“This was your plan,” Teddy said.
His relief hit Stella in the chest.
Isla nodded. “We needed to do something drastic to get all the rebels out at once. The strategy we had been using for years of trying to pick them off one by one as new syndicates popped up was simply not working anymore.”
“You knew they wouldn’t be able to resist the hope of a real rebellion,” Teddy said.
“Especially with me out of the way,” Isla said. “Their attack is already frayed. Half their men abandoned the fight when they met our opposition, escaping on a fishing vessel.”
Alexandra pointed down the hallway. “We have to get to Father?—”
Isla looked offended. “You think I would leave your father unguarded?”
“I think he’d probably be annoyed to be guarded by anyone other than Mother,” Alexandra said.
“Well, Nicholette has a long history of trailing your father. She’s excited to remind him how rusty he is.”
Stella knew the name from her parents’ stories. Nicholette was one of the four princess guards who had protected Queen Jessamin when she first went to Argaria, and she’d since remained in service to the queen—and, apparently, Isla.
“You think he really doesn’t know?” Alexandra asked.
Isla shook her head and smirked. “No. But I like seeing the two of them argue about who is protecting who. I’ve missed it.”
Teddy stared down the hall. “How did you do it?” he asked.
“I have been preparing for months,” Isla said. “We knew the tournament would draw them out, we just weren’t sure how. Your Uncle Evan had several informants who kept us abreast of the plan and the players. Their leadership structure is nebulous and ever-shifting, we think by design. It makes it hard for them to stay organized, but it’s also made it almost impossible for us to stop them. The only way we could ensure we hurt the Sons as a whole is to draw as many of them out at once. We figured that my being fired and the tournament on the heels of that decision would be too great of an opportunity for them to ignore.”
Stella was both awed and terrified of Isla. “How did you know it would work? What if the spectators got hurt?”
“They surprised us at the docks, so we had to adapt our plan.”
The guilt over Fionn’s favor finally caught up to Stella. Peoplewere hurt because she’d been so stubbornly against working with Teddy for the first challenge.
“What do you mean they surprised you?” Stella asked.
Isla ran a hand down her vest, checking that all of her blades were secure. “We were ready for them to attack the tournament, but when the huntmaster and one of his battalions were called away to attend to two ships that arrived late in the day, it left us with less hunters watching the arena. That’s how they planted the bombs.”
Stella’s mouth was so dry, she could hardly speak. “What happened at the docks?”
Isla’s eyes narrowed at Stella. “The harbormaster misplaced some pages from the ledger and had no recollection of three ships arriving yesterday that had just been sitting there. When two others arrived and parked next to them and rebels started streaming from all five ships, it took us by surprise.”
Alexandra stepped forward. “How did you handle it?”
Isla smiled affectionately. “Ever the strategist, Alexandra. How would you have handled it?”
“I would have helped the huntmaster hold the docks, secure the ships, and then fight back toward the castle and arena,” Alexandra said.
Stella frowned. That strategy would secure their escape route, but at what cost?
“And that’s basically what we did. I sent half of my battalion to the docks and the rest of us fought to secure the arena and get the crowd to safety on the upper level of the castle.”
“It’s my fault people were hurt,” Stella said.
Isla shook her head. “This is war, Stella. Let go of whatever guilt you’re carrying. You didn’t start this fight. A few hunters lost their lives and many spectators were wounded, but your mother and the rest of the witches in the crowd were able to heal all of those injuries and the more gravely injured were brought to the healing suite for Lyra to work on.”
Teddy placed a hand on Stella’s lower back in comfort.
Isla’s brows shot up. “We have much to talk about, it seems.” Sheglanced out the windows. “We let them have enough to believe they were in control—the castle, the tournament. We let them have the docks until they divided their forces and sent more men up to the arena. Then, we immediately took it back. With this type of group, we had to play to their egos. A man lets his guard down when he thinks he’s already won. What you see out in the courtyard is the very end of their so-called revolution.”
