Page 53 of To Fight and To Fold

"In the flesh," he said, and outstretched his arms, grinning with all the charm he could muster.

Thea rolled her eyes to disguise the fondness that filled her.

Which was quite a lot, according to just about everyone who crossed paths with him. He just had one of those faces that made one want to trust him, something about his soft eyes and friendly smile.

"Don't get cute," Vaelen snapped… followed by an affectionate sigh. "Tell her what you told me."

Thea's heart raced, and unbidden, her mind trailed to Aaryn. Was she okay? Had he brought news of her?

"I did something," he said, wincing.

"Something bad?" Thea asked.

"…Possibly."

"In my opinion, yes," Vaelen grumbled.

"Tell me," Thea said.

Rolim held up his hands. "Listen, I think it's a good plan. It could work!"

"What plan?" Thea pressed. His casual demeanor was making her nervous.

"After Thea's disappearance, word spread through the guard that there were traitors in their midst. It also spread that there were no clues in her quarters, and everyone was frustrated. Word also got out that the investigator was serving cups of tea during their 'interviews.'" At this, he raised two fingers and bent them to emphasize the dubiousness of the last word.

"I didn't drink the tea, and they couldn't force me without admitting they were using magic, so…"

"He ran," Vaelen snapped, a frown between her brows.

"After the interview!" he defended. "I played it safe, hung around for a few days, went about my duties like normal, and then I ran. But unlike Thea, I left them something to find."

Vaelen crossed her arms, though she looked doubtful as she peered at the returned guard. "Go on."

"I left a fake correspondence, implying that there would be another dragon theft."

Thea parted her lips, and then decided to swallow her words. Tension struck between her shoulders and she lifted her hands to steeple them in front of her lips.

Vaelen lifted a hand to massage her temple. "And what does this accomplish?"

He smiled. Did he ever turn off the charm? Did he know how? "They know Carissa and I are… an item. They'll use Carissa as bait. But Carissa will come with me. She'll bring her dragon too, I just know it. I feel it. They will lay the bait, and we can take it."

"But they'll be expecting us," Thea said, brow furrowing. "How does this give us an advantage?"

"We have an advantage already," he said. "Magic! As soon as you see Carissa and Stormstrike disappear with me, we can all vanish."

Vaelen narrowed her eyes, then glanced at the careful map they had of the castle. The Tethered's tower, the dragon's caves and field, and the canyon behind it. The gates and the market and the shops and the university.

Ultimately, Evergale Castle had been built in an advantageous location, with mountains to its west that held the dragons’ cubbies and watchtowers planted amongst the rocky terrain; open field to its east, past the castle wall; and a deadly canyon at its back.

Certainly a difficult terrain to plan an attack on.

Unless one was already inside.

Unless one had magic.

"What if they arm themselves with magic? It wouldn't be the first time," Thea pointed out.

He shrugged. "They have charmed armor. So what? They only deploy the Magic Guard for battles, and they're probably still all hung up at Timberscale, trying to crush the last of the rebellion there." He turned to Thea. "You know they don't waste magic on the Second Guard. The enchanted staves the First Guard finally caught onto are powerful, but they can't stop us from teleporting away."