The skies darkened as late evening shifted into night, the optimistic energy turning into something darker, quieter, and more determined. I could sense that the soldiers were preparing themselves to sail into the Thaician Empire’s water. Our fleet was more than ready for war, but the mindset required for going into battle was something far different than the logistics of preparing for it.
The reality of everything we were about to do seemed to be hitting everyone and as we extinguished any torches, the lively nature of the ships quieted to near silence.
I had never taken part in anything more serious than a skirmish, but I felt that I was ready for what we were to face in the Thaician Empire. Though there was sadness and tightness in my chest with the knowledge that there would be some who didn’t make it home to their families. Death was an unavoidable tragedy of war, though that didn’t make the thought of facing it any easier.
I watched as the navy skies deepened to black, showcasing a gorgeous sky blanketed with stars and a nearly full moon. The clear, cloudless night would allow us to take advantage of the moonlight once we reached the harbor.
The navigators assured us that we were close to approaching, and Kyella, Elijah, and I stood gathered at the front of the ship. Dakath had left to retrieve Tristan, who had spent a great deal of his day building rapport with the soldiers, working shoulder-to-shoulder with them and fortifying the sense of comradery amongst the crew.
“I know we will be taking Malakai by surprise,” Kyella said, drawing my attention away from the sky. “But I can’t help feeling cautious. It always felt like he knew everything that was going on, like he could see everything.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but she continued quickly, “I know that isn’t the case—more of a by-product from the abuse and fear I suffered under him, but it's making me uneasy. The last thing we need right now is a surprise.”
“We’ve acted fast, so he won’t see the attack coming,” I assured her, hoping like hell I wouldn’t be made a liar. We couldn’t predict everything, but it wasn’t possible for him to know our plans.
Everyone that could have told him was dead, and the bastard we suspected as the possible traitor had been apprehended and was being questioned. He hadn’t set sail, otherwise we would have come across his fleet, the route we chose was the shortest and most efficient path to reach the other side of the Cursed Divide.
Kyella nodded in agreement as Tristan joined us on deck, the five of us easily slipping into quiet conversation about what we planned to do, with Elijah taking the lead.
“We attack directly at the harbor, which allows direct access into the city. Hopefully, the opportunity for innocents to escape away from the chaos of war and into the countryside will present itself with our full-frontal assault. I don’t want them caught in the crosshairs of what is sure to be a bloody event.”
“I don’t know if that will be enough.” Kyella frowned, concern lingering in her gaze. “We may need to find a way to fully remove them from the situation. Malakai is the type of bastard who would activelywantthem to die. He doesn’t care about innocents or bystanders. If he thinks we want to protect them, he will want them slaughtered.”
I fucking believed that, the bastard.
“Maybe we can put together a better plan of how to filter them to a safer place once we draw closer to shore and get eyes on it,” Dakath suggested.
“That is the ideal situation…”
Kyella’s words trailed off, and we turned to see what had caught her attention. The darkened shoreline of the Thaician Empire was highlighted by the light of the moon, pinpricks of light glowing from the city.
It was a beautiful land, and I remembered thinking the same thing the last time we approached it. The kingdom was a dark spot on an otherwise plentiful and large expanse of land. Or maybe my interpretation of that was because I knew the toxic shit that lived within that castle, of the lords that ruled over these lands, infecting everything with their darkness and depravity. They were the problem here, not the place itself, which meant all of them would have to die. There was no other damn option.
“…but anideal situationthat may not be possible.”
Kyella wasn’t wrong about that. We had a problem.
The Thaician fleet sat openly in the harbor, as if they were preparing to launch their own attack. I felt a momentary surge of adrenaline, wondering if we needed to prepare for the onslaught of battle…only to realize that it appeared the harbor and ships were empty.
Of course, I couldn’t be sure, but I didn’t see any sign of movement, nor were any torches lit. Instead, the vessels seemed to be simply anchored, facing the open sea as if waiting for orders to leave.
I surveyed the ships, prepared and ready to attack our lands. Anger ran through me at the realization, but there was a bigger issue at hand.
The ships blocked the entrance to the harbor, making it impossible for us to dock and launch our attack.
Chapter Ten
Kyella
“We expected a few ships to be docked in their harbor for fishermen and merchants,” Tristan muttered while rubbing his chin roughly. “But we foolishly didn’t anticipate them launching their own full-scale attack so soon after having sent their scouts to take Kyella and bring her back.”
Thankfully, we were able to stealthily push our fleet back enough to be safe to use a few torches to illuminate the large map resting in the middle of our table. We had to form a new plan—quickly. Gathering each of the captains and leaders on our ships hadn’t taken too long, using the smaller boats tied to our large ships to gather for the emergency meeting.
I knew I needed to focus on where our ships would dock, but I struggled to force myself to think of anything besides the miscalculation on our part. We had been so methodical in our plans.
If Malakai had given the order to Holmeth not to return until they had vital information on the Tridian Empire, that could have taken days to obtain.Thenthere would have still been two days of travel back to him across the Cursed Divide. There was no way they would have known for sure that something was wrong yet.
A thought came to me, and I murmured it out loud before I had even fully processed it myself. “They never intended on letting Holmeth and his crew come back with me. It was a guise.”
