I winced. “I’m…sorry?” I said, the words coming out as more of a question than anything.
He nodded. “Yes, you are.”
My shoulders drooped a little, feeling all kinds of guilty. That is until I caught Artton looking on, thoroughly amused by the interaction. The High Lord stepped past me, and I narrowed my eyes at his commander, mouthingnot helpful.
All four of them smirked at that, and I rolled my eyes in turn.
Caius stood, hands on hips, looking down at the ground as if seeing his favorite mug shattered. “Kaelun,” he said after a moment, “go to camp and grab the cartographer’s maps from this morning—unless he’s already updated them. Tell him that he won’t be getting these copies back.”
“Yes, my lord,” Kaelun said, surprising me with the formality before he winked out of existence.
“I really am sorry,” I offered.
Waving his hand, he pulled his attention away from what was, and back to us. “Honestly, we should know better by now. This wasn’t your fault, Nyleeria. The truth is, we know very little about how your magic works. Besides, you’ll need paper copies when you travel anyway.
“But to answer your question, Tarrin,” he said, as if nothing had happened, “because the Autumn Court has fortified their borders with extensive wards, there are very few places you’d be able to cross successfully, even with the spark in tow. The one I showed you is an anchor point at the human/autumn border, which is probably where Nyleeria accidentally crossed over. To put it simply, it’s the safest place to cross into the Autumn Court,” he finished, all of us now standing in a semi-circle as we listened intently.
“Artton and I tried to cross the border ourselves this morning,” Sidrick said to Tarrin, “but our magic isn’t sufficient enough tobreak through.”
“But Ny’s is?”
They turned to me, and I nodded, finally knowing what we were talking about. “At the border, where I found you,” I said to Tarrin, trying to ignore Luca’s terrified whinnies echoing in my mind, “I had to cross into the Autumn Court to get you. What I learned is that it’s not about strength so much as convincing the barrier that we are one and the same. Kind of like how a river swallows a drop of rain.”
“So, you, what?” Tarrin asked, dropping the sentence like he wasn’t quite sure how to finish it.
“Well, as I see it, I am the spark. The power of the spark created all things. Therefore, we are one and the same.”
“That’s how you did it?” Sidrick’s low question was filled with awe.
I nodded. “It was the only way. The more power I tried, the more it resisted. So, I pressed my hands against it and felt its resonance, or… I don’t know, its… soul? Or maybe its core elements,” I said, glancing to Artton, who nodded like he understood exactly what I meant, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his arcane magic allowed him to feel it too.
“All right,” Tarrin said, as if convinced, then crossed his arms and widened his stance a fraction, which couldn’t mean anything good. “As I understand it, the plan is this; we valen to the edge of the Summer Court, kick into the human realm, follow the border north, and enter autumn through the chink in the armor, so to speak. We traverse the Wildwoods, make it to the court proper, canvas the manor Thaddeus and the twins are staying at, wait for his daily meeting with Wymond, snatch the twins and bring them back. Does that about sum it up, or is my human brain failing to keep up?” His gaze snapped to Artton, baiting him.
“Yup,” Artton said with mock cheer as he slapped Tarrin on the shoulder, “that about sums it up.”
“Bullshit.”
“Tarrin,” I scalded.
“No fucken way this is the play, Ny,” he said, uncrossing his armsand taking a small step toward me. “Think about it for a second. EvenifThaddeus wasn’t responsible for the twins, I’m sorry, but there’s no way in the seven hells that we would risk both his second and third commanders to retrieve them. Yes, it would make you happy, more likely to work with us”—he accentuated his last point by giving the others a hard look—"but everyone in this room, with the exception of you, is a militant strategist through-and-through. Theonlything that matters, regardless of how big or small the operation, is cost relative to benefit. That’s it. And I’m telling you, that math isn’t adding up."
“Spark—”
“No, let him finish, Artton. I want to hear this.”
“Wait,” Tarrin said, “he’s already got a nickname for you?”
Artton smirked, and I shot him a warning before flipping it back. “Careful, Tarrin,” I warned. “You’re already on thin ice as it is, and you don’t have the right to stumble back into my life and judge me.”
Knowing me well enough not to push it, Tarrin refocused. “I know you feel responsible for the twins, and having met them, only the gods know why you fucken care. But regardless of what wefeel, I need you to take all emotion out of it and think rationally, because I promise you, only logic is playing a role in any of these decisions.”
I took a beat, thinking through a strategic-only lens—which was harder said than done. Although I was loath to admit it, Tarrin was right. If I were in Caius or Thaddeus’ position, the only one I’d mount a rescue mission worth riskingbothof my highest-ranking commanders when war on the wind for would be me, the spark. Well, unless the king or High Lord themselves was captured, but then the decision would be out of their hands. No matter how many times I turned the logic over and over, I continued to come to the same conclusion, leaving me only one question.
I raised my chin and asked the question that hung over all our heads. “Tarrin is right, it’s not adding up. So, tell me, what’s in it for you?”
Chapter 37
The Before
