I opened my mouth and added my voice to hers, comforting her the only way I could think.
You’re not alone,I tried to say beneath my words.You’re not alone.
More voices joined in. Including one right next to me. I tore my gaze away from the bodies to stare at Kiera. She fumbled a few of the words, but she kept singing with me.
A kernel of warmth wedged itself in my chest. It stayed there as the last rays of sun disappeared from the valley, along with the final notes of our song.
We waited in hushed silence. Then, one by one, the fireflowers burst into flame. They caught the shrouded bodies on fire, and within moments, the entire mountainside burned.
Usually, only dead Teachers were allowed to burn with the fireflowers, but Nikella had agreed to an exception. She stood with Silas higher on the steps, their long hoods shadowing their faces.
Thank the Four that Renwell hadn’t destroyed the flowers when he stole the fireseeds. He must’ve known when the harvest would be complete and timed his attack perfectly.
The fireflowers would grow back and produce more seeds next year. If they’d been plucked, they would be dead forever. Hence, why the god Arduen had named Teachers as the gatherers—to prevent destruction.
But Renwell had stolen them all. Many Dags would go without the ease and warmth of the long-lasting fires that the small seeds provided. Not to mention the money they earned by selling off a portion.
Was that what Renwell wanted? To drive up the price? It was what Weylin would’ve done. Or perhaps he’d wanted to destroy as many Dags as he could—announce his newfound power to the world.
Whatever his plans, a man who murdered innocent villagers and Teachers should never be king.
The fireflower blaze melted the snow, which ran down the mountain like gushing tears.
But my eye caught on something else that gleamed in the light. A black gauntlet encircled Yarina’s wrist like a stretch of night sky. Sunstone. She must’ve taken it from one of the dead Wolves.
We’d noticed a fair bit of sunstone armor, along with their usual weapons, when we’d stacked their bodies away from the others. We had yet to decide what to do with it all.
But now my brain pieced together the information it’d been too tired to understand last night.
Renwell had built warships. He’d added more men to his army. Those men had an increasing amount of sunstone armor and weapons. He mentioned having the power of the gods and using it to take whatever he wanted.
Long ago, Nikella had told me that Korvin created the sunstone knives by melding the chunks of raw stone over a fire fed by the god-given seeds.
“Renwell is preparing for war,” I breathed.
Kiera shifted closer to me. “War?”
I gazed down at her, the realization galloping through my mind. “That’s why he stole all the fireseeds. He’s building a sunstone-clad army. Rellmira isn’t enough for him. He wantsLancora.”
Kiera’s eyes widened, but I saw the same threads weave together for her as they had for me.
“What are you whispering about?” Yarina griped, craning her tear-stained face to look at both of us. “War for Lancora?”
While Kiera relayed what I’d said to Yarina, and then Maz, who poked his head into our huddle, my mind raced with possibilities.
Who would he attack first? Obviously, he’d already attacked the Dags. But was that just to steal the fireseeds, or was it also to weaken them for further invasion? Perhaps that was why he’d left the fireflowers alive. He was going to come back when they bloomed again.
If he were to attack the Elorens, he would need many more ships and a damn good reason. They were sailing experts and controlled much of Lancora’s trade.
He could target Keldiket since it boasted the wealthiest cities. Unless the famine Silas had mentioned had lowered their worth—or provided the perfect opportunity for invasion.
We’d already seen whatoneof his warships was capable of. Gods help the rest of Lancora if he built a fleet and aimed it at bigger cities.
Maz gripped my shoulder, his eyes fierce in the flickering light. “Let’s ride to Aquinon and finish killing the bastard before he can strike again.”
Yarina and Sigrid nodded. Kiera bit her lip, her eyes fixed on the burning bodies.
Remembering what I’d said to Nikella about one more death not being enough, I shook my head. “We’ve tried assassination. It doesn’t work, and it’d take weeks, if not months, of preparation. Renwell probably has Aquinon locked up tight, expecting something like that.”
