Page 90 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

“We fight,” Rvyin said.

I looked out at the retreating soldiers. We had a depleted Athonian army, a few hundred vampires, a handful of dragons, and Ryvin. His magic was enough to take down many of our opposition, but I didn’t think it would be enough.

“I can tell where you’re going in your head.” Ryvin put his arms around me and pulled me closer. I looked up into his silver eyes. He seemed relaxed, but I had a feeling that was for my benefit.

“Stop trying to think about everything,” he said. “That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”

“How is it that you’re always so quick to know what it’s in my head?” I narrowed my eyes. “Do you have some of that power that your father and Laera share?”

He kissed my forehead. “No, you’re just very easy for me to read.”

I frowned, hoping that wasn’t the case for everyone. “It’s hard not to think of how many soldiers your father brought.”

“You have to remember, they’re loyal to him out of fear. And we have dragons, which they aren’t expecting.” His smile was genuine and there was a confident spark in his eyes. “He’s nothing against dragon fire. We only have totake him down to end this whole thing. With him gone, the fight is over.”

He pulled me into an embrace and I leaned against him, trying to release my tension, but it wouldn’t ease. We’d failed so many times to take down the king, but every time that happened, it had been us taking the risk. This time, it was my sisters and my whole city. If we failed, everyone went down with us.

34

Ara

General Mortagan was arguingwith Erebus, each one insisting their men should take the front in the morning. I didn’t realize exactly how desperate they all were to die in the glory of battle.

It made me feel nauseous.

Aunt Katerina walked in and I turned to watch her enter the room. Both men stopped arguing when they saw her. She greeted them with a nod, then continued over to where I was sitting with Lagina, Cora, and Sophia.

“How are you girls doing?” she asked as she took a seat on the couch next to Lagina.

“We were safely tucked away in the palace,” Cora replied, indicating her and Sophia. “How are you?”

“The men are restless,” she answered. “They want theirchance at the fae. Today just made them more anxious for death.”

“That’s grim,” Cora said.

“It’s true. They’re all dreaming of being a hero, which makes people sloppy,” she explained.

General Mortagan walked over to us and greeted Aunt Katerina with a stiff nod. “Lady Katerina, we could use your guidance on this topic.”

I lifted a brow and mouthed the word,ladyto Cora. She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Aunt Katerina threw us all a silencing look before she rose, then joined the general and the leader from Thebes.

Restless was a good way to describe the feeling of waiting for the inevitable. But even though I knew I would fight, I wasn’t in a rush to die. I rose, giving my sisters a small smile, before moving to the other corner of the room where Ryvin and Vanth were deep in conversation with Bahar. They looked up as I approached.

“Shouldn’t you be talking with Mortagan and Erebus?” I asked.

“They know what they’re doing with ground forces,” Bahar replied.

“So we’re not going in with magic first?” I asked.

“We can’t afford to show our full strength until we wear them down a little,” Ryvin said. “And we need to know what we’re fighting against.”

“We’re going to lose a lot of lives,” I replied.

“We’ll lose more if we show our cards too soon,” Bahar said.

“You’re staying back until the king comes out to gloat, aren’t you?” I asked.

“We have to get him out in the open,” Vanth said. “We won’t get another chance. If he thinks he’s at risk, he’ll flee.”

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