Ael dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “We should reach there in two days. Luelle, I need you to stay and oversee everything as lead advisor.”
Luelle protested. “No, Ael. You cannot go. Your father never came back!” She felt her stomach tighten. She couldn’t lose her friend. And what if he was gone again for years? He had only recently returned from Joro.
She didn’t want him to leave again.
Ael narrowed his eyes at her. “Luelle, I’ll be leaving with Seda.I will return, andyouneed to watch the castle while I’m gone. Can you do that for me, please? As my friend, I trust your judgment to handle things while I’m away.”
Luelle flared her nostrils and narrowed her eyes back at him, feeling a small burst of magic escape from her nose as she exhaled.
She didn’t want him to leave.
Luelle angrily jumped from her chair and slammed her palms on the table. “If I do this, Ael, I’ll need a way to communicate with you. Something is brewing under these stone walls, and if you’re gone, who can stop it from happening?”
“Praxis and the guard,” he replied.
Roya cleared her throat, and everyone looked at her. “Ferona can stay here with you while we go with Seda. We can communicate back and forth. I’ll call in other Corvids to see who’s nearby and willing to join.”
Luelle’s eyes moved from Roya to Ferona, who smiled at her in response.
Perhaps being stranded at the castle with someone intriguing like Ferona wasn’t such a terrible idea.
“Fine,” she snapped, sitting back into her seat with a loud thud.
“What do you intend to do about Neoma?” Luelle asked as she picked up her fork again and looked at her plate, the food suddenly seeming much less appetizing. She set the fork down and stared at Ael.
“After we leave breakfast, let’s go to her room and make sure she leaves. I’ll call in a few of the guards to help with this since she seems to think my commands don’t mean shit,” Ael responded. “I also want Meir there, as well.”
Luelle smiled. “Not sure where he was headed, but I saw him on the way here.”
“Probably the library,” Seda chimed in.
She was right. He was probably going to the stupid, dull library.
For years, Luelle thought Meir was just a boring, old advisor who always followed the rules. But recently, it seemed there might have been more to him than met the eye.
The doors flung open, and Praxis collapsed into the room, gasping and out of breath. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He jumped up, met Ael’s eyes, and rasped out, “The Jotnar have attacked the Lycanthropes. There was no trade deal. Ojore’s missing.”
Chapter 24
Ael
“What happened?” Ael asked as he stood from his chair and rushed to Praxis, helping him into an empty chair. “Where’s everyone else?”
Praxis was gasping, as if he had sprinted the entire way home from the wall. He took a deep breath and looked at everyone with wild eyes. “We got to the wall, and there were dead Lycanthropes scattered around. We made our way to the other side to check for any survivors, and a Jotnar was lurking around the corner, waiting for anyone else to arrive. We all fought him with everything we had and took him down, but we lost many in the fight. Ojore, that grumpy asshole, didn’t fucking listen to us and went off in his own direction, toward Tuath.”
Praxis reached for a glass of water and gulped it down, droplets slipping past his lips and dripping onto his shirt. When he finished, he wiped his mouth and said, “We had just a few survivors and returned as quickly as possible. Ael, I believenow is the time to get involved with them. If the Jotnar are attacking on their end, it won’t be long before they turn their attention here as well.”
Ael looked up at Roya before locking eyes with Seda. “We need those stones,” he stated.
“What do we do about Ojore?” Benny asked nervously.
Roya sighed. “We should split up to explore what more we can discover in Tuath. I propose accompanying Ael and Seda to La Uma. Ferona will remain here with Luelle. Askold, you’ll go with Benny and any others interested in heading to Tuath.”
Benny stood. “Roya, you know I don’t want to split from you.”
“You and I both heard that La Uma doesn’t like men, Benny. Ojore needs your help in Tuath. When we leave here, I’ll call upon the Corvids to see if we can get additional help. They will allow us to communicate.”
The room was silent as everyone thought over Roya’s suggestions.
