Valenna remembered this place. Her father had murdered Tiernan under one of those trees. She had tried to kill Evander mere feet from this very spot.
The old song played in her mind:
Your blood adorns the willow
And your breath is nearly spent
So hear me in the wailing
Of the Sunbird’s last lament
What had Sybil said? Sometimes a song is just a song, sometimes it is a prophecy?
Suddenly, Valenna wanted to get away from this place and the tree corpses with their withered fingers scratching the sandy tiles.
The clouds shifted, and the darkness slid over Valenna. Her feet sinking in the loose sand, she slid down the dune, returned to her group, and they made their way toward the mountains.
Chapter fifty
Valenna
Valenna met Evander and his group at the foot of the mountain. She wondered if it was appropriate to embrace him in front of the crew, or if that wasn’t decorous for the Botania and a dreadnought captain. But she was so relieved to see him, she forgot all about decorum, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. He returned the kiss without hesitation.
“Did you find anything?” she asked, stepping back and trying to appear grave and grounded, like a soldier.
“There’s a small encampment in the trees,” he reported. “Maybe a hundred men, possibly with artillery.”
“The dunes and manor house ruin are lightly fortified,” Valenna said. “The first dreadnought will take heavy fire from the bunkers, but the forces on the beach and the fighters that follow will be able to move in and subdue it easily. The key will be destroying the manor house, I think.”
“Why would the first dreadnought face losses at all?” Samara asked, leaning on Giles, her face ashen. “If it’s such a small force?”
“Bunkers are difficult to destroy,” Evander replied. “Their fortifications are in the open. There will be several minutes of flying exposed before a crew is close enough to drop a canister of scattershot.”
Samara nodded thoughtfully. “But we aren’t going in first?”
“No thanks to any of you,” Valenna said sharply. “As it is, you’ll fly in third, and I suspect you’ll be seeing very little action. A good introduction to battle for all of you.”
Evander was gazing up the steep ascent toward a dark shadow in the mountain above. “Let’s get through the crag as soon as possible.”
All eyes turned to him, nervous. Expectant.
“What we’re about to face will take courage, and I have every confidence in you,” he said. “You’re young, but there isn’t a coward among you.”
The atmosphere lifted, almost tangibly, and Samara smiled at Evander. He gave her a half shrug and inclined his head, as if in assent.
At its narrowest point, the strait of Hethria flowed under an arch of the mountain, and so, to return to Sennalaith, one had to traverse over the water and then down the other side via a tunnel known as “The Crag.” Valenna had heard stories of a shadowy horror that lurked in its depths, but very few travelers survived to confirm the tales.
As the moon dipped its chin in the sea, they picked their way over the arch, stopping at an opening on the other side. It gaped, like a foul, hungry mouth. A narrow, raised path—almost like a bridge—shot through the heart of the mountain, widening beyond the entrance into a cavern. The chasm that plunged down on either side of the narrow stone path was so deep and so dark, Valenna couldn’t make out the bottom. The path itself was only as wide as Evander’s shoulders.
“Listen, crew,” Evander said. “We’re going to cross the path in two groups. Ladies first, of course, so Valenna and then Samara, Elspeth, and Rosemary. Samara, can you walk?”
Samara was pale and favored her injured side, but she nodded.
“Alright then, I’ll bring up the rear with Bournemuth, Ignatius, and Giles.”
“I can take Giles,” Valenna objected. “You take Elspeth.”
Evander shook his head. “It’s fine. We can manage.”
