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  By blade and with love,

  Hasani Samara

  My heart ached as I read Hasani's pleas. I wanted nothing more than to be there with him to defend T'ahal against attack. I stared at his hand-writing for long after reading the letter, because it was as close to him as I could get right now.

  “Kai...” Cerin scooted closer to me on the bed. “Nahara has necromancers, and they now have healers. Do not forget that. We have given them different avenues of success.”

  “Even with necromancers they are outnumbered,” I murmured. “And Hasani made no mention of the dwarves. He said they are outnumbered, and he has no idea reinforcements are coming to aid Chairel.”

  “He wrote that letter over half a year ago, and Calder was sending his messengers not long after we left in Red Moon,” Cerin pointed out. “If he is so willing to work with the underground, it's possible they have already started negotiations.”

  “Yes, but with every day that goes by that allows them to work together, more time passes for Chairel and Hammerton to move into place.” I pulled Hasani's letter up to my nose, where I could smell the last remnants of the spiced soap he always used. “I need no further time to make my decision. We will go to see Queen Tilda first thing in the morning.”

  Six

  Queen Tilda's throne room was bright with morning sunlight. The castle's shadow was cast over the highlands to the west, where the tepid waters of the ocean glistened in streaks of light. In the distance, a sizeable Eteri warship slowly moved north, leaving the water broken behind it as its sails rippled in flashes of yellow and black.

  “You have come to negotiate?” The queen questioned, bringing my attention entirely to her.

  “I have. But first, I have a question for you.”

  The queen motioned toward me with a hand. “Go on.”

  “The Naharans have requested a military alliance with you. What was your answer?”

  She watched me carefully. “I did not give them one.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Why not?”

  “Because it was nothing but a plea from my inferiors. The Naharans have nothing to offer me. They wish to have access to my military. I do not grant access to it so easily.”

  “Yet you want their support in your war for Hammerton,” I pointed out.

  Queen Tilda blinked slowly before she readjusted on her throne. “All of your current allies combined do not equal my military, Kai. I have requested your aid with taking Hammerton, yes, but only because it is our combined resources which will give us the advantage. Nahara, alone, is worthless to me.”

  “With all due respect, if you refuse to aid Nahara, I will not negotiate with you,” I told her. “Do not waste my time. Tell me now if you are willing to consider fighting alongside the Naharan Army because if you do not give the order, I must take my Renegades and go to support my ally.”

  The queen appeared taken aback by my words. Clearly, she'd believed she could easily control me. Her jaw tensed as she thought over my suggestion. Her green eyes moved over to exchange glances with Altan and Cyrus before they came back to me.

  “You take your alliance with the Naharans very seriously given their country is weak and a tax upon your potential,” she finally said, her tone stiff.

  “I would hold our alliance in the same regard if we were to build one. If anything, it should make you pleased to know that I refuse to abandon my partnerships no matter how great of a threat I face.”

  “You want me to ally with the weakest country on Arrayis and send my men to aid them alongside you?” The queen straightened in her chair, before she shook her head, perplexed. “For what? What do I get out of this? For all I know, you would go there and fight with my armies and never return.”

  “I'm not asking for you to hand me your armies and send me to Nahara. If you agree to aid the Naharans, I will stay in Eteri and work for you and prepare your warships as you requested. Send one Sentinel and one army to T'ahal to help in their defense. That's all I ask. I will not leave Eteri so you know I will keep my word. Consider an alliance with the Naharans, because they are not as weak as you think. Besides...” I trailed off, letting my eyes flick over to Cyrus's. “If T'ahal falls, Chairel gains more territory. If we were to enter into a partnership, I would require your armies to aid my takeover of all of Chairel. Prevent T'ahal's fall, and you avoid future problems.”

  “And you will not consider working for me unless I agree to this?” The queen asked.

  “Not for one second,” I replied evenly. “The Seran Renegades will pack up and leave for T'ahal today if you refuse.”

  “You will all die,” she retorted, her green eyes moving over each of us.

  “Threat of death has never fazed me before, and it doesn't now. We have faced death many times and prevailed.” I returned her stare. “It is a good benefit for a potential ally to have.”

  Queen Tilda's nostrils flared, and her nails tapped patterns upon the throne. “Leave me with my Sentinels for a few moments.”

  I bowed lightly, before my friends and I turned to walk out of the room. Only when the door was closed behind us did I hear hushed tones hissing through it.

  We sat and waited a few doors down from the throne room on a long stone bench, with Azazel closest to the door. The archer leaned over as he sat, trying to ascertain the conversation happening behind its walls. The rest of us were quiet under the watchful gazes of the hall guards. I was a little nervous that I'd squandered all chances of allying with Eteri, but I had to be firm in my negotiations. Queen Tilda needed to know I would not let her walk all over me.

  “Be glad we left her alone with Altan and Cyrus,” Azazel murmured softly to me after we'd been waiting for a while. When I glanced over at him in question, he clarified, “They are encouraging her to accept your proposal.”

  It was a good sign. After waiting a few more minutes, the steel door opened, and Cyrus appeared. “You may return,” he said, motioning into the room.

  When we were back before the queen, she exhaled heavily. “I am prepared to make a deal with you,” she announced. “But if I am to form an alliance with the Naharans and send an army to their aid, I would ask more of you.”

  Of course. I said nothing, letting her continue.

  “There are many threats my country faces right now due to our rumored partnership with you,” Queen Tilda began. “Eteri and the gods are not on the best of terms, given we would not agree to aid them. Many of these gods have powers which could decimate whole units of my armies, and if we are partners in this war, they might retaliate against me. I would expect your utmost loyalty to Eteri in our alliance by expelling these gods from my land. After all, you have killed so-called immortals before.” She paused before adding, “And I would fully expect you to aid us with any threat at all, regardless of whether or not it comes from Chairel.”

  I nodded. “I can agree to that, as long as it is within reason. You cannot expect me to live in Eteri tied to your will forever.”

  “No, I cannot. But I wouldn't want to do that. After all, you have agreed to help me take Hammerton, and I have been after that land for centuries. I don't wish to take my time.” The queen tilted her head. “Five years, dear. Promise me five years of your time in Eteri, and I may not take even that. I would prefer to own parts of Hammerton by then.”

  “I will promise you five years on the condition Nahara is aided if and when they need it,” I replied.

  Queen Tilda nodded. “I can agree to that.” Her eyes moved over us all. “Do we have a deal?”

  “I have one further request before I say yes,” I replied.

  One of the queen's perfect eyebrows rose. “Yes?”

  “I want an alliance between the Seran Renegades and Eteri, but I also want an agreement mirroring it between my Renegades and the Sentinels.”

  Queen Tilda smiled. “That is unnecessary, dear. My Sentinels abide by my will, and it is with me that you will have your agreement.”

  “If it is unnecessary, then it certainl
y won't hurt you to accept my request.”

  The queen chuckled. “Very well, very well.” She glanced over to Cyrus. “Be a dear and fetch the scribes. Let us set this in stone.” Cyrus bowed before leaving to do just that. When we were alone with the queen and Altan, she said, “You drive a hard bargain, Kai.”

  “As do you,” I replied.

  Queen Tilda grinned at me. “Yes, which will make us a force to be reckoned with, my dear. How soon are you willing to leave to begin work on shielding my warships?”

  “We can leave tomorrow,” I replied. Glancing over to Azazel, who hadn't yet had a chance to buy clothing, I said, “My friends and I need to stock up on supplies.”

  “Understandable. You seem to pick up followers wherever you go,” she mused, eyeing Anto and the Alderi in particular.

  “It is relatively simple to find people who have been wronged by Chairel.”

  Queen Tilda chuckled again. “Yes, thankfully.” She hesitated. “Tomorrow, I will send you all to Tal. It is a coastal town to the south. It won't take you very long to get there.” She glanced over to Altan, and the Sentinel looked to us.

  “It'll take you a fortnight or two,” he said. “It's an easy walk along the cliffs. Perhaps you could take the griffons and get there even sooner.”

  “Altan, come now,” the queen cut him off, to which the Sentinel shrugged.

  “It was just a suggestion.”

  “None of us have ever ridden a griffon,” I told them. “Though it surprises me to hear you have them here.”

  “Of course, dear,” the queen said. “Where do you think Sera got the griffons they have for the Twelve? Griffons come from the highlands, not the mountains.”

  “How did Sera get them?” I inquired, curiously.

  “Stole them, of course,” Queen Tilda replied. “Back in the Golden Era during one of the many wars between here and Chairel. They only stole a few at the time and struggled to breed and raise them over the years, but they do well enough with them now. As I said, griffons are not meant to be raised in the mountains. It is why they've never been able to use more than a handful of them at a time. It is hard to breed them there.” Her eyes fell back to Altan. “I would let you all take the griffons as Altan so politely suggested, but we cannot be using them so needlessly. We are, after all, at war.”

  “I understand,” I offered.

  “Back to your mission in Tal,” the queen went on, “You will meet my chief engineer there. Her name is Magnilda Roark, and she is currently working on upgrading warships along the western coast. She can explain to you how our magical shields protect them and teach you all about it. I have hope that you both may figure out a way to further protect these ships from magic, and I hope she has figured out a way to keep our ships from sinking whilst carrying the giants.”

  “The dwarves do not deal in magic,” I reminded her. “You should have no need of magical protection.”

  Queen Tilda pursed her lips to the side, thinking. “The dwarves are not our only enemies in this war, Kai.”

  I thought of the Serans, but Chairel rarely used mages in their navies. “You have tried wards?”

  “Wards on a ship prevent us from wielding magic,” the queen replied. “We can protect ourselves against incoming spells that way, but we cannot attack with spells, either. Magnilda can explain more.”

  I nodded. “Very well.” To gauge the queen's honesty on other matters, I asked, “Which of your Sentinels will be leaving tomorrow to aid T'ahal?”

  The queen chuckled at my audacity. “I will send Kirek and her army, dear. Ten thousand soldiers. Will that satiate you?”

  “It will, but Kirek may not be comfortable fighting amongst necromancers. She has expressed distaste for it before.”

  “Kirek can suck up her distaste. She does what I tell her,” the queen replied sternly.

  The door behind us opened, and Cyrus came back into the room, followed by two scribes in robes carrying parchment and inkwells. We spent hours going over our agreement, this time putting it in writing. Between my friends and I, we were sure to make clarifications whenever things were too vague because the queen seemed like someone who would try to stretch the limits of wordplay.

  I also made sure to get the second agreement between the Sentinels and us that I'd specifically asked for. If the queen were ever sly enough to try to back out of our deal or double-cross me, it would allow the Sentinels to abide by our agreement by their own wills, guilt-free. Also, I could tell that the simple act of requesting their names on official parchment between us made the Sentinels happy and more receptive to working with me. All seven Sentinels were not present, of course, but by the time everything was said and done, four had signed it. Our request for Bhaskar to sign it was waved away, for we were told he had left with his army. This explanation was suspicious, of course, but there was little we could do other than stay on guard.

  Our alliance with Eteri was the first we had entered into where it felt bittersweet. I had befriended Hasani and Calder, so the agreements the Renegades shared with them felt natural and rewarding. In both cases, either party needed the other equally as much. In Eteri, I desperately needed the queen's armies more than she needed us. Queen Tilda was merely impatient, it seemed; she knew she could take over Hammerton much easier with the additional numbers and powers I offered her, but if the queen were to simply grow her armies while trying to retain peace for a number of years, she could have succeeded at that anyway. Of course, her country had been targeted by Chairel. It was possible she was more fearful of the threat than it seemed.

  We left the castle in the late afternoon and headed straight for the stairway leading down into the second tier of the city. The opening was wide and square and sat just within a stone entrance hall with a risen foundation, which served to keep the stairs from flooding in times of rain. Just as we reached it, my eyes caught on Kirek from a distance, barking orders to soldiers of all types who ran back and forth with gear and supplies. Her thick brown hair was picked up by a sudden breeze and carried past her face to the west, where the skies warned of an incoming storm with deep gray, ominous clouds. I hoped it was not an omen.

  “Kai?” Nyx questioned, as the others waited for me.

  “Hold on,” I murmured, before hurrying over to the third Sentinel.

  Kirek barely glanced over as I approached. She watched the soldiers follow her orders, not paying any mind to the rumbling of thunder overhead. Two bronzed hands sat on her hips, and she did not give me a greeting as I stopped beside her. Kirek had been one of the Sentinels to sign our agreement, but that apparently hadn't made her more receptive to me.

  “You are leaving tomorrow for Makani?” I questioned.

  “No,” Kirek replied shortly. “We are leaving for Scirocco.”

  “I have heard Scirocco's location makes it hard for warships to maneuver there,” I commented.

  “It does.”

  I glanced over at her. “How many soldiers are you taking with you?”

  “Ten thousand.”

  “That's a lot of ships.”

  “The threat is great, and the stakes are high,” Kirek replied, simply.

  “I wanted to thank you, Kirek, for all of the trouble you're going through to aid Nahara. I greatly appreciate it.”

  “I am not doing this for you or Nahara. I am doing this for my queen.” Kirek made a motion to one of her soldiers, directing them distractedly.

  “And I appreciate it nonetheless.” I tried not to let her off-putting demeanor get to me. When Kirek did not reply, I finally said, “My negotiations for Nahara's aid were made not only because they are my ally, Kirek, but the prince there means a great deal to me.”

  To my surprise, this seemed to catch her attention for once. She glanced over at me, distance in her green eyes. “You are stringing two men along?” Kirek questioned with an edge of disgust.

  “No. Prince Hasani is like a brother to me. As I'm sure you are aware, I have already lost the only brother I've ever had in
this war. Terran Sera's loyalties lie with Sirius. Bjorn Berg was like a father to me before Sirius had him executed. I have lost many more than that in my quest to come to Eteri.”

  Kirek stared straight ahead, though her gaze softened. “Why are you telling me this?”

  I swallowed hard, looking off over the western cliff edge. Because I am desperate, I thought, and I cannot aid someone I love. That responsibility lies on your shoulders alone, and I have hope we can come to terms with one another before you leave and I cannot plead with you any longer.

  “Hasani is a good man,” I finally told her, my voice thickened with emotion. “I have promised your queen that I will stay here to aid Eteri while he is in danger. I will protect your land and your people with my life, Kirek, and I plead you do the same while you are in Nahara. Because I cannot, and there is nothing I would rather be doing.”

  Kirek made another motion to a soldier, before dropping her arm to her side. “Your pleas are heard, Kai.”

  A wave of relief fluttered through my stomach. “Thank you.”

  “Do not thank me,” she replied, though her voice was no longer as forceful. “I am only doing my job.”

  “And I am only showing you gratitude,” I replied. “Allow yourself to accept it.”

  Kirek exhaled quickly in a burst through her nostrils. “Kai, I have lived far too long to care much for sentiment. We will go to Nahara, and I will protect your brother Hasani. We will prevent T'ahal's fall. Do not give into worry. It will pull your mind away from your focus in Eteri. Work hard here, and I will battle hard over there. Before long, we will fight together in Hammerton.” She glanced over at me for a rare moment, her green eyes portraying confidence in my own.

  “Very well,” I agreed, nodding toward her. After she did the same to me, I added, “Have a safe trip.”

  Kirek did not reply. As I finally turned away from her to rejoin my friends, the first of the night's rains began to fall.

  Seven

  2nd of High Star, 421

  Tal was larger in both scope and importance than our simple map led us to believe. The town sat at the far southern end of the Orna Cliffs, just where the land flattened into plains. Because we were in the southernmost settlement of Eteri before the land thickened into the wildlands, the beaches along the western coast were a mix of both the dirt we'd seen on the shores to the north and the creamy sands of the south. The breezes here were rapid and cool, so even though we were on a sunny beach in the beginning of High Star, it was comfortable for all of us.