“Our only hope is that whatever conflict revealed the truth about this man to his dragon, it was unassociated with their mission,” I said grimly.
“What are the fucking chances, Donavyn?” Alexi growled. “A squad of spies, all killed—but it has nothing to do with their mission? Of course they’ve been discovered. It’s the only conclusion that makes sense.”
I had to bite back the words that there waseverychance these men had committed an offense that brought them under fire without revealing their true purpose. But my only evidence for that was Bren’s story, and she’d begged me not to reveal it to others.
“They are young men in a foreign land,” I said flatly. “There’s as much chance—perhaps more—that they were caught in a tavern brawl.”
“A fucking thin thread on which to hang the hopes of a nation,” Alexi cursed.
“And yet… when did this happen?” Diaan asked suddenly.
“I’m not certain yet, but Kgosi believes it was mere days ago. The dragon killed his rider then travelled home. An unencumbered dragon could fly that stretch in well under a week. But he’s extremely weak, so it may be that his journey was longer.”
Alexi frowned harder. “I do not like all this uncertainty, Donavyn.”
“Neither do I, Sire. But I also don’t believe we should move without further information.”
Alexi nodded reluctantly. “You keep Kgosi on this—we need to know what that dragon knows.”
“I will,” I said through my teeth, wincing at his lack of compassion for the poor beast who’d been through so much he was literally falling apart. “But—”
“If our men have been uncovered and were harmed as a result, we’ll soon have word from Draeventhall, raising the accusations,” he continued.
“I believe so,” I agreed. “Though it is possible that even if they were suspected, their homeland wasn’t uncovered. They carried nothing that would identify them as Vosgaardians.”
The king muttered another curse, then leveled a firm gaze at me. “This increases our urgency for getting into Fyrehold.”
I went still. “What? Sire, until we know for certain, I am needed here to—”
“If Draeventhall wants to cast aspersion and gather allies against us, Fyrehold is the first place they’ll look.”
“But they may not even know where the men were from. It’s entirely possible the men were attacked because they were uncovered as spies. They are trained to withhold their loyalties—”
“Regardless, there are plots afoot, and multiple nations moving. Wemustbe in a position to thwart these schemes, Donavyn. If Draeventhall’s king suspects us, we must galvanize the alliance with Fyrehold before any rumors can begin—or Ashthorn finds way to make use of this mess.”
“And if Fyrehold is behind it? We’d be walking into the beast’s lair—”
“You will find that out for me. This was your plan, Donavyn, and I agree, it’s a good one. Now, it’s time to put it into action. We must get you on the ground in Fyrehold before Draeventhall can begin to twist their minds.”
I tried to argue, but I knew his logic was sound, and my mind was clouded with questions for Ciar, and with the ache for Bren. Ithoughtshe’d forgiven me for hiding my knowledge of Ruin from her. But even at this distance, and with the bond blurry, I could sense the weight on her chest. The specters haunting her that this dragon’s appearance had resurrected.
She and I needed time and safety to heal. We needed to behere.
But those reasons were entirely personal. They held no water in the face of war.
“…No, Donavyn. Never forget, the most likely conclusion is usually the right one. Either our spies were ousted from Draeventhall, and we will soon face accusations and war, or—even if they don’t know it was us—Draeventhall’s guard is up. They’ll be cautious with everyone. We’ve lost a critical source of information and insight. Wemustmake the most of others. Our best hope is to ingratiate ourselves with Fyrehold and throughthem, learn second hand what’s occurring in Draeventhall. Or, uncover whatever plot the two are cooking together.”
Alexi had discarded his usual pomp and bluster entirely. He stood before me, a leader and a King, resolute—and fully aware of what we likely walked toward. How it would cost our nation, and possibly us as leaders.
Our eyes locked and every plan and strategy we’d built to deal withpreciselythis kind of disaster came rushing back to me.
He was right.
Dammit.
Bren and I had to go to Fyrehold. Andsoon.
13. Cling to Me
