Page 68 of The Blade in the Ashes
“We can make it work,” Elaina answered.
“We’ll have to spread to the forests,” Camilla shrugged, before turning to Damon. “I hope your men aren’t expecting luxurious accommodations.”
We had filled all the extra rooms in the primary manor and auxiliary houses with high-ranking generals, women, and children, many of whom were sleeping on floors. Our army was primarily in tents or in the open air on the back lawn, but space was getting limited.
Damon only inclined his head in acknowledgement and brought his wine to his mouth.
“Who else knows we’re here?” I asked.
If Damon and his forces could find us, we might have another problem on our hands.
“No one. We found you only because Theadora suspected you would come here after Hyrax Manor."
Camilla chuckled under her breath. “She is clever.”
Damon continued as if no one had interrupted him, turning towards me with a heavy sigh. “She’s as well as can be expected. Unharmed, albeit changed since you last saw her.”
A heavy weight pressed down on me, locking my throat and tongue even as I hung on his every word.
“Changed how?” Elaina asked, giving life to the question I couldn’t bring myself to ask.
The beast inside me was roaring, demanding I push the table aside and fly directly to her. I never should have left her there.
“Markedly thinner,” Veric answered after an uncomfortable pause. “She is… troubled. Restless. Hyrax and Caldrius have not harmed her, but she is forced to stay at their side and guarded night and day.”
I felt Camilla and Elaina’s eyes on me as I stared at the burgundy wine before me, the glass cold in my fingertips.
“Her powers?” Camilla asked.
Glancing up, I swallowed as Veric averted his eyes. It was just a flicker away to glance out the window behind us, where the sun was just beginning to set. Just a moment, but it was enough for icy fear to clench around me.
Say they came back.
Say they came back.
Say they—
“She doesn’t appear to have any.”
I squeezed my fingers into tight fists, hiding the blackening skin under the table.
“Nothing?” Camilla’s voice was hard, but I knew her well enough to hear the flash of concern hidden under her words.
Damon shook his head. “There was an altercation in the throne room. She attempted to step in on my behalf, but she didn’t use any magic. It’s not just that she’s weakened. She almost seems to be Mortal.”
And she was trapped. Trapped and alone.
We fell silent, everyone taking in that update with pursed lips and worried eyes.
It had been weeks since I had left her there. Weeks that she’d been stuck there with no allies or magic to defend herself against them. The love of my life was in an unspeakable amount of danger, and I was the one who had left her there.
“Perhaps we should just surrender now and save Hyrax the trouble of defeating us,” Camilla mumbled under her breath, resting her head on her chin.
“You said she had a message?” I asked, my throat feeling like gravel.
Damon turned to Veric, allowing her former fiancé to deliver her words. “She’s planning to steal the Book of the Gods from Hyrax, and then she will come to you.”
Risky.
