Page 20 of Blood Feast

Never apologize for how your power has changed me.

I wish I were there to protect you with my magic. What’s the situation?

He scanned the familiar village with all his senses. It was a refuge for Solia’s loyalists, and the former king knew it. The odors of sweat and fear were coming from here.We’re about toenter Mederi Village. It’s well warded, but the spells won’t hold against magefire arrows.

Any sign of the enemy yet?

He turned his attention to the fortress on the horizon and the distant sounds of battle. Bright sparks of flame danced along the dark silhouette of the walls. “Who holds Castra Patria?”

“I do.” Solia sounded smug. “LordLucis and the mages were so confident they could reduce the fortress to rubble with their enchanted trebuchets. But their ‘three-day’ siege has lasted more than thirty.”

Rudhira seemed pleased with himself, too. “Once my Charge stepped into the enemy’s camp under veils and disabled the siege engines, the enemy had to settle in for a long, old-fashioned siege. And with us smuggling supplies in for Solia’s forces, we can hold out indefinitely.”

“Looks as if Lucis is launching another assault,” Lyros commented. “He’s trying to distract us while the mages come for the village. But mundane attacks won’t do much against the Hesperine wards we have on the fortress.”

Queen Solia stands her ground, with Hesperine support,Lio reported to Cassia.

They shared a sense of triumph for an instant. Their victories had not been in vain—yet.

Lio leapt the village wall after the others. Rudhira beckoned for Lio to follow him and sent Mak and Lyros with Solia in the other direction.

“We’ll gather everyone in the village square,” Rudhira instructed, “then step them to safety in groups. Pray that no mages interrupt our spells while we’re transporting mortals.”

“So,” Lio said, “this isn’t your first evacuation.”

“Lucis’s forces have been launching surprise attacks on poorly-defended villages. He’s bullying easy targets, the coward.We can’t fortify them all, so we’ve been taking the residents to safety.”

“But Mederi is one we fortified early on.”

“Yes. He’s getting more ambitious. But this strategy troubles me. It makes no sense for a warlord who needs to quash a rebellion as quickly as possible.”

“No,” Lio said with a grim shake of his head, “but it makes perfect sense for someone trying to make war on Hesperines. He knows we’ll defend the innocent. Lucis and the Collector want to draw out the war as long as possible and engage Hesperines in open combat.”

“Why?” Rudhira demanded.

Lio didn’t have time to answer before they entered the first cottage. He braced himself, knowing it might take all his diplomacy to persuade prejudiced Tenebrans that he and Rudhira weren’t here to steal their children and suck their blood dry.

At the sudden appearance of two immortals in her home, the weary young mother by the fire startled and went pale. But that was the extent of her reaction. She listened carefully to their instructions, then got her four little ones out of bed and half carried, half herded them toward the village square.

Lio held the image in his thoughts for Cassia.Hesperines and Tenebran humans working together as allies. Who imagined we would live to see this?

You did, Sir Diplomat. And you inspired me to believe in it, too.

They roused the young mother’s neighbors next. The couple and their sons talked over each other, dashing every which way across the tiny hearth room to throw random belongings into sacks. Rudhira’s calm leadership cut through their chaos, and he soon had them at the door with only what they truly needed.

From the loft above, a girl watched in silence until she asked Lio, “Can we bring our milk goat?”

Lio helped her down and took her out to the small garden to put a lead on the goat. He wished he could use his mind magic on the bleating nanny, but they couldn’t risk drawing the mages’ attention with too many spells. He settled for soothing her through the Blood Union. The girl led the now-quiet animal away.

Between that house and the next, Lio asked, “Did you take any of the Gift Collectors prisoner at Paradum?”

Rudhira paused to help a villager whose pack had spilled. Without hesitation, the First Prince knelt in the mud with Lio to pick up the old man’s belongings at Hesperine speed.

Once the mortal was on his way, Rudhira sighed. “I know you’ve seen battle, but I still regret that you had to witness the…un-Hesperine level of violence that was necessary at Paradum.”

Lio would never forget the sight of Rudhira’s sword slicing through Skleros’s neck before his eyes. “It won’t give me day terrors, if that’s what you’re worried about. He almost took Cassia from me. I’ll sleep better knowing you separated his head from his body. If I must pray for Hespera’s forgiveness later, I will.”

Rudhira rubbed his face and gave a hopeless laugh. “You have never sounded more like your father. There go our efforts to spare you from a life of violence.”

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