“Well, I don’t like being removed from my home,” Elyssa shot back.
Jaspen glanced between her and Farren, fury turning his eyes into a dark storm. “Fine. You can stay for now, but Eyden leaves. He better be gone by dinner.” With one last disappointed look, he walked away. Elyssa needed to have another conversation with Jaspen later. But right now, her priorities lay elsewhere.
Once he was out of earshot, Eyden caught her gaze. “Are you really going to stay here? With that asshole?”
Elyssa shifted her head, taking in the tents set up some distance away. Her home. One day, she’d make everyone see the good in Eyden. Everyone but Jaspen. “For now. Dickhead and I still have the same goal. We need allies. We need all the support we can get for what’s to come.”
“You think it’s time?” Farren asked. They’ve had plenty of discussions about the future. About risks and rewards, about banishing the thought of total defeat. Farren had reasoned with her more often than not, but he knew it was only a matter of time.
Eyden shifted his feet. “Time for what?”
“To finally take action,” Elyssa replied, meeting his eyes.
Eyden nodded. “I’ll do more of my shifts, see if any of the guards can be persuaded to our side to get info on the disappearances.”
Elyssa shook her head. “That’s not enough, not anymore. They tookLora,Eyden. How many more people are we letting them take? How many more humans have to die before we intervene?”
“We’re notlettingthem take anyone,” Eyden said through gritted teeth.
“I wasn’t trying to blame you. But what are we really doing? Waiting around for the perfect opportunity to step up our game? There’s no such thing. But right now, there’s a window. There’s no almighty high king, not really. The contestants haven’t even been selected, as far as I know. This is the best goddamn chance we’ll get to turn things around in our lifetime. Mine, at least.”
“Wearetrying, El.”
She hated seeing the pain in his eyes, but she needed to let this out. She had to spell out the hard truth, it was what her brother responded to. “Buttryingisn’t enough. We need todo.” Suddenly, her cloak was suffocating her as anger fuelled her. Elyssa all but ripped it off her, letting it fall to the ground with her bow while her eyes stayed trained on Eyden.
“I can’t spend my whole life on the sidelines. I’m so fucking sick of it. The Adelways can’t take our lives like this. I won’t stand for it. No more. This is it, Eyden. I won’t watch him take everyone from us while I grow old and you wait for the next power change, the next king. Probably Karwyn’s son, who’ll step right into his footsteps. Aren’t youdonewith this fucking bullshit?”
“Of course, I am. But what else would you have us do? Storm the palace? That’s suicide.”
“I’m not saying we go in blind. We come up with a plan.” She quickly glanced at Farren as she prepared herself for her brother’s unavoidable reaction. “I have a map of the palace.”
Eyden’s lips parted in shock. “You what? How?”
“I may have snuck into a former guard’s home. The map is a bit outdated, but—”
“By Caelo, when were you going to tell me? Are you out of your mind?” Eyden asked, walking in a circle. “Why didn’t you let me get it?”
Elyssa searched for words, excuses. Of course, Eyden could have drifted in and out of the house in no time. But she had a suspicion he knew very well why she didn’t involve him. His stunt in Rubien proved her point. “It was a spontaneous decision. I didn’t know the map was there, but I was hoping I’d find something—anything—useful. It was a risk, but a smart one. I knew I could do it.”
“That’s insanely risky,” he shouted.
“Andthat’sexactly why I didn’t tell you. You worry too much about me. And you didn’t have to. Farren used his sleeping spell.” She shrugged. “It was all fine. As expected.”
Eyden dragged his fingers through his hair. “And you never mentioned this afterwards because…?”
“Because I knew this is how you’d react! You weren’t ready to hear it. And maybe you’re not ready now either, but I need you to be. We can’t sit by any longer. We can’t miss our chance.” She drew closer, her words aiming where she knew they’d hit. He needed to hear it. “And I promised Lora I’d have her back. Are you really going to accept she’s gone?”
He pulled back from her, averting his eyes. “What are you suggesting?”
“Karwyn needs to go.”
“Agreed. But assassinating the king is definitely a suicide mission.”
Farren raised his hand, intervening. “I’d like to add that as long as we get him to give up the throne, that will be enough. We might not have to commit murder. Just throwing that out there.”
“Sign away his right to the throne? That’s never been done before. Why would he?” Eyden asked no one in particular.
“We’ll find his weakness and exploit it. Hit him where it really hurts,” Farren answered.
