I step cautiously toward them, my mind prickling with panic. Did imperial scouts follow us back to the Ram’s Head? Did my starfire lash out after I crossed? “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“One of our scouting parties just returned.” Temujin’s voice grates like a dull blade. “The Zemyans have taken the fort at Ivolga.”
“What?”My legs wobble and I catch myself against the desk. “That’s impossible. Ivolga is the largest Imperial Army base. Thousands and thousands of warriors would have had to perish in order for it to fall.”
“Which is exactly what happened,” Oyunna says. “Chanar saw it firsthand.”
Chanar plucks a shot of vorkhi off the desk and drains it in a single gulp. His perpetually grim mouth and somber eyes are even more downcast than usual—like he’s seen a ghost. “Not only do the Zemyans have our cannons and munitions and food, they have a foothold. They’re halfway to Sagaan—farther than they’ve ever advanced before.”
With a vicious growl, Temujin stabs a dagger into the dot marking Ivolga. I feel the rattle of the blade clear to my bones as I think of the young, untrained warriors like the recruits in the infirmary, perishing by the thousands. How many do the Zemyans have to kill before Ghoa and the king accept that they can’t stop them on their own? That our old tactics are no longer working? That they need all the help they can get?
“Have you heard back from Commander Ghoa?” I ask Temujin. “Surely after this, she’ll be willing to—”
“Not a word,” Temujin cuts me off. “I’ll send another missive immediately, but our numbers need to be formidable to have a prayer of convincing her to join with us. Which means we need to work far more quickly than I thought. We need you to ferry another group of recruits soon, Enebish. I’m going to see if Kartok can have more ready to go tomorrow night.”
I wheeze. I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours, I’m reeling from everything the recruits told me, and I’m so light-headed from holding the darkness, my insides feel like a wrung-out sponge. I’d told myself one mission would be enough. Temujin would release Serik, then we’d find a way to escape. “Tomorrow night?”
“If we wait longer than that, there may be no one left to ferry. No Unified Empire to defend,” Temujin says.
Don’t go further down this path,Ghoa’s voice howls in my ears.Don’t squander this second chance.But I push away from the desk and lock eyes with Temujin. Maintaining our independence and protecting the people has to be my first priority. It should beherfirst priority. “If you release Serik and allow me to rest today and tomorrow, I can be ready to go by nightfall,” I say with a fierceness that surprises me.
“Yes!” Chanar pounds the desk and actually smiles at me. Oyunna and the others clap and cheer, and a flicker of pride lights my insides—like the penetrating glow of a candle in the dark. For the first time since I entered the realm of the Eternal Blue, I feel connected. Committed. Certain I’m on the right course.
Temujin is the only one who frowns. He grips the hilt of his dagger and wrenches it from the table before looking at me. “I’m incredibly grateful for your willingness, but I can’t release Serik just yet.”
“Why not?” The foul taste of deceit coats my mouth, oily and bitter. I swallow hard, but it thickens like cement in my throat. “I upheld my end of the bargain. You promised to release him!”
“And I have every intention of keeping that promise. I wish I could do so now—”
“Save your breath.” I wheel around and storm toward the door.
Quicker than a Zemyan arrow, Temujin flies from his desk and blocks my path. “Serik is volatile. You know that. And I have to consider the group’s welfare above all else.”
“I’ll keep him in line. I swear on my life—”
“I want to believe you’re truly with us after seeing the horrors at the war front, but Serik made his opinion of us clear, and if I release him and you flee, we’ll have no prayer of joining with the Imperial Army. No prayer of stopping Zemya. I can’t take that chance.”
“That makes it okay to lie and manipulate meagain?”
“It’s not a lie. I’ll release him as soon as I can.”
“And when will that be? What more do I have to do?
“All I ask is a few more missions—double our numbers so our ranks are large enough to make a real difference in battle, and prove you’re not going to abandon us the first chance you get. In the meantime, you can visit him. Explain what’s going on. See if you can soften him to our cause.”
“Prolonging his imprisonment isn’t going to soften him.”
Temujin drags a hand down his face. “This is the best I can offer. I can’t cater to you and Serik at the detriment of the people.”
“What if I refuse to go on these missions?” I cross my arms and glare up at him.
Oyunna, Chanar, and the other Shoniin fall still, their expressions tight. Temujin stares me down with his glinting tiger eyes and steps away from the door, extending his arm to let me pass. “You’re free to choose, of course, but you won’t turn your back on our people. That’s not who you are.”
I curse and stomp past him, hating that I stumbled into another one of his traps.
And hating even more that he’s right.
Inkar escorts me to the prison shack. Chanar offered to do it, undoubtedly so he could goad Serik and cut my visit as short as possible, but Inkar arrived from the infirmary just in time.
