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‘Then shouldn’t you be in there with them?’ Thea pressed.

‘Too many bodies in that room already,’ Kipp replied quietly.

Thea could only imagine the number of arguments that were about to explode within those walls.

Kipp nudged Wren. ‘Farissa was in attendance,’ he told her. ‘I expect you and your fellow alchemists will be needed before long as well.’

Thea frowned. ‘What —’

But Wren fixed her with a challenging stare. ‘You know very well that alchemy has its uses in warfare. Farissa will be advising in that regard and I’ll do whatever I can to help her.’

Thea found herself nodding. Of course she already knew that, and there was no way Wren would leave the alchemists without her assistance. Just as she was about to say as much, her attention snagged on something else.

Vernich the Bloodletter. The older Warsword had appeared from the door the rest had exited through, and he motioned to someone across the hall.

Seb.

Thea’s stomach bottomed out at the sight of the pair.

They were here.

Her hatred for both men ran hot, as did her suspicions. Were they here as spies? Did they mean to destroy the midrealms’ forces from the inside out? Had Vernich found what he was looking for?

Her thoughts must have been plain as day on her face, because Kipp elbowed her. ‘What did you expect? That they’d hang back at Thezmarr by themselves?’

Thea ground her teeth. ‘I don’t like it…’

‘I’d rather them channel their particular brand of cruelty at the enemy than at us,’ Kipp replied. ‘Don’t you agree?’

Thea merely grunted in reply. She had thought long and hard about Vernich the Bloodletter and his pathetic excuse for an apprentice. The only conclusion she came to time and time again was that Vernich was a fallen Warsword and he was using the slimy bastard Seb to do his dark bidding.

But she didn’t verbalise any of this to Kipp and Wren, not when Audra had caught her gaze and was prowling towards her. No matter how much time passed or how many monsters Thea fought and slayed, there was still something utterly terrifying about the librarian.

When she reached them, Audra peered over her spectacles. ‘Kristopher, I believe your presence is required in the war room,’ she said to Kipp, waiting expectantly.

Kipp was no fool, at least not in this moment. He sprang into action, giving Thea and Wren a pitying grimace before he raced from the hall.

‘Did you find anything of note in Delmira, Althea?’ Audra asked quietly, her gaze darting from Thea and Wren to the horde of people around them.

‘Only more monsters and ruins,’ Thea replied. ‘Do you know much more about what’s happening?’ she asked, a chill rushing over her skin.

‘Some. I suppose you’ll hear it soon enough,’ Audra allowed. ‘It is as we feared before you left Thezmarr… It is not simply an army of monsters, but of men too. Men from this realm and others, who long for power and darkness.’

‘The half-wraiths?’ Thea pressed.

But Audra frowned. ‘I don’t know of half-wraiths. These are men, rallied together by a united hatred of all things good.’ She pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. ‘It would seem now, more than ever, the line between man and monster has blurred.’

Thea opened her mouth to ask more, only to see Esyllt and Kipp emerge from the side door and take to the dais.

‘We ready the castle for siege at once,’ Esyllt barked. ‘We need to reinforce all gates and castle walls. We need as many arrows and long-range weapons as possible. The catapults need to be stationed and readied as well. Less experienced soldiers will be assigned to tending the fires, hot oil and boiling water. Look to your assigned commander for direct orders.’ Esyllt took a heavy breath. ‘We’ve sent word to the villages. They are to flee Notos or seek refuge within the castle walls. Gates are to close by sundown, no exceptions.’

Thea tensed. Kipp had been right. They were to leave those who couldn’t get to the castle undefended against the monsters, ready for slaughter, or worse. Esyllt’s mere mention of the weapons and tactics they were to use against the enemy had her stomach churning. She had read of battle and war; she had fought the monsters herself. But these were men they were fighting as well.

Thea found herself swept up in the wave of the crowd as orders were shouted out across the ranks. She was separated from Wren and Audra, but up ahead she could see Kipp and Esyllt leading the way towards the war camp, and so she followed. As she did, she was struck by the memory of the mock battle they’d practised with Torj back in Thezmarr. How they had spattered their enemy with paint, not blood, how they’d laughed afterwards…

Torj’s warning came back to her.‘When you’re out on a real battlefield, it will not be so luxurious. Start taking this seriously. Their paint means death. Do you want to die today?’

No, Thea didn’t want to die today, nor would she. The fates had made it so. But manywoulddie – that much was obvious from the pale faces around her and the gruesome tactics they were preparing.