Page 120 of Salt in the Seas
“What did you show her?” Aeliana asked, her voice surprisingly grim.
“The starbridges.”
“Did you show her the futures her mother saw?” she demanded.
Gaeren shook his head. “I don’t trust memories within a memory. I don’t want to scare her into doing something stupid.”
Aeliana’s eyes brimmed with tears. “You just challenged her to go against her parents’ authority and find the starbridges to free us. I think you’ve already given her something stupid to do.”
He squirmed under the truth of her words and prayed to the Sun that she was wrong.
CHAPTER 45
Orra’s skinpractically glowed as she basked in the Sun’s light from her perch on the northern keep’s balcony. She’d sensed the scouts coming in from the north all morning, but she’d resisted the urge to reach out for the information they brought.
Her power was finally starting to replenish, not to the amount she’d had before Aeliana had crossed the barrier, but more than she’d had before they’d faced Mayvus. If she continued to fast from using it, she might be able to find the balance she’d once had, giving her just enough magic to continue tracking down the starbridges.
As she made her way down the tower steps, the scouts arrived at the gate, and she sensed the mood of the entire fortress shift as word spread of their arrival. She stopped at Emeris and Rildan’s room to invite them to the main hall, then again at Marnok’s door. By the time they all arrived there, General Nels was instructing the scouts to head for the training room to give their report.
A surge of compassion for the scouts rushed through Orra. One of the men was young—a fresh recruit who’d likely just left home for the first time. The other two had battle scars and age lines, but all of them had weary eyes and dragging feet. The older two gave suspicious glances to Marnok, but the third seemed too exhausted to notice or care.
They’d barely had a chance to sit at the table before General Nels demanded they give their update.
“The Ahmranans were gathered at Ahmranan’s Viewpoint,” one of the older men said, glancing at Orra. “Just like she told us. At first we thought there were only a few dozen, but there’s a network of caves there, and the longer we watched, the more it seemed like there were hundreds, if not thousands, hidden in the caves.”
Orra sat up a little straighter. “Thousands?”
The second scout nodded. “We didn’t recognize any of them, so it took us a while to catch that it was different people coming out each day. Once we realized our mistake, we snuck into the caverns and found one that had over a thousand men and women. We suspect there are several other caverns that size, but we weren’t able to assess further without putting ourselves at risk, and we felt it was more pertinent to return with the information we’d gathered.”
“Of course,” General Nels said, waving off the apologetic excuse. “But are you suggesting none of these men were the soldiers who deserted after the battle?”
The first man hesitated. “There might be a few. I didn’t know any of them personally, to be certain, but it seems as if they’re all from Ahmranas.” He glanced around the room as if concerned his suggestion was outrageous, but everyone else’s lips pressed into grim lines.
This was what they’d expected.
“So she’s bringing back an army,” General Nels said. “One that’s far larger than ours.”
A tear tracked down the young scout’s face, and he quickly wiped it away.
Despite Orra’s determination to hold back her energy, she placed a hand on his shoulder, letting her power flow through and bolster his courage. He blinked a few times, then sat a little straighter.
“We watched for several days,” he said. “Longer than you told us to, because we wanted to make sure we had accurate information. We saw a group of three leave with the starbridge once more?—”
“You saw the onyx stone?” Orra’s eyes briefly slid shut.
“From a distance, but it couldn’t have been anything else with theway they disappeared. “We couldn’t wait any longer to watch for their return. But yes, we assume she’s building an army of Ahmranans.”
“We never were able to tell if they were aiming for a certain number or a certain date.” The first scout shook his head in his frustration. “For all we know, they could have been following right behind us.”
“With Summer Solstice long past,” Orra said, “I doubt she’s aiming for a date. Now it’s going to be a matter of when she feels like her numbers can tip our scales.”
General Nels hummed his agreement. “If she already has a few thousand, she could be bringing back a thousand or more each time.”
Orra tried to imagine a thousand soldiers crossing the barrier at once. The power of the starbridge was astounding. And yet it was a fraction of what it had once been. She rubbed the braid at her wrist.
“She knows our numbers have dwindled,” General Nels continued. “It might only take her two or three more trips to feel secure enough to come back and stake her claim.”
For the first time, Emeris showed concern. “That soon? Aeliana and the others won’t be back by then.”
