Page 5 of The Princesses of Ruin
Reina and Jasper join us. “We need to set up aid stations and temporary housing,” she says.
“Food is going to be an issue, as well,” Jasper adds.
There’s too much for Scarlett and me to be in charge of everything. I turn to Reina. “Find Aleks. He should be at Scarlett’s building. There’s limited space in the Underbelly to house all these people, but I’m sure you two will figure something out together.”
I look at Jasper next. “We have storehouses of dried and preserved goods; Rivera will know where. Organize a hunting party to go south for game.”
I turn to Alastair. “With winter approaching, we’ll need to stock up. Send a message to your mother. Whatever she can spare, have Emillia Alejandra bring it up to us.”
“What about the queen?” he asks.
“She’s just holding them,” Scarlett says. “The people she managed to corral into the slaughterhouse are just sitting in there. Alyse says they all seem scared but feel safe.”
“What’s she doing with them?” I mumble.
“She might be waiting for another celestial alignment event,” Alastair says.
“But why?” Jasper asks.
“The eclipse blocked the light of the sun,” Reina says. “It might have amplified her powers for the duration.”
“Why not perform the rituals at night?” I ask.
Reina chews her lip. “She does, almost exclusively. There must’ve been something else about the eclipse.”
We stand in silence for a moment.
“Jasper, any news from your sister on the translation of the dark book?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Nothing beyond the initial pages which include a cipher.”
I take a deep breath and let my shoulders fall away from my ears. “Here’s how I see it. Our priority needs to be helping the displaced citizens and preparing for the load they’ll put on our resources. I’m certain we’ve suffered losses and have undoubtedly earned ourselves a few new spies and assassins south of the wall.
“We need to pull back and be vigilant, reinforce our defenses, and manage our deceased. We need to gather more information about what the queen plans to do with her captives and when.”
“We’ll manage the last item,”Alyse says into my head.
“Anything to add?” I ask, looking first to Scarlett.
The conclave shakes their heads around me, save Lily, who’s still asleep. She’d drained herself to unconsciousness pulling in seawater. We’reallexhausted, myself included. I need to organize sleeping shifts with Gareth.
“All right.” I nod. “Get yourselves a drop of wakefulness and let’s get it done.”
Chapter three
Alyse
Imentally skirt the dark wards around the palace and drift through the field that stretches out at the foot of the mountain. Lumi’s glittering blue-gray essence is a beacon in my otherwise faded spectral view.
Projecting my magic to manifest a ghostly body that can not only hear thoughts, but see people and objects, has been essential. Mental images can sometimes be wildly inaccurate, and when we’re translating runic markings, that can spell death.
My magic illuminates the grass and takes shape in a vague, female form. The void of essence I know to be Freian steps out from behind Lumi’s glowing aura. The world is swallowed by his nomaj presence. He’s like the night sky between the stars—all black.
“She’s so dim tonight…”Freian thinks as he addresses me courteously out loud.
“We need to know what her plan is for the captives,” I say, not bothering with formalities. This is war, after all.
Lumi shifts her weight and crosses her arms. “Don’t we all?”
