Page 14 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

Kivrin jerked to his feet, holding a crutch under his arm.

“They’ll kill anyone who threatens their power.

If they get a whiff of this, you’re dead.

They’ve had thousands of years to practice their powers.

You cannot throw untrained humans and half-Fae against that might.

We need this as a backup, not as the first wave. ”

“They’d be fodder,” Fordham said.

“Yes,” Wynter said, tilting her head. “That’s how our father would have used them.”

“This is an amazing development,” Kerrigan said gently. “But I agree it should be used strategically. Go back to Kinkadia, and work on developing the amulets. But the people need to be trained.”

Clover nodded once, but Kerrigan could see her dreams had been dashed. “Sure thing.”

“If Gerrond is amenable, we should send him back to the Society. Take Clover and Hadrian as far as he can, and then we use him within the Society. He can keep tabs on the Red Masks and help us build out our allies.”

“And who exactly are our allies?” Dozan asked with a smirk. “Besides the people in this room. Possibly the humans and maybe Galanthea? It’s not much to go on.”

It was a good question. One she hadn’t discussed openly with everyone because the truth was she didn’t know exactly who was on their side. She had guesses, but until she spoke to them, she wouldn’t know.

“Well, not Isa,” Clover said with a laugh.

“No,” Kerrigan said. “I can’t believe you ever trusted the assassin. She tried to kill me. Multiple times!”

“She saved my life,” Kivrin said.

“And is also the reason you’re paralyzed,” Kerrigan pointed out.

Kivrin sighed. “We were desperate for hope that someone close to the Father had turned.”

Like Valia.

Kerrigan sighed as she thought about how the Father had cut down one of his own daughters for betraying him. Would he do the same to Isa? Or was her double cross always part of the plan?

“Audria,” Kerrigan said at once.

While Audria might be a Bryonican royal and a thorn in her side, she had been in Society training with Kerrigan and shown up when it mattered.

She had taken on the Red Masks for her. She’d even broken with Roake, another dragon rider, who had been infatuated with her but turned out to work with the Red Masks, to help Kerrigan.

“If…if she’s alive,” Kerrigan said with a lump in her throat.

Clover winced. “She’s alive all right and still in the Society.”

“But she fought with me on the battlefield the night of the arena massacre.”

“She was in the dungeons for a while,” Kivrin confirmed. “But they let her out for good behavior.”

Kerrigan bit her lip. “She was probably biding her time.”

“Or she was turned into one of them,” Clover argued.

“I think she’s with us,” Kivrin said quietly. “I overheard her speaking to Roake and him begging her to put aside her principles because Kerrigan was dead and he wouldn’t be able to protect her much longer. Soon afterward, she was out, but it was a big argument.”

Fordham nodded. “Audria then. And Noda in Concha. She has family that are Society members. I think she’d be on our side.”

Noda had dropped out of the Society training program with Fordham and Kerrigan, but if she was on their side, it would be valuable to have the support of the Concha dragons.

“Yes. And Alura?” Kerrigan asked. She had trained their lot of dragon riders, and though her father, Lorian Van Horn, had been falsely accused of being the Father and sentenced to death for it, Kerrigan was fairly certain they were on the same side.

“I could speak with Anya,” Kivrin said softly. Anya had been his first love, but she’d chosen another man, Lorian. With his death, Anya and Kivrin had been reunited.

“If we could get Galanthea and Venatrix, then we’d have two of the three warring houses and the House of Shadows,” Hadrian said. “We’d be in a much better position.”

“And Mendy,” Fordham added. “The people in Erewa would come to our defense.”

“They don’t particularly like dragons though,” she reminded him. Fordham had infiltrated their ranks when trying to break his curse.

“But they have some Society members, and we could convince them.”

“I could speak for Bryonica,” Kivrin said.

“We all speak for Bryonica,” Kerrigan said. “I just don’t know if our house will be loyal.”

“I could speak with Sonali,” Darby said of her benefactor when she’d been taken out of the House of Dragons.

“With March gone, the other leaders are more progressive,” Kivrin argued. “Sonali would be a great start, but we could speak with Walston as well.”

Kerrigan nodded. That put them in a much better position than she would have thought.

Alandria was home to twelve—now thirteen—houses, separated by how they preferred their use of magic.

Magic for might were the warring houses to the west—Venatrix, Galanthea, and Herasi.

Magic for good were the healing houses to the west—Bryonica, Ibarra, and Concha.

Magic for efficiency or menial tasks—Erewa, Sayair, and Zavala.

And magic for nothing—Aude, Elsiande, and Genoa.

Until recent decades, they had focused on channeling their magic into artifacts, but since Bastian, who was from Elsiande, had taken over as the Father, they were more focused on keeping magic out of the hands of humans and half-Fae.

By her estimation, they had allies in two warring houses, Venatrix and Galanthea; two healing houses, Bryonica and Concha; and two efficiency houses, Erewa and Sayair. Plus, the might of the House of Shadows, the drifters, and possibly humans and half-Fae if they could be safely armed.

They were starting to look like an actual force that could take on the Society. Now she had to find a way to reach them all.

“Well, we know who our potential allies are. The first steps are to get Clover and Hadrian back into the city.”

“Wait,” Darby said. “I should go with them.”

“I don’t know about the dragon holding that many,” Kerrigan said. “It’s asking a lot to take two extra riders already. We’ll have to get Henrley’s permission. Plus, we need you in the infirmary with Amond.”

Darby looked between Hadrian and Clover but saw only resolution. “How will I know you’re okay?”

“I can check in,” Kerrigan said as it came to her. “I can pull them onto the spirit plane…” Her voice trailed off as an idea hit her.

Fordham’s gaze shifted to her. “Why do I feel like I’m going to hate whatever thought you just had?”

“Because it’s me.”

“Kerrigan?”

“I know how to reach our allies,” she said slowly. She glanced up at Fordham, feeling like she should have known all along. “I’ll dreamwalk.”