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“He was telling the truth about the Drow being in The Silliands, that much I know for certain,” Wren stated as he leaned against the table. “He did sell the information Pri gave him about Dukovich. He said it was to a woman in Ammord that was asking about him, but not a member of any House of High.My guess is another spy, we just have to figure out which one. There was no other information of importance that he had.”

“Who has seen your true form?” I asked Dukovich, placing my mug on Landers’s desk beside me.

“No one—not since I learned to glamour myself as a child.” His eyes flashed to Pri for a brief moment. “Well, almost no one.”

“What are you not telling us?” Landers’s voice was a low rumble as he asked the question and I could feel the vibration of it against my back.

“The Silliands new High Priest, Malik, is also aware that I am not dead.”

A small gasp left my lips and I watched a muscle in Dukovich’s jaw feather as he steeled himself for whatever wrath was about to come his way.

“And you are just now telling us?” Wren snarled from across the table.

“I made Prianaan and Ataliia aware of it before we left for Ammord. And before you tear my throat from my body, I will tell you the same thing I told them: I was not going to give up his name—his position—until I could trust that you lot would not get him killed. He helped set my entire plan in motion—helped get me out of The Silliands to help you. He is on our side and ready to assist us should we need it.”

“And you believe him?” Andrues questioned.

“How do you know that helping you wasn’t a ploy to get you out of The Silliands just so he could take your place? Take your power?” Landers added as he stepped from behind me.

“The same way you know Andrues would not undermine you. We concocted this plan as children. We have been laying the foundation for centuries and neither of us want to see it fail. He is the reason you were able to get any of the Drow out of Redelvtum—he created the back door for them, I just showed you how to access it.”

“And what is his plan for this war? Will he not be leadingmyarmies into battle?” Asrai asked, her voice cutting as her eyes pinned on Dukovich.

“Ahh, that part I do not know. I left before any plans for war could be made, but if The Silliands War Council has caught wind that I am alive, they will not do anything they know I would anticipate. So, if we want to find that out, we will need to meet with him.” Silence fell over the room as we contemplated on this new information.

Having the acting High Priest of The Silliands on our side could change the entire trajectory of this war, it could turn the tides in our favor even without the armies that we would need to fight.

“As of now, with no help from other realms, how many men and women do we have to fight with us?” I asked, locking my gaze onto Elric’s.

“Including my men, the Drow refugees, and Asrai’s students that are of fighting age, we have less than twenty thousand,” Elric answered and I could feel the blood drain from my face.

“How is that possible? Locdragoon is the largest of the realms. How is it that we have so few people able to fight?” My questions came out at a rapid pace and I could feel my palms begin to sweat.

“The Laith people were nearly wiped from the face of Nimbria during the Great War. Few have chosen to become Travelers since then, and almost none of them survive the journey getting here,” Andrues answered, his tone heavy as he loosed a weighted sigh.

“What happened in Ithia?” Pri asked from her corner of the room and my eyes flickered to Landers as his fists curled around the edge of his desk.

“They have agreed to our plans and are starting preparations to move all of their people here. They will not force any ofthe Yaldrin to fight, but they will allow us to use Ithia as our battleground,” Landers said, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced at Elric.

“With this new information, we need to start moving every soldier we have to Ithia immediately and set up a base camp to begin training any Yaldrin that have decided to stay,” Landers added, as he pushed from his desk and walked to the war table in the center of the room. He swiped a hand over it and the map swirled into what looked like a map of Ithia.

“Asrai, do you still have relations with Rilius and the High Priestesses?” Landers asked, not pulling his eyes from the map.

“Yes, they are strained but I believe we can set our differences aside for the time being,” Asrai answered, stepping up to the table beside him.

“Good. Gimara is determined to fight alongside us, she will be the strongest ally we have to push the others to give us whatever we need to succeed. I need you to go to Ithia and start making camp and training her people while Elric gets our armies there.” Asrai and Elric both nodded in response and I watched as everyone began to huddle around the table, placing markers on different parts of the map.

My hands began to shake as I pushed a loose curl behind my ear, beads of sweat building on my hairline as I prepared to speak. My tongue felt heavy as I opened my mouth and forced the words out.

“I am going to wake the Fallen Ones.” The room fell silent as the muscles in Landers’s back tensed under his tunic, his knuckles blanching as he clutched the ledge of the table.

Asrai turned to face me with a raised brow. “And when do you plan to do this?” she asked.

“I will leave in the morning.”

My spine straightened as Landers dragged a hand through his hair, but didn’t turn to look at me.

“Dukovich, I will need you to escort me so I can be glamoured.” Dukovich’s eyes flashed between Landers and me before he gave a curt nod. “And, Wren, I would like for you to come with us. Once I have woken them and crossed back into Ithia safely, I want you and Dukovich to meet with Malik to find out if we can trust him and gather any information about what The Silliands are planning to do and when.”