Feeling more centered, Iryana approached the very edge of the fence and prepared to cross.
“Are you ready?” she asked Dinhal one last time. “You’re sure you’re up for this?”
Dinhal let out a sound that was half growl, half chuckle. “I wasn’t able to join the first war against the dakii, I was too freshly forged. The people we’ve lost, the damage we took back then… let’s just say I am ready to do my part.”
“You’re the strongest fighter we have. I am glad to have you by my side today.”
She had been too young to understand what it had been like for him, but she felt the depths of the oath in his eyes.
“And I’m ready to make it up to you.” He swallowed. “For not protecting you girls from my brother.”
She could only nod, her eyes burning.
“Thank you for letting me do this.” Dinhal tucked himself into the shadows as well as he could. “Good luck, Third.”
Third, would she ever get used to it?
Teshya huddled in an alcove of the small yard, where she had a vantage but wouldn’t be easily seen. “Give ‘em hell,” she called out, nodding as Iryana left them behind.
Iryana took off toward the manor, not trying to hide. She resisted a look down the main road to see how far Pyetar and the others had progressed.
The inside of the manor was dark and quiet as she ran through the hall. The alarm hadn’t sounded, but enough people were shouting and fighting that it wasimpossible to hide now. Could Karvek still be asleep? She could hear the fighting faintly from there.
“Karvek,” Iryana called out, letting desperation leak into her voice, as she pushed open the door to his private study. “There are outsiders in the fort, and your soldiers are turning on—”
She froze when she saw Karvek and Darish standing in the center of the room, Karvek finishing with the straps on his last bracer. They were otherwise armored and ready.
“I know,” Karvek said mildly, barely glancing at her.
Iryana recalculated. “What do we do?”
She had been prepared to steal an opportunity to take Karvek out alone if one had presented itself, but there was no way she could take on Karvek and Darish, especially with them armored and prepared to fight.
But that was okay. The time for being reckless on her own was over.
The fighting was so loud now, even from inside. Two more soldiers ready for battle appeared in the doorway.
“Come with me, and I’ll show you,” Karvek smiled at her, the look dangerous and feral.
He headed into the hall, his large steps devouring the distance as she hurried behind him. He held his hand out and his sword, darker than she remembered, formed. She had only seen it that once at the gathering with the courtesans. Sure, it had been dimly lit, but still. A forging so nearly black should have stood out in her memory. He might be a greater threat than she expected. Luckily, she would have Pyetar and Uncle Dinhal with her.
Iryana fell in beside Darish as they walked through the manor behind him. The entire way, worry bled into her stomach. The nerves were so strong that she couldn’t help but feel like something waswrong.
When they stepped out, seeing the view down the main road before them, Iryana sucked in a breath.
It was chaos.
For a moment, she couldn’t see past the pure mass of people. She had never seen the fort so crowded, never seen a battle like this. Screaming, blood spraying, retreating. In the short time she’d been inside, the fort haderupted.
There were pockets of fighting in almost every direction, Pyetar’s and Karvek’s forces fighting over helpful positions. Most of her fighters were struggling to maintain their formations along the center line, and it looked like Karvek’s were breaking groups off, taking their weapons and having them lay on the ground.
She’d expected Myura River to be taken by surprise. It was a military fort, and soldiers wouldn’t take long to dive into the fight, but a few minutes without preparation could make a difference.
Based on the number of Karvek’s soldiers alert, fully armored, and fighting like their lives depended on it, it was hard to imagine they’d been sleeping and hungover moments earlier.
She looked at them all again, trying to gauge the numbers.
Karvek didn’t have that many soldiers. Did he?
