Chapter Sixty-One
Clang!
It’s been two days since Tairna removed Mayah’s iron cuffs. Since then, she’s spent long hours healing in the infirmary. On her first day, there was a line snaking through the doors, down the dirt path almost to the armory. I grit my teeth, remembering the shallow cuts I’m certain some curious rebels carved into their own palms just for a chance to talk to her.
Clang!
We’ve only spoken a handful of times since the dance—always in council meetings with Tairna and her advisers, Rycken and Lyzza. Tairna’s plan is solid—I’ve only had a few comments about the positioning of soldiers around the capital and which entrances at the palace are the least guarded. Once the Volcans arrive, they’ll be ready to launch their attack.
Clang!
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I set aside the glowing sword I’ve just hammered out, frowning at the slightly uneven blade. Tairna asked me to help in the forge today. Yesterday, it was the armory. The day before, the cafeteria. She means for the peopleto see me as a man—a helpful one, no less—instead of the Dark Commander. I don’t have the heart to tell her it’s futile.
I don’t plan to stay.
“What about here?” I ask, pointing to the map unfurled across Tairna’s scratched table. “If we can take this base, it has enough room to house over half the Volcan soldiers.”
Rycken squints his eyes, studying the map. “Very good, Zevayr.”
I don’t bother concealing my eyeroll. The man must be only ten years my senior and thinks himself a master strategist.
“Lyzza, will you arrange for a few earthwielders to be sent there as well?” Tairna asks, turning to the dark-haired woman sitting across from her. “The Volcans will need to be fed, of course.”
“When do they arrive?” I ask.
“They—”
The door flings open with a loud creak. Mayah strides in, panting as though she’d ran the entire way here. A loose braid tames her hair, though several strands have escaped and frame her flushed face.
I suddenly find the map riveting.
“Mayah,” Tairna greets. “Another late shift at the infirmary?”
“Yeah,” she laughs, but it’s forced. “Tumaas needs to keep a better eye on wayward children in the forge.”
In my periphery, she crosses the small room, heading toward the open chair by Rycken. Before I can stop myself, I yank outthe chair beside me with a low grunt. Mayah’s footsteps falter, and then she changes her trajectory, settling down beside me instead.
“The Volcans arrive this week,” Tairna says. “We need to be ready to attack.”
“We—Arbinj has a base near the coast,” I say, pointing to a different spot on the map, the first one the Volcans will encounter when they make land. “There are at least a thousand men stationed. Will the Volcans have enough soldiers?”
“They should,” Lyzza supplies. “But we can send reinforcements from another rebel camp.”
“And this base?” Tairna asks, pointing further inland.
I scratch my jaw. “Five hundred men. No. Less after the last Rebellion attack. Four hundred.”
Tairna stares at me blankly, then glances at her advisers. Rycken shrugs one shoulder, while Lyzza shakes her head. “We didn’t attack that base,” Tairna says slowly, turning back to me.
A beat.
“That can’t be.” I study the map again. I’m certain Jeyzar reported that base was one of several that were attacked. It propelled me to leave the palace and head to the border. “There were at least three attacks on Arbinji bases within the last month. Armored nonwielders. It looked like Rebellion…”
My heart stutters. Of course.
It was Tundrayn.
My gaze slices sideways into Mayah, hand clenching into a tight fist on the table. I turn away from her so quickly, the joints in my neck crack.
