Turning around to face them, I hoped they saw the earnestness on my face and heard it in my tone. “You three will be coming with me, along with a few others, to light as many ships as we can on fire quickly enough before retreating to safety. I will not be doing this alone, nor even attempting to,” I vowed.
“We’re honored to fight at your side, Empress,” Kolvar responded, bowing his head.
Dakath clasped his hands in front of him and nodded in agreement, a small curve tilting the corner of his lips up.
Elijah’s eyes all but bore into my own, peering into my soul as he whispered, “Thank you.”
Smiling softly at them all, I nodded and turned back to the table and Tristan.
“If we’re to light their ships on fire, it’s likely the docks will also catch,” my right hand surmised. “We need to focus the fire on the ships that are anchored in the water instead of tied to the docks. They’re out of reach of the docks and have nowhere to go, with the anchor lodging them in place. The ships will crumble in place, scattering amongst the water before sinking once they’re lit.”
A thought occurred to me at that moment, and I piped in. “But there will be guards watching the harbor, undoubtedly. If they’re concerned about the fire spreading amongst the ships and to the docks themselves, would they not send the burning ships out to sea and away from them? They need to protect their own assets. It could handle our issues completely: clearing out the ships in the harbor and keeping the docks intact for our arrival.”
“Smart,” Elijah praised. “But you will need to order all our ships to retreat even further so we are not spotted. If we’re spotted, the true battle will begin. If we want to bide time until the morning, we must have the stealth team row back to one lone ship waiting to take us back to safety. With how much we need to navigate, the rest of our fleet needs to immediately begin moving back when this meeting is over.”
Tristan gave a sharp nod. “Agreed. This ship will stay until you return. Empress, do you agree with these plans?”
With the weight of the room looking at me, I lifted my chin and spoke. “I do. Commence them at once. Move the remainder of the ships back, and we’ll gather our torches and oil into the rowboats heading for the harbor. I want eight bodies total, so find four more that you believe is a good fit.”
“On it,” Kolvar and Dakath echoed.
“We will reconvene after this,” I told Tristan as he dismissed the captains and leaders to their ships with their instructions to retreat. “We must discuss the next steps for our land invasion further.”
“Yes, Empress,” he agreed, tipping his head down.
As I turned to help gather supplies for my team, he called out, “Kyella.”
Pausing and glancing over my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow in question. “Yes?”
His lips thinned and his jaw clenched, eyes dropping to the ground as he said, “Be careful and come back in one piece. Rina and Bailey would never forgive me if I let you get hurt or captured, and I’d…” he trailed off before finally looking me in the eyes. “I’d never forgive myself either. So come back, okay?”
My heart warmed at the sentiment from the man who seemed so stoic outside of his interactions with his wife and daughter.
“I’ve got this,” I promised, offering a full smile as I turned forward and left the room.
Before long, we were climbing down the rope ladder from the side of the ship and settling into the small rowboat that would carry our team toward the docks. We were split into two small vessels, with the instructions for the second team of four to head for the right side while we head for the left.
“Remember,” I whispered-yelled as our boats began to drift opposite ways, “light as many as you can, but do not risk your life. Get out of there if anything goes wrong.”
You sound like a mother hen watching after her hatchlings.
I held in my answering snort and snuggled into Elijah’s side as we sat in the middle of the boat guarding the torches, oil, and reserves of animal fat with Dakath and Kolvar rowing on either end of it.
We didn’t speak a single word as we trekked across the open water and finally came upon the first of their warships anchored far out in the harbor. I all but held my breath as we slowly passed one, as if there was going to be someone on board that spotted us and gave us away. The goal was to light the ones closest to the docks first and then to hit some of the ones that were closer to the open sea on our way out, so we didn’t trap ourselves amongst burning ships.
My shoulders sagged in relief when no one appeared on the ship we passed, but I knew the real test was about to come: How quickly would the guards watching the harbor react when they saw torches being lit and the first ship set on fire?
Without a doubt, our mission was risky, and it would only become more so if multiple guards converged on us. The goal was to not fight at all and get away before they could see how we escaped if they did notice us, so splitting up once we docked and lighting at the same time would ensure as little time as possible between guards noticing and us escaping. We didn’t want our faces to be seen, and we did not want them seeing that we escaped on the water and headed out to the sea.
As we approached the dock, Elijah and I began to prepare the first torch, and at that moment, I didn’t feel an ounce of fear. It was finally time to strike back at Malakai.
The battle started now.
All it would take was one strike of flint to light the path to victory, and I planned on sparking it right now.
Chapter Eleven
Elijah
