“You’d have to get her into Amari. My understanding is that’s a losing battle for you right now.”
Honovi was aware of the restrictions placed on that capital city and the broken chains of cogs that stretched away from it. Nathaniel, in his role as arionetka, had done his damnedest to destroy the cogs he’d been in charge of, creating a cascade failure of death the Clockwork Brigade hadn’t yet recovered from. More than that was the fierceness with which the Daijal army had moved to control that central province. The front lines of the war had started in the western provinces last year but were farther east now, a testament to Daijal’s strength.
“I haven’t heard from my oldest daughter since we left for Veran last year,” Meleri said quietly. “We’ve stopped the rescue of debt slaves because we haven’t the people to spare. The Marshal managed to send news that Eimarille is feeding not just the fallen but prisoners of war and debt slaves to her death-defying machines. She doesn’t care about the living, and the dead are just cannon fodder to her.”
“Does Caris know?”
Meleri curled her finger through the delicate handle of her teacup but didn’t raise it to her mouth. “She’s aware of the use Eimarille has for the battlefield fallen. I haven’t spoken to her about the possibility her parents might already be dead.”
Honovi remembered well how badly Caris took being lied to. “You should tell her.”
“I only mean to spare her that grief.”
“She won’t think kindly of your efforts. You can’t coddle her if you want an independent queen.”
Meleri smiled, though there wasn’t any humor in her expression. “Your husband said something similar to me once.”
“You should probably listen to him.”
Meleri finally picked up her teacup and sipped the sweet-smelling liquid. “Is it your opinion that your country will not give military aid? Are the ambassadors we sent a wasted effort?”
“Keep your people in Glencoe. Having an Ashionen presence to remind our contemporaries of the ongoing threat is important.”
They made small talk for the rest of the meeting, Meleri’s disappointment at Honovi’s inability to promise military aid from E’ridia swept away with political deftness. When Honovi had only crumbs on his plate and the teapots were empty, Meleri stood. “I want to thank you for meeting with me,jarlHonovi.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring better news,” Honovi said as he pushed his chair back and stood. “I?—”
The piercing sound of a warning siren ripped through the air, freezing them both. The color left Meleri’s face as she reached for the back of her chair to hold herself steady. Honovi’s hand went immediately to the gas mask hanging from his belt. He didn’t see one on Meleri’s person, but a quick glance around showed one resting on a nearby side table. He hurried to retrieve it, bringing it over to her.
“It’s not the tone pattern for spores, but thank you,” Meleri said.
“Revenants, then?”
Meleri nodded. “Yes. They come in a horde not typically seen in the wild. We believe Daijal is transporting them somehow but not using the regular roads.”
“The back roads are dangerous.” The only people known to frequent those areas were wardens, and no warden would give aid to Daijal.
“It hasn’t stopped their attacks.”
Meleri clutched the gas mask to her chest and headed for the door. Honovi followed after her, unsurprised when, moments later, Dureau came racing around the corner right when the warning sirens changed pitch. “Mother! There are airships in the sky and revenants making their way to the walls.”
Meleri rocked to a halt so abruptly Honovi had to put a hand beneath her elbow to make sure she stayed upright. “They’ll try to bomb us again.”
“Again?” Honovi asked sharply.
Meleri reached for her son, urging him back down the hallway. “Eimarille knows Caris calls Cosian home. She’ll keep dropping bombs until her air force finds its target. Didn’t you see the damage to the city on your flight in?”
Honovi remembered the pockets of rubble between the city’s inner walls, knowing the damage must have been from an attack, but hadn’t thought much of it until now. “What is your protocol for an aerial bombardment?”
Dureau grimaced as he slipped his arm around his mother’s waist to guide her forward. “We head to the basement and leave the defense of the city to the military.”
As much as Honovi wanted to leave to go to his husband, he knew the streets wouldn’t be safe in a time like this. Caoimhe would have left a skeleton crew on theCelestial Sprite. He didn’t know if she’d give an order for them to lend support to the Ashionen military airships anchored in the airfield or not. Despite captaining the airship into Ashionen space, he wasn’t the officer in charge of the crew, and Caoimhe knew the restrictions placed on E’ridia’s air force just as surely as he did.
That didn’t stop Honovi from pausing at the basement door near the servants’ quarter and pulling his televox from a belt pouch. The clarion crystal–powered device wasn’t widely available to the general public in any country, but his position asjarlmeant he couldn’t do without. As his husband, Blaine carried his own as well.
“We’re safe,” Blaine assured him when he answered. “We’re heading to a bunker beneath the Six Point Mechanics laboratory. I’ll lose connection soon.”
The cage around Honovi’s heart loosened a bit. “We’re heading to our own. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
