Page 32 of Royally Cursed

Innocent civilians were often unfairly drawn into conflict by those with no boundaries, no sense of right and wrong, but I'd hoped we wouldn’t get to that point.

“Attacking so many places at once,” I murmured, rubbing my chin in thought. “That would take a lot of firepower, wouldn’t it? A whole lot of bodies spread out in a whole lot of different directions.”

“That’s not all, sir,” Tristian cut in, looking even grayer.

“What, are they going to dig under Canid and sink us into Hades?” Oren said tersely.

“I wish it was something like that.” Tristian shook his head. “No, I, uh… I was pretty sure I heard them mention the Shrouded Shriek.”

Shit.

My stomach twisted at that, which didn’t sit well with all the food I’d just crammed into it. The Shrouded Shriek was nothing to joke around about. Or rather, someonenot to joke about. He was an ancient and powerful warlock mercenary no one knew much about beyond whispered stories of the awful and powerful things that he’d done.

“Are you certain of that?”

“As certain as I can be,” Tristan continued. “I think they’re planning this in the next couple of months. I never managed to overhear an exact window before I had to flee for my own safety.”

“You had to flee? Were you discovered?”

“Almost. One of their scouts thought they might have caught the scent of someone who didn’t belong, but I managed to getaway and dive into a river. It took me far enough away that I didn’t have to worry about them catching my scent.”

“Good work keeping yourself safe,” I said, standing and offering him my hand. “This information is a huge boon to us. Get yourself to the showers and then rest. You’ve more than earned it.”

“Thank you, sir.” Tristian stood but did pause to fill his cup again and drain it. I got the impression he would've preferred if it were wine but said nothing. “Think I’ll hit up the mess hall, too, while I’m at it.”

“You do that.”

The shifter headed out, leaving Oren and me to digest.

“Shit,” Oren said after a long pause.

“Shit,” I said back.

Neither of us spoke immediately afterward, no doubt lost in our own thoughts. The implications of what Tristan told us would be vast if they were true. We were lucky that he’d managed to tail those scouts and get the drop on such vital information.

“Is there a course of action you want to take, sir?”

“I want you to debrief the rest of my advisory circle on this situation. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss the best course of action.”

“You don’t want to reach out to the higher ups?”

I shook my head. “Our forces are already stretched so thin. I want to see if we can handle at least a base plan on our own before involving them.”

“All right, sir. Why don’t you finish your meal, and I will get on that.”

I lifted a drumstick and gestured with it. “That sounds like a great idea. Keep that energy up, we’re certainly going to need it.”

Oren cracked a smile and rolled his eyes. “I’ll make sure to put that on my resume in the future.”

“Pft, like you’re ever gonna leave me.”

“Trust me, when we diversify, I’ll take you for half of what you’re worth.”

“Who am I to deny your alimony?”

He exited with a laugh, leaving me to refuel my body. But as I ate, I turned over what Tristan had said in my head, trying to lay the groundwork for the best course of action.

It certainly wasn’t an issue I'd solve over one meal, but it was good to order my thoughts. I was determined, of course, to stop the whole strike from happening all together. I didn’t want a single citizen, human, fae, or cryptid to become collateral damage in a war that should’ve never happened, anyway.

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