Kreya glanced at Jentt, who nodded. “Fine. Jentt will accompany you. Take the direct route to the plains, not through the valley. There’s no need for secrecy. Both Lorn and Eklor will expect us to check for the truth. More than that, they’llwantus to. Send word to Lorn that you require official permission to cross into the forbidden zone, and go as soon as he grants it. Make your search thorough. And be alert—we don’t know where on the plains Eklor stashed his army or what he intends them to do.”
Jentt promised Amurra, “I will speed us out if there’s a whiff of danger.”
“If—or should I saywhen—you find evidence, make sure you have as many witnesses as possible,” Kreya said. “I don’t buy for a moment that Eklor could have, or would have, destroyed his army. He’ll have his soldiers hidden somewhere underground, ready to erupt out when he needs them. As soon as you find proof that his monstrosities still exist, expose the truth to the border guards and then bring whatever evidence you can back to Cerre.” She turned to the others. “Amurra—”
Stran jumped in. “My wife is not part of this.”
“She’s part of Vos,” Kreya said. “She’s as much a part of this as anyone, and she has a strength that none of us do: she’sunknown here. She can go where she wants, talk to who she wants, and learn information that none of the rest of us can. Amurra, I need you to find out what the people know and what they believe. If it comes to it, we need to know if the people will side with us or with Lorn. And we’ll pray it doesn’t come to that.”
Stiffening her shoulders, Amurra said, “I can do that.”
“Zera, you need to unearth what Eklor has over Lorn. Poke all your contacts. Call in favors, if you’re owed them. Bribe people, if you aren’t. We need to know, and we need to knowfast,before Eklor makes his next move. Right now, he has the advantage.”
Zera smiled, but there was no humor in her eyes. “I’ll shake the trees so hard, people will be telling me their grandmother’s secrets.”
“And you?” Jentt asked Kreya. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to distract Eklor from all of you.” She did not meet Jentt’s eyes as she said it. She knew he wasn’t going to approve of this part of her plan. “He wants forgiveness? He can begin by facing me.”
She was right: Jentt didn’t like that idea. None of them did. All of them began talking at once, arguing with her. “You can’t attack him,” Stran said, louder than the rest. The others echoed him.
“I’ll only talk.”
None of them believed her.
Kreya held up her hands, silencing them. “He’ll want to talk to me.” She hesitated for a moment. She wasn’t sure how they’d react to the reason for that, but she plunged on. They deserved to know. “He’ll want to know how I brought Jentt back. Eklor has always believed he’s the smartest in the world, but his research into resurrection was flawed and incomplete. It must be eating him up to know I achieved mastery of what he considered his life’s work. And it will hurt him even more when he learns I used his own notes to do it.” According to his notes, Eklor had never brought back the dead, at least prior to bringing himself back to life. He’d merely theorized it. She’d both completed his studies and applied them. He had to be curious about how.
There was a silence.
Marso, who had been silent, spoke up. “That’s how you did it? Using his knowledge? Did we know that?”
“We strongly suspected,” Zera told him. “We weren’t asking questions because we didn’t want to know. It was enough that we had Jentt back. And me.” Her eyes rested on Kreya’s hand, the one with one less finger.
All of them fell silent, looking at her hand.
“Either condemn me for it, or let’s get to work.” Kreya held her breath but tried to keep her face placid and confident. She resisted the urge to also look down at her hand. If they turned on her for what she’d done to save Jentt and Zera, then so be it.I don’t regret it. Even now. Even with Eklor here, in the heart of Cerre.
Jentt addressed Marso. “Are you well enough to go with Kreya?”
“I... don’t know if I can read the bones like I used to,” Marso stammered.
Kreya had deliberately not given him any tasks. She’d wanted him to focus on recovering. She’d ripped him out of his stupor and forced him to face things she knew he hadn’t wanted to face. Asking more of him now felt cruel, but Jentt didn’t hesitate.
“You don’t have to read any bones,” Jentt told him. “Youjust need to accompany her when she faces Eklor again. She’ll want to make sure you aren’t killed, so that means if you’re there, she’ll be careful.”
Kreya smiled. Clever man. He knew her well. “Everyone happy with the plan?”
“I’m not happy aboutanyof this,” Zera said.
Kreya one hundred percent agreed with that, as did they all. But they set about doing it anyway.
Because that’s what heroes did.
Chapter Nineteen
Marso retreated to the room that Zera had designated for him, while the others packed and prepared and plotted. He sank cross-legged in the center, on top of a plush bear-skin rug. He sank his fingers into the fur and concentrated on breathing evenly and smoothly.
He should have seen this.
