“Where is she?” Dawn asked.
I fixed my gaze on the prince. “I’ll tell you exactly where she is. I’ll lead you there myself, in exchange for your promise to help me free her.”
He somewhat lowered his sword, but the suspicion in his golden eyes hadn’t eased much. “Why do you think I would make a deal with you?”
“Because I believe you would like to know the location of the place where Elaine is being held. After all, you spent many years searching for it with the queen’s army. Ashgate City.”
His hand with the sword dropped to his side.
“No one knows where it’s located,” he muttered, his features distorted in shock.
“Many do.” I shrugged. “Some can even lead you to it. A magical beacon has been implanted at its border for many decades if not centuries now. I can build a shadow tunnel to it.”
“How do you know about the beacon? Were you the one who implanted it?” His questions sounded like an interrogation now.
“Not me. It was way before my time. I heard a disgruntled mage did it. But that’s not the point at the moment, is it? The important thing is that I know where Ashgate is, and I can take you there. You and as many warriors as you can bring with you.” I ran a hand over my hair, trying to calm my impatience.
Time was slipping through my fingers, and every moment Elaine wasn’t with me, she was at the mercy of the most hardened criminals of the kingdom.
“Please, Rha,” Dawn said softly.
Her plea affected the prince far more profoundly than any of my words.
“What exactly do you need me to do?” he asked me, sheathing his sword. “What’s your plan?”
My heart soared with hope. I would’ve hugged Dawn for her help, but I knew the prince would draw his sword again and likely skewer me with it if I so much as moved in her direction.
“I don’t have a plan yet,” I admitted, not moving from my place on the swing. “But Ashgate is located on the shore of the ocean?—”
Prince Rha waved a dismissive hand. “Not true. We searched the shore and never found the city there.”
I smirked. “You didn’t find it, but I did. It’s on the stretch south from thevirutudragons cliffs, the place only accessible by a shadow tunnel. And even then, one can’t see the city from the desert because it’s in the cliff face below the desert floor.”
His brow furrowed, as the prince seemed to consider my words.
“I could maim and kill half of the city before they overpower me,” I explained. “But those who took Elaine would see me coming and could hide her from me where I may never find her. Ashgate is bigger than one man can conquer. It spreads long, wide, and deep into the caves where I cannot fly. I need you to attack the beach and create distraction while I search for her.”
“Ashgate has been a stain on our kingdom for way too long,” the prince said slowly.
“I’m giving you the chance to end it. Erase that gods-damned place from existence,” I gritted through my teeth.
The prince took Dawn’s hand.
“Well, come inside then, General Timur. We’ll have to get the warriors ready and work out the details of the attack.”
“We don’t have much time,” I reminded him, impatience vibrating inside me with the urge to fly up, not inside. “Every minute we delay, Elaine is suffering.”
Dawn inhaled a shaky breath, clutching her throat with one hand.
“We’ll make it quick,” Prince Rha assured us both. “As a general, you surely know that rushing into a battle unprepared can be a sure way of losing it.”
“A former general,”I corrected in my head, but didn’t say it out loud.
Despite the impatience and worry that raked me, a tendril of anticipation pulsed inside me, like a faint echo of my old life filled with danger and glory. I found myself looking forward to planning and executing another battle, the most important battle in my life.
I lifted from the swing’s seat and flew low, following the prince and his woman through the tall open window into a small room.
Lit by candles in a standing candelabrum, the room looked cozy and inviting. A gemstone puzzle lay on a table, assembledinto a half-finished shape of chest armor. A few scrolls stood in a tall basket nearby, next to a stack of books.
