Page 80 of Brutal Fae King
“Right,” I say to her. “Well, I have every faith in you, but whilst you build your confidence up—” I look back to the war counselors, leaning down over the table again. “—we’ll explore our other options. What else do we have to work with? How many did we lose?”
Another war counselor answers me:
“Stunningly little, thank the gods. A few casualties from the enemy archers—perhaps a handful, with another dozen injured to various severities—but a combination of the shield and the electrical barrier has worked wonderfully to keep casualties low,” she answers. “That means we still have approximately the same number of guards as we did before the start of battle last night, Sire.”
I nod.
“Good,” I grunt. “And what about the enemy? Have we learned anything more about the army?”
“We learned that they mostly consist of humans,” a counselor answers. “There don’t seem to be any dark fae, Naga, or sirens at all amongst their ranks.”
I hear a little murmuring amongst them—close to me, a war counselor sneers to another: “Just little humans?That’llmake things easier! ”
“What does that mean?”I ask sharply.
A ringing silence falls in at my tone. They gawk like brain-dead idiots at me. After a moment, I bark again:
“Well?! Speak up!”
“I—uh… I-I just meant that with it being only humans, we need not worry about aerial attacks or Naga venom, Sire,” he stutters.
I sneer at him.
“Right,” Isnarl sarcastically back at him. “I amsurethat is what you intended to say when you hissed that, butjust in case,let me make one thing perfectly clear.” I stand taller and fold my arms as I boom to them all. “Humans are not to be spoken down to, belittled, or even underestimated. In case you haven’t noticed, mywifeis a human. Your queen. She is also the one who raised the electrical barrier single-handedly and saved all our sorry skins.”
They glance over to Ebelor as I’m talking and then straight back to me.
“Humans are not to be spoken to or about like that anymore,” I growl. “That will no longer be tolerated, plainly put. Have some respect for your queen.”
They all nod, and some“Yes, Sire”murmurings echo. Some look to Ebelor and bow their heads at her.
After that, I sigh.
“So, if it’s a human army, then it’s true we are less likely to have to worry about aerial attacks or venom,” I say. “But Ebelor shows that the human capacity for magic is a possible threat to keep in mind. Make sure you factor that into any future plans.”
“Yes, Sire,” they chant.
“There is another piece of crucial information we’ve found out from the battle as well,” I continue. “Draliscanteleport inside the castle despite all our wards and protections.”
More shocked mutterings. They look at each other in horror.
“Sire,” one dares to speak eventually. “How did he dothat?!”
“We aren’t sure,” I reply. “But we have undeniable proof that he can. It at least seems to take enough out of him that he isn’t able to teleport any members of his army with him, but teleporting himself is enough. I want our magical defenses investigated thoroughly to see if there are any holes in our defenses that he’s taking advantage of.”
“Yes, Sire,” one says. “We shall put our best mages on it at once, Sire.”
“Next, I want to recall some soldiers from Murbyn Bridge,” I say. “We have to put the safety of the castle first. Don’t bring them directly here—bring them to the outskirts of the city, and I will practice teleporting them myself.”
There’s another grumble amongst the crowd. There’s a touch on my shoulder, and I turn to see Ebelor.
“Can you do that?” she asks worriedly. “Dralis got his power from his trickster god—can you recreate a spell that big even if you don’t have a god on your side?”
“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “But if I can do that, your electrical barrier won’t be so crucial to our protection.”
“I can replenish it,” Ebelor says to me, more firmly this time.
“I have full faith in you,” I assure her. “This will support you, though.”
