“How?”
“Nellie has never fought in a battle. She grew up in Teine, protected by a magical wall. Oberon never laid a hand on her. I didn’t let him. The worst thing that’s ever happened to her was being locked up in a dungeon cell, but even then, she was safe.”
I nodded and stood. “That’s exactly my point. What you just did out there was impressive, but that wasn’t a battle. True war is incomprehensible. It’s bloody and violent. There’s so much pain, so many screaming voices, so much fear, it reaches into your soul. And the smell, the horror of it…Tessa, you should not have to see this.”
She swallowed, stepped up before me, and grasped my hand. Her fingers were still gloved, even now. “No oneshould have to see this. But it is our fate now, and I will not turn away from it to spare myself pain. Not when I could make a difference. Not when this city might end up needing me. I know I have little experience with fighting, but I do have a dangerous power in my veins. It’s one I hate, but it might be the only thing that can stop Sirius if he comes for us.”
I closed my eyes, my heart tearing in half. All I wanted was to keep my wife safe. But she was Tessa Baran. She would never be satisfied hiding inside while the rest of us fought for our lives. I knew that because neither would I.
“I fight beside you, always.” She palmed my chest.
With a shaky breath, I nodded. “May the realm never break.”
* * *
The energy in the war room was muted. Fenella and Toryn stood on one side of the table, while the captain of the guard, Roisin, stood on the other side, flanked by Caedmon and Fenella’s other cousin, Brigid. Caedmon had filled them both in on everything that had happened so far, so they understood exactly what we faced.
Druid Balfor stood quietly in the corner with a pinched brow and terror in his eyes. I’d heard he’d been praying to the stars day and night since our return to Dubnos. It did not seem they were listening to him.
“Any word from my sister?” Roisin asked, her brow furrowed beneath her short black hair. Like her sister, Niamh, her muscular frame suited the armor she swore. “It’s been weeks. She should be in Talaven by now.”
I glanced at Toryn, who shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
“So Niamh might be dead,” Roisin said softly, her hands tensing around the edge of the war table and her violet eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“They’re not dead,” Tessa said.
Roisin cut her eyes toward Tessa, fury in the tense lines that bracketed her mouth.
“If Val were dead,” Tessa continued, “I would know it.”
“You don’t know a damn thing.”
My shoulders tensed.
“Roisin,” Brigid murmured before sweeping her silver hair over her shoulder. “I’m sure Tessa is right. Maybe they lost their communication stones, or maybe they don’t work from so far away. I’m sure Niamh is fine, and she’ll come riding in here any day now with news that can turn the tide.”
Roisin scowled but said no more. The captain of the guard had always been fiercely devoted to her sister, sometimes to her own detriment. She was barely one hundred years of age, and they’d lost their parents not soon after her birth. It seemed to me she almost saw Niamh as her mother, not her sister, though she’d never admit to it.
“War is coming.” I moved to the table and motioned at the section devoted to Dubnos and the border between my realm and the Kingdom of Storms. “The enemy could attack at any moment. We need to make our final preparations and ensure there is no way they can breach these walls. Most of the citizens of this city are not fighters. They will not survive if the beasts swarm this place.”
Roisin dropped her scowl and immediately got to business. It was one of the things I’d always appreciated about her. She could be argumentative and tense a lot of the time, but when it came to the safety of our people, her determination was unmatched.
She pointed at the mountain wall that our city perched upon. “They have a long way to climb if they want to reach us. We have several hundred archers, a small cache burning oil, and nets of rock, so we should be able to pick them off before they get to the top.”
Toryn moved some miniature swords to join the bows. “Some will still likely make it over the wall, but we have plenty of warriors who can engage in close combat.”
I tapped a finger against the Gaoth Pass. “Just because they can scale the chasm doesn’t mean that’s what they’ll do. We need to have soldiers ready here just in case they cross the pass and approach Dubnos from this side.”
“Already there.” Fenella moved some swords to the pass. “I sent them down the mountain path to meet up with Ruari and his fighters.”
I gave them all an appreciative nod for making those moves without me having asked. We’d known each other for a long time and had faced endless danger side by side. This wasn’t our first dance with death, nor would it be our last if we survived.
“There’s only two—well, three—things left to worry about,” Roisin said, tapping the small section at the base of the mountain, the only weakness in our defense. “What if they find that gate into our sewers? They’re beasts. I doubt they’d mind wading through filth if it meant they could breach the city.”
“The storm fae have never discovered it in hundreds of years.” I paused. “Still, you might be right. Things are different now. We should have a few warriors stand watch near the gate and then give us a signal if the beasts try to break it down.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Druid Balfor pinching the bridge of his nose. “I do have something that might help. But please promise me, Your Majesty, that you will not get angry with me.”
