I’m asking you to help Mave kill your brother,” Alchan answered, his face betraying the sadness that didn’t come through in his words. “I know, and if things had played out Shadra’s way, you would have one day met me on the battlefield, and we would have tested our mights against each other.”
“I hate him,” Luykas admitted softly. “The stories about him and what he does to those around him, what he did to Mave…I hate him, but…”
“He’s your brother,” Alchan whispered, stepping closer. “And he’s Nyria’s brother, and even though he’s a monster, this could be hard on her. Don’t think I don’t understand, Luykas. If I ever had the chance to kill our father, I would have taken it, but it wouldn’t have been easy. It would have been very hard because he’s our father.”
“Thank you.” He was glad to hear his brother really understood. This was killing family, awful, evil family, but family, nonetheless. Since he started talking to Nyria, he had begun to remember that. They were as blood-related to him as the brother beside him. Just because he identified more with Alchan and the Andinna didn’t stop him from being half Elvasi.
Emerian and Trevan were helping him remember that as well. He could relate to both of them in ways no one else could, and they could relate to him. He enjoyed their company and sometimes despised it, but he’d made a promise to them and his wife to see them trained. So, even on the days he wanted to hate them, he went. He rarely ever ended the days angry with his nature.
Tonight, he had a feeling he would.
“I’m going to get ready,” he whispered, walking into a back room of his private home. Suddenly, he wanted Mave here but knew better than to get her. He had Alchan, and his brother would keep him strong. This was a family affair, but not one for his family with Mave. This was between two great houses, two powerful rulers, and the families and blood that tied them together: him.
He prepared quickly and threw himself into the connection with Nyria, letting it yank him far away. He found himself in her room as he normally did. Normally, she was preparing for sleep at this time, but tonight, she wasn’t.
“What’s the word?” she asked softly, looking over something at her small desk.
“We’re about to do something, but I need information before we’re comfortable going through with it. We don’t absolutely need your information, but we would like it. What’s the word from your end?”
“She’s focused on Elliar and only reads reports from the Dragon Spine. She trusts Lothen with it, and from what I hear, other than a minor incident, plans should be going forward,” Nyria answered. “What those plans are, I don’t know.”
“He’s been mapping the mountains and our guard positions, looking for an open route to our village to crush us before we know he’s coming. We know now and are formulating a response,” Luykas answered. “Nyria…”
“Ah…” She turned and leaned against the desk. “I understand what you might be saying. Come with me. We can plan something together because there are some things I still need to do here in Elliar.”
He nodded and watched her walk to a simple wall. Pulling on a light fixture, she caused the wall to creak open softly, and he nearly chuckled—secret hallways and doorways, typical of an Elvasi residence. He followed her into the dark hall and into another room with no windows or airflow. Even in his astral form, it felt like dead air, dusty and hard to breathe. The door closed slowly.
“They’ll think I’m in the bath,” she explained, “but we must be quick.”
“Do they check on you?”
“No. Sometimes a maid will come in to collect laundry, but I’ve told them to start doing that earlier, so I can have my late evenings in privacy. My mother knows I like my privacy and respects it. She loves me, you know.”
“She used to love me,” he said, looking away from her.
“I know. I think she still does sometimes.”
“I’m her oldest child, and she has many faults, but being a neglectful or unloving mother was never one of them.” He was old enough to admit that. “So, what is it you want to do?”
“You are planning on killing Lothen, aren’t you? It’s a smart move. He’s commanding the forces, and he’s the heir to the throne. It would send the Empire into a tailspin of grief and a mandatory period of grieving when we couldn’t go to war. It buys you time.” She opened a trunk, and he felt shock run through him at the equipment kept there—simple black clothing, weapons wrapped carefully, and ancient tomes, probably with spells he had never seen before.
She was a war sorcerer and was probably more skilled than him, based on the sort of reading she did. Catching him looking at one of the tomes, she lifted it and put it on a table, opening it quickly to a spell.
“Read while I explain. I’ve heard stories of your strange magics. You’ve mastered combat techniques of the strange blood magic of the Andinna and combined them with sorcery of other races. You might be able to use that spell. I’ve never been able to work it.” She barely took a breath before continuing. “Now, about you going after Lothen. He’s going to be stationed in the center of his camp, surrounded by his men. It’s standard procedure for royalty in a camp. Makes it difficult to sneak in and attack or assassinate us. You’ll need to come in from above on a moonless night, or so fast they can’t stop you. Then you need to get out quickly. He keeps several gryphon riders, but you know about those. I think you have a seventy-five percent chance of succeeding with this if you use your best. Like that wyvern shifter, the Zira mutt. I’ve heard stories. Some fires and you can easily send the camp into emergency mode, get in, then get out.” She stopped after that, walking closer.
“What do you think of it? The spell?”
“Why would you need this spell?” he asked softly, looking over it. It was a death spell. Powerful and incredibly dangerous to pull off, it would make the one who was the victim seem as if his body had failed him. “And how does it give you trouble?”
“It need
s fresh blood of the victim,” she answered. “And that ruins the point of the spell, doesn’t it?”
Chills ran down his spine. “How do you think I astral project to you, Nyria? I don’t have your fresh blood. We share blood. You just need to be able to find the connection piece to make sure it works on the other person and not yourself. You need to feel the difference. Shadra used her blood to do this very spell to see me when she had none of mine.”
She inhaled sharply. “It’s a spell to kill a family member,” she whispered, her eyes going wide and a small smile forming. “Oh, I feel so foolish now. I was planning on using it on some of my mother’s generals, but this is perfect timing. Let me know when you intend to kill Lothen. I’ll use the chance to kill my father. Right now, he’s the main source of her funding. When he dies, I inherit everything, and I’ll be able to funnel some of his money to keep helping Andinna escape across the Empire.”
“You’ll also be heir to the throne when Lothen dies,” Luykas reminded her cautiously.
“That doesn’t worry me,” she said, waving a hand. “I never did any of this for power, but I’ll die before I see Lothen sit on my mother’s seat. I want to change the Empire for the better if it ends up with me there. If I die trying to help end this trouble, I’m okay with that as well.”
“You’re very…focused. Nyria, these people are your family,” he said carefully, turning back to her. He’d committed the spell to memory, but he had no intention of ever using it. Not even on Lothen, though he had reasons for that beyond the disgust the spell gave him. It felt like foul magic.
“I stopped seeing them as my family centuries ago and came to terms with their cruelty before that. My family? They are the people I have worked with for centuries to end the cruelty everyone in the Empire is currently subjected to. They are the people who have seen me change faces from who I am to who my mother believes I am. I grew up learning to hide important pieces of myself to be something acceptable to her, and even though I’m acceptable, I’m not special in her eyes. She might be my mother, but she is not my family. Fenoth? He’s my father, but he’s not my family. Lothen? He’s my brother, but he’s not my family. So, yes, I’m focused. Focused on defeating those people who have tried so hard to crush me and forced me to be things I am not for centuries. Focused on correcting the terrible things done in the name of what is best for the Empire.”
The Enemy's Triumph Page 39