Chapter 22

“The earth’s memory is long.” Lorelai’s voice drifted out over the barren land in front of them.

How could this happen?

Rissa placed her hands on the ground. “Nothing.” She lifted her face and tears fell from her lashes. “I feel nothing. No magic. No song. It’s as if the earth has abandoned this place.”

Lonara and Ramsey sat on either side of Rissa with matching agony on their faces.

Trystan paced back and forth before stopping in front of his grandfather. “You felt this.”

Three nights before, they’d been camped on the Aldorwood border, palace troops and Whitecap soldiers alike, when Ramsey woke writhing in pain. He didn’t need to answer because they all knew.

The Tri-Gard felt every drop of magic that was drained from the land stretching between them and Cullenspire.

Davi trudged toward them, dead leaves and sticks crunching underneath his boots. He shook his head when he stopped. “It stretches all the way to the fortress where the legions are camped.” His brows pulled together. “This was my father.”

“How could he do this?” Rissa’s voice shook. “The earth gives us its power to guard and protect. This destruction goes on for miles.” She met Davi’s eyes. “Miles of earth he just… drained. It’s like what we saw in Dreach-Dhoun… but he left nothing behind this time.”

“You forget,” Ramsey started, taking her hand in his. “This is the same man who made us take all magic from Dreach-Sciene.”

“This is different.” She wiped at her face. “He didn’t perform some ceremony this time and put all the magic into three crystals. He bled the land dry.”

“This isn’t the first time,” Davi said to Trystan. “The lands around the palace of Dreach-Dhoun are identical to these. Blackened, dead. We saw it when we went back.”

“Lorelai.” Trystan faced the seer. “What did you mean the earth’s memory is long?”

Ramsey was the one who answered. “It’s something your mother would say. Marissa told us the earth remembered every slain soldier, every battle, every scar.”

“I remember those words from her.” Lonara smiled sadly.

Rissa sucked in a breath. “She was right. It’s the tenelach. I can feel it… struggling.”

“And we’ve been here before.” Trystan didn’t realize when Lord Coille walked up.

All eyes snapped to him.

The duke’s tense shoulders dropped. It’d been a trying time for him. Within hours of the messenger from the palace arriving in Whitecap begging for reinforcements to help lift the siege, they’d gotten word Cullenspire had fallen. None of them knew the fate of their friends inside.

Coille sighed. “Cullenspire. This land. The battle that is sure to happen here. It’s exactly as it was twenty years ago. I rode beside Marcus and Hendry Yaro as we faced Calis’ army. We failed that day.”

Trystan put a hand on his shoulder. “This time it will be different.” He turned to the others. “Pull the army back past the magic line.” He didn’t have a better word for it, but he wouldn’t have his people camping where they couldn’t draw power. They needed a plan.

* * *

The experienced soldiers set up camp quickly, but the villagers who’d joined the cause took quite a bit longer. It was an army of disjointed pieces. He had a handful of those with strong magic. The palace guard who’d spent years training under Avery and Brown. The Whitecap forces, which were partially made up of sailors from the Isle of Sona.

How was he supposed to lead an army like that?

He rubbed his eyes, exhaustion weighing him down. He hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in weeks. Had his father felt the constant worry and fear Trystan couldn’t shake? The man had seemed so strong, so sure. But maybe that was what made a good king. Being the confident one even when you didn’t feel it yourself.

He had to give his people something to believe in.

Trystan sat alone in his tent, his sword resting across his thighs. Lorelai’s words rang in his mind. She’d been right. When the magic was returned to Dreach-Sciene, he’d waited for his part, attempting to draw it from the ground.

He was the king. His father had been the most powerful man in the kingdom. Why shouldn’t he inherit that strength?

But it hadn’t come. Sure, he could do the basic things anyone in Dreach-Sciene could. If he tried really hard, it could give him extra strength. But he’d wanted more.

Rissa and Davi could do more for the kingdom with their power than he ever could as king. Even Alixa had a little.

“Your Majesty,” a familiar voice said from outside the tent.

Trystan set his sword to the side. “Come in.”

Rion poked his head inside before his broad shoulders followed. “I just returned with the first scouting party.”

Trystan gestured for him to go on.

“The stronghold is manned, sire. Bowmen line the ramparts, but with the legions down below, we couldn’t get close enough to see what other protections they’ve put in place.”

Trystan squeezed the back of his neck. “How many men would you guess are camped at that wall?”

“A few thousand, sire.”

“So, not all of them. And only the legions? Calis hasn’t brought the rest of Dreach-Dhoun into this?”

“Maybe the scouts sent to the south will have better luck.” Rion hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Sire…” His eyes flicked to the tent opening and then back to the king. “Our people inside Cullenspire. What do you think has happened to them?”

They all knew what Calis did to his enemies, but Trystan couldn’t speak the words out loud. He got to his feet and put a hand on the young soldier’s arm. “It does us no good to imagine the worst, Rion. I know Wren was a friend of yours—”

“Is.”

“What?”

“Is, sire. Wren is a friend. My best friend. He’s my brother as sure as Davion is yours. I would lay my life on the line for him.”

Trystan met his eye with respect. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The sound of horses galloping into camp got Trystan moving and he rushed from the tent. The second scouting party had returned. Maybe they’d shed light on the location of the rest of Dreach-Dhoun’s forces.

The scouts were not alone. Anna jumped from her horse without waiting for help and ran straight for Alixa. Alixa caught the girl in a hug.

Davi dismounted and walked forward. He’d insisted on leading one of the scouting parties himself and Trystan envied him for the task. It beat sitting around and waiting for them to report to him.

“Your Majesty, we need to talk.”

Trystan nodded. “How is Anna here?”

“She escaped. The way she tells it, her brother forced her to leave as soon as the Dreach-Dhoun army arrived.”

“How’d she get out?”

“The tunnels.” Lord Coille joined them. “Right?”

Davi nodded. “It seems Cullenspire holds more secrets than we were aware of. A tunnel stretches from the cellar of the stronghold to the forest.”

Trystan’s mind formulated a plan. “Can we use them?”

“I’m afraid not. Once Calis seized Cullenspire, he used them for his own needs. The army is split. There are a few units of black-clad soldiers camped in the forest near the mouth of the cave Anna says is the only entrance to the tunnel.”

“And the other soldiers? The ones not shrouded in black armor? Where has Calis put his people?”

“According to Anna, he has the troops he’s formed from the Dreach-Dhoun villagers camped in the abandoned village.”

“Anna’s a child.” Trystan shifted his eyes to the shaking girl crying into Alixa’s shirt. “Do we trust her information?”

“It wasn’t only her.” Davi focused on the ground. “We found her hiding with her mother’s body.”

Trystan squeezed his eyes shut. Lady Yaro had done everything in her power to support him. Her husband and eldest son died in their defiance of Eisner. Now it seemed she had as well. “How?”

“An arrow to the chest.”

Trystan pushed out a breath. “That still doesn’t explain how Anna came to be in possession of troop movements.”

A small voice froze them. “It was my brother.” Anna sniffed. “He knew Cullenspire would fall. Mira wouldn’t leave him and the men so he forced mother to take me through the tunnel in hopes we’d find you. He knew you’d come, sire. We must save him.”

Trystan found himself unable to look away from her sweet face that was now set with a hardness she shouldn’t know. How could he tell her Wren was probably dead already? Or that they should hope he was because if not… He shook his head. Whether or not the people they’d left at Cullenspire lived still, he owed it to them and to all of Dreach-Sciene to recover the stronghold.

He couldn’t let it stay in Calis’ hands.

“All of you meet at my tent at sundown.”

They were his council and it was time to go to war.

* * *

Rissa watched the faces around the tent. Some were missing who should’ve been with them for this. Her father. Edric. Wren. Lady Destan who’d stayed behind in Sona to help those who evacuated from the villages.

But they had two of the Tri-Gard. Lord Coille who’d been at her father’s side in the previous war. And more people who’d lay down their lives for the kingdom than she’d ever thought possible.

And it was time to ask them to.

She’d gone over and over it in her head. There were many paths Trystan could lead them down and her gut instinct told her each one would be their end. And she didn’t need Lorelai’s visions to confirm it.

She met the seer’s eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking. Now was the time to tell Trystan what needed to be done.

He was their king, sure, but he’d never come up with such a plan himself because he always tried to save the greatest number of people first.

But this time, it wasn’t about saving the lives of those fighting, but saving the kingdom itself and every single person living in it.

He had to see that.

In the aftermath of the burning of the village of Briarwood, when Lorelai first told her of this plan, she’d thought it was insane. But maybe the only way to beat a king who thrived on insanity was to use a bit of it yourself.

Arguments rose around her as they all tried to form a battle plan. Trystan kept a strong grip on the conversation but it was clear he didn’t know how to win this once and for all. No more battles. No more deaths. Not after this one. It had to end here.

“Everybody quiet,” Rissa hissed. No one seemed to hear her. She raised her voice. “Please.” Ire churned in her, finally breaking through. “Shut up!”

The room stilled.

Lorelai nodded, urging her to go on.

“Sister,” Trystan said. “If you have an idea, I’m all ears.”

She swallowed. “They drained all magic from the land anywhere near the fortress.”

“We’re aware.”

“Which means we won’t be able to obtain more power once we’ve used ours…” She met her brother’s inquiring gaze. “And neither will they.” She rubbed her slick palms up and down her pants. “With magic, our forces stand no chance against the legions. Our people are untrained. Most are rather weak in their magical ability. They’re counting on being able to store more than us in their bodies—which they’ll be able to do no doubt.”

She looked to Lorelai whose face showed no encouragement even though this was her plan.

“We need to force them to use their magic. All of it.”

Trystan studied her. “How do we do that?” His face said he knew her answer but needed her to say it.

“We march against them. And don’t use our magic.”

The room erupted into panicked chatter as the others spoke of the dangers of such an idea.

“The cost is too high,” Lord Coille stated. “Unacceptable.”

“Do you realize how many people would die, Princess?” Brown asked.

“Ri.” Davi reached for her but she stepped back. “Come on. Surely you see the problem with this.”

Trystan didn’t say a word. His jaw clenched and he scratched the side of his face.

“It’s a sacrifice,” Rissa admitted. “But how are we supposed to match our magic against theirs? We must exhaust theirs before using ours. We don’t have a choice!”

“We’d need to cut them off from the tunnel.” Trystan’s words stunned the room into silence.

“Your Majesty,” Lord Coille pleaded. “You aren’t seriously considering this?”

“My sister is right, Adrian. We are out of options. We don’t have time or the power to play it safe. What kind of sacrifice would you have made twenty years ago to win that fight? To prevent two decades of devastation in Dreach-Sciene?”

Lord Coille’s eyebrows drew together. “I would have given everything.”

Trystan flicked his eyes to each of his advisors as if willing anyone else to question him. Finally, he turned to Brown. “I need to know everything about these tunnels. If we are doing this, we must prevent them from drawing more magic from the woods.”

Rissa’s shoulders finally relaxed. In that moment, she’d been so sure of this plan. Lorelai nodded to her in approval and Ri took that as a win. She’d grown as close to the seer as one could get to Lorelai and wanted to make her proud.

The woman who’d known Rissa’s mother and loved her father.

The rest of the meeting passed in a haze of planning and by the time they stepped out into the silver illuminated night, they were as ready as they could be.

Davi hung back to talk to Trystan, but Rissa needed to get away from all of them. She needed to think. Her plan was a good one, wasn’t it?

Then why did she have a sick feeling burning inside her?

All of them had been right. The cost would be high. She didn’t know if Dreach-Sciene would ever be the same once the kingdom’s people threw themselves against the Dreach-Dhoun’s legions, ready to be slaughtered.

But what other choice did they have?

At dawn, they had to attack.