The air seemed to be sucked out of the tent. It would have been easy to rip out thevallos’throat. Bacti was getting too bold in his position. He needed to humble the male, but Neve would need to do it carefully. He released the table and slowly straightened to his full height, a little smug that thevalloswas shorter than he was. He arched a haughty brow at Bacti. “I let them have nothing.”
Bacti leaned back against the massive middle support beam for the tent as if it washistent. “And yet they prance around our mines like they own them. I have spies that say they are still mining them even now.”
All eyes turned to Neve.
Do not lose control.
While thevalloswas a troublemaker, he held much support in the capital and from the Northerners. The giant had been pushing him for months. He wasn’t quite sure what Bacti was up to. Soon enough, he would reveal his true intentions.
“They feel safe,” Neve continued. “They think they have won.”
“Haven’t they?” Bacti retorted.
He felt Flyka move to his side, always his silent support.
“No.” Neve ran his finger along the border. “Our kingdom relies on many imports for food. We cannot get distracted.”
Abeo cocked his head, studying the map. “Lae reillovis correct. Their attacks aren’t random. They are moving toward our orchards.”
“We cannot allow them to reach any of our orchards. They are too precious.” Neve pointed to the mountain range separating them from the orchards. “We let them move no farther. Even if we have to press deeper into Astera.”
Vidielle huffed. “Understood... but the mines. They are still in Loriia. We have farmland past Eira. If they are not stopped now, they could push past Blanche like a horde of locusts consuming everything in their paths.”
“So, we set a trap.”
“And we kill them,” Olwen snarled, stalking to the table, his skin slick with sweat. Neve eyed his friend and the glimmer of white in his eyes. Vidielle didn’t move away, but much to Neve’s satisfaction, Bacti did.
Coward.
He hid his smile and glanced around the group. “We make them think they won.”
Abeo’s light green lips pursed as he stared at Neve. His expression turned calculating, and then a cold smile lifted his lips. “I think I can see your strategy, my lord.”
“And that would be?” Bacti demanded.
“I believelae reillovis proposing we retreat so they venture farther in and then we surround them from both sides,” Abeo answered.
“Then we kill them,” Olwen said again.
Vidielle’s eyes widened. “And when it seems like there is no escape, they will retreat to the mines.”
“And we will bring the mountain down on top of them.”
A heavy silence filled the tent.
“That’s not honorable!” Bacti argued, his cheeks darkening with rage.
“There’s no honor in death either. I won’t send my people into war when there is a way I could save their lives.”
Abeo rubbed his hands together. “It’s smart.”
“We will exterminate them like the rats they are,” Neve replied with an answering grin.
“How do you suggest we surround them?” Bacti asked, his tone a touch snide.
“We win here and now. Then we take Astera.”
Bacti snapped his mouth shut and fumed in silence.
