Page 43 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)

Thirty-One

Ayna

“How can we not know how many fairies are working with Ephegos?” Sanja prompts while Rogue is wearing tracks into the golden carpet of his study under the scrutiny of all of us.

Even the five rebels have joined us for discussions this time after I invited them; it’s imperative they know everything that’s going on in this war so they won’t suffer any surprises when they eventually enter the battle.

“We never asked Tata who was loyal to her,” Silas points out from his position by the door. Pouly stands right next to him, watching the Crow warrior from the side with a blend of judgment and awe.

“Do you think she’d tell us?” Rogue prompts, stopping briefly to take a glance at the rest of us—Royad and Kaira seated on the sofa, Andraya, Gabrilla, and Ed on the chairs, Rochus next to Pouly, Clio and Tori perched on the side of the desk, and Sanja in Rogue’s chair behind the desk.

Myron stands next to me behind Andraya and Gabrilla, washed and combed, fed and rested, and clothed in fresh leathers.

“She will if I dig it out of her memories,” Kaira insists. She hasn’t mentioned Herinor once since we shared what happened with Clio and Tori and then again with Rogue and Sanja and the rebels. She’s not spoken much at all.

“How could this have happened?” Sanja asks again. “How could we have missed how closely they’re working together?”

“It’s not like it should be a surprise after what Tata did,” Tori weighs in. “She would have left you to die on the battlefield, her own princess.” The disgust in his tone is barely hidden.

“I don’t care how we missed it.” Rogue continues pacing.

“Only that we find out all the details now, before it’s too late and we get any more surprises on the battlefield.

I mean, the projected armies are bad enough.

” Apparently, his commanders spoke to him after the battle at the border.

One less thing we need to break to the Fairy King.

“The troops Tata led are about a hundred men. I doubt all of them are loyal to her enough to commit treason,” Clio grumbles, earning a sideways glance from her brother as he paces past her.

“Guessing and doubting are not enough. I want certainty. ”

“So do I.” Myron steps forward, right into Rogue’s path, and the two kings face each other, golden eyes meeting ocean blue ones in a clash of will.

Thank the gods they are on the same side this time, or they’d rip each other apart and all our futures with it.

“I want to know what exactly we’re dealing with, and I want to make sure the rebel troops know it too. ”

“The rebels will be arriving at the new meeting point any day now,” Andraya throws in, unbothered by the two kings.

“We’ve been sitting idly in this palace, humans in a fairy world, where we’re useless.

” She glances around the room, measuring all of us and meeting my eyes last. “Requesting your permission to return to our troops, my queen.”

My stomach bottoms out.

When I don’t respond, she adds, “We’ve been here for too long.

Rochus is a good leader. He could guide troops coming in from the west, and Pouly and I can both take rebel groups that are less organized and prepare them for battle.

Iliana will be heading in from the south with the Tavrasian deserters; she won’t need much guidance other than where to lead her men. ”

I’m still not ready to respond, neither are the rest.

“You have your own problems to solve for this war here in Askarea. Find out who betrayed whom, eliminate traitors, secure your borders, align your troops. But we need to be with our own people. It’s where we’re supposed to be in this war.

Not behind palace walls or fighting alongside immortal creatures. ”

She’s right, and I know it. But a part of me had hoped she’d want to stay close to me, where she’s safer .

“She won’t ever be safe next to you,” Kaira’s voice barges into my head. “Next to you is actually the most dangerous spot on a battlefield.”

I try not to let the hurt yapping at me break through my facade. She doesn’t mean that. She’s hurting because we lost Herinor to Ephegos and his band of traitors.

“Oh, I mean it all right.” Kaira folds her arms, but no anger fills her features when she meets my gaze. “You are who Ephegos wants. Whom he’s wanted all along. Anyone who gets too close to you becomes a target by default.”

“I’m sorry.” It’s all I can come up with, but Kaira shakes her head.

“Don’t be. You’re a queen. It’s normal. There will always be people protecting you, taking the fall for you, dying for you. It’s what needs to be done to achieve a greater goal.”

I’ve rarely experienced her this serious, and I’m not sure I like it.

“You do,” Kaira decides for me. “You like my serious side just as you like my friendship. You need someone who will always tell you the brutal truth—someone you can trust will not spare your feelings to please you because you are a queen and hold power over them. This someone will be me.”

A tear slips from my eyes, mirroring the droplet of silver running down Kaira’s cheek.

“Let the rebels return to their factions. They’ll ensure everything goes according to plan, at least in the groups they will lead into battle.” Kaira is right, except for one little detail.

“After we question Tata and determine the number of Askarean fairies in Ephegos’s ranks, I’ll be grateful for you to join the rebel troops. I trust your judgement because you know our people better than I do. You’ll be the best to lead them until I can join you on the battlefield.”

Myron jerks toward me like he’s ready to hold fast so I can’t go anywhere.

All I do is hold his gaze because we both know, when the time comes, I’ll fight at the side of my people—both my people. And the Tavrasian rebels are part of them.

Tata’s cell is exactly how Myron described it.

Not too small, not too uncomfortable, but still a dungeon cell.

The female is lying on her cot when Kaira, Tori, and I enter with the task of withdrawing all the information we need.

Silas stayed behind this time on his own request. He took it upon himself to brief the rebels together with Clio and Royad before we send them off tomorrow morning with messages for the troops they’ll take over.

Pouly will be joining the group with his sister, and Andraya will be taking over the units merging in the forest south of the border.

Rochus, Gabrilla, and Ed will join a group farther south.

My hope is that the two kids will be safer there—at least for a while—not that Silas would ever accept anyone calling Gabrilla a kid.

She’s a fully grown woman, but to me, she’s another fragile human life put at risk.

One who could flourish and bloom if we win this war.

“Your Majesty herself.” Tata lifts her head. “To what do I owe the pleasure? ”

“To your foolishly loyal men,” I grind out, forcing myself to stay right where I am by the cell door, which Tori shuts behind us.

Tata laughs, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the cot. “Are they still loyal? Nice to know I didn’t fuck up completely.”

“Oh, you fucked up completely.” Tori stalks up to her, drawing the hunting knife from its spot on his belt, right next to his sword. “And now you’re going to help us make things right.”

That costs Tata a laugh. “You keep forgetting that I haven’t become any more your friend than I was last time you sent her to dig through my brain.” She jerks her chin in Kaira’s direction. “Anything in particular you’d like to tear from my memories today? Another traumatic moment perhaps?”

The audacity?—

“You have no right to speak like this.” My tone is surprisingly calm despite the fury boiling in my veins, driving my magic to pool and coil.

“ You made the mistake, not her. Not Tori. Not me. You were welcomed into this court by the Fairy King, given trust and a chance, and you threw it away by partnering with the worst sort of creature.”

“A Crow?” Tata spits, and I nearly jump at her.

“No.” I force down a steadying breath. “Ephegos. You partnered with Ephegos. A traitor loyal only to himself. He might have promised you a place in his court and a family, but you will never see this come to pass.”

“And that is why , Queen of Crows?” Tata prompts with a smirk.

Slowly, I lean against the wall behind me, using the cool, smooth feel of the rocks to ground myself.

“Because I will make sure you won’t.” My smirk rivals hers in viciousness.

“ I will personally make sure you’ll never have a place anywhere.

Not in Ephegos’s court or any other. Not even in a straw-thatched hut in the backwater lands near the Horn of Eroth.

You will wither and die in this cell. Alone.

And no one will bear witness to your suffering but your own twisted heart. ”

No one says a word, not even Tori, who has more claim to threaten the traitor than I do.

She’s a fairy after all. But, by what she did, she hurt the ones I love as much as she hurt her own kind.

So I let my magic slip from my palm, a thin rope of silver winding along the stone floor, until it’s an inch from her boot.

Tata doesn’t cringe from the obvious threat.

“Let’s get it over with, then.” Lifting her chin in Kaira’s direction, she offers her memories, and I’m not sure I’m relieved by her collaboration or if I’d have preferred she’d refused so I could have tortured the responses out of her.

Together, we watch pieces of rock melt from the walls at a flick of Tori’s fingers, and slide around Tata’s wrists and ankles like manacles. When she’s properly secured, Tori nods at Kaira to begin.

My sister places her fingers on the traitor’s temples and closes her eyes, putting me on high alert. My magic wiggles like a cat’s tail in front of Tata’s feet, ready to pounce should she so much as twitch.

“How many of your men are working with Ephegos?” Tori asks, already hooked into her mind the same way Kaira is connecting me to her mind link .

At first, it’s the cell and nothing more, but as we wait, the outline of the inn we just escaped comes into view. We’re standing in front of it, Ephegos and a few soldiers in nondescript gray armor approaching from the south. And just like that, I slip into Tata’s memories.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” I say to the creepy male with the scarred arms. His face is pretty enough, but the rest of him still makes me want to bolt for the forest and never look back.

And the company he keeps… Fire Fairies and more Crows.

If only he wasn’t so damn charming once he opens his mouth.

“And grateful I am, Tata. I apologize for the delay. Erina wanted to discuss details of the projections. If we’re to use them in battle, we’ll need to improve the number of soldiers we can project at the same time.”

“And has he presented any ideas?” I admire Ephegos’s determination. Even if he is building his empire from the ashes of those of his enemies, he’ll rule over the new realm he creates as a fair and just leader.

At least, that’s what I hope, or I’ll have sold my soul for a megalomaniac Crow who will go back on his word. Not that Crows could lie. Just change their minds, I suppose.

“He is confident that the instructions he found in the old magic book will allow him to solve the issue before the time for attack approaches.” Ephegos tips his head, his rye blond hair dangling from his ponytail at the nape of his neck.

“Who would have thought the still-King of Tavras had magical ancestry?”

“Might have something to do with how well his ancestors succeeded with eliminating the Milevishja bloodline,” I comment.

“It takes more than human power to achieve what he has. And I don’t only mean remaining on a throne that isn’t rightfully yours for generations but the magic-nullifying drug, too.

He can’t have possibly achieved that without magic. ”

Ephegos’s mouth quirks in silent confirmation, and he laces his fingers together in front of his stomach, scanning the ten males standing to my sides. “Are those them?”

“They are. Ten of my best men.” I give each of them a glance, reminding them of what’s at stake. “They swore their loyalty to me and me alone. So if you want them to work for you, you’d better keep your promise to me.”

That earns her a dark chuckle. “I would never go back on my word, dear Tata. I never could go back on my word. It was a bargain. A promise. You will have a place at my side. You will be sister to the new King of Crows, to the new King of Flames, and the new King of Tavras once Erina has served his purpose. And if you’re patient for a little while longer, to the Emperor of Eherea.

” He nods at each of the males shifting on their feet beside me.

“And you will be my new commanders. Each of you will lead an army, and when Eherea is mine, we’ll take what else this world has to offer. ”

The memory fades, and with a gasp, I return to the cold stone cell.

I’ve never heard Ephegos say it like that. Emperor of Eherea. But he wants it, and Erina might be more of a problem than expected. He has magic. Perhaps an uncontrolled trickle, but somehow, he has magic.

The only consolation is that I recognize one of the males as the one trying to abduct me from the inn.

The one Silas’s hatchet hit in the chest. That means there are only nine fairies working for Ephegos now.

Nine fairies who can site-hop at will and transport the King of Tavras and the insane traitor Crow wherever they want to be.

We’re fucked.