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Oh.

Her features softened some. “I get it, Az.”

“I want every second the Fates will give us. If we can barter for more of that time by doing simple things like this, then we are damn well going to do them.”

“Okay,” she whispered, gently uncurling his fingers from her arm.

He helped her with the wound care before they moved their horses back into position. Not everyone had horses. It would be easier to stream bodies through the portals that were going to be created rather than having everyone on horseback. The Avonleyans, having never been there, couldn’t simply Travel. Ashtine wouldn’t be going with to fight, but she would be creating a portal here. Azrael would be going to create one for the Shifters, and Briar would be going to the Witches. Scarlett was just waiting on signals from the other territories that they were in position.

Their forces were tired. Many of them weren’t able to go right into another battle a few days later. It wasn’t ideal, but at least most of the Witches and all the Shifters would be in prime fighting condition.

She had to hand it to Scarlett. The female had taken her sweet time coming back from Avonleya, but she had returned not only with an army but also with plans. There was nothing slow about her tactics now. She moved from one plan to the next, one battle to the next, as if checking them off some sort of twisted list. The queen had so many plans and power moves, Talwyn truly wasn’t sure how she managed it all.

Then again, she did know. Scarlett had figured out the one thing it had taken Talwyn far too long to realize.

Loyalty earned is far more valuable than loyalty demanded.

She looked over to where Scarlett was standing with her brother, the Avonleyan Queen, the Avonleyan Commander, and several other Avonleyan warriors. She appeared to be listening intently to something one of the warriors was saying, then she threw her head back, laughing while her brother shook his head with a half-grin.

Scarlett would Travel them when they received word from the others. Hazel and Arantxa wouldn’t be there yet, but the Witches stationed along the borders were closer. By the time those leaving from the Wind Court arrived, they would be able to offer a reprieve to those in the sky if needed. It was a strategic move to keep the aerial host from tiring all at once. A small unit had also stayed behind to watch over the Citadel and Ashtine. That was the only reason Briar was coming to fight with them.

“You are sure you won’t go through my portal?” Azrael asked, grip tightening on the reins he held in one hand.

“You know why that is a bad idea,” she replied, eyes sweeping over the rest of the assembled forces. She knew Azrael was a seasoned enough fighter to maintain his focus, but she also knew if she were near him in her newvulnerablestate, she would be a distraction to him. Sure he trusted her skills, but as he’d just proven with the herbs and ointment for her arm that her own wellbeing was a top concern. He didn’t need that in the middle of a fight.

Azrael appeared as if he were going to say something else when a flourish of violet-tinged shadows appeared, followed almost immediately by the same of teal. The signals Scarlett had given to the Witches and Shifters.

Everything began happening at top speed after that. A Wind Portal was opened, forces streaming through. Scarlett checked in with the Fae Princes before she was gone with her small group of Avonleyans.

Talwyn steered her horse to the portal, but she looked back over her shoulder, meeting Azrael’s gaze. “Meet me on the battlefield, Prince.”

He held her stare a moment longer before he Traveled out. As she positioned her horse to go through the portal, she caught Ashtine’s eye.

“Be brave, Talwyn,” her friend said, a sad, tight smile tilting her lips.

Talwyn nodded, urging her horse forward and into the winds. Soldiers were forced out of the way of her horse, and she felt like an ass for it. But when she emerged on the other side, she forgot all about those feelings.

There were seraphs here, but not nearly as many as there had been in the Wind Court fight a few days ago. However, there were Night Children. Everywhere. They’d been hoping to beat the vampyres here. The Earth Court had been taken by surprise, though. Talwyn could see they were scrambling, trying to get people into positions. There were frantic orders being yelled, and soldiers not fully armed rushing out to meet them. But Scarlett and her Court had planned this well, having the portals appear on three different sides of the Alcazar. She had Traveled her small party in on the fourth side, effectively surrounding Tarek and his forces.

Talwyn joined the fray with her sword swinging, cutting into a vampyre and knocking him to the ground. Shirastone would be needed to keep him down, but someone else could get to him while wounded. She needed to stay atop her horse as long as possible. She didn’t have the speed or strength anymore, and while she had fighting leathers on, they wouldn’t be as effective without that Fae grace and fluidity she’d once possessed. Azrael had suggested heavier armor, but she didn’t have time to train and learn how to move properly with it.

She managed to make her way to the outer walls of the Alcazar before a Night Child tackled her from her horse. The air was knocked from her lungs when she hit the ground hard, her back screaming at the impact, but instinct had kicked in. She had a shirastone dagger shoved into the vampyre’s chest with her fangs inches from Talwyn’s throat. Working to suck down air, she shoved the female off of her, getting to her feet. Her horse had run off, and she had lost one of her swords in the fall. Drawing her other from her back, she kept the dagger in hand and let decades of training take over.

All that training kept her going longer than a regular mortal would have been able to, but as the minutes of battle dragged on into hours, she knew she would need to find somewhere to take a reprieve. She knew the Alcazar as well as she knew the White Halls, so when she finally reached a side gate, she slipped in and raced for a stairwell that would take her to a parapet atop the wall. There would likely be an archer or two inside, but she could handle them and then breathe. For just a moment.

She stumbled as she climbed the steps, her boots slick with sand and blood. Somehow, she only met one soldier in the stairwell, and he was so surprised to see her, she easily sank her sword into his gut. He was falling down the stairs as she continued up. She had been right. There were two archers inside. The Fae archer she handled fairly easily, her smaller form still allowing her to dart around his more muscled body and strike from behind. The other, however, was a Night Child, and while Talwyn was yanking her sword out of the Fae, the vampyre was sinking fangs into her throat.

She cried out, lurching backwards and slamming the Night Child into the wall behind her, but that just caused the fangs to sink in further. And holy gods, theagonyin her being as the vampyre drank and drank. Her knees gave out first, hitting hard when they cracked against the stone floor. Her limbs were heavy, her vision going blurry. Which is why it took her so long to realize she still gripped her dagger. With the last of her strength, she struck, lodging it deep into the vampyre’s skull.

He went limp against her. Talwyn didn’t have the energy to push him off, slumping to the ground beneath his heavier body. Someone would find her. Azrael would find her. That’s what she kept telling herself. It was the only way she kept herself sane as she lay there beneath a dead Night Child, unable to do anything.

The sounds of battle carried up to her. The clashing of swords. The pounding of feet and flapping of wings. The cries of wrath and the screams of the dying.

Then she heard Azrael’s bellowed commands over it all. Yelling athisforces to turn their godsdamn weapons on the Night Children.

His forces. Not Tarek’s.

If his warriors had recognized that he still held the royal seat and not Tarek, it would change everything. She just needed to wait for someone to find her.