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Chapter twelve

ATALIIA

“I’m not fucking doing it,” I hissed at Landers from across the small kitchen. “I have already agreed to let him into my mind, I refuse to babysit him while I’m working.”

“Well,” Landers said, bringing a mug to his lips and sipping. “That is the beauty of being King, I do not have to ask your permission.”

I scoffed, looking to Pri for support.

I could see it in her features that were now set in hard lines, that she was just as unhappy about this as I was.

“So,” Pri started, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the back wall of her cottage across from Landers. “You want us to just take him on an assignment and pray that he will not betray us, that he will not give away our position?”

“Correct,” Landers casually responded.

“If I may,” Dukovich started from the corner of Pri’s small kitchen.

“No, you may not,” Pri snapped, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

“Let him speak, Prianaan,” Landers commanded and my back straightened at the sound of her full name rolling off his tongue.

The room fell silent only for a moment before Dukovich pushed from the counter’s ledge and stepped toward us.

“You do not trust me, I understand that. I would not trust me either after everything that has transpired between us, but this fight is tired. I have passed every test you’ve given me, have followed orders like a loyal dog.

but just because I am not part of your little family does not mean that I do not care about winning this war just as much as you.

There are people in The Silliands who have suffered because I chose to help you.

Families and children that will be slaughtered because I am no longer there to protect them.

You may not like how I chose to help you, but that does not change the fact that I have helped you.

This is war, we do not have the luxury of time. ”

The room fell silent again on the tail of his words. There was truth in what he said, no matter how hard I tried to deny it.

I watched his jaw flex before he spoke again.

“There is no stopping what comes next. The truth of who Hyacinth is, what she is , has spread to every corner of Nimbria and you know that as well as I do. She has given the people of the realms hope. Those who want change—who want freedom from the confines of their realm and to use their magic without being murdered for it, are already rising up against the Houses of High, and the Priest and Priestesses of Ammord and The Silliands know this. So they will not stop until she is dead, until they can snuff her power out.” Dukovich’s words clasped around my organs, twisting them together as the truth of them settled into my bones.

He was right and I was letting my hatred for him blind me to the fact that this was not about any of us. This was not about what he had done to me or some cruel punishment Landers was giving me for how I’d been behaving.

I looked to where Landers sat at the small square table pushed against the wall and swallowed my pride.

“Okay,” I finally said, breaking the heavy silence. “If this is what you think is needed, I will do it.” Surprise flashed on all of the faces staring back at me and I avoided Dukovich’s gaze as my eyes fell on Wren and watched him nod in approval before pulling Pri into his side.

“If we decide that Dukovich . . .” Wren paused as he looked at Dukovich. “If we decide that you are needed, this assignment will help us gauge the responsibility we are comfortable putting on your shoulders.”

“Understood,” Dukovich said, clasping his hands behind his back.

“I still don’t like it,” Pri hissed, twisting her golden locks to the top of her head as her eyes locked on Dukovich. “But I will let you dig your own grave.”

Dukovich smirked back at her as my eyes fell to Landers in the chair beside me. He stood, straightening his tunic as his gaze moved between me and Pri.

“Wren and I have some business to tend to in Nethkar,” Landers said, passing me as he strode to the door. “Make sure Dukovich is briefed and ready to leave with you in the morning. And, ladies,” Landers grinned at us. “Play nicely.” He winked at Pri then stepped from the cottage.

Wren wrapped his arms around Pri’s waist, planting a kiss on her cheek as I watched that rat scurry under the table and sighed to myself.

I really needed to hit something.

“So,” Dukovich started, as Wren pulled away and headed for the door. “I guess we’re partners now.”

I rolled my eyes and Pri whirled on him the moment the door shut behind Wren.

“Let me get one thing straight.” Pri snarled, pointing a finger toward him.

“If you so much as blink without permission, I will cut you down and make it look like an accident. You are not to speak to anyone, you are not to follow me or Ataliia while we work, and you do not , under any circumstances, breathe a word of anything you have seen or heard since you came to Lodragoon. Do you understand me?”

Dukovich chuckled, bowing to Pri. “I would not dream of getting in your way.”

She scoffed, turning toward the coffee kettle sitting in the center of the table and refilling her cup.

“From what I am hearing, there has been a rise in active—” Shrieks began exploding from Pri’s lungs, her coffee flying from her mug as it crashed to the floor, shattering on contact.

The screams leaving Pri’s lips drowned out the profanities Dukovich hissed into the air as the steaming liquid from her cup connected with his eyes. His hands flew up to his face as my head whipped around frantically searching for the threat.

Another screech left Pri’s mouth as a dagger came flying by my cheek, heading for the rat scurrying across the floor.

“Pri!” I shouted, grabbing her wrist before she could fling another blade in its direction.

“You two are fucking insane,” Dukovich growled as he pumped the spigot and ran his eyes under the water.

“Where is it,” Pri snapped, her eyes wildly scanning the room.

I glanced between them, my heart racing from the complete chaos that had just broken out and laughed.

I clutched my stomach, buckling over as cackles rolled from my throat. Pri’s eyes shot to me, her brows pulling together and as I tried to speak another laugh detonated out of me.

“I’m—” Another, cackle bellowed from my lungs and I grabbed the table’s ledge to stabilize myself. I sucked in a sharp breath, blowing it out between rounded lips in an effort to calm the hysterics. “I’m sorry,” I breathed. “But, we are a bit insane.”

I grinned at Pri and a smile broke across her face as she beamed back at me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed, really laughed like this. And it felt . . . good .

Dukovich’s gaze bounced between the two of us.

“You two, supposedly lethal women, who will shed blood for the fun of it, are afraid of a rat?” Dukovich said, bringing his chin up to the ceiling as he placed a wet cloth over his burned face.

“I hope that burn scars,” Pri sang, lowering herself off the chair she had sprang onto as her eyes narrowed on the edges of the floor.

“Apparently, it is not a rat,” I said as I sat into a wooden dining chair Landers had occupied. “According to Andrues, it is my familiar.”

Dukovich’s head snapped to me, the rag falling to the floor with a loud slap as he gaped at me.

“You have . . . a familiar?” he questioned, now searching the floor for any sign of it.

“That is what I have been told.” My voice was unamused as I answered, pulling a dagger from my belt and twirling it through my fingers.

“Do you have any idea how rare they are? The power that they have? They have not been seen in centuries,” he snapped.

“Again, that is what I have been told.”

“This familiar,” Pri said slowly as her eyes focused under the table, “wouldn’t happen to shape shift would it?”

“Of course it can,” Dukovich shot back, his gaze following Pri’s. “They can take on any animal form.”

The low hum of a purr sounded from beneath the table and in the next second an orange, long-haired cat bounded onto my lap. It pressed its body to my chest, rubbing against me before curling up atop my thighs. Dukovich moved forward, his hand reaching out to touch it and it hissed.

“Good kitty.” I crooned, smirking up at him and dragging my nails down its back.

“Well,” Pri started, flicking her fingers toward the shattered mug still lingering on the kitchen floor. “This has been an interesting turn of events, but we should get started.”

I nodded, standing as the cat leapt off my lap and stretched.

We followed her down the narrow hallway of her home. Tapestries and paintings hung on the bright yellow wall between large windows that gave way to natural light and I slid my fingers over them as we approached her study.

She pushed the door open, and stepped through the arched entrance.

Dukovich ducked in behind us, his mouth falling open at the sheer amount of information, maps, and weapons that scattered the room.

Correspondence from her sources, travel plans, and meeting briefings were stacked around the room, the parchment blowing softly against the wind of the open window.

Pri strode across the room and reached her arm through the opening, pulling the glass shut.

I flicked the tips of my fingers toward the fireplace as she cleared off a few chairs and the flames began to heat the cluttered space.

“Do not touch anything,” she said to Dukovich, eying him as she pointed to the armchair she had just emptied. He sat, leaning into the chair and resting his chin on a fist as I flipped through the pages laying on the desk in front of the window.

I snatched one from the surface, my eyes scanning the longhand as I turned to face her.

“Is this the letter you received from No—” I stopped myself, my eyes flashing to Dukovich. “From your informant?”

“Yes,” she sighed, leaning a shoulder against the stone wall.

“There has been a rise in activity in The Silliands since I met with him last month. All he would say in the letter is that a Drow General was taken to The Silliands. We already knew that the war leaders of Redelvtum were training the Marzog and Hanth armies under duress, but taking them out of Rahval—it seems like an escalation.” I nodded as a lump began to form in my throat.

“I am sure there is more that he did not feel was safe to write,” Pri added, pushing from the wall striding behind her desk. I watched as she bent down and rummaged through a few drawers.

Pri pulled a stack of parchments from the bottom drawer, dropping them onto the desk with a thud.

She spread them out, revealing intricately drawn maps of The Silliands.

Dukovich leaned forward in his chair, eyes widening as he took in the vast network of tunnels and caverns snaking beneath the surface.

“These are incredible,” Dukovich murmured. “May I?” he asked, standing and gesturing to the maps. Pri nodded in silent confirmation and he approached the desk. “The level of detail is astounding.” He traced a finger along one of the winding paths. “How did you come by these?”

“Andrues and Landers have been drawing them for centuries, adding in new details when they come across something they have not seen before. Wren has helped them fill in the gaps over the last year or so,” Pri said, a small, proud smile brushing over her lips.

Dukovich nodded, tucking strands of hair behind his ear before pushing his hands into his pockets and looking up at us.

“If I may offer a suggestion,” he began cautiously, glancing between Pri and me. “I have a trusted friend, high in The Silliands political hierarchy, who may be able to provide us with more detailed information about these recent developments.”

Pri’s back straightened, her eyes narrowing on him as I cut in.

“If you’ve had someone inside The Silliands that could help this entire time, why are you only now bringing it to our attention?” The words were sharp as they left my mouth.

“I was not willing to put him at risk before knowing you lot could be trusted. Now that some trust has been extended to me, I am giving some in return by telling you this information,” Dukovich said, his voice low as if he was trying to contain his annoyance.

“Who is he?” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest and leaning against the edge of the desk.

“He sits on The Silliands War Council.”

“And his name?” Pri asked, lifting a brow toward Dukovich.

I watched as his muscles tensed, his jaw feathering as he let out a sharp breath. I could see the struggle in him, the reluctance to give up the name, knowing that it could get him killed.

“Malik,” he finally said and the room fell silent.

“You can’t possibly mean—”

“I do,” Dukovich said, the words clipped as he cut Pri off. She stared back at him in horror as she brought a hand to her mouth.

My eyes flickered between them. “Should I know who that is?”

Dukovich swallowed before turning to me and answering. “He is The Silliands new High Priest.”