“I’m being serious.”
“You are alwaysserious. But fine. Be sorry. Wallow in your regret. Heavens knows it is what you do best. Just know that if you are going to anguish, you suffer for nothing.”
“You should blame me.”
“I forgive you,” Dourin said simply. “You are my friend, and this is war. Hard decisions must be made. You are merely the unlucky human who must make them.” He went back to leaning on the doorframe. Sighed. “This is not what I came to talk about.”
Venick eyed him. “Was there something else?”
“I dare not bring it up now.”
“Just tell me.”
“Harmon.”
Venick grimaced, and Dourin gave him a look that seemed to say,I did warn you.
Slowly, Venick said, “We’ve broken off our engagement.”
“The Elder does not know that.”
“No one does, yet. Harmon and have I kept up the ruse—a fake engagement—to help unite our people. It’s been working, but it’s not forever.” He sank back down to the workbench. “I’m not marrying her.”
“I should say not,” Dourin agreed. “But things are not quite as simple as that. The Elder has been touchy about the subject of his daughter. He has not yet tried to call back his men because of Harmon. Though her duplicity wounded him, I think a secret part of him is proud. Who else would have the cunning to undercut the most powerful man in the highlands, let alone steal his army? He has not wanted to move against her. But his restraint will not last forever.”
“He doesn’t have the power to stop us now.”
“Not so. As I have said, the Elder has many resources.”
“He’d infiltrate our forces?”
“Perhaps. The Elder never wanted his men out fighting this war. He hears of your escapades, how you’ve been parading his soldiers around the mainlands. The longer he waits, the more it rankles.”
“If given the choice, the highlanders would choose Harmon’s side,” Venick said. “They’d choose to fight.”
“Ah,” Dourin said. “But what side would Harmon choose?”
Mine,Venick started to say, then caught the word between his teeth. The truth was that he didn’t know if he could trust Harmon anymore, not after she’d lied about Dourin’s death, and may or may not have been intercepting their letters. He didn’t understand her motives, and that was worse, because hedidn’tknow what she was thinking. What she’d choose.
Dourin read Venick’s thoughts. He hitched a sharp little smile. “From what I have heard, things between you and the highland’s sweetheart have been…sticky. Harmon is like her father. She will make whatever choice suits her in the moment. That is not to say we do not still need her,” he added, “or that I do not have my own debts to repay. She was there the night of the Elder’s attack, you remember. She helped save my life when I was actually quite determined to die. And yet…” Dourin made a show of looking around, “she is not even here.”
“She led a force to Kenath.”
“Where she has undoubtedly had time to rethink her stance on your relationship.”
“Regardless of what she thinks of me, she wants to put an end to the fighting. She once told me that she doesn’t want any more daughters to lose their mothers in battle, like she lost hers. I have to believe she means that.”
“And leading the resistance is her answer?”
“Yes.”
“Saving mothers by killing brothers.” Dourin drew his eyes upwards. “What fools war makes of us.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Day came, then night, then day again. The city tied itself into a collective rope of tension as everyone began readying for a siege. Catapults were rolled out of long, wide storage shelters and set in a row along the river. Weapons were sharpened, armor distributed. Dourin devised a series of signals that would be used to communicate with their soldiers once the fighting began, and Erol organized the distribution of rainwater barrels to douse potential fires.
Scouts were sent to observe the Dark Army’s location. They never returned.
