I said goodbye to them, excusing myself for the meeting, and walked away feeling much better about their state. The weight that had sat heavily on my chest lifted away.They were okay.I wasn’t happy about what happened, but I was so very thankful that they were mostly okay.
“How bad was his injury?” I asked seriously as we neared the Empress's study.
Elijah answered, and my heart raced as he spoke. “If the dagger had pierced an inch or two further to the left, it would have landed in his heart. Tristan is tough, but if that had happened, I don’t think he would have recovered. Piercing our hearts and decapitation are about the only tried and true methods of killing a vampyre, after all.”
I was quiet as we walked, chewing over the emotions surging through me at the realization that Tristan had gotten incredibly lucky.
When we reached Myrin’s study, the guards let us through to her private suite. The doors closed behind us, and Myrin looked up from where she was talking to an older, wrinkled man with a stack of books next to him. Upon our entrance, he offered a smile of greeting before retreating to a table nearby. He seemed to be buried in research of some kind.
“Good morning,” Myrin’s smile was gentle and genuine as she looked over me. “You look well rested and not as—”
“Bloody?” I teased as her gaze jumped with amusement.
“Yes, that,” she said with a snort. Shaking her head, the mirth soon gave way to a more serious look as she motioned for us to sit around the table. I glanced at the map spread on the table, briefly noting the body of water marked as the Cursed Divide. Myrin’s energy shifted again, to something more vibrant and eager, and I found myself leaning toward her, curious about why we were called to her.
“My other advisors will be here soon,” she explained, “but I wanted to talk to all of you, namely you Kyella, about what I plan to do.”
“And what do you plan to do?” I questioned.
“I plan on launching a full-scale attack on Malakai's empire. The bastard invited war to his doorstep by attacking my land and hurting someone under my protection—I won’t stand for that.”
The conviction with which she spoke left little room for argument.
“Okay,” I nodded, though I could feel myself frowning slightly. I chewed my lip for a moment before asking, “How do we know he won’t send, or hasn’t already, sent more ships? If you launch an attack, sending soldiers to the Thaician Empire, and he sends ships here…” I trailed off, unwilling to put into words how vulnerable that might leave the Tridian Empire.
“I have had scouts flying above our waters,” she hedged, and I was pretty sure that she was talking about the bats. “They haven’t seen anything. If there were more forces following behind the first ship, they would be here by now. So either Malakai is too proud and cocky to consider that he might fail, or he is so dense he only sent the one ship. Either way, it works to our advantage.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t realize the fate of the ship he sent here. So if we attack soon, he will be completely unprepared.”
I nibbled my lip and looked briefly to the balcony, eyes following the clouds in the early afternoon sky as I considered her words. After a short moment, I responded, “Malakai is cocky, and I believe he doesn't realize how powerful your empire is.Thatis probably why he only sent one ship. He’s also known to be paranoid, though. We have to act quickly if you want to take him off-guard, or he will suspect something is wrong. I don’t think he doubted their ability to get information from me, so the clock is ticking on when he expects us back.”
“You saidwe,” Myrin said, pride shining in her gaze.
I looked at my men and nodded sharply. “Yes, we. This is my home also. I don’t want Malaki to touch it.”
“Good,” Myrin sat forward slightly, pinning me with a suddenly serious gaze. “Because I need your help. The type of insight you provided on his paranoid state and impatience is information that will help us plan for his reactions moving forward. Anticipating and planning for Malakai’s strikes gives us the upper hand.”
I nodded in understanding. Myrin looked over at the older man, “Isaiah?”
The man carried over some blank papers and looked at me expectantly.
Myrin spoke then. “I need you, Kyella, to tell meeverythingyou can about Malakai and the Thaician Empire.”
Gladly.
Chapter Eleven
Kyella
“You should sit down,” Kolvar suggested in a soft tone, concern coating his expression. My lips pressed into a barely-there smile, not completely surprised by his words. I had wondered how long it would take him to say something.
The man had been commenting on little things like this all day, obviously still concerned about the state I’d been in yesterday. I didn’t blame him. I was certain if he came back severely injured from such an intense situation, I would feel the same. Which was why I wasn’t frustrated with his words at all. Instead, I found them endearing.
“I’m fine.” I promised, moving my attention from the scene in front of me to the man in question. I leaned into him, trying to offer as much reassurance as possible. “Seriously, I feel great.”
Especially since I had fed from him before coming out here.
