“I’m sorry,” Old Mana said, finally turning back around. “We cannot afford to leave the village undefended if this goddess is to come here.”
“Bring the village with you.”
“We said no,” Mana said. “I am sorry, Cyrene. I know that you think you are doing right, but this is our home.”
“Well, I’m going,” Cal announced, jumping into the circle.
“No, you are not, Caldreva,” Mana barked.
Cal narrowed her eyes. “I am Doma. Cyrene just said it. That means that I owe my allegiance to her.”
“You are too young.”
“I am fifteen! If I were a boy, you would have already sent me in the lone wolves ceremony, and I would be a man. You would be sending me to hunt and protect the village. Instead, you coddle me by forcing me to do things that I abhor. I am a fighter. Not a lady. I can work a bow and a sword. And I want to learn my magic and train in Cyrene’s army.” Cal put her hands on her hips. “I am not afraid.”
“You should be,” Cyrene said softly.
Cal’s eyes widened.
“War isn’t fun. It isn’t easy.”
“You don’t want me?” Cal asked, heartbroken.
“I do, Cal. I do. But I won’t take a soldier who doesn’t understand that this isn’t a fairy tale. It’s not something you read in your books. It means fighting and killing and blood. Your life will be on the line.”
Cal lifted her chin. “I understand.”
Cyrene nodded once. “Then, I will have you.”
“Cyrene!” Old Mana gasped. “You cannot.”
“I will go, too,” Reeve declared, stepping toward Cyrene.
Aubron stepped up next. “And I.”
“Thank you,” she breathed.
“I will go, too,” Kaliana said, slowly rising to her feet.
Cyrene gaped at her. “But…Alessia.”
“I know you wish to protect us, Cyrene, but this is Alessia’s legacy that we are fighting for. I will go.”
Thiago reached for her. “Ana…no.”
“Come with me,” Kaliana asked him.
But he just shook his head in despair. “I cannot leave my home. And this is your home, too. You cannot leave.”
“You should all want to leave,” Kaliana declared to the entire circle. “You stand here and say that you want to protect the village. Staying does not protect anyone. It saves us a breath from death, but going, that could save everyone.” She threw her arms out. “I know what it is like to doubt Cyrene. I was once like you. I did not listen to her. I thought she was a threat and full of her own importance.” Kaliana smiled sadly at her. “But I believe her now. We need to follow her. We can’t be neutral in this war. Neutrality only means that we are helping the enemy. If that is what you wish, then stay here. Tend your fields and care for your young and have your ceremonies. You might not have them next year though. And it will be your fault.”
Cyrene stared at Kaliana in awe. Standing before her was not the jealous, jilted queen or the soft villager’s wife. Those were her old roles. Right now, she was stepping into who she was always meant to be—a queen.
“Our decision is final,” Old Mana declared. “Cal, we need to talk.”
“No,” Cal snapped. “My decision is final.”
Kaliana walked into Cyrene’s inner circle. “I am sorry it did not help.”
“Kaliana, thank you. But you can’t come with me.”
She just raised an eyebrow. “Not only am I going with you, but I also have an idea on where we should go next for allies.”
But then Thiago was there at her elbow. “Ana, you can’t just leave. What about Alessia? What about me?”
Kaliana tenderly touched his arm. “Thiago, I have to go. I am a queen. This is my duty.”
He shook his head in what was clearly disgust. “Fine. Fine. Go off and play queen, Ana. But I won’t let you take Alessia into danger.”
“You have no choice about what I do with my daughter,” she told him.
He crumpled. “No, of course not. But…she is my daughter, too,” he whispered. “I thought…I mean…at least, I believed that’s where we were headed.”
“Oh, Thiago, I wish my life were this simple.”
He kissed her brow, unable to let her go in anger. “I will keep Alessia. I will keep her safe. And I will wait for you, my love. Just…come back to me.”
Then he turned, picked up the baby that could decide a throne, and walked away with her. Cyrene could see Kaliana wanted to go after them both. Her hand was half-reaching to them.
“You don’t have to come,” Cyrene said.
Kaliana straightened. “You need me. Where we’re going…you’ll need me.”
“And where is that?”
She took a deep breath. “My home—Tiek.”
26
The Spymaster
Rhea
“Stay right here and do not move or say anything,” Fenix said, pressing her into an alcove that she would never have noticed in the darkened interior of the spy tunnels. “There are eyeholes so that you can see inside, but I must stress that you cannot even breathe loudly, or he will know. He will rip into your mind and extract everything that you know.”
“I have been practicing shielding my mind,” she reminded him.
“A week is not enough time against Kael,” Fenix said. “I wish I had somewhere else safer to put you. But I would rather have you close than worry about you. Worry can put me at risk.”
“I get it, Fenix,” she said, bringing her hand to his chest. “You won’t even know I’m here.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips to hers. “I will be quick.”
She nodded, tucked herself into the alcove until she was completely hidden, and then watched Fenix disappear through a trapdoor. Rhea pressed herself against the small eyeholes in the wall and stared into the king’s private chambers.
She couldn’t believe that they had even gotten in this easily. Fenix really did have a full network of people that he worked with. They’d had a place to stay in Levin and slipped into the castle here in Byern without anyone even blinking an eye.
She was thankful, but it was also a bit scary how easy it had been. Even with the castle basically on lockdown and the guard presence tripled. Spies could go anywhere apparently.
“My King,” Fenix said, sweeping Kael a low bow.
Kael was seated at a chair, picking at a plate of meats and cheeses. But he rose to his feet when he saw Fenix step through the door and sketch a bow.
“Ah, so you are back,” Kael said with narrowed eyes.
“Of course. As I said that I would be.”
“How exactly do I know that I can trust you? You were in Aurum with Cyrene and her ramshackle army. You have been working with them.”
“Yes, of course, I was. You were the one who had sent me there. I did my job exactly as you’d told me. No one suspected a thing.”
“That is what I am afraid of here,” Kael mused. A cloud of black appeared in his fingertips. “Perhaps I should drag my claws through your mind and find out what the truth really is.”