Ihatearmies and battles and war. Just one glance out this window, and you can see the devastation of it. Most of the city has been burned, everyone who lived here gone.
I don’t know anything about fighting, but I know that no matter how many times I pace the room, this battle is going to end, one way or another, so I need to know what’s happening.
“Manu,” I say again sharply.
His gaze is fixed out the window. “So far, everything has been going to plan. We’re drawing the fae out from the castle’s walls, and our side has advanced past their first line of defense on the ground.”
I stare at him as he speaks, studying him. His long black hair is tied back neatly, the shape of his face perfectly offsetting deep brown eyes. I told Osrik all was forgiven, but that isn’t true. I only said it so that he wouldn’t go and commit murder and then be punished for it. I won’t let Manu Ioanaorhis queen sister ruin any more of our time or our lives. Especially not when I’ve barely escaped with mine.
Manu turns his head, catching me looking. “You’re glaring at me again.”
“Am I?” I ask, though I know he’s right. I can feel the edges of my gaze hanging off the corners of my face. It’s quite sharp.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says.
“Again,” I say curtly. “Hurt meagain.”
He winces slightly and turns to fully face me. “I have already said it multiple times, but I say it again, Lady Rissa. I apologize for the harm that fell upon you because of me and my actions. You’ve no idea how much I wish that hadn’t happened to you.”
I don’t even attempt to suppress the roll of my eyes. “This repeated conversation is boring me.”
The corner of his lips twitches in the smallest movement. “You know, I believe in a different life, under different circumstances, we could have been friends.”
“Doubtful. I loathe most people.”
He cocks his head. “You seem to be very friendly with the captain.”
“Osrik doesn’t count.”
“No?” he says lightly. “What about Lady Auren?”
My eyes narrow. “Oh, you mean the Lady Auren that you knocked out and kidnapped? That Lady Auren?” I say waspishly, my lips curling up when I see him wince again. “Yes, actually. She doesn’t count either. I don’t loathe her.”
“No need for me to ask which category I’m in, I presume?”
“You presume correctly,” I reply. “You’re firmly in the loathe pile.”
“I deserve that.” He starts to say something else, but the sound of screaming suddenly bolts through the air and strikes my eardrums.
My heart lurches up my throat, and I rush over to the window and look out again. “What’s happening now?”
“It’s alright.” Manu’s voice is calm, which infuriates me. I flinch when I hear another massive boom. “This is part of the first phase, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember,” I snap as I grip the wooden windowsill. The horrible screaming echoing through the air makes me want to run. “Osrik told me a lot of things, but I’m not a soldier!”
Manu doesn’t speak harshly back to me. Instead, he only nods and then points his finger. “That’s my sister’s magic. She’s confusing the fae.”
I look out with a tight chest and darting eyes, noting several timberwings circling the air. Manu points at Ranhold Castle, his fingertip skimming over its ruined wall that’s fallenand charred, like perhaps fae magic burnt right through it. Then my gaze drags down to the ground below where people are fighting.
“We’ve drawn them all out. The fae are fully engaged, and my sister’s magic is confusing them. See?”
I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to be seeing, because I’m overwhelmed with all those gray blobs. “There’s so many of them,” I say, fear tightening my throat. I shouldn’t have looked.
Why did I look?
“They’re going to overwhelm us…” I say shakily, scared and angry all at once.
“We planned for this,” Manu says gently. “Watch.”
