“Is Pyetar…” Nenad asked, face tight.
“Not when I left.” Iryana swallowed. It was all she could be sure of.
Hadima’s face scrunched with concern as she poked and prodded at Iryana carefully, the small table consumed by her supplies. Iryana knew her injuries weren’t serious, though her inability to take a deep breath was likely worrying her sister. It wasn’t an injury that caused the tightness in her chest.
“Do we have enough soldiers to launch another attack?” the First asked, face disturbingly calm.
“No, not even close,” Jesha answered with a grimace.
“Do we think he will kill the prisoners or negotiate for some kind of ransom?” someone else asked.
Iryana couldn’t listen to them, closing her eyes and desperately trying to remain calm.
“Hey,” Hadima whispered as she cleaned a nasty looking cut on Iryana’s arm. “It’s not your fault.”
“I failed them.” Her voice sounded wooden even to her own ears.
Hadima’s hand froze. “I failed them first. If I had killed Karvek before, no one would be in danger today. Or better yet, if I had let someone more qualified go in my place, you or Uncle Dinhal could have killed Karvek.”
Swallowing down a wave of emotion, Iryana admitted quietly, “I don’t think he could have.”
“Regardless, it wasn’t your fault. We’re going to figure this out.”
A tear leaked down Iryana’s cheek. “I thought I could do this—be Third and lead our people, but—”
“Stop it,” Hadima growled, pulling out a needle and thread to stitch up the wound. “We’re all they have, so we can’t give up. If you want to blame yourself or mourn your mistakes, do it after we’ve saved them. Don’t give up, please.”
Iryana blinked, staring at her sister. Some of the shock parted, and Iryana felt a little stabler, clearer. “I won’t. I won’t ever give up on them.”
“Iryana.” The First pulled her attention back to the main discussion. “Do you think Karvek would be amenable to releasing his hostages for payment?”
She knew the answer without having to think. “No, he won’t release them, not without demanding far more than we would be willing to give him.”
“Are you sure?” one of the smaller brigade leaders scoffed. “Everyone has a price.”
Iryana felt her temper warming. They needed better ideas than these. “Karvek would ask for all of your territory and the allegiance of your soldiers before he would consider letting anyone go.”
“Surely not.” Jesha clenched her jaw.
“He defeated us. Holding our people is a display of power. He loses that power if he gives them up. Only more power would sway him.”
“It’s not an option,” Nenad said quietly.
The First shook her head. “No, it is not.”
The thought of abandoning them was not something Iryana would consider. She couldn’t stop seeing her family on their knees before Karvek’s soldiers. The sight of Teshya wrapped up in her husband’s arms. The sight of Pyetar; the way he was looking at her. A shudder wracked her whole body.
Karvek was obsessed with power, with control. With no one seeing him weak or vulnerable. Her betrayal had to be driving him crazy.
If done just right… “He might accept a duel,” she realized.
“Then we challenge him to a duel,” one leader declared.
“And who could defeat him?” Iryana demanded.
“Some of our personal guard are brilliant metal-forged fighters,” Jesha answered.
“No.” Iryana rubbed her face with the arm Hadima wasn’t stitching back together. “He has an advantage against metal-forgings.”
