Page 121 of Oaths & Vengeance
“You may go.”
I turned toward the door, but his next words stopped me. “By the way, Ulmar will be with you today. Wherever you go, he will stay close.”
Even if I wanted to escape helping my uncle, I couldn’t with my cousin following me. I struggled to hide my horror. “Even in my bedroom?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He waved a hand dismissively. “He’ll stand out in the hall if you’re in there.”
That made me feel marginally better. “Very well, uncle.”
Lord Morgunn didn’t bother to acknowledge me again and merely turned his attention to some paperwork on the desk. I left the office with dread filling my chest. He had to suspect something, but I couldn’t think of any way he could know about Darrow. I’d been careful, and no one could follow through my portals. Everyone in my sister’s village was a druid and wouldn’t spy for him. I never went out in Porrine this last trip without glamour. So what had made him suddenly paranoid?
Chapter 49
Aella
We arrived at Tradain minutes before sunset. Over the last two hours since then, channelers from elsewhere in Therress had sent large groups of soldiers to us. The total number of them now exceeded eight hundred, with more filing through as I watched. If my uncle had been planning this for a while, why didn’t he have everyone he needed beforehand?
Ulmar grinned at my confused expression. “Surprised, little cousin?”
“Yes.”
“We didn’t want Veronna to see the attack coming, so all the soldiers arriving now have come from Reshirk. They’ve been camped there for the last two days. Even they thought we would invade through that mountain pass,” he said, delight in his voice.
Horror filled me, but I kept my expression calm. “You waited until Veronna moved many of its forces to the other side in anticipation of the attack before pulling them back here.”
“Yes, smart girl.” A pleased expression crossed his face. “I convinced my father of this plan, and he agreed it was a good one.”
“Where are we really attacking?” I asked.
“Radoumar.”
I stilled. “That’s on the west coast by Veronna’s gold mines. You think I can open and hold a portal long enough to get that many of our forces there?”
He took a menacing step toward me. “We hadn’t planned on that location since we thought you couldn’t do it. Then we saw you made it to a heavily warded ring in Penoria a few days ago. It’s been a long time sinceanyone could open it aside from the faeries, but then we realized you’ve been hiding your true strength from us. We altered our plans accordingly.”
The blood drained from my face. “But I…”
“Save it, cousin.” His expression turned menacing. “We both know you can’t lie your way around the fact you were there, probably looking at that broken ring. The question we can’t figure out is who went with you?”
There was only one way he’d know where I’d gone, but not the identity of my traveling companions. They’d somehow been following my movements while I was away. I hadn’t sensed any magical tracker on me except Darrow’s, but they might have hired someone with the power to do it from afar. Though I’d never met anyone with the ability, I’d heard they existed. I just never thought it would be used on me. There were ways to counteract it, but they were temporary, so I would have needed to suspect they were necessary beforehand.
“I’ve been trying to find a way to get the Naforya Fountain back,” I said, finding words that would only ring as truth. He’d know if I told a single lie, so I had to be careful.
Ulmar narrowed his eyes. “That’s not your problem to fix.”
“The land is dying, and we can’t wait much longer,” I argued.
“If my father wanted you to handle it, he would have told you,” he said coldly. “I suggest you behave perfectly tonight, or else things won’t go well for you when we return. You’re already in enough trouble.”
His threat was so menacing that it left a chill in the air, making me shiver. Autumn might be only a few days away, but the cool weather coming had nothing on my cousin’s ability to drain warmth from his surroundings simply by standing nearby.
Neither of us spoke after that and stood silent as the captains of the various regiments prepared their soldiers. Dread filled me with every moment that passed. They were lining them up, and my final count revealed that there were now over a thousand, with a third of them on horseback. That was a quarter of Radoumar’s population, which would be risky, but they’d have the element of surprise. A lot of damage could be done when people were asleep in their beds.
The leadership was organizing the soldiers to ensure they’d get through the ring in the most efficient manner possible. My uncle counted on the fact that I could open a distant warded portal and hold it for a long time to get that many into Veronna. If I failed, he would make me pay in the worst way, but if I did as ordered, they’d lay waste to Radoumar and likely steal any gold stored there. I’d be betraying my husband, even if I had little choice.
My uncle beckoned me forward. I hadn’t been allowed to take a horse this time, so I walked through the long lines of troops who stared at me with a varying mixture of stalwartness and anxiety. It started with the foot soldiers, followed by centaurs and satyrs, and finally, the mounted fighters. With trepidation, I reached Lord Morgunn’s side by the portal. There was nothing warm or kind in his features. Instead, his ice-blue eyes narrowed on me.
“Get on with it, Aella.”
