Page 88 of Of Blood and Fire
I raised my eyebrows but nevertheless handed him my pack. “Can you take that to my quarters immediately?”
He nodded, accepted it, then turned and ran up the steps into the palace. I followed at a far slower pace. My energy levels were seriously low, and my body ached after two long days of flying. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to see my husband, take a long, hot bath, consume several buckets of shamoke, and then sleep. Most of all, I just wanted sleep.
But I had a really bad feeling that the matter Garran was calling me in on was going to scupper those plans....
I moved quickly through the desks dominating the foyer into the war room. It showed no sign of impending disaster—everything was calm. Or as calm as these places ever got. I glanced around, looking for Garran and Neera, and found both along with the Prioress standing around a table to the far right, studying what appeared from here to be old scrolls of some sort.
The fact she was here rather than Damon had me jumping to all sorts of possibly bad conclusions, but I did my best to ignore them and quickly strode over.
“What’s happened?” I said, well before I got anywhere near the three of them. “Where’s Damon?”
Garran’s expression was as grim as I’d ever seen it. “That is the question of the hour, but we’ve a problem even bigger than that.”
I wasn’t sure therewasa problem bigger than Damon going missing, but admittedly I was thinking from a purely personal standpoint. “That being?”
“You know how our Rayabar said he had no idea what the riders were doing with the rest of the orbs and how you said you hoped they didn’t plan to rain the things down on us from the birds’ claws?”
“Of course I do, but they obviously haven’t because there’s no sign—” I stopped, horror rising.
“Yeah,” Garran said grimly, “because they never intended their use here. They wanted them for Zephrine. Half the fucking city is on fire.”
CHAPTER
TWELVE
“They’ve already brokenthrough the outer defenses?” I said, horrified.
“No, because apparently the minute we became aware of the riders and their acid, Aric orderedhisearth witches to strengthen the main walls and the war room against it.”
A foresight that might have saved Zephrine from complete annihilation. “How many casualties are they looking at? And how did the riders even get there? On birds? Overland? Or has Kriton fallen to their ships?”
“Kriton remains untouched, because they came around Mareritten. Tayte reported?—”
“Oh fuck, how’shecoping? Neither Damon has a high opinion of him.”
“He’s obviously capable or Aric wouldn’t have left him in charge,” Garran said. “Remember, our western king values his throne above all other things, and he wouldn’t jeopardize it by leaving it in the hands of a ninnyhammer during a wartime standing.”
“Our western king wants total control over all of Arleeon and isn’t too particular about how he gains it,” Neera growled. “Does anyone else think the timing of all this is rather convenient?Like, after centuries of attacking us, the Mareritt suddenly realize destroying our war room will eliminate our top brass, and the riders just happen to supply them with a weapon capable of doing just that?”
I frowned at her. “The riders have the advantage of seeing things from on high?—”
“Yes, but Aric was already on his way back to Esan when the attack happened, and that suggests he was well aware it was coming.”
I stared at her for a second, then shook my head. “Aric has proven himself well capable of treachery, but even after what he did to me and Damon, I still can’t believe he’d totally betray the whole country like that.”
“I have to agree with Bryn on this,” Garran said. “While I do agree the timing is extremely odd, Aric would not jeopardize his own kingdom to gain ours. It’s more likely that he has foreign spies in his court who were relaying information back to either the Mareritt, the riders, or even both.”
“But they both have unusual coloring and builds,” Neera countered, “so it’s not like they would go unnoticed in either his court or ours.”
“There are ways and means of disguising features,” Garran said. “And there are always those willing to betray their fellow man if the right amount of pressure or monetary gain is offered.”
“Or maybe,” I said, “his tame witch with the ability to foresee the future saw the destruction of our war room and everyone within it, and he believed it was his chance to sweep in and take over rather than having to wait until Damon—his Damon, not mine—had a son he could place on the throne.”
Garran glanced at me. “Given his very recent actions, that’sdefinitelythe most likely scenario.”
The emphasis he placed on “definitely” had trepidation stirring, but before I could question him further, Jarin returnedand handed him several sheets of paper. “That’s the numbers as best his people could ascertain as of ten minutes ago.”
I shifted position and leaned over Garran’s shoulder, my horror growing as I read down the list. While they’d had enough warning to start evacuations, hundreds had still been injured or killed, and at least a third of the city had been destroyed, having been hit directly by the exploding orbs or buried under landslide rubble cause by orbs hitting the mountain slopes around them.
