Page 86 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

“I don’t have to go into your head. You’re projecting all of your emotions so clearly I could feel them on the opposite side of the palace,” she replied. “And you’re hungry. Eat.”

He stomped to the table and grabbed a honey cake.

“Oh, not that,” Laera said quickly.

Vanth sniffed it, then wrinkled his nose before setting it down.

“It’s not that bad,” I said, taking the last bite of the one I’d been working on.

He reached for some dried fish, then ate a few olives and some fruit. I’d never seen anyone eat so quickly. “Happy now?”

Laera stood. “Very. Shall we?”

I tried to imitate her calm as we left the room, even as anxiety was starting to build in my chest. As we entered the hallway, I paused to look through the colonnade at the sea beyond.

There they were. Hundreds of ships. Red sails were joined by white, gray, and green. All the fae together to attack one single human city.

I balled my hands into fists. They were here to annihilate us. The king was herefor our blood.

“The shields should hold,” Laera said.

“But for how long?” I asked.

“Longer than your people have without access to the sea,” Vanth said.

While we feared those waters, we were dependent on them for fish and trade. We could grow much of our own food, but without access to all of Athos, we were limited to only what could be produced on the grounds that were protected by the shield. We couldn’t bring the livestock with the people when they evacuated here. We couldn’t afford to have this war drag out.

“Let’s go.” I started walking again, heading for the study, which had become our war room.

Argus, General Mortagan, Bahar, Lagina, Cora, Sophia, Ryvin, and Erebus, the leader of Thebes, were staring out the window at the incoming ships. They turned when they heard us approach.

“Come to join the fun?” Bahar asked.

Ryvin crossed the room to me. “Looks like our training is on hold.”

“I’m ready,” I assured him.

His jaw tightened and he nodded, attempting to be reassuring, but failing. I could feel his tension. I took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, then released it and walked toward the others. “What did we miss?”

“They’re establishing a blockade,” Mortagan explained, pointing to the ships that were moving into position. “The others are getting closer to shore so they can release their soldiers.”

“There must be five-thousand already,” Argus said.

“They’ll send more,” Mortagan commented. “This can’t be their whole fleet.”

“They might have left some behind in Drakous,” Bahar said.

“Laera, can you find out?” Ryvin asked.

She nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“Kabir is at the winter camp near Drakous, if you need a familiar mind,” Bahar said.

Laera frowned. I knew she didn’t like when people guessed at her abilities, but she didn’t argue.

“I must prepare our archers,” Mortagan said suddenly. “They’re fae. They move faster than us. We might not have the day to prepare.”

“We should anticipate at least one attack before nightfall,” Erebus said. “They will camp tonight. They never fight at night. They need that time to let their magic replenish.”

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