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Kaia, can you ask the male where the gilded riders and their mages were positioned when he left?

She didn’t bugle this time, simply reached out and connected to his mind, probably because, with the speed she was now going, the distance between them had greatly decreased. Though I wasn’t part of their conversation, a backwash of images floated through my link with Kaia; the riders seemed to be using that odd cloud to hide their presence. One rider circled just below it, obviously acting as lookout, while two more had landed on the end of the cavern’s long tongue—a thick protrusion of rock that allowed the drakkons to land before entering the aerie proper. The mages were standing either side of the cavernous entrance, slowly melting the black volcanic rock and refashioning it into a wall, while the riders stood at the tongue’s end, spraying their birds’ acidic shit at any drakkon who tried to leave. That was why the young male was flying strangely—he’d been leaving to hunt when the riders had arrived, and the riders had sprayed at him. Only the end of one wing had been hit, but the acid was slowly eating away at the rest of it.

What do? Kaia asked.

We need to take out those mages, first and foremost.

How?

Good damn question . I studied that ominous cloud for a second. Can you fly higher than that?

Yes . Her tone said it was a totally stupid question. And in some respects, it was, because we’d certainly flown much higher over the last few days.

I meant without being seen.

Should. Rise now though.

Do it . She flicked her wing and rose sharply, causing the harness ropes to snap taut again. Is the male willing to help us?

Dree. Yes.

Then tell Dree to fly back toward the aerie and, when you give the word, do a quick fly past the two grounded riders. Make sure you emphasize the need to fly fast to avoid getting hit by more of that spray. It should distract them long enough for us to swoop in and kill those mages.

They too close to wall.

Not for fire, Kaia.

Good. Burn all. It was viciously said. The queen was in a fighting mood; she was not going to let these bastards take any more drakkons, young or old.

The male banked and chased after us, flying hard to catch up. Kaia rumbled approval as she reached out and gave him his orders. And they definitely were orders.

As he banked again and flew toward the mountain, Kaia kept climbing. The air grew colder, the ground more distant, the mountains sharper, more dangerous. Then we were above even them and swinging around once more, flying back along the Black Glass’s mountainous spine toward that swirling, yellowish cloud.

Have you any sense of them? I asked, uneasily studying the unnatural-looking phenomenon below us. Or is that thing blocking your senses?

Not changed position.

Then once the patrolling rider has flown past us, we dive hard and fast. You take out the two riders on the tongue, and I’ll kill the mages.

Like this plan.

It still leaves one rider to deal with.

One better than three.

It certainly was. I glanced down at the ominous cloud and couldn’t escape the notion it was something more than mere cloud. But going through it was our only means of approaching without being seen.

Is Dree ready?

Yes.

I took a deep breath, released it slowly, then said, Go.

Kaia flicked her wings and then tucked them close, diving hard and fast. I held my breath as we hit the fog and felt her do the same. Perhaps, like me, she felt the wrongness in this cloud and didn’t want to risk breathing in the thick and gelatinous muck that moved sluggishly around us, taking the edge off our speed even if it didn’t stop us.

Then we were through and almost immediately, the stinging started. The strange cloud was acidic—maybe not as much as the sprays they used, but probably still enough to damage in deeper concentration. Whether our speed through the cloud would mitigate the effects or not was something we’d soon find out.

And there wasn’t much we could do about it right now anyway, because we were approaching the tongue at breakneck speed, and I needed to be ready. Below us, a drakkon bellowed, the sound echoing loudly in the thick hush underneath the cloud. Dree appeared, swooping not only low but close enough to flick his tail at the first rider, hitting his bird hard enough to send it staggering sideways several steps. He didn’t attack the second, instead swooping away and flying on fast. The second rider yelled something that sounded like a guttural curse, then raised his weapon and fired on Dree. Kaia flicked him a warning and he banked hard; the brown liquid skimmed underneath his belly, barely missing his tucked-up claws and left wing.

Then, with a roar that echoed so loudly it hurt my ears, she shifted her feet forward and swept up the unbalanced rider and his bird, crushing them both in her murderous claws. The second rider immediately spun around, and his bird fluffed up its feathers.

It’s about to fling its feathers at us , I yelled mentally and unleashed the fires pressing at my fingertips, spearing them along the tongue’s length before sweeping it left and right across the cavern’s maw-like entrance. The two cloaked mages went up in a whoosh and Kaia roared her satisfaction.

A heartbeat later, she was banking hard and fast, almost unseating me. I caught the leash with one hand and hung on grimly, waiting for her to turn enough for me to see the rider and his mount. As the deadly rain of golden feathers flew past us, the bird rose, its wings pumping hard, still glittering gold despite the barrage it had sent at us. The rider twisted around in his saddle and aimed his weapon at us, but I hit the thing with a fierce fist of fire. It exploded, taking out not only the rider but a good chunk of the creature’s spine. It collapsed but wasn't dead, so I turned the lance of heat toward it and speared it through its brain, killing it instantly. Then I burned its body, forcing so much heat into my fire that the creature’s deadly feathers became a river of gold that splashed down onto the tongue even as the flesh underneath burned.

Pain ripped through my brain, and the mote in my eye—something all fire witches had—burst. It was a warning that I’d put too much oomph into that last attack, but I didn’t for one moment regret it.

Kaia bellowed a warning to the drakkons caught in the cavern to remain there, then swooped upward sharply. The last rider was barreling toward us, a metal spear raised over his head, though how he was maintaining its position given the speed they were going, I had no idea.

It was the same sort of spear that had killed Ebrus.

He released the spear; it shot with unnatural speed toward us, forcing Kaia to bank sharply away. As she swung back around, the rider raised a tube.

Kaia bellowed again, this time in fury, and with a fast flick of her wings, her body rolled up and over the stream and the rider. It happened so fast I barely even left her back. The brown liquid shot past us, splashing lightly across my arm and the spine directly in front of me. As the shit began to eat into clothes and bone, I swore and spun more fire at the banking rider. It wasn’t as fierce as my previous lance but didn’t need to be—human flesh was far easier to burn than metal-feathered bird. The latter spun away from us as its rider was crisped, but Kaia used her tail as a whip and flicked the bird hard into the black surface just above the cavern’s entrance.

It fell, broken but not dead, to the tongue. A burnished gold drakkon appeared and, with a snarl that was filled with fury, ripped out the bird’s exposed underbelly then kicked its remains off the tongue.

It was then I saw the raw and smoking wound across her chest. She’d been hit by the liquid shit.

Kaia, you need to tell that female ? —

Queen. Yara.

Are all queens a burnished gold color?

No. Just special ones.

Fair enough, I thought with a smile. Tell Yara, Dree, and any other drakkon who has been hit to follow us into the sea to neutralize the acid.

Kaia roared in response—I think more to catch everyone’s attention—then passed on my message. As Yara lumbered out onto the tongue, we swung around and arrowed toward the sea. The ominous cloud was now dissipating, and while I didn’t know a lot about spell craft, I suspected it was happening because the men who’d formed it were now dead. Still, enough of it remained to be problematic, so Kaia flew well under it and told the other drakkons to do the same.

I twisted around to check them. There were five behind us—six when Dree tucked in behind a youngish-looking red female—and my inner kid who’d dreamed of drakkons for so damn long couldn’t help grinning widely. If Khuld’s eternal garden—the realm where those souls not claimed by Vahree went to await rebirth—really did exist, then this would probably be my perfect version of it.

Not that I wanted those drakkons or indeed anyone else I knew to find themselves in such a place. Not for many, many decades yet, anyway.

By the time we reached the rocky shoreline lining Sinopa’s calf, the exposed part of my face was beginning to sting, and small holes were appearing in my clothes as well as in the external sections of Kaia’s wing membrane that hadn’t been tucked close to her body when she’d dived—all the confirmation we needed that the cloud was indeed acidic. These bastards certainly had a wide range of dangerous magics at their disposal.

Kaia banked and extended her rear claws, landing gracefully but nevertheless sending rocks scattering. As the six younger drakkons flew over our heads and landed on the beach farther down, Kaia extended a leg so I could clamber down. I unclipped myself, grabbed my backpack, quiver, and sword, and then slid down to the beach. She immediately lumbered into the water, having learned from past encounters with the riders and their liquid weapon that it was the best way to stop the acid burning further. Three of the six other drakkons followed her somewhat reluctantly in, while those who hadn’t been hit regarded me from a safe distance, curiosity and wariness evident.

They no touch , Kaia said. Warned them. You kin.

Did you explain what that actually meant? I asked, amused. She’d started referring to me as kin after I’d explained that I didn’t need her to carry me back to Esan that fatal day she and her drakklings had been attacked because my kin were coming to get me. After discovering it meant family, she’d decided I now was.

Yes. They curious. Answered many questions.

I dropped my pack up the shoreline, well out of the reach of the incoming tide, then walked fully clothed into the sea. My flame might be reduced but it would still be strong enough to dry my silk undergarments and the leathers, although the latter would take much longer. No doubt most of them being “why the hell are you allowing a human on your back?”

They saw flame. Know reason.

You told them about the attack on Gria and Ebrus?

Yes. They fly to our aerie. Safer.

Meaning you’re now in charge of a second aerie, but what of your own flight?

A flight was what we called a grace, and it basically meant there were twenty breeding drakkons in each aerie, consisting of a queen—the grace’s main protector—five to eight younger, breeding females, a gaggle of males who vied for the attention of the smaller females, and the elders who helped tend and protect the eggs and the drakklings. Kaia’s grace was one of the largest within the Red Ochre Range—as benefitting the queen, I guess—and had close to twenty-five adults and fourteen drakklings in various stages of growth.

Too many young to move.

Then let’s hope we can stop these bastards before they ever reach those mountains.

Will. Trust.

I sucked in a breath that was as much to do with the sheer weight of the trust she was now placing on me as much as the icy water reaching my nether regions. I hoped, really hoped, that none of my actions ever betrayed that trust.

I continued on into the sea, stopping only when the depth reached my chin, allowing the gentle waves to wash over my head and hair. The salt stung like blazes when it hit the multitude of pin-prick wounds that littered my face, but that was better than allowing that acidic cloud muck to burrow ever deeper.

The longer I stayed, the more the water’s chill began to invade my bones; when the shivering got bad enough, I ramped up the inner flames and stayed in for as long as I could. It took another twenty minutes or so before the stinging stopped and I was able to climb out. After squeezing the worst of the water from my plaited hair, I dripped over to my backpack and tugged out a meal sack. It was little more than dried meats, nuts, and fruit-encrusted bread, but right now it felt like a feast.

Kaia climbed out of the water just as I’d finished and, after shaking the worst of the water from her long body, extended her leg. I hastily tucked the meal sack away then slung the bow back over my shoulder, gathered everything else, and ran over. After scrambling up her leg and edging past her wing spine, I clipped on once again.

Yara stepped toward us, her gaze—and thoughts—inquisitive. How you flame?

I blinked. The last thing I’d expected was her directly speaking to me. Usually, it was the other way around, and often came with an instinctive surge of surprise that had them lashing out before they realized I meant no harm. Rua had certainly tried to stomp on me when I’d initially met her, although that was long before she’d come to our rescue or moved to Esan’s aerie. It was my flames that had stopped her—not because she was afraid, but because she was curious. Kaia, did you tell her I can mind speak?

Yes. She queen. Should know.

Which was an interesting statement, if only because it suggested not all drakkons would be—or deserved to be—told.

Queens defend , Kaia said. Is duty to know.

I broadened my mental touch to include Yara and said, It’s partially magic, partially a mind gift.

You teach magic?

Wish I could. It would be far easier to burn the winged ones if drakkons had that power.

You find way? she insisted.

I’m not sure ? —

Mate magic , Kaia cut in. Ask.

It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order, and I couldn’t help smiling again. I will.

Good. We go now.

And with that, she launched into the air. The six other drakkons followed, forming a V-shape behind us. It gave us a lot more sky coverage and a far bigger chance of spotting the riders before they ever got close enough to cause any of us damage.

The remnants of morning gave way to a long afternoon, and as the evening closed in, ominous-looking storm clouds once again crowded the horizon. We were going to get wet before we got home, of that I was sure.

We were probably half an hour away from Esan’s aerie when I dragged out the scribe quill and tablet. After hunkering fully down behind Kaia’s spine to protect me from the worst of the air flowing past, I sent a quick message to my father, letting him know we were coming in with six new drakkons. I doubted Mom, Kele, or Damon would be in the aerie with night closing in, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The tablet blinked for a few seconds before his reply came through. You collect drakkons the way I used to collect boats.

I could practically hear his dry amusement in that comment and couldn’t help but laugh. My father had been an avid mariner in his younger years and, much to his own father’s horror—who’d disliked the sea almost as much as I did—had collected over a dozen of them, of all shapes and sizes, that he alternated between depending on whim and destination.

I’m not collecting them; Kaia is. I’ll report when I get down from the aerie.

No need to immediately do so. The morning will do.

No, I replied, it won’t.

That sounds ominous.

Because it is . I paused. Tell Kele I’ll have to take a raincheck on the flagon of mead but request she meets me after first light in the stables.

Will do. Fly safe.

I smiled, tucked the quill and the tablet away, then straightened again.

Teach Kele to ride? Kaia asked.

Yes.

Good. Rua wants own flamer. Wants to come on flights.

I gathered that . She certainly hadn’t been happy yesterday morning when I insisted she stay behind until Tane had fully recovered and was able to take over hunting duties for Gria.

Another flamer? came Yara’s thought.

Obviously, listening in on other peoples’ conversation was something all drakkons did.

No, Kaia said, amusement obvious. Just queens.

I rolled my eyes. It was bad enough that one queen was listening in, but two? Túxn help me... There are, but some are males ? —

No males, Kaia cut in firmly. They killed. No control us ever.

I don’t control you, Kaia. They wouldn’t either.

No ride, she repeated, even more firmly.

Which did cut down our already slim options . I think there’s three or four fire witches in Esan, but only two in the military.

What mean military ? Yara asked.

Trained fighters , I said.

Use small throwing sticks to kill birds , Kaia added helpfully.

Take Kele , Yara said.

She queen, came Kaia’s thought. Should take second strongest.

Rua won’t be happy.

She get military flamer. Same.

Except that Rua already knew Kele, and that would have made their transition to being a team that much easier. Still, it wasn’t like Rua really had any choice. Kaia’s word was law.

Lightning flickered across the ominous-looking clouds ahead and, a few seconds later, the storm hit us. None of the drakkons seemed to care, but we were flying straight into the driving rain, and it basically made it impossible for me to see. We definitely needed to develop some sort of eye protection, especially given the long months of winter would be here quicker than any of us wanted.

Although in truth, we needed to stop the winged riders long before summer found its end, let alone autumn.

Kaia sent a mental order for the drakkons to form up single file behind us, then swooped down, landing smoothly on the tongue before strutting quickly into the main aerie. Rua and Tane bellowed in greeting, but Gria waddled over, looking well satisfied with herself.

Flew in aerie , she said. Want hunt now.

Good, Kaia said, shooing her to one side. Hunt tomorrow. Dark now.

The others came in one by one, each bugling a greeting introduction to Rua and Tane.

Yara strutted in last, her expression and thoughts pleased as she looked around. Nesting grounds big. Hold several flights.

This isn’t the only cavern , I told her. There are more above us, though their exit lies above Esan fortress.

What Esan fortress?

Where flamers live, Kaia said. My flight claim above nesting when come.

Meaning she had no intention of going back to her old grounds. And while I was happy she’d not only decided to claim this place as her own but fill it with drakkons, just as the child in me had always dreamed, it also meant the only time I’d be able to see her was when we were on official visits back to Esan.

And that once again had grief rising, even though the move hadn’t happened yet. In fact, we were still a long way from it happening, given my father had already stated I wouldn’t be going anywhere until the threat of the gilded riders had been dealt with. His publicly stated reason was the fact he didn’t want to lose one of his best captains, but I rather suspected it was due more to my mother and her knowing I didn’t want to leave Esan or the drakkons. Of course, the delay also meant Damon and I had more of a chance of knowing and understanding each other in an environment I was at ease in—especially given the likelihood I would never be at ease in Zephrine while his father remained in control. Aric had barely managed to conceal his contempt of me—with my soldier skills and strega abilities—while he’d been here. It would be open slather when he was back on home ground. And...

...and I really needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. It wasn’t as if this fate had been dropped on me only weeks ago. I’d known about it since puberty, and it was beyond time I simply accepted it.

I firmly pushed the grief back into its hole, then quickly undid all the ropes and the neck plate, letting the latter fall to the ground as I slung all my various bits and pieces over my shoulders. Once Kaia had extended her leg, I slid down to the warm sands. This cavern was situated close to a volcanic steam vent that not only heated what had once been an ancient seafloor, but also the caverns themselves. As Yara had noted, this main chamber was vast and could easily have held more than a grace of full-sized drakkons, while the eight smaller, C-shaped chambers running off it provided easily defended, much warmer areas for eggs to be laid and newly hatched drakklings to be safely reared in. But this chamber was small compared to the size of the upper one, which was undoubtedly why Kaia had claimed it as her own.

Gria pushed her head underneath her mother’s neck, her dark eyes shining in the sand’s subtle glow. Scratch?

I grinned and willingly scratched the ridge above her eye. She closed her eyes, bliss rumbling through her thoughts. After I’d repeated the process for Kaia, I carefully made my way through all the new drakkons—who were all very careful not to move while I was doing so to prevent an accidental squashing—then headed through to one of two internal entrances that led deeper into the mountain. After hanging the makeshift harness over a fingerlike outcrop of rock to save the effort of carrying it back up with me again, I strapped on my sword, then headed on through Damon’s blood-created shield. Its magic danced lightly across my skin, a tingling sensation that, when compared to the acid cloud, was positively pleasant.

I hitched the pack and quiver into a more comfortable position on my shoulders, then heard a soft click. As light spun around me, I turned sharply, my hand raised and fire burning across my fingertips—and almost immediately lowered it. The man standing in front of me was neither a threat nor a stranger.

He was my husband.

Damon rose and walked toward me, and I couldn’t help but be reminded once again of the elusive high-forest wildcat I’d once been lucky enough to see when I was kid. He, like that cat, moved in a manner that was sheer grace and restrained power combined.

He was also a magnificent-looking man.

The gentle glow of the light tube he carried made his closely shaven head gleam like newly oiled blackwood while highlighting the sharp but very pleasing planes of his face. His leather jacket was undone, and his undershirt loose at the neck, and while it wasn’t open enough to provide anything more than teasing glimpses of his muscular chest and stomach, my imagination was well up to the task. No imagination was necessary when it came to the impressive mound of his crotch, however. His leather pants almost lovingly emphasized its size while also highlighting the lean strength of his legs. I knew well enough the power of those legs. Knew they were more than capable of holding my weight against a wall as he sheathed himself within me again and again....

Desire stirred through me, a heat that was echoed in his lovely blue eyes. No matter what else happened in this marriage of ours, physical attraction was never going to be a problem.

“What brings you to this tunnel, husband?” I asked, amusement teasing my lips.

“The conclusion that if my wife will not come to me, I should come to her.”

His voice reminded me of a good mead—deep, rich, and so very... stimulating? Arousing?—and the inner trembling deepened. “To be honest, I’d rather my husband come in me than to me, but to each their own.”

He laughed and caught my hand, his fingers warm and strong against my own as he dragged me into his arms. Our kiss was long and deep, an exploration of desire and a heady declaration of what was to come. Of what we both wanted.

“Wife,” he said eventually, “you stink of drakkon.”

I grinned and pulled away from him. His erection, I couldn’t help but notice, was positively fierce. “Then perhaps we need to hasten our journey back to Esan so I can bathe and present myself to my husband in a more suitable manner.”

“I suspect the husband doesn’t really care which way you come, as long as you do come.” He made a “give me” motion at my pack and the quiver.

“Ah, such thoughtfulness will be the end of me.” I slipped them off and handed them to him, then started down the tunnel. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

He fell in to step beside me. “There’s been sightings of renewed Mareritten activity. A patrol was attacked yesterday morning.”

The Mareritt were a warrior race who lived in the vast subarctic wilderness beyond the Blue Steel Mountains, the long range that unevenly divided our shared continent. Mareritten itself was a land so harsh that for nine months of the year its people lived in expansive underground cities that drew on volcanic heat to survive their long winters. In years past, they’d used the short, three-month window of summer to attack both us and Zephrine in an effort to gain control over our mineral and pastorally rich lands, but this year had seen a strange absence of them. While there were some who believed they’d finally accepted the futility of attacking either fortress, I feared they were building up to something big—an opinion shared by both my father and mother.

“Any injuries?” I asked, managing to keep my voice even. I’d seen the roster and knew it had been Kele’s team out yesterday. Though if she had been injured, my father would surely have said something when I’d scribed him.

“A broken leg—the result of a fall off a small cliff—but other than that, no. And before you ask, Kele is fine. But the patrols out today apparently saw further signs of movement.”

“But not the Mareritt themselves?”

“No.” He glanced at me, a hint of... anticipation?... in his blue eyes. It suggested he’d welcome the resumption of hostilities between us and Mareritten and that, for some reason, sat oddly on the man I knew. Of course, it could also be said that I really didn’t know him in any real way beyond the physical. “I believe the lull we’ve experienced might well be over.”

I hoped he was wrong—even if I didn’t think he was—more because the last thing we needed was being attacked on two fronts. “Was it a full host that attacked yesterday?”

He shook his head. “Only six rather than the usual thirteen, from all accounts.”

That in itself was an oddity, given the Mareritt didn’t, from what we knew of them, like even numbers. They considered them bad luck. “And the tracks they discovered?”

“Suggested several hosts had moved through.”

“To where? Do we know?”

“They skimmed the edges of the marshlands, then followed the Igna River inland.”

The scouts would have stopped at the river, because crossing it meant getting too deep into Mareritten territory. “Have they just been sighted near Esan? Or has Zephrine seen an increase in their patrols as well?”

“My father still sails toward Kriton. I doubt an update will be sent to your father until he reaches Zephrine.”

Kriton was the closest port to Zephrine, but a good day’s ride from the fortress itself. I glanced briefly at him, eyebrow raised at the slight edge in his voice. “And yet he obviously sent you one?”

Damon smiled, though there was very little mirth in it. “Only to remind me that my duty lay with him and Zephrine.”

“That’s an odd thing to say, given you’re his heir, isn’t it?”

“My father is nothing if not odd.”

I couldn’t disagree with that, but there was more to the situation than what he was saying—especially given my mother’s intuition that Aric was lying. While her seeress abilities could be somewhat reticent, and nowhere near as strong as her ability to mind-speak to animals, they weren’t often wrong.

“Yes, and one of these days you’ll trust me enough to tell me why that is.”

“When it is safe to do so, I will.”

I frowned. “Why would you, of all people, have to worry about safety when it comes to your father?”

“It’s a long story, and not one I have any desire to detail without several flagons of ale within reach.”

A statement that made me wish I hadn’t cancelled my drinking session with Kele, just so we could mull over the enigma that was my husband.

We continued on in companionable silence, working our way through the feeder tubes and then the rough-cut black stone tunnel that led to the vent situated midway between Esan and the second aerie entrance. It was a long walk down the mountain from there and, by the time we reached the external gate, I was wretchedly tired. It had been a long day.

The guards saluted as we approached, then the older one said, “The commander awaits your report in the long room, Captain.”

I returned the salute and moved through the gate once the second guard had opened it, then glanced at Damon. “You should come with me. Your father will no doubt get a report from mine, but given the amount of distrust he exudes, he might also appreciate a personal report from you.”

“I think the correct wording there is ‘expect’ rather than ‘appreciate.’”

“What on earth has happened to cause such a rift—” I stopped and held up a hand. “Yeah, I know, you’ll tell me when you can.”

“This whole situation is not what it seems.” His reply was grim, his expression dark. “And there are lives depending on my silence. Which is more than I should ever share right now, and I would appreciate it if you kept that information to yourself. And if you see Gayl, avoid her.”

Gayl was his aunt and mentor—of what I had no idea—and a rather strange woman who barely even looked my way, let alone talked to me. And despite the fact she’d been his ring bearer at our marriage ceremony, they didn’t seem to be very close. I was also under the impression she’d returned home with his father, but obviously, I was wrong.

And what lives were on the line? Hers? It didn’t sound like it from what he’d said, but it was still a worrying admission. What in Vahree’s name was happening in Zephrine? What, exactly, hadn’t they told us? Whatever it was, I could only hope it was sorted out long before I ever moved to the wretched place.

We came out of the dark tunnel and moved into the large courtyard. It was ringed on three sides by the palace, the administrative and military center that sat atop the wall, and the palace stables and tack area, with the fourth wall being the high soaring mountain. By day this whole area was a mass of noise, color, and a multitude of aromas as men and women went about the daily business of keeping the place running. But with the onset of night, most had obviously returned to their homes if not their beds. It was really only the night patrol that remained. I saluted those who crossed our path and clattered up the metal stairs leading into the administrative building’s main corridor before heading right toward the military section. Our footsteps echoed softly in the shadowed silence, announcing our presence long before we approached the heavily fortified war room. The guards saluted and opened the thick metal door as we neared; I once again returned their salute and stepped inside.

The room beyond was a long but gently sweeping space that spanned the full width of the wall, with thickened windows that swept its length on both sides; one provided a view across the courtyard while the other looked over Esan’s great outer wall. Eight long-viewing scopes lined its sweeping curve and, from this height, the soldiers manning the outer wall looked minute. Beyond it, Mareritten lay stretched out like a map, enabling us to see any attack long before they reached us. It was a huge advantage the Mareritt had yet to find a way around.

Although maybe they now had, given the attack on the patrol last night. If they’d been sighted along the edges of the marshlands, we really should have seen them with the long viewers, at the very least.

One long table dominated the center of the room, while multiple smaller ones were dotted about, holding strategic maps and troop placement boards amongst other things.

My father sat at the far end of the table. Mom wasn’t here, which surprised me a little, but Vaya and Jarin—the day- and night-shift generals—sat either side of their commander and king, Rion Silva, who was also my father. He was a tall man and broad of shoulder, with weatherworn brown features, golden eyes, and a thick plait of gray hair that hung halfway down his back. That plait was a conceit I followed, even if it really wasn’t practical when it came to war. But then, skirmishes with the Mareritt aside, it wasn’t as if any of us had truly seen war.