Alliance (18 page)

There were some things that could not be allowed to fall into Seran’s hands.

The others had remained strangely quiet, waiting for Ryneq’s reaction. “Glaevahl, Avelor,” he said, looking between the two of them. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to adequately thank you for everything you’ve done for my people. Without the help of the elves, Seran would no doubt be sitting here instead of me.” Avelor looked as though he was about to interrupt, but Ryneq held up his hand to silence him. “But this is not your battle, and I would not risk the lives of you or your men when the barrier eventually fails.”

Glaevahl bowed his head slightly. “Thank you, Your Highness. But we did not accompany you back to Torsere just to set up the temporary barrier.” He clasped his fingers and let his hands rest on the table. “The witch may have more power than any one of us individually, but we have a considerable amount of magic between us. We would not leave you to face a magical attack without magic of your own. Besides”—his gaze flickered over to Eldin and Nykin for a moment—“I believe we may have something to help our chances considerably.”

W
HEN
R
YNEQ
returned to his quarters, he was pleasantly surprised to see Thane there, setting out what appeared to be a late supper on the table. “Thane,” he said, walking forward to greet him. “I wasn’t expecting you back for another week at least.” Ryneq frowned when he noticed the slight limp as Thane walked, and he moved to stop Thane with a hand on his shoulder. “Thane?”

Thane smiled. “I assure you, Sire, Djilak has given me the go-ahead to return to my duties.” He gestured down to his leg, clearly not putting all his weight on it. “I’m afraid this is as good as it’s going to get.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Although Thane’s injury had been an accident, it didn’t stop Ryneq from feeling responsible. He had been fetching his breakfast, after all. “Are you certain you wouldn’t like to rest for a few more days?”

“The palace is a hive of activity, Sire, especially out in the lower town. I felt lazy just doing nothing. The kitchens prepared supper since dinner was interrupted, so I offered to bring it to your quarters. Besides….” He faltered slightly, his gaze darting to the floor before meeting Ryneq’s. “With Kalis still missing….”

“Of course.” With the witch’s attack on the barrier and everything that had happened afterward, Kalis’s disappearance had slipped Ryneq’s mind. It didn’t surprise him in the least that Thane already knew about it, though. “Thank you for bringing me supper, Thane. I won’t require your help for the rest of the evening, but I would ask that you send for Nysad on your way out.”

“Yes, Sire.” Thane bowed and turned to head toward the door. When it closed softly behind him, Ryneq sank down into his bed and let out a groan. His men were tired, so after the meeting with the elves, he’d ordered those not on duty to get some rest while they could. He was hoping to do the same.

He looked up as the door opened. “Nykin? I thought you had to get back to the Eyrie?”

“I do.” Nykin slipped inside and locked the door behind him. “But I just wanted to say good night first. I have a little time.”

“Well in that case….” Ryneq stood, ignoring the way his body protested at moving. Nykin met him halfway across the room, and Ryneq immediately drew him close with his hands cupping Nykin’s jaw. “Good night,” he whispered, their lips brushing as he spoke.

“Night.” Nykin wrapped his arms around Ryneq’s back, and it felt so good to be held tight.

They kissed. Nykin’s hands fisted in the back of Ryneq’s jacket, and Ryneq slid his hands back to clutch Nykin’s hair, just a little too hard. He could taste the desperation and wanted nothing more than to pull Nykin back onto their bed and forget about everything for a while. But as usual, the reality of their situation was never far away.

Ryneq broke the kiss and sighed when someone knocked on the door.

“I’d better go, anyway.” Nykin stepped back and straightened his uniform. “Try and get some sleep.”

Ryneq nodded, although the likelihood of that happening was increasingly unlikely, and followed Nykin out to the living area. “Come in,” he called out, his gaze fixed on Nykin. Nykin walked back toward the door just as it opened and Nysad entered.

He looked between Nykin and Ryneq. “Sire? Forgive me for interrupting, but Thane—”

“It’s all right, Nysad,” Nykin answered and reached for the door before it closed. “I need to go to the Eyrie anyway.” He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled at Ryneq before he left, pulling the door shut behind him.

It hurt to watch him go. Even though Nykin would be back from his shift in a few hours, Ryneq couldn’t shake the feeling that if they didn’t win this battle, then he might soon be watching Nykin leave forever. He’d order his riders away before he let Seran and his witch get anywhere near them.

“Sire?” Nysad prompted.

Ryneq sighed, and turned to face him. “Any news on Kalis? Have you found her yet?”

“No. We’ve searched all over, but there’s no sign of her anywhere.” Nysad paused, letting the meaning of his words settle between them. “How did she manage to slip past all the guards? We have men stationed all along the wall. Someone must have seen her.”

“There are other ways out of the palace, Nysad, as well you know.” Ryneq closed his eyes, silently cursing his younger self. Passageways ran under the palace, built into the mountains by his ancestors, and Ryneq had been stupid enough to trust Kalis in his youth. She didn’t know about all of them, but she knew of one. “I think it’s safe to assume where she headed, and she may already be talking to Seran as we speak.”

Nysad’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly. “Sire,” he said, his voice lacking all the hardness from before. “There’s every chance they would kill her on sight. I doubt very much she has the same arrangement as Danek.”

“But if they find out her position in the palace….”
Gods
, all the secrets she could probably tell them. “Even if they don’t trust her at first, they have ways of getting the truth, Nysad.” Hatak may be dead, but Seran was just as ruthless. It wouldn’t take long before they could tell that Kalis spoke the truth. “I suspect she knows about the barrier. If they discover it will fail after three attacks, then they won’t need to wait for the dragon’s blood to be ready.”

Ryneq paced in front of the table, his head aching with all the possibilities of what could happen.

“Shall I call everyone back to the war room, Sire?”

Ryneq stopped and glanced over at him. Nysad looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. “No, let them sleep. There’s nothing we can do anyway. They’ll either attack the barrier or they won’t, and we have plans in place already for the former. Go get some rest, Nysad.” The
while you can
was left unsaid. “We’ll meet in the morning.”

“Very well. Good night, Sire.”

“Good night.”

As soon as Nysad left, Ryneq pulled off his boots and collapsed onto the bed, determined this time to sleep. He needed to be able to focus tomorrow, and that would be impossible without at least a few hours of rest. He refused to think about Kalis or Seran or any of it right now, and let his mind wander to Nykin. It didn’t take long before he felt the pull of unconsciousness and the blessed relief it brought with it.

N
YKIN
YAWNED
as he steadily climbed the steps leading up to the Eyrie. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed beside Ryneq for a few hours, but he and the rest of his unit were on shift until the sun came up. The attack had taken a lot out of all the riders, but Eldin’s group had suffered the brunt of it, and both they and their dragons needed to rest and recover.

With any luck, Nykin could grab a little sleep while he was up here. If their predictions were correct, the witch wouldn’t be attempting to breach the barrier anytime soon. But they still had to be prepared. Nothing in this war was set in stone.

“Hey,” Nykin greeted Chaiss, one of his fellow riders, as he reached the top of the steps. The entrance was deserted apart from Chaiss, and even he looked as though he was headed elsewhere. “Where is everyone?”

Chaiss rubbed his eyes and yawned, and Nykin groaned as he followed suit. “Don’t, I’m having trouble enough as it is.”

“Sorry.” Chaiss laughed around his hand as he tried to stifle a second one. “I think most of them are in the storeroom. The kitchens sent up hot tea and cake a few moments ago, and since the storeroom is the warmest place, they took it down there. I was just on my way there now.” He raised an eyebrow and nodded in the direction of the tunnels. “Coming?”

“Yeah.” Nykin smiled. The thought of a hot drink and something to eat sounded very appealing. He fell into step beside Chaiss, hanging back a little when the tunnel began to narrow.

“Do you think the witch will attack on our shift?” Chaiss glanced back over his shoulder as he walked. “I was talking to some of the others, and they’re pretty worried about those arrows. We all saw what happened to them.”

Nykin sighed, searching for the right thing to say. He’d never been in this position before, never had the task of reassuring a member of his team. That had always been Eldin’s job, and he was so much better at it than Nykin could ever hope to be. “I don’t know. Fimor said he sensed her magic restoring as we were leaving. I think that’s how she managed to pull the arrows to her. But I don’t know how long it’ll take until she’s recovered enough to mount another attack on the barrier.”

He didn’t mention anything of what they’d discussed in the meeting with Eldin and the elves. He assumed the dragons must know about it by now—or if not, then they would soon enough—but even as the leader of the second group of riders, Nykin didn’t think it was his place to tell everyone. He’d ask Eldin when he came up later.

“Nykin?”

“Excuse me for a moment.” Nykin motioned to his head, and Chaiss nodded in understanding.

“What’s the matter? Are the dragons not healing after the attack?”
Nykin felt the edges of panic stir at the thought.

“No, they are all doing well. Eldin contacted Vashek about the spell. All your riders are to report to the landing caves immediately to collect a vial of blood from their dragons. Eldin needs you to explain to them what’s happening.”

Nykin hurried, urging Chaiss to go faster in front of him until they were almost at the storeroom.
“Why isn’t Eldin doing it himself?”
Nykin understood that Eldin would be exhausted after the attack, but he wouldn’t usually let that stop him from delivering news like this.

“He is with the elves, going over the spell. The witch already has our blood, Nykin. We need to move quickly to have a chance of performing the spell before hers.”

Nykin paused at the entrance, letting Chaiss go in ahead of him.
“Are all the dragons willing?”

“Of course. We have no desire to let the witch or Seran succeed in their plans to overrun the palace.”

Nykin looked around the storeroom, taking in the quiet chatter of his fellow riders as they tried their hardest to relax and wait.
“I’ll explain as fast as I can, and then we’ll be up in the caves.”

“Very well, Nykin.”

Nykin cleared his throat, and all eyes focused on him. He took a deep breath, willing away his sudden bout of nerves. “As you all saw earlier, the witch is now in possession of dragon’s blood, and we think she’ll harvest it to cast dark magic and break through the elven barrier.” A soft murmur echoed around the room, but no one spoke aloud. “The elves have come up with a spell to counter her magic, but it also requires the use of dragon’s blood.”

The murmurs got louder, just as Nykin had expected, and he quickly raised his hand to silence them. They didn’t have time for a discussion. “Your dragons have all been consulted and have consented. We need to collect their blood and get it back to the elves as quickly as possible.”

Chaiss leaned against the wall closest to Nykin. “What do we use to collect it in?” He didn’t question Nykin’s orders, and Nykin was incredibly grateful, because the atmosphere in the room settled down straightaway.

“I believe….” Nykin strode over to the shelves off to the side of the room. They kept creams and balms in there for healing the dragons, and if Nykin remembered correctly, they also kept empty bottles and jars. Sure enough, at the back behind two rows of ointment, Nykin found a stack of empty glass vials with stoppers. “Here.” He turned and began to hand them out. “We need to hurry. Your dragons are already making their way down from the mountain.”

The riders came forward to take a vial each and then quickly left the storeroom to head up to the landing caves. Chaiss was one of the last, wrapping his fingers around it carefully before tucking it in the pocket of his jacket.

“Will it protect us against the witch?” He smoothed his thumb over the outline of the vial in his pocket.

“I hope so.” Nykin palmed one of his own and followed Chaiss out of the room and along the tunnel.