Page 172 of Keeper of the Word
Elanna could only imagine what torture was being done to him.
“You need to concentrate,” Kyrie said, her eyes flashing at Elanna.
Breathe.
She closed her eyes.Tara?
They waited.
Tara?
The late summer crickets were the only sound.
The guilt of Tolvar chirped at her. She would ne’er be able to do this.
Kyrie’s knee bumped into her own. Elanna cleared her mind.
Tara?
Elanna?
What news?
They waited.
Kyrie? Casta? Maristel? Does my heart play a trick? Or do I feel everyone?
We are all here. I shall explain later. What news?
Asalle has grown quiet. For now. The sovereign is not much longer for this world. His queen is devastated and will not leave his side. She will not eat. She is deteriorating. With no importsentering the castle—or the city—’tis clear that we have food for only a few weeks. Castle guards are losing their courage. I sense it when I take to the gardens each night. The stars grow angry. I Saw Ashwin.
There was a pause.
I Saw Ashwin in ruin.
Elanna winced.Aye. ’Tis gone. I saw it with my own eyes.
I cannot wait any longer. We must begin emptying the city. Before the armies arrive.
Elanna had Seen it, too. Thousands of scores of men lining Asalle’s countryside. Each with their own purpose. Some were there from Grenden to defend the honor of the late bride of Dashiell. Some would be there from Lenfore, mistakenly under the assumption that as the prince had been spotted in Lenfore, he’d chosen another bride from there. A chance to put another Lenforese on the throne. Some would be under the guise of supporting the House of Sidra, when actually they had a growing feud with another province and could finally fight them out in the open. Some would come as a chance to seize Asalle and the throne. And some would simply be there as a sense of duty. And the Brones would be there, of course. With Anscom’s armies and even some of Greenwood.
The war would be chaos. No one would be able to determine friend from foe. It would devastate the population of the Capella Realm.
Very well. But do not yet empty the city of its guards. Nor the castle. We must keep the gates closed until we can arrive with the key. None can enter. Especially Crevan. Without Ashwin, Asalle’s Light is even more fragile and likely to succumb to darkness.
Sir Tolvar is not with you.
Elanna explained briefly what had transpired.
They aren’t there anymore. The Fox has slipped into a den. Make toward Norwell.
Stars. That was even further north.
The Glendower River will serve you.
Elanna could sense Tara’s fatigue matched her own.
But then, an interruption.
