Griffin stares into his wineglass and then moves it away from him, the contents untouched. “It’ll take too long.”
“Acantha Tarva, assuming it was her, just came off a resounding defeat at Ios.” Egeria, with her dovelike nature and quiet gray eyes, calmly passes the vegetables as if we were talking about the weather. I still don’t think Griffin’s older sister should be Alpha, the role requiring a certain amount of ruthlessness as well as mercy, but she’s repeatedly proved herself more capable than I gave her credit for at first.
“Acantha will need time to regroup, and if the realm dinner went half as well as we think it did, we’ll have foiled her efforts with a number of Sintan nobles,” Egeria continues. “Our most powerful Magoi will look to Agatone and Urania for guidance. We just delivered Helen’s baby—their grandchild. That newborn boy landed inmyhands, and he’s healthy and fine. Helen has her husband wrapped around her finger, and if she volunteered this information to Cat, she supports us. They will support us.”
“I agree with Egeria,” I say.
Everyone looks at me. When I don’t addbutorexcept, Egeria looks pleasantly surprised.
Anatole finishes his last bite. When he’s up and about, Griffin’s father does everything with lightning speed, including eat. His aging body no longer holds the muscle and power it once had, but it’s easy to see how he was once one of the most formidable warlords in all of Sinta. His sly, sparkling gaze holds a wealth of intelligence, cunning, and experience.
“Piers should stick to his plan. Keep recruiting.” Anatole looks first at Piers and then at Griffin. “In the meantime, secure the border.”
Griffin spreads his hands, leaning back. “With what army? There aren’t enough trained soldiers yet. I can’t take anyone away from Sinta City, and there are barely enough people stationed elsewhere. If the major cities fall, the rest of Sinta falls, too.”
“Invading forces can’t get to cities if they can’t cross the border,” Anatole reasons. “Put our soldiers where we need them the most.”
Griffin shakes his head. “Too risky. It’s a good idea, but it’ll never work. Foot soldiers can’t move fast enough to cover the entire border. There’ll be huge gaps to get through.”
“What if they’re mounted?” Jocasta asks.
“There aren’t enough horses,” Griffin and I say at once.
“I have two horses,” Kaia volunteers. Always eager and full of energy, she shifts forward in her seat. “You can have mine.”
Her spontaneous offer sends a stab of something hot and twisting through my chest. I wouldn’t offer up my horse now, and I certainly wouldn’t have done it at fifteen. Griffin’s youngest sister is a constant surprise to me. Her straight dark hair and gray eyes mirror Egeria’s—although with a touch more blue and a good deal more fierceness in Kaia’s youthful gaze, there’s nothing subdued about her. I’ll bet she battles Dragons in her daydreams.
Next to her, Nerissa takes Kaia’s hand. In turn, Anatole takes Nerissa’s. Husband and wife. Parents and daughter.
Emotion swells inside of me. Is it envy? Sadness? It expands in a rush, and I don’t think it’s either. I’m pretty sure it’s something much more dangerous and frightening than mere self-pity. I think it’s a deep, stomach-hollowing longing accompanied by a terrifying sense of hope. That could beme. Not the daughter. That ship sank on Poseidon’s sea a long time ago. Not the daughter…but the mother.
“I know two isn’t many, but what if everyone around Sinta did the same? We could…rent the animals and then give them back once the danger passed.” Kaia’s face brightens. “I could be in charge of that.”
For reasons I don’t fully understand, my throat is suddenly too thick for breath.
Anatole gives her a patient smile. “That’s a generous offer,glikia mou.”
His sweet. I love how the southern tribes retained the old endearments, things that northerners never seem to say.
Kaia sighs. “But…”
“But people depend on their horses for their livelihoods. It’s almost harvest time. There won’t be a horse, ox, or mule to spare for the next two months. Taking animals now could not only chip away at the goodwill Sintans feel toward us, but also endanger our entire food supply.”
Kaia slumps in her chair. “That’s what the royals did before. They just took everything, and we hated them.”
Jocasta nudges a pair of cheese-stuffed olives around her plate. “So where does that leave us? Building the army and hoping it functions properly before Acantha decides to invade?”
“Yes.” Piers reaches over and steals her olives.
“There is something else.” I glance at Griffin, sure he remembers our conversation about gaining the assistance of creatures. “Something we could try.”
I sense Griffin’s mood souring even before his eyes settle on mine like boulders, and he was already pretty tense. I’m undaunted. Mostly.
I hazard on. “If we have magical creatures patrolling the border, it’ll send a clear message to the other realms, and even to our own people. Strength. Power. Boldness. It’ll be proof of resources they didn’t think we had. It’ll make them wonder what else we have in our arsenal, which, in turn, will make them hesitant to cross us. Creatures move fast, their hearing is acute, they’re huge and intimidating. A herd of Ipotane, for example, could block Sinta behind a nearly impenetrable wall.”
Egeria looks bemused. “But we don’t have any Ipotane.”
“Not yet.” I sip my wine. It’s white and tart.
