But I don’t close my eyes. I keep them open, and I follow the king, and we reach the end of the lane, turning south to follow the road out of Briarlock.
Instead of an empty road, we find ourselves facing an army.
CHAPTER 38
JAX
The king has a plan. The king has a plan.
The words keep echoing in my head, repeating over and over again in a rapid panicked spiral until I can’t think of anything else. I sure hope he has a plan, because this has to be more than four dozen soldiers. It seems like fourmillionsoldiers. My mouth has gone dry, and my hands are frozen on the reins.
But whatever his plan is will likely end in sacrifice. In death. That’s the whole reason we came out here.
That’s the whole reason I followed Tycho.
You have my heart.
After that, did he think Iwouldn’t?
My breathing is so loud I feel like everyone here must be able to hear it. I try to slow it down, but it’s overpowered by my heartbeat. A cool breeze wraps around us, and I shiver.
Then I see the scraver, and I only missed it because it’s right in front of me, between two horses. Dark red- and- purple wings, one of which hangs a bit crookedly. Fierce, blazing eyes. He’s half crouched againstthe ground, but he’s tall enough that he nearly reaches the horses’ withers.
Xovaar.
A chain is wrapped around his neck, looped twice for good measure. From there, it drags on the ground, and my eyes follow the links until I reach the saddle of the next horse. Astride the animal sits Lady Karyl.
My eyes go wide. My thoughts stop spinning.
I don’t understand what’s happening here. I thought Karyl was workingwiththe scraver. I thought that’s what we were all afraid of— that she and this creature would use magic againstusthe way Tycho used his magic to help defend us against the onslaught in the forge.
Has Karyl captured it? Has she taken the scraver prisoner?
But why?
My eyes flick past her to the armed men and women at her back. It’s not four million, not now that my brain is working, but it’s easily a hundred. I may not be a soldier, but I’ve spent enough time among them to know that these people aren’t anxious and they aren’t worried. They’re ready for battle, and they’re ready to take the king.
The king has a plan.
I swallow, and my mouth feels like it’s full of sawdust. I have to remind myself— again— that any plan is going to end with his family’s safety.
Any plan is going to end in sacrifice.
“Lady Karyl,” says the king, as if we’re just casually encountering each other in the woods, not here to negotiate a surrender. “Or should I call you Lady Clarinas? You’ll have to forgive me— I was never informed which name was truly yours.”
“Either name will suffice,” she says. “Have you brought your magesmith allies here to surrender?”
“I am prepared to discuss the terms.”
“The terms.” She scoffs. “There will be no terms. You have no leverage.” Her gaze settles on Tycho. “I knew the other one would not be able to lend you power for long.” She gives the chain a little tug. “Xovaar told me.”
Xovaar says nothing.
Grey ignores this, looking past her. “You Truthbringers claim to reject magic, yet you now seem to welcome it among you.” His eyes settle back on Lady Karyl. “Am I mistaken about your intent here? As you are a magesmith yourself now, aren’t you here to negotiate a truce between us?”
Her lip curls, and a bitter wind loops through the forest. I have to bite back a shiver. “We wereforcedto use your methods,” she says. “Iwas forced to use your methods.”
“No one forced you to do this,” Tycho snaps.
