Traegar continued to hesitate. Yet his mouth twitched. “A chance to boss you around for a change. Tempting.”
The tension eased, like a sigh. Erol was hopeful. “So you agree to help?”
Traegar looked skyward, not so much a roll of the eyes as another attempt to find patience in unsuspecting places. “I will help.”
TWENTY-TWO
In the end, they all stayed to help, even Venick, until he was pulled into a meeting with the city’s councilors to discuss the practicalities of the resistance’s arrival, and to plan their next move. He paused on his way out of the infirmary, his gaze slipping towards Ellina in a way that made her think he might ask her to join the meeting. Or was there some other reason he was looking at her that way? Before she could ask, however, he was gone.
Ellina threw herself into her work. No matter how many wounds they tended, there seemed always to be another mouth crying for relief, another face pleading for deliverance. Though all elves knew of death—they had a long practice of hunting and killing humans who entered their lands—the elven legion did not historically engage in battle, and therefore was not accustomed to destruction at such scale. The immensity of the operation was dizzying. How did humans do it? How could they stand to see their own comrades maimed as often as their enemy? And they must see it, given the size of Hurendue’s infirmary. Such a place would not exist, unless necessary.
Without commenting on it, Dourin and Ellina tended patients near each other. Dourin seemed to sense that Ellina needed his closeness as much as she needed not to speak of it. It was a bright spot in one of the longest days of Ellina’s life; Dourin was there, alive, at her side.
As Ellina worked, she found her mind drifting back to Farah. Seeing her second eldest sister had been like seeing her own past. Even as fledglings, Farah had always been a schemer. She liked to play tricks on the palace maids, stealing their most treasured keepsakes, releasing mice into their cupboards to eat their limited food supplies, even once going so far as to kidnap one of their infants. When Miria confronted her, Farah called these stunts harmless pranks,but Miria had a different idea.
“There is an energy inside our sister,” Miria once told Ellina. “It fills her like water through a pipe. Usually, Farah can keep her energy contained, but sometimes the pressure becomes too great, and the pipe bursts. Her schemes are harmless enough for now, but I fear they will not always be.”
It was nearing midnight when Erol found Ellina standing in the center of the melee, staring blankly at her bloodied fingers. He ordered her to retire, and when she tried to protest, he set a kind hand to her shoulder. “It has been a long day. You’ve done what you can for now. Best to accept when you’ve reached your limit.” His smile was tired. “We will not be far behind. Go. You’ve earned your rest.”
Reluctantly, Ellina washed up and exited through the infirmary’s small reception hall. Outside, leaves eddied along the street. Cool air touched her face.
She would do as Erol asked. She would rest. But not yet.
Ellina found Venick standing alone on the city’s western rampart, leaning into a rectangular cutout on the parapet. Hurendue stretched beneath them, rippling over its two low hills like a brick-and-stone quilt. The inner rings of the city were denser, shops and homes stacked like stepping-stones up each hillside, thinning as the rings expanded into the working sectors and farmlands. A clear, straight line ran between the hills, like a tear in the city’s seam: the river.
Ellina came closer. Venick’s profile was outlined by the glow of the nearby lanterns, which did not burn orange, but blue. A quick glance at one of the lantern’s bowls confirmed that it did not contain oil, but rather a thick black substance that gave off a faintly woody scent.
Venick spoke without looking at her. “I think one of us must be shadow-bound.”
Ellina halted.
“The Dark Army didn’t need a lure today,” he continued, gazing out towards the woods. “They uncovered our location without you to bait them. Maybe that means there are spies among us, but we’ve been careful about potential traitors since Rahven. We track every hawk—currigon or otherwise—that comes within sight, and no messenger birds have been seen flying in range. We’ve passed no everpools. So what other explanation could there be?”
Ellina was alarmed. But of course, the Dark Army had good reason to shadow-bind members of the resistance, if given the chance. Such a binding would allow them to track the resistance’s movement and location. They could anticipate possible ambushes, and counteract them, striking at the most opportune times, just as they had that day.
Ellina’s eyes dropped to Venick’s shadow, stark in the blue light of the lanterns.
“I’ve already looked,” Venick said, pushing away from the wall. “As far as I can tell, my shadow looks unbound. But it’s hard to know for sure.”
That was because shadow-bindings were difficult to detect, even without the strange bluish light of the battlements to contend with. Ellina should know. She herself had once been shadow-bound by the conjuror Youvan, and even then, even knowingshe was bound, and studying her shadow in the full light of day, she could not quite see a difference.
And yet…Ellina worried. Her worry was a small, hard gem refracting the light. It changed the color of things.
“Even if one of us isshadow-bound,” Venick said, “it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of today’s battle. It was a mistake to fight under the canopy of the trees. They offered us cover, yes, but the branches also provided shade from direct sunlight. The conjurors were able to summon their full power.” He braced his hands against the parapet. “I didn’t think of that. It didn’t occur to me that of the two battlefields—the open field or the woods—Farah might also have reason to want the woods.” A sigh. “The Dark Army doesn’t lack for bodies. They’ll strike hard when they strike next. Worse, there have been reports that they’ve been stealing black powder from human cities, whole stores of it—another dangerous advantage in their favor.”
He relayed his conversation with the city councilors, which included ideas on how to secure Hurendue against the coming invasion. As he spoke, Ellina’s eyes drifted back to the lanterns. She realized that she recognized the black liquid in their bowls. It wasrezahesap, which came from trees used to make alcohol by that same name. That explained the fire’s odd color, as well as the aroma. Though Ellina had never seenrezahesap used in place of lantern oil, she could quickly surmise the benefits. The sap was viscous, slow-burning. These lamps would likely not need to be refilled for weeks. And the bluish light was pleasant, calming to the guards who patrolled here. Easy to look at. To spot.
The edge of an idea.
“I want you with the archers,” Venick was saying. “They’ll be stationed here along these battlements.”
That drew Ellina’s attention back. She frowned. If Ellina was on the battlements, she would be away from the main battle. Venick was putting her in the safest location.
“I know,” he said, anticipating her objection. “But it’s not about keeping you safe. I need someone to lead the archers, and I’ve seen your skill with bow and arrow. You’re the best.”
Her frown only deepened.
“Lin Lill is injured,” Venick reasoned. “Dourin will be with me on the front lines. Traegar and Erol are healers—they don’t fight. So who does that leave? Branton, Artis, and you. I want it to be you.”
