Page 71 of Crown of Wrath

Alistair’s still looking at the sword in his hand, which has grooves cut into it where Cole’s fingers melted the steel. And Cole’s hand isn’t even cut.

Everyone silently stares at Cole, and I finally take a little control, clearing my throat. Then I remember something from the book that Vesta used to read to me.

“Humans won a war with the Immortals, though,” I say softly. “There were massive casualties on both sides, but the humans won. There’s a reason that humans haven’t been rounded up and treated like cattle. The Fae aren’t nearly as clever as they think they are. Where Draenyth was built with dragons and magic, this city and castle were built with engineering that the Fae simply don’t have. In this fight, you aren’t ready, but in the future, you might be.”

I purse my lips and look around the room, everyone’s expressions showing more confusion than I like. I look at Coleand his eyebrow is arched questioningly. “Where did you hear that?” he whispers down the bond.

“Vesta’s book,” I respond silently. Then I say to the small council, “We’ll fight your war with the High Fae this time. If we don’t, they will march into your kingdom, and they will slaughter or capture everyone. Stormhaven won’t be anything but ruins by the end of winter. But I won’t do it for free. Not this time.”

I don’t look at the rest of the small council. This isn’t said to them. Instead, I focus on King Aric. I stare into those gray eyes and smile. Shadows whip around my body, surrounding me in a cloak made of them, and I say, “You know the rules of the Shade’s debts. I’m offering you the same thing. A single debt is all it will take. When I call it in, you’ll either do as I command, or you’ll die.”

The color drains from King Aric’s face as he stares at me. Cole has played the part of the Shade a thousand times, but I never have. Shadows slowly expand from my feet, curling around the room until only the two of us can see each other, shadows hiding everything and everyone else in the room. “What do you say, King Aric? A trade. Your safety now, in exchange for your help at a later date?”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” he snarls. “Sylvantia had been peaceful until you came here. Ever since then, there’s been constant violence.”

I smile, but it’s hidden behind shadows. “We didn’t start a war, King Aric. We’re the thin strands of hope that are holding the world together, and it is both your honor and unfortunate position to be forced into a battle between destruction and salvation.”

“What if I simply offered you over to the people looking to invade? I don’t know who that captive we have in the dungeons is, but I’m sure they’d be interested in him.”

My smile only gets wider. “They probably would. Except that I’m about to let him out of his cage.”

Aric sinks. “I’ll do it. I’ll accept the debt,” he says. A sense of strength fills me as I look at the man that I’d once thought of as the most powerful man in the world. Uncle Trevor used to say his name with reverence.

Now he owes me a debt. “Your hand?” I say.

His movements are sudden and angry, but he doesn’t argue as he sticks his arm out. I move toward him; the shadows cover my feet and make me look like I’m gliding over the stone. I take his wrist in mine, and when I press my nail against his wrist, he grits his teeth. A portion of my power flows into his skin, and I can feel it connect to his soul and body, tying him to me.

Where his wrist had been unmarked a moment ago, a thin brown tally mark shifts and moves under his skin now.

The shadows around me and the room dissipate, and I let his hand go. “Thank you, King Aric. Beginning tomorrow, Darian will help you begin building anti-Immortal weapons. That way, when the time comes to fight, you won’t be quite as powerless as you are right now. As a bonus, you’ll learn how to fight against Immortals, and maybe you won’t need to be quite so afraid of them.”

Cole’s eyes widen at the idea of humans being anything but terrified of Immortals. He heard what I’d said about humans winning the last war, and now I’m going to give them the tools to do it again. I’m sure he questions what would happen if they assaulted Draenyth.

Immortals are weaker than they were in days past, and humans are stronger, but they’re more afraid than they were, and now they’re angry at the House of Steel. Yes, I’m opening us up to a new enemy, but if we fail, if Cole and I cannot wrest the power in Draenyth away from Gethin, someone needs to protect the humans from him.

And it won’t be us because we’ll be dead.

“Are you sure about this?” Cole asks through the bond.

“Absolutely.” It’s like the lines are laid out in front of me as if I were Calyr. We can’t fight Draenyth on our own. The number of allies we’ll be able to call in are too few, and most of them will be lesser Immortals.

It’s like he can read my mind, though. “I’m not talking about teaching the humans to fight Immortals. I mean about my father.”

Oh. Right. “It’s the only option, Cole. He’s the only person who’s strong enough to help us fight this small army. We’re going to struggle, but he wants them to lose just as much as we do. And Cole…” I pause for a moment, not completely sure how to say this. He doesn’t interrupt me, waiting for me to finish. “I think he wants you to take the Throne. Everything that Darian’s told us points to that. If he doesn’t accept that, then… well, we’ll kill him. He can’t fight us both.”

He swallows hard, but he nods. “He’s the only person who worries me, Maeve. He…”

Cole is terrified of his father, but his father doesn’t wear the Painted Crown any longer. I do. And I am not afraid of Casimir Cyrus. “This is the right answer,” I say.

He nods, and our silent conversation ends. Everyone in the room is staring at us. “Alistair,” I say, putting the focus back on the small council, “tomorrow, you are going to spend time with Darian. You will listen to him, or I will find someone else to teach how to fight Immortals. You will do what he says, and you will begin training your soldiers, all of them. There will come a time very soon that this army will go to war, and if your men are not prepared, they will all die.”

The response is silent fear, and I continue. “I am giving you the keys to saving as many of them as possible.” I glance at King Aric and say, “I could have you send them all to their deaths, butI want as few casualties as possible. Yes, I will use your army, but I want them for what they can do, not for the sacrifice they can make. Do you understand?”

Aric nods to me, and I look around at the table of men. When I’d first come here, they hadn’t respected me. They had thought they were talking to a young woman, not the Queen of Nyth. Now, they don’t dare disagree. Even Alistair nods when I glance at him.

“Good. This is not all bad, mind you. For your help, when we retake Draenyth, you will be the first human country that we’ll begin trading with. How would you like to have first access to a market and goods that have been out of your reach for thousands of years? I’m sure that will end with your coffers being filled far beyond what they’ve ever been.”

It seems like this possibility hadn’t occurred to any of them, but the tense expressions on most of their faces change suddenly with the thought of future wealth and prosperity. I don’t wait for their response. I simply take Cole’s arm in mine and fall through the world.

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