Page 167 of Stormvein

“If Serevenisat Thornspire rather than leading the forces, it creates an opportunity. Strike at the head rather than the body.”

“He’ll expect you,” Lisandra warns. “Now he knows you’re completely healed, he’ll be prepared. He knows how you think, just as you know how he does.”

“Expectation doesn’t equal preparation.” My voice hardens. “Knowing Imightcome doesn’t mean he can stop me.”

“Not you.” Ellie’s voice is quiet but firm. “Us. If we go, we go together.”

I meet her gaze. In her eyes, I don’t just see determination, but a fierce protectiveness that matches my own. I nod. After what we’ve learned, our combined power represents our greatest advantage.

Lisandra looks between us, her expression revealing calculation, assessment, and surprisingly, hope.

"I’ve told you everything I know," she says. "That should be worth something, shouldn’t it?"

“It doesn’t even come close to repaying the damage you’ve caused.”

I gesture toward the door, and Ellie follows as we leave Lisandra in her cell.

“Sacha … My Lord … My Vareth’el. Please.”

I press my hand against Ellie’s back when she falters, and push her forward through the door. Lisandra’s voice follows us.

"He’ll kill both of you. Then the Veinwardens will have nothing to fight?—”

The heavy door closes behind us, cutting her off. We climb the stairs in silence, processing what we’ve learned. Sereven’s reaction to Ellie, the connection between shadow and storm, and the pieces of a prophecy. All parts of a puzzle with too many gaps.

"What do you think?" Ellie turns to face me when we reach my chambers.

"Sereven knows more about our connection than we do, and that places us at a disadvantage."

"But it also gives us direction," she counters. "If he’s at Thornspire Keep, if he has the crystal with him?—"

"Then we have a potential target. A chance to confront him directly rather than waiting for his forces to surround Stonehaven."

"Where we’d be fighting on his terms, against superior numbers."

"Exactly."

I cross the room, and spread the maps across the table, studying the land between Stonehaven and Thornspire Keep. The route is treacherous but passable, especially for a small group moving under the cover of darkness.

Lisandra’s information changes everything. If Sereven is truly at Thornspire, positioning himself to oversee an assault on Stonehaven, it creates an opportunity we cannot ignore. Strike at him before he can coordinate the attack.

But it also means walking into what could easily become a trap.

“It’s high risk.” I don’t hide the concern in my voice. “Your control is still developing … but if we can infiltrate ThornspireKeep, we would gain two critical advantages. The Authority will lose its High Commander, and we can take possession of the crystal. Without Sereven’s direct command, it will leave the Authority in disarray, and scrambling to replace their leader.”

“And if we fail?”

“The fight will continue without me.” I lift my head to meet her eyes. “Ellie … You’ve been forced into this war. You don’t have to be a part of it.”

She places her hand over mine on the map, exactly where Thornspire Keep is marked. For a moment, the parchment beneath our joined hands shimmers.

“I’m not letting you go alone. Whatever I was meant to be or become, I choose this. I choose to stand with you.”

I turn my hand beneath hers, our fingers interlacing. “This isn’t your war, Mel’shira. You were taken from this world as a child. You had a life, a future, somewhere else. I promised to see you returned to it.”

“Had. Past tense. That life feels like it belonged to someone else now. I can barely remember what it felt like to worry about normal things. Work, rent, what to have for dinner.” Her free hand lifts to palm my face. “I know who I am now. I know where I belong.”

I hold her gaze. “Then we need to leave tonight. A small group, enough for support, not so many that we can’t move quickly and quietly. We can reach Thornspire by dawn if we ride hard.”