The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1)(7)

I pulled a pile of forged documents closer. “Good job on these,” I muttered to anyone, everyone. The papers still required a few finishing touches to make them appear as authentic as the true residency papers we’d found; that was my job.

“Wil and Mel will infiltrate Skyvale Palace as refugee Liadian nobility,” he said. “King Terrell won’t be able to turn them away, not with the Wraith Alliance still in effect. Once they’re in place, we’ll check for their reports at Laurence’s Bakery every three days. If you need supplies delivered to the drop or if there’s an emergency, we’ll check whenever we see the signal. Which will be?” He raised an eyebrow at Melanie.

“A red ribbon in our window.” She pulled the silk length from her hip pouch. “We’ll tie it up the first day, so you know we’re successful and where we’re located.”

“Very good.” Patrick gave a clipped nod. “We’re on a deadline for the ten-year anniversary of the One-Night War, so I want us all to have clear goals for this mission. That way, if anything goes wrong, we know who to blame.”

His narrowed-eye glance at me meant he counted last night’s encounter with Black Knife as something “going wrong.”

“Goal one: intelligence. We know the Aecorian terrain and we have people willing to fight for us, but we can’t risk them until we know where the Indigo Army bases are located in Aecor, how many troops they have, and what kind of weapons they’re using.

“Two: we suspect King Terrell’s people also have a list of resistance groups in Aecor—groups just waiting for the opportunity to fight back. We need that list, both for our own purposes, and to keep our potential allies out of enemy hands.”

“We already know of a few resistance groups,” Oscar said. “And our contacts in Aecor have been scouting for more.”

Patrick gave a brisk nod. “But if we’re to take back an entire kingdom and defend it, we need to overwhelm the Indigo Army. A force of a thousand people won’t be enough. Not against an army that’s had a decade to establish its hold.”

Everyone looked somber.

Patrick pulled a sheet of paper from the pile in the middle of the table and slid it toward me. “Of course, they’d notice if their list went missing, and they’ll have multiple copies. Wil and Mel, your job will be to replace their list with ours, which holds false information. Send ‘updated copies’ to the forces in Aecor if you can, but regardless, they will spend precious time discovering the problem and reverifying all of their information.”

“Meanwhile,” I said, “we’ll have our contacts reach out to these resistance groups, warn them of the Indigo Army’s attention, and recruit them for our purposes.” I glanced at the paper he gave me. Names, numbers, locations, all no doubt meant to lead the Indigo Army into a trap.

“Exactly.” Patrick rested his forearms on the table, his fingers interlaced. His tone was steady, but weighted with something I would have called grief if he had been anyone else. “As for the third goal, this is a bit more disturbing and crucial.”

I held my breath.

“I’ve heard rumors that the people of Aecor are being drafted into the Indigo Army to fight on the front lines of the wraithland—that they’re being used to patrol the borders, fend off wraith beast attacks, and track the wraith’s progress. Wilhelmina. Melanie. I need you to verify this as soon as you can.” Patrick pressed his palms to the table and stood, leaning forward. “If this is true, those are our people sent out for slaughter in the wraithland, breathing in that toxic haze. Those are our farmers and fisherman, our chandlers and cobblers. Those are our people,” he said again.

My heart felt like it had climbed into my throat. Those were my parents’ people. My people. “I’ll find out if it’s true.” My voice was deep, grave. “If it is, I will deal with it.”

“I know you will.” Patrick gazed over the assembled Ospreys, and his tone shifted like fire. “We will have our army. It will come from refugees who recognize the Indigo Kingdom’s nefarious nature. It will come from the resistance fighters still in Aecor. And it will come from the people being drafted into the wraithlands.

“Most of all, it will come from the people living in fear, without hope, and under the false rule of a conquering king. People will come to our call when they hear we have the most important piece of all: Princess Wilhelmina. She’s alive. She’s with us. And she’s going to take back her kingdom.”

I kept my posture straight and my expression stiff as a few of the others cheered and Melanie smiled at me. Maintaining morale was a necessary endeavor, and Patrick was good at it. He was good at a lot of things.

And to him I was a name and a title.

Patrick leaned on his fists and focused on me. The scar over his eyebrow stood out stark and white. “There’s one more thing I want from your time in the palace.”

I waited.

“A map. I want to know which windows lead to which rooms. I want to know where the armories are, where guards are stationed, and even where King Terrell sleeps at night. I want to know everything about that place, that way, if your disguises are compromised, we can come and get you.”

I’d want a map for myself, too, so making a copy for him wouldn’t be trouble. “Consider it already done.”