Page 38 of Conflicted Fate
A few minutes later, I stood on the opposite side of a makeshift table assembled by shoving several crates together. Andi and Clive stood on the other side from me as Kiel unrolled a map of the entire Canis Empire. Two other shifters had gathered with us, Dante and Theo. According to Clive, they’d been instrumental in helping set things up.
“The Alphas arehere,” he said, stabbing a finger at Lycaon. “Or they will be soon. All six of them. Lycaonus will make his way there once they free him. But in the meantime, all the power of the empire is concentrated here. Correct?”
“As far as we know,” I confirmed. “We’re assuming the other Alphas all got the same message.”
“Seems like a safe assumption,” Kiel said. “And one I think we have to make. They’re all holed up there behind the huge walls and thousands of soldiers.”
“So, what does that have to do with Arcadia?” Andi asked, pointing at the marking mostly south and a little east of the empire’s capital.
“Arcadia is particularly vulnerable,” Kiel said eagerly. “Their Alpha isn’t traveling. He’sdead. Has been for over two months. Which means nobody is ruling the city. It’s open. Vulnerable.”
“So?” Clive wanted to know.
Kiel smiled, looking around at his makeshift council. “So,werule the city. We go in, toss out anyone loyal to the old regime, and proclaim control of the city. We say no Alpha is welcome here and that the rebellion now controls it.”
I cleared my throat, buying time to figure out how to best address the absoluteaudacityof his plan.
“Okay. Let’s just, for one moment—and we’ll come back to this—ignorethe troops still in the city. Pretend the Wulfhere have abandoned it entirely or something. We go in, and we take over, as you said. What then? What does that accomplish?”
“It draws attention to us,” Kiel said. “The other Alphas, they won’t let that stand. They can’t allow us to defy them so openly like that.”
“So, they’ll send an army after us,” Andi said. “With enough troops to crush us.”
“Exactly!” Kiel said, pointing his finger at her.
I looked at him, then around the table. Everyone had the same confused expression that I was sure I wore. Eyebrows scrunched, lips flat, eyes wide. None of us were following.
“We don’t exactly have an army of our own,” I said as gazes started to turn my way, expecting me to be the one to shut down Kiel’s crazy plan. “I mean, even taking the city seems unlikely. If they send an actual army after us, a real, trained cohesive force, we won’t stand a chance at holding the city.”
“Aha,” Kiel said, grinning. “But that’s not the point. We don’t intend to hold the city. Our point is to draw the Alphas out of Lycaon. They won’t all come. One, maybe two, will be at the head of the army sent to crush us.”
“And it will crush us.”
“Not right away. They will siege us first,” Kiel said. “See if the citizens get angry and overthrow us or something. That’s when we hit them. From behind.”
“Again, the whole no army thing kind of prevents that,” I said with a helpless shrug.
“Not an attack,” Kiel said, his voice turning icy and dark. “We’re not after the army. We’re after the Alpha. We slip in through the dark and kill him. Strike him down out there. Then we disappear. Leave the army confused and leaderless.”
“You think they’ll have their stone with them?” Clive asked thoughtfully.
“After learning what happened to Arcadus? Yes, I think they’re going to be extra paranoid,” Kiel said.
“You’re risking an awful lot on that assumption,” Theo pointed out.
“The entire rebellion is based on the assumption we can win,” Kiel countered. “It’s all we can do. But yes, you’re correct. There are an awful lot of holes in the plan. But itcanwork. Not to mention, I don’t have a better one.”
“None of us do,” I conceded, staring at the map. At my home, the city I’d grown up being attached to. Where all of this had started that night I tried to destroy the Fate Stone.
“You want us to take over a city. Lure an army to it. Then infiltrate that army and kill its leader, who will be surrounded by said army, and then escape?” Dante asked, regurgitating the plan in several short sentences.
“Yes,” Kiel said bluntly.
“That’s insane.” Dante shook his head in disbelief.
“Maybe,” Kiel agreed, fixing each of us with a stare. “But insane is not the same as impossible. Wecando this. Wehaveto do this. We can’t let Lycaonus reforge the stones. That would be the end of everything. I won’t stand around and let it happen. Who’s with me?”
Chapter Twenty
