"Not to mention an attack on Völundr means war with Kashran as well. The Elven Queen carries Kashran bloodthrough her mother. That alliance runs deep. They will come to her aid."
Lady Fireren rises from her seat. Her smile reveals rows of needle-sharp teeth. "All the seadragons of the Varan Trenches have pledged their aid, Your Majesty. Our leviathan Lady Ksatka herself has sworn to lead them."
Lord Theron's eyes gleam with delight. "Splendid. We will strike from sky and sea simultaneously. Their coastal cities will burn while their inland fortresses face our wyvern-riders."
The excitement in the chamber is palpable. I can see it in their faces, the anticipation of conquest, the lust for battle and the certainty of victory.
The words are out before I can stop them. "You're all fools if you attack now."
The chamber falls silent. Every head turns toward me. Finnbheara goes very still beside me, and I feel the weight of his stare.
I have to speak. What I saw at Tavan changed everything.
"Before we commit our forces to this campaign, there is something you must know. Something I witnessed at the ruins of Tavan earlier today." I turn to address the entire assembly, making sure my words carry to every corner of the chamber. "I was returning from the negotiations with Akaloth when I came upon the battlefield."
Theron's dark eyebrows rise slightly. "The orc rebellion in the western provinces? What concern is that of ours?"
"Victory was certain for the Orkan rebels. They outnumbered the elves and the fortress was impenetrable. Their mages had summoned creatures from the void realms to slaughter the elves. The rebels had already won."
I pause.
"Until the Elven Queen took the field."
Finnbheara straightens in his chair.
"A queen with silver hair and pale eyes. She spoke a single word and the fire came."
"You're mistaken," Morgaine denies, but uncertainty flickers in her eyes. "Our spies said the elven queen is a soft healer."
"What I saw was nothing of the kind." I meet each gaze in turn. "She walked through the battlefield like death itself. No arrow could touch her, and the very air bent to her will."
Murmurs ripple through the assembly.
"I watched from Dorcha's back." My jaw clenches at the memory. "The queen raised her hand just once and spoke a single word in the language of the First Ones. Every Orkan mage on that battlefield simply ceased to exist."
"Impossible," King Mavren hisses. "The battle-mages of Orkan are not so easily killed."
"They weren't easily killed," I agree with a sigh. "These were shamans who could split mountains, who wore bones of power passed down through generations. Yet she destroyed them with a gesture."
I can still see the moment in my mind. Their souls were unraveled like threads pulled from a tapestry. Six of the most powerful Orkan mages I have ever seen, reduced to empty air in the space of a heartbeat.
"She didn't just burn them," I say to the court. "She unmade them. Their skin melted from bone before they could scream."
Lord Kael speaks, his voice tight. "If what you say is true, that kind of power belongs to—"
"To the Firstborn, the Unyieldings," I finish darkly, my voice steady despite the tremor in my chest. "Power that was supposed to have disappeared during Casimir's conquest."
The silence now is heavier. Even Morgaine has stopped smiling. Several Fae Lords exchange troubled glances.
"You're suggesting that the Elven Queen possesses Firstborn magic?" the king says slowly, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.
"I'm not suggesting it, Your Majesty. I witnessed it." I meet his gaze directly. "The very air around her shimmered with power. Dorcha, who has faced leviathans and frost-giants, trembled beneath me like a newborn colt."
The silence stretches until Morgaine's laughter rings out. "But surely you don't expect us to abandon our plans based on a single display of elven theatrics?"
Her words break the spell of fear that has settled over the assembly.
Warchief Urzak steps forward. "The boy speaks of one elf-witch against our combined might. Even if she possesses such power, she is but one being. Our armies number in the tens of thousands."
