I have to be strong.
No more crying. No more panicking. I’m surrounded by enemies, but I’m a damnVulmi, and I need to prove it. To prove which side I’m on.
I’ve been spying and working for this cause since before I can remember, and although I’ve let the Vulmin down today, I’m not going to let that happen again. I just need to face this like another mission. I’ve been in countless predicaments over the years. This is just another one that I have to find my way out of, that’s all.
I can handle it. It’s fine. Completelyfine.
Licking my lips, I force out a bolstering breath, while also forcing my emotions to crumple away. I’m not Auren anymore, I’m not even Emonie.
I’m a Vulmi.
As I let my demeanor solidify, I take in whatever information I can from the sights. The army camp looks hastily built. King Carrick must have had it constructed to send his soldiers down the bridge.
He kept his plans close to the chest. We knew he was preparing for something big, but we never heard about this.
As we get closer, a few soldiers start to notice our approach, and they quickly rush around. Then a male of higher rank—a Badge—comes striding out to meet the king. “Your Majesty, we were not expecting you.”
“Have all the soldiers arrived?”
“Yes, my king. The final ones just now.”
Carrick nods, looking out at the bursting camp. “Good. I need a contingent back at Lydia at once.”
The soldier looks taken aback. “Back at Lydia?”
“There’s been an insurgence, I want it taken care of immediately.”
That news makes the Badge stiffen. “I will gather troops right away. We’ll do an immediate sweep of the city.”
“No,” Carrick says. “Burn it.”
Everyone pauses. Several of the soldiers exchange glances.
“Sire?”
“I want the golden Turley female killed, and I want every single Vulmin taken out with her. Exterminate the pests. Burn the whole city to the ground.”
“But, my king, the people—”
Whatever look King Carrick gives the male instantly shuts him up.
“The vermin have been breeding within the walls of our very own capital. Do you think that’s acceptable, soldier?” he asks with growing fury.
“No, Sire.”
“It is Lydia’s fault for not weeding out this vermin threat. Purge the city with flames. Let it be a lesson to the rest of Annwyn,” Carrick seethes. “I’ll make a new capital.”
“You’ll make a whole bunch of new enemies—that’s what you’ll make,” I call out.
The king stops and slowly turns. I think he might have forgotten I was here.
He remembers now.
When I see the look of terrifying anger on his face, my stomach does a flip. I wish I could stuff those words right back into my mouth, but there they are, undercooked in the brain and spewed out still raw.
I lock my shoulders back, keeping my head up. Carrick doesn’t like that. Doesn’t like things that he considers beneath him to look him in the eye.
When he faces me, I notice that the rest of the soldiers in the camp have all gone quiet. Every one of them watching. He wants to make a spectacle of me. Probably because Auren made a spectacle out ofhim.
