Silly of me to think my honeymoon would be full of fun adventures outdoors and lots of sex. I sighed and wrapped a blanket from the couch around me as I pushed the door open. As I came out to sit by the fire, Odette gave me a worried look.
"What is it?” I asked grumpily. I wasn’t getting laid, nor was I relaxing. In fact, I was sick again. This wasn’t what I had in mind for our vacation.
Theo held a letter in his hand. His fingers trembled as he looked at me and said, "Gabby has had her baby early.”
“What?” I snarled. Several people in the room visibly bristled.
"She delivered a baby girl the night of your wedding. It would seem that the stress of the event triggered an early labor.” Theo folded up the note. “Princess Signe, they are calling her. She has raven hair and dark eyes, just as Elijah did. There is no doubt to the public that she is his child.”
Great. That was just what we needed.
Theo swallowed as he added, “The alicorn spies said the labor was hard on Gabby. She’s lost a lot of blood. Without Elijah, she nearly died delivering the child.”
“Is that common in the fae world?” I asked.
“Mates make the process easier,” Delmare said. “The sorceresses that lose their Companions to death before they give birth often don’t make it through the delivery. That Gabby didn’t perish shows how strong she is.”
Ethan’s eyes were murky. He leaned forward, thinking. “We could use this.”
“How so?” Alexei asked.
Ethan rubbed his chin. “We go to the fortress, and mount an attack. Hit Gabby with all we’ve got. She won’t see this coming, and she’ll be unprepared. So will her forces. We’ll have a chance.”
I frowned. We’d been making plans to overtake Gabby’s fortress for months, and had operations in place, but I hadn’t expected to launch an attack right this second. “We just got married.”
“I know this is our honeymoon, and I’m sorry. But we can’t afford to miss this opportunity,” Ethan insisted. “Gabby’s guard is down. She’s weak, and distracted with a new infant. This could be a chance to end the war for good, right here, right now.”
I nodded, and winced as I stood. “Fine. Let’s go.”
I’d barely gotten the words out before I collapsed again. Delmare and Odette caught me, to prevent me from falling backward off the bench.
“No, Emma. You’re weak from your hearthfire being destroyed,” Ethan said. “I am the king. I vowed I would never allow my soldiers to head into battle without me leading the charge, and I meant it. I will go back and mount the assault.”
“We’re strongest together,” I pleaded. “Don’t go without me.”
“I must. You have to stay here, to protect yourself from the Black Claw. They’re no doubt looking for you,” Ethan insisted.
“Then stay,” Kiara argued. “Leave after the eclipse, and attack the fortress once Emma gets her strength back.”
“Every moment we waste is another second for Gabby to grow stronger, and we cannot wait that long,” Ethan insisted. “Even one more day is more time for her to consider we could use her weakness against her. She’s cunning that way. If she panics and fortifies her fortress before we have time to mount an attack, we’ll never win. We have to attack when her guard is down, when she figures we’re busy enjoying our honeymoon and avoiding the Black Claw.”
“He’s right,” I said warily. “Gabby would think we’d be too afraid to attack now. It’s the day before my blood is supposed to be used to raise Droga. She knows we’re trying to run away from the cult. She’d figure Ethan and I would stick together, and stay far away from Malovia.”
“Which you should,” Kiara argued. “This is a reckless plan.”
“But you have to take risks in war,” Stefan insisted. “Ethan’s plan is the best we’ve got. We haven’t had a chance like this before, and we won’t get one again.”
“I’m with Kiara,” Odette spoke up. “Ethan needs to stay here and protect Emma.”
“Have you had any visions regarding it?” Theo asked.
“No, but…” Odette bit her lip. “Mates should never be separated, for any reason. And Gabby is vulnerable, but Emma is vulnerable right now, too. Why not wait until the eclipse passes and Emma is safe?”
“Because Gabby will figure it out. You know she will,” Stefan said forcefully. “We need to attack, and attacknow.”
“What do you think, Emma?” Ethan’s eyes burned into me. “I will not part from you unless you ask me to, but I implore you to think of the opportunity that’s being presented to us.”
There was only one decision to make. “We attack now, and we end this war. Then all we need to focus on is uniting the Crystals of Harmony so the portal to Edinmyre can stay open, and our quest will be done.”
