Page 67 of A Rising Hope (The Freckled Fate #3)

67

GIDEON

“ T heir fleet is stationed there.” Orest pointed to the wide stretch of blue on the Kinderby River. “This is their weakest spot, they know that.”

“They would be expecting us to attack from there,” I agreed as my eyes met Orest’s.

A sudden flash of lightning lit up the dim room through the striking, arched windows. The rolling crack of thunder shook the stone walls next. Heavy droplets of rain thudded against the thick glass, some of them making their way through the unkept roof of the abandoned building.

“Yes, but storming the city walls would be even more unreasonable,” Orest objected. “They have been preparing for a siege for a long time. We are not talking months, we are talking years, Gideon, you know that.” I rubbed the side of my head, contemplating. The empty dinner plates of our hastily put together meal caught the drops from the leaking roof, making loud splashes.

We couldn’t afford a siege that lasted years. Not with our depleted resources and with winter so quickly approaching. That fact irked me, making me want to claw my skin.

What little was left of my armies would take generations to recover.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Challenge the ruling general battle clause?” I suggested, though hating the words before they even reached my tongue. The ancient rite of requesting a honorary battle on the field to avoid the unnecessary slaughter of by standing citizens caught in a Destroyers’ quarrel. It was an old fool’s hope that both sides had honor and the desire to spare the weak from harm.

In our case, neither I nor he was honorable enough to have an honest fight in an open field.

“He won’t agree to it. He knows very well that the only reason why Finn hasn’t already incinerated half the city is because she gains nothing from the biggest city of Esnox being scorched. He has been keeping many of his battalions hidden in civilian clothing and doesn’t keep the armies in one spot. We’d have to smoke them out one by one to kill them all. Knowing that is our challenge, he will never agree to confront you in a battle outside the walls of the city.”

“He doesn’t know Gideon is alive. There is a chance he might believe I am not as bloodthirsty as my husband. So perhaps, negotiations?” Finnleah offered, sitting next to me as the storm thundered outside. Her hand was warm in mine, fingers intertwined. I placed my other hand on top of hers, indulging myself in her presence, in her touch, any second I could savor.

“We can try. He might not know Gideon is alive and well, but news of the dragons has long reached every living soul in Esnox. I rather doubt he would agree to any negotiations, nor to even meet us for one. Weary of raw fire and dragons, he will not let his armies leave the city walls under any circumstances.” Orest glanced towards the closed door, pausing. But the handle didn’t move. He swallowed, returning his eyes to the map laid-out on the old kitchen table. “He is trying to force us into a siege because he knows that our numbers are depleted. Hidden or not, his armies in Svitar quadruple what we have left.”

“So, he hopes we storm the river and die based on numbers, or starve in a decade-long siege?” Finnleah’s brows furrowed deeper. She glanced between Orest and I.

“Precisely. Svitar can be self-sustaining for a long time.” Orest grimly nodded.

“We could fly over the city with the dragons and burn their fleet from the sky . . . ” Finnleah considered. The wild gusts of wind rattled the windows.

I stared at the map, at the small wooden pieces scattered around it. Orest responded, but I didn’t pay attention, my mind lost to the thought of spreading Finnleah’s legs on the table and feasting on her. The table was just the right height for me to kneel. My thoughts drifted further away, reminding me precisely how she’d arch and whimper at the stroke of my tongue, making me go feral. My mouth watered, and I shifted in my seat as my cock twitched at the idea.

“Gideon?” Orest asked. I begrudgingly forced my thoughts to return to the conversation.

“Or we could simply burn the entire city to the ground,” I offered my own solution that would end this war quickly. Finnleah smacked my thigh. Whether it was because of my offer to commit mass murder or me fantasizing about tearing her clothes off, I wasn’t sure.

“Come up with something better,” she replied.

Ah, so mass murder was the problem then.

“I did. But it had nothing to do with the war.” A corner of my lip twitched upwards, and I earned another smack, this time harder as she sent a stern look in my direction.

“Fine.” I let out a sigh after Finnleah kicked me with her foot. “As much as I adore our new addition to our family, dragons aren’t helpful in a street fight,” I professed, quickly running out of patience from the meeting. “But even if we decide to take that path, the last report I’ve received stated they have five mother-creatures in the city hidden in the dungeons. Five against two are not odds I am willing to entertain.”

“So let me get this straight,” Priya hissed from her shadowed corner. My lip twitched in a scowl at the sound of her hateful voice. Finnleah insisted the assassin should be included. A decision I already regretted as the Truth Teller sat up in her chair, throwing her braid over shoulder. “The city is a fucking fortress with gates locked and covered by archers, impossible to breech with your little trembling soldiers; the dragons are useless unless we are talking about mass killings; the fields leading to the city are filled with black powder ready to blow up at the first spark of fire? And the river is blocked with their massive fleet while half of their army is playing pretend in the city, so we don’t even have an exact location to attack from the air either?” Her copper eyes wrathfully shimmered in the candlelight as she scanned the room. “Now you are telling me there are five of those giant fucking demonic creatures too?”

“Glad someone is paying attention.” Orest released a strenuous sigh, clearly not liking her presence here either.

“So explain to me again how in the fuck am I supposed to get home when every direction is blocked?” she grumped.

“You took down a creature. Perhaps you could take down five more,” Orest snapped in her direction.

“Let’s be very clear, boy.” Priya frowned, sending a threatening look. “Just because the three of you in the room know of my skills, I have no intention of extending the knowledge beyond this circle. Nor did I ever sign up to be in your little rebellion.”

“And yet you insist on being here,” I snarled.

“Entertainment is scarce in this gods’ forsaken town, so watching you buffoons try to think was my only option.” Priya still eyed Orest, whatever pissing match they were having was beyond my interest.

The extra Truth Teller would have to go at some point.

But I could play the waiting game, as long as Finnleah was be happy.

Another booming roar of the midnight thunderstorm rattled the room.

“I just don’t understand, what’s their angle? They can’t possibly think they can win this.” Finnleah’s eyes stayed on the map of Svitar where streets like ribbons intertwined with each other like a tangled ball of yarn. “I mean, why won’t they surrender? The north is taken, the south and east have all been freed, and the west is still raining with ash. They are cut off besides the damn river, but even so they are surrounded. Even if they can withstand the winter and the ones after, eventually without the trade and the fields supporting their giant city, the citizens will starve. There would be an uproar.”

I knew Finnleah’s frustration and could feel her concern through her calm voice. No matter how many plans we discussed, they all ended up fruitless, either leaving our armies dead, or the biggest city in Esnox reduced to scorching embers.

“My father accepted long ago that people will die, he just hopes our people will die first.” The door opened wide, and Zora leaned against the opening, arms folded. “He is not known for his reason nor his acceptance of his failure.” Her unexpected appearance made everyone in the room pause. She was a lot more put together than when I found her rotting in the cellar earlier today.

She washed and dressed in her polished armor, leathers with black metal like scales covering her from head to toe. Her crescent blades curved at her hip; the black chain safely secured. Her hair was slicked back in her typical style, a high twist with metal spikes keeping it in place. The sides of her head were freshly shaved, exposing the new scars from the previous battle. Nothing out of place, vicious and proud, she held her head high, withstanding the heavy stares sent in her direction.

“Come take a seat, Commander,” I finally broke the silence, pointing with my chin to the open chair across the table. She gave me a short nod, taking a seat. Her eyes analyzed the open maps, assessing the miniature figurines of the wooden ships and blocks representing each battalion.

“Your father is the fucking general Thynirite?” Priya ogled at Zora, but she masterfully ignored her piercing stare. “ That is the family you married into, Freckles?” Her brows slid up, questioning. My wife gave her a silencing look that seemed to work as the assassin rolled her eyes and slunk back to her corner.

“After all four major generals died, my father was called to the role, one he retired from a long time ago.” Zora’s lips turned thin as she rotated one of the maps. “But given the players at hand, he couldn’t pass up the occasion to engrave his name in history.”

If Zora looked up, she would’ve known that Orest hadn’t blinked since she walked in. His face a blank mask as he stared at the back of her head, lost in whatever storm of thoughts his mind had become at her sudden appearance.

But perhaps she didn’t have to look up to feel his scorching gaze. Her throat bobbed in a few tight swallows. It seemed that the longer the silence lingered, the longer Orest didn’t breathe.

I felt another poke at my side from my wife’s elbow as her eyes dashed between those two as well. Releasing a long sigh, I broke the tense silence at her silent demand.

“Zora’s father never recognized my rule as a bastard-born Destroyer but Finnleah, on the other hand, has a true claim to the throne. Perhaps he’d be willing to revisit the terms of surrender with her.” I revisited the previously dismissed solution now with Zora in the room.

If the tension in the room was heavy before then such a drastic offering by me gave everyone pause.

“Since when do you do negotiations ?” Zora questioned, not hiding the surprise in her tone.

“If it saves our people from a decade-long siege of the city, I am willing to give it a chance.” I shrugged, unbothered and unconcerned. Zora’s wrinkles deepened as she frowned, unsure.

“They don’t know Gideon is alive. So my husband is hoping I pretend to make a treaty, guarantee them safety just for him to gain entry to the city and then burn them all.” Finnleah scoffed, catching her up to our conversation.

“It’s a real treaty, blood oath and all if needed. Simply put, I wouldn’t be the one making it and you wouldn’t be the one doing the burning. It’s the fine lines of the bargains.” I winked at Finnleah, as she rolled her eyes at me.

“Even if my father doesn’t see through that, you forget that he only recognizes the Destroyer empress as a masterful castle decorator and a good companion for the emperor to have, not a true ruler. He will not make the treaty with a female, Justice Wielder or not.”

“We should set the meeting, anyway. Perhaps he’s changed. It’s worth a try if we keep the news about Gideon’s return quiet for now,” Orest argued, his sight masterfully pinned on Zora, as if none of us existed in the room.

I expected Zora to object, but she stayed silent.

“Okay then, let’s send him a message,” I agreed.

“You are just baiting him,” Finnleah murmured to me, “so you could feel justified in burning the city when he refuses to recognize me as a ruler. We need actual solutions that will keep the people alive.”

“As his daughter, I will tell you that there is a reason why he was the old Emperor’s renowned strategist. There is a reason why he picked Svitar as his final battle. It’s the city he grew up in and spent years commanding. If you plan on killing him, it won’t make much of a difference; by now he’s prepared for about every scenario we could think of, ensuring his strategy would outplay regardless of his existence or not. He will also be much more elaborate with his plans, he knows there is no end game in this. There is death on both ends of the spear. He has no interest in preserving life but his legacy instead. He has no heirs, no family; this battle is his final chance to ensure his name is revered and remembered for generations to come.” Zora met my stark look.

I knew her father. As much as he was a prick, even my uncle sought his advice at times. I grew up studying his books, his mastery, his strategy. He was well-known, and he’d ensure that this battle would seal his legacy.

I released a slow breath. I should’ve killed the man when I had the chance.

And yet I didn’t.

Because as much as I hated him, I cared for Zora more. And in some twisted way, she carried a broken hope in her heart that one day, that someday, he would change.

“Well, I refuse to live in this peasant town forever.” Priya glared from her corner.

“So what is it that you propose?” Finnleah asked, still determined to find a way to finish the war with the least amount of carnage. Justice and mercy all in one.

“There is one thing that we haven’t considered yet.” Zora reached for a smaller map near her, opening the scroll. “There is one other way into the city besides the gates or the river.”

I frowned, already disliking the idea.

“The Svitar tunnels are a maze. We have a higher chance of getting lost in there than making it to the city,” I replied. “Besides, he’d barricade all the potential entrances.”

“Perhaps. But there is still a chance.”

“A terrible one.” I doubled down.

“Tunnels?” Finnleah questioned near me, her eyes digging into the new map.

“Yes, thousands of years ago in the Elvish-Destroyer war, after a fifty-year siege, Destroyers breached the city walls. But when they entered, the streets were empty, homes abandoned without a single soul around. It was rumored that the elves survived and consequently left through the maze of tunnels burrowed underneath, some leading to far beyond the city walls,” Zora explained, “If the elves left through the tunnels unnoticed, maybe we could enter.”

“The tunnels are nearly a myth at this point. And the ones that were found are long gone, most of them collapsed.” I glanced between Zora and Orest, running my hand through my hair. “River attack seems to be our most likely chance of breaking through the city walls. Predictable? Sure. But even if we spent time finding the underground maze, all it would take is for a tunnel to collapse, burying our armies underneath?—”

“Not if we bring Creators with us,” Zora objected.

“Mages have no place in a Destroyer’s war, Zora.” I narrowed my eyes at her.

“They wouldn’t be killing , they would be saving us only in case of a collapse.”

“Even so, we are risking getting slaughtered at the entry points in the city,” Orest opposed.

“Not if we cause a diversion,” Zora answered, not braving to return his stare.

“You want us to still attack the city by the river?” My brows raised at her idea.

“Yes, while a handful of battalions reach the city underground through the tunnels.”

I loathed the idea. But a part of me knew that Zora’s father was a well-known strategist because of his natural talent, one his daughter also possessed.

“I know him, Gideon.” Zora’s voice was filled with determination. She stared at me with the conviction of a thousand armies. “If you want to win this war, this is your only way. This is our best shot.”

“Last time they discovered a tunnel, it flooded with underground rivers and the poor souls drowned before it crumbled. Even if you’d find the entrance to one, chances are you would never find the exit. We would need the best smuggler to ever exist, even with Truth Tellers, and the city locked down, it could take us a very long time,” I reasoned.

“So if we find a smuggler to lead us through the tunnels, we could potentially finish the war before winter?” Finnleah proposed.

“ Winter ? Fuck that,” Priya hissed. “You need the best smuggler. We know of one.” Her eyes darted to Finnleah with a suggestive look. And to my surprise, my wife’s face beamed at the realization.

“Florian,” Finnleah uttered.

“Florian.” Priya smirked at her.

“The drug lord’s kid ?” I raised my brows, turning to my wife, reeling from my sudden feeling of jealousy at the way my wife smiled at the mention of his name.

“The drug lord’s heir ,” Priya corrected. “Casteols have been using the secret network of tunnels for generations now. If anyone knows the maps to them, it’s going to be him.”

Orest, as if reading my mind, already voiced the question at hand.

“Without me being near enough to compel him, why would Florian Casteol consider helping Destroyers?”

Priya’s too haughty of a face really, truly irked me, as she said.

“He wouldn’t be helping Destroyers . He would be helping her .” She gestured with her chin at Finnleah.

“And why would he be so open to helping her ?” I kept my voice calm, walking a dangerously narrow line.

“Ah, I thought you knew.” She theatrically gasped before declaring, “Freckles and him were a thing.”

All stares in the room shifted from Priya to my wife.

“We weren’t a thing . We are just good friends.” Finnleah scoffed, dismissing my narrowed gaze.

“That’s not what guests at the Death Ball would say about Florian Casteol and his foreign princess.” Priya pretended to pick her nails, looking bored.

It was Zora this time who cut through prickly tension.

“Casteol would be our best shot, Gideon.”

“Oh, I agree. He would be the best , wouldn’t he, Freckles?” Priya sneered across the room with her poor jabs.

The tunnels were a terrible idea.

Relying on Casteol was perhaps even worse.

But reason had long exited the room.

And now a part of me no longer cared for the tunnels nor the war. No, now I wanted to meet the man that made my wife beam with such a dazzling smile at the mention of his name.

“We arrange two meetings. One with the smuggler and one with general Thynirite,” I finally decided, eager to get this meeting ended. “Zora, Orest, arrange the negotiations request. And I presume”—I turned to my wife—“you’d be willing to send a letter to your so-called friend ?” I raised my brow in question and the corner of her mouth twisted in a cruel smile, seeing a flicker of jealousy on my face.

“You can count on it.” She winked, clearly enjoying torturing me.