Page 218 of Scorched Earth

Cura ut valeas,

Cassius

Marcus was not well. He was not well at all.

He read the message a second time, then cracked the black wax on the other, leaning back after he read the offer.

“Trouble?”

“Orders. And an offer of alliance from the Queen of Derin.” Marcus held the papers to the candle, then tossed them into the bowl to burn. “The Dictator wants control of Rotahn’s gold mines. And his betrothed returned to him. To secure both, we look north to Mudamora.”

80KILLIAN

He didn’t stay at the front lines.

Couldn’tstay.

Not with the charred ruin of land and bodies stretched out before him every time he looked north, forcing him to remember what he’d done.

Does this feel like victory, Killian Calorian? Does this feel like a battle won?

It had been a victory, of a sort, because the blighter army had taken enormous losses. But it had not been wiped out entirely. They had moved west out of the path of the fire, which continued to rage its way north for Baird had not been able to stop the winds entirely. The deimos still took to the wind, and Killian knew that Rufina would be looking for ways to bolster her strength yet again.

He’d sent runners with orders that every well in every town and village be kept under heavy guard, always with dogs, who seemed uniquely able to recognize blighters for what they were. With the reprieve from the blighters, the Mudamorian army was able to shore up defenses against the blight without fear of constant attack.

It was the breath he’d hoped for, and yet every second Killian remained in sight of the fire, he felt strangled.

So when Dareena arrived to take command, he got on his horse and rode.

Baird came with him, but they traveled in silence. Though Killian had done what he could to be the one held responsible for the fire, the weight of it still hung heavy on the giant. In the darkness of night when they stopped to sleep, he heard Baird weeping more than once.

Yet Killian’s own face remained dry, all his grief spent in the moments he sat on the dam and watched Mudamora burn.

Seldrid’s spies must have spotted his approach to Serlania, because his brother himself rode out to greet him. At the sight of him, Baird muttered something about finding rest in Bercola’s cabin at Teradale and headed in the direction of the Calorian estates.

“Malahi and Agrippa have returned,” his brother said. “Lydia and Sonia remained behind, but with the intention of leaving soon after. I’m afraid to say the Cel have laid siege to Revat, and there was little hope that Kaira would prevail against their numbers. They stood strong when Malahi left, but it’s possible your vision has come to pass.”

“So Lydia was there when Revat fell.” Killian stared numbly at the city as they rode closer. “Which means that the Cel have her. Thathehas her.”

“We have no confirmation of that. Lydia could be on theKairensesailing this way as we speak.” Seldrid cleared his throat. “As it is, Malahi has returned with all we could have hoped for and more. A way to defeat the blight. She and Agrippa are staying at my home, and they will want to see you.”

Killian barely listened as Seldrid filled his ears with the news while they rode through the overcrowded city, his heart consumed with certainty that the man who’d tried to murder Lydia now had her as his prisoner.

Then his ears perked. “Did you just say that Teriana is free?”

Seldrid nodded. “The Cel apparently allowed her and theQuincenseto go. She liberated her people from their capital, although no word has been heard from her since. I have informants watching and listening north and south.”

Part of Killian was overjoyed to hear his friend was now free, but the other part felt abruptly sick. If Teriana had been with the legions, it was possible she could have intervened to help Lydia if she was captive. But if Teriana was gone… “I need a ship, Seldrid. I need to get to Gamdesh to find Lydia.”

His brother’s lips parted as though to argue, then he nodded. “I’ll go to the harbor to make arrangements. But speak to Malahi first.”

He didn’t want to speak to Malahi. Didn’t want to see her face, knowing that she’d abandoned Lydia in Revat while fleeing to save her own neck.

“Hacken is in Teradale with the High Lords.” Seldrid shifted in his saddle. “There was desire on their part to reinstate Malahi as High Lady of Rowenes, but Hacken has been stymieing the process, most likely because he doesn’t want anyone who is loyal to Lydia to have a vote. He wants her beholden to him. But since Ria’s death, the High Lords trust him even less than they did before. They see everything he does as a bid to make himself king, and rather than their focus being on the war, they’ve been infighting the entire time you’ve been gone with little care for Rufina, the blight, or the Cel. It’s a gods-damned mess, and I half expect Mother to evict them from her house out of pure frustration. We don’t just want Lydia back, Killian, weneedher back. Mudamora needs a ruler now more than ever.”

“I’ll get her back,” Killian said softly. “And the Six have mercy on anyone who tries to stop me.”

Seldrid snorted. “Never mind mercy. Send anyone who tries to stop you to the Seventh. I’ll head to the harbor now.”