“Tell me everything about where our troops are now.” I pushed back from the table and left the room, three sets of boots following me. “Where did Ophelia leave off?”
Cyph’s voice was stabilizing as I marched through the palace, asking Rina to send the council and delegates to the chamber. He told me of the placements and advantages of each legion we had gained from our new allies and how the diplomatic relationships were swaying. Jezebel filled in the gaps.
As I settled into a chair beside the Revered’s in the council chamber, I dragged a hand over my face. Fuck, how had I allowed myself to become so complacent? Was Ophelia right that that’s what we’d done with our relationship, too?
I knew nothing of the plans that had been laid. I’d spent every meeting blocking out the noise, doing my best to appear present without actually listening.
Now, I found myself in the seat I’d relinquished, trying to help until Ophelia returned. Spirits, she’d better return. She hadn’t even officially been inducted as Revered, but I’d seen the reaction to her presence at Renaiss; we couldn’t afford to lose her.
The council and delegates arrived, and I straightened, summoning the voice I’d learned as a teenager. One of a true leader. With their help, I wouldn’t have to make threatening decisions, but I needed to try to be the symbol Ophelia had become. At least in this room.
“Why are the Soulguiders being placed on the southwest border of the mountains?” I asked, tracking Danya’s hands across the map. “Does it not make sense to move them east with our troops?”
“We’ve placed legions at the weakest points of the range, assuming Kakias is after power,” Danya explained.
“But we’re spreading ourselves thin.” There were clusters of Mystique and ally pins across territories, but I could tell by a quick scan that none matched the strength of the Engrossians.
Danya frowned. “Until we can decipher what the queen wants, we’re doing our best.”
I was unsatisfied with the risk, but I nodded. I didn’t want to insult the Master of Weapons and Warfare.
“The closer the Soulguiders are to our land,” Erista added, brushing curls out of her face with a ringed hand, “the stronger we are.We aren’t solely fueled by your mountains like you.” Did that mean she felt weak, being here all this time?
My eyes flitted to Vale. “Same with the Starsearchers on the northern line?”
She chewed her lip. “That’s a safe guess.”
“But?” Cyph prodded.
“But we’re actually strongest near a temple, if it’s readings you’re after. Anywhere that there’s a connection to the Celestial Goddess so that we can channel her and the Angel Valyrie.”
“And if we’re after fighters?” Danya asked.
“We’ll fight mercilessly wherever we’re stationed.” She lifted her eyes to Danya, then to Cyph, nothing but steel promise there.
A memory surfaced from one of those many meetings I’d barely attended. “Vale?” I started, waiting for her to meet my eyes. “Did you have any luck with the reading Ophelia requested?”
“Not yet.” The Starsearcher’s gaze shuttered, slipping back into her subdued act.
I’d watched her these past weeks, always alert and observant until her readings were mentioned. The avoidance drew a trickle up my spine.
Vale wanted to keep secrets, so I’d keep mine, as well. If there was one thing I’d learned since the war, it was that while everyone hoarded truths, they also had something that would expose them.
In my years as a prisoner, I became an expert at picking apart tells, deciphering the hidden meanings beneath their words even as I buried my own. Secrets and broken promises were a currency I now dealt in.
And that made the fact that Vale was lying much more intriguing.
Sitting back in my chair, I dropped my shoulders and sank into the wood. “Please, keep trying. We need anything we can get about Titus’s reading or Kakias’s plan.” I scrubbed my hands over my face, barely catching her nod through the cracks between my fingers.
Internally, I grinned.I’ll figure you out, Starsearcher.
Chapter Thirty
Ophelia
“What are you staring at?”I murmured to the chitara perched atop a flat rock.
Squatting down, I looked into its beady eyes. One of the many magical beasts that scampered among the forests and plains of Gallantia, it was a docile critter—at least today. Legends said chitaras once held powerful abilities. Shifting and venomous bites that only existed in stories now.
