The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“Can you sit?” Kieran asked from the chair he was seated in.

“No.”

“Your pacing won’t make tomorrow come any sooner,” he said, and leaving tomorrow wasn’t even one of the top reasons I was wearing a path in the stone floor. It was the grief that I still tasted from that morning. It was the tentative hope I still felt from the people of Oak Ambler. It was also their awakening rage that lingered in the back of my throat. “And it’s making me nervous.”

I stopped, facing them. “Really?”

“No.” Kieran lifted his glass to his lips as he kicked a booted foot onto the ottoman in front of him. “It’s just really distracting, and I feel like if I drank any more, your constant back and forth would end up making me sick.”

“Why don’t you stop drinking then?” I suggested, tone dripping with acid. Sugary amusement radiated from where Hisa stood at the archway of the chamber.

Valyn raised his brows as he lifted his glass, surely hiding his grin as I did, in fact, plop very loudly into the chair across from Kieran. “Happy?”

“Sounded like you may have hurt yourself,” he observed dryly.

“It’s about to sound like you’re hurt because I’m a second away from punching you,” I retorted.

Kieran grinned. “You mean, a love tap?”

My eyes narrowed.

“So, I’ve been thinking about what that Priest said. What you all told me about the woman in Massene,” Valyn spoke, wisely changing the subject. “If they really were speaking about Malec, do you think Isbeth is the conspirator?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s her, or Malec, or if this is all just nonsense,” I said, blowing out an aggravated breath. “I don’t know how any of that plays into why they had another Rite. Or why she created the Revenants, or how any of them believe I play a role in this. None of them can seriously think I will go along with her plans.”

“Remaking the realms could mean taking Atlantia,” Valyn surmised after a few moments. “After all, that’s what we’re doing in a way—bringing the two kingdoms together. That could be what Framont was speaking of.”

It could be, but I felt as if I were missing something.

“I’ve sent word back to Evaemon. I hope to have a response by the time we’re reunited,” he said, and I nodded. “You still plan to travel through the Blood Forest?”

“We will come close to it,” Kieran said. “It’s the safest way. We want to get as close to Carsodonia as possible before we’re seen. We want that advantage.”

If we traveled straight through New Haven and Whitebridge, it added to the risk of being seen. So we planned to travel up the coast, skirting the edge of the Blood Forest and then cutting between Three Rivers and Whitebridge, making our way to the Willow Plains through a portion of the Niel Valley, where we would then enter the Elysium Peaks. The armies would be following behind us, taking those cities under Vonetta’s leadership.

“The path you take won’t be without danger,” Valyn pointed out. “News of our siege of Oak Ambler will reach the capital soon. The Blood Crown will move their armies. There will be patrols.”

“We know,” Kieran stated. “Nothing about what we’re about to embark on is safe.”

Valyn shifted, bending his leg. “If your estimates are right, it will take you about a fortnight to reach Carsodonia.”

“Give or take a day,” he answered. “That’s if we’re able to push hard.”

“By then, we should be at Three Rivers,” he continued. “Where we’ll meet with you and—”

“And Casteel. He will be with me,” I promised.

His exhale was one of hope. “I believe that. Because I believe in you,” he added, holding my gaze. “I want to make you a promise. I will make sure your wishes are carried out on our end. The regent will have no issues from any of the generals. We will not take down any Rises. We will not be the cause of innocents losing their lives.”

Now my exhale was hopeful. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “What are your plans once you get into Carsodonia? How will you find him?”

“We’re still working on that,” Kieran shared, and I almost laughed because working on that could easily be translated into, we don’t know.

The thick, cream-like taste of concern gathered in my throat, and my gaze shot from Kieran to Valyn. The burst of worry had come from him, and that was…well, it was rare to pick up anything from the man.

“It’s been a long, long time since I’ve even been close to Carsodonia,” he began. “And it was a big city then. That’s a lot of ground to search. A lot of Ascended. A lot of Royal Knights.”

“We know,” Kieran said, his drink forgotten in his hand.

“And then you have the Blood Queen to deal with,” Valyn continued, undaunted. “You’re not going to have free roam of that city.”