But among the incredible number of soldiers fighting for Karvek, plenty of soldiers had turned on him too, fighting for Pyetar instead.
Iryana wanted to panic, to rush into the fray to find everyone she loved and save them. Instead, she twisted her lips in grim determination and followed Karvek.
Her eyes flicked toward the mass of fighting again, hoping to see Pyetar making his way toward her, but she couldn’t find him. She wouldn’t let herself consider that something had happened to him.
They were moving away from the estate now, closer toward the rest of the fighting. Each step on the wood-brick surface was a tactical disadvantage for Iryana’s plan, but she’d have to recalculate. To figure out what had gone wrong and how they could adjust.
She saw the unmistakable profile of her Uncle Dinhal’s signature beard around the corner. If they went much further, they’d lose the element of surprise.
“Karvek,” she gasped loudly, searching for his eyes as he turned toward her.
He watched her with his intense eyes, moving closer. “What is it?”
“I think I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“About your brother.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes, you were.”
She looked down as if chastised. “If this is Pyetar’s doing, there’s something you need to know.”
This got the entire group’s attention. Darish took a step back, turning toward them. Karvek came even closer.
The air between them pressurized.
She breathed, each slow pull of air seeming to take an eternity.
Then she heard it.
Chapter Forty-One
It was the quick tap tap tap of boots racing up the stretch of road that alerted them.
Karvek and his soldiers were turning, bracing for the impact.
Then Pyetar and Dinhal were there, metal-forged swords drawn, practically flying.
Iryana summoned her spear, focusing on the feel of its pull on her magic, and launched herself at Karvek.
She had hoped that the surprise would give her the opening she needed, but in the same moment his soldiers cut off Pyetar and Dinhal, and Karvek turned toward her.
There was betrayal and fire in his eyes. But not surprise.
“So you’ve chosen them,” Karvek growled as he deftly knocked the spear away, stepping in close.
Iryana retreated, putting space between them again. “They’re my family.”
For a moment, rage flickered across his face, but Karvek hid it just as fast behind a mask ofcold lethality.
Hesitation gripped her as she readied to attack him, but then Karvek was slipping away. A bigger threat claimed his attention. But another soldier jumped between them, and she barely knocked his falchion away in time.
She was fighting with everything she had, blocking and lunging and keeping the swords away from her. She couldn’t see who had engaged Karvek in the mess of bodies around her as the other soldier tried to drive her back.
She glimpsed Pyetar as he worked his way around, a soldier he’d been fighting now a heap on the ground. Dinhal managed the same a moment later until they were fighting in a small formation.
With them at her side, Iryana felt strong, unbeatable.
