A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(72)

“Yes.” He pauses in the doorway, looking ready to fight a war this very instant, while I’m still blinking sleep out of my eyes. “Clanna Sun and Nolla Verin will see you in the strategy room when you’re ready. They intercepted two messages regarding this anti-magic faction. They would like to double the number of guards at the city gates. I agree. And many of the generals believe we should send another small company through the mountain pass.”

I’m not awake enough to process this. I certainly don’t feel very queenly. “I—what?”

“We’ve received word that Rhen has moved soldiers into position. Once you make a decision, have word sent to the fields. If you choose to send soldiers, I will speak to the captains about who is best suited.”

“But—”

He’s already gone. I rub at my eyes and glance at the frosty window. He’s dining with the soldiers? Maybe my world really did change overnight.

Nolla Verin must grow tired of waiting, because she raps on my door before I’ve finished dressing, and I tell the guards to let her in. She looks irate and impatient, and she’s as trussed up in leather and weapons as Grey was. I’m surprised she doesn’t stamp her foot when the door falls closed behind her.

“That foolish prince has already sent a regiment to the border,” she says. “And you are not even dressed?”

It’s so silly and juvenile, but her manner is so extreme that it makes me want to slow my preparations. I dip my finger in a pot of scented cream, then dab it on my neck. “That foolish prince is likely responding to the regiment we stationed on the other side of the mountains. Tell me about the messages you intercepted.”

“Those have already been dealt with. You’re welcome. In regards to the army, I have spoken with Clanna Sun and the generals,” she says. “We will send two companies through the pass to station them north of—”

“Wait. Stop.” I turn and look at her. For as supported as Grey makes me feel, Nolla Verin always makes me second-guess myself. Even the way he shared this news is completely at odds with the way my sister stormed in here. When you’re ready. Once you make a decision. If you choose. He never attempts to wrestle control from me, which is always fascinating because I’d likely yield to him without hesitation. “What did you deal with?”

“The messages,” she says with feigned patience, as if I’m too slow to keep up. “This faction seems to be making an attempt to organize another attempt on your life, but Ellia Maya has replaced the messages with new ones that will lead them right to our guards.”

A chill grips my spine, doubly cold due to the callous way she imparts this information. “And …” I have to clear my throat. “What did you do with the army?”

“I sent word that we will send two companies through the pass,” she says. “One will support the soldiers already stationed there, and one will begin a clandestine assault on the smaller towns, so we can prevent word from spreading. If we can form a circle around his regiment, we can cut off their supply chain and destroy them before they can mount a defense.”

“Stop.” I’m staring at her. It’s one thing to stop an attempt on my life, but entirely another when it comes to commanding my army. “Nolla Verin, we gave Emberfall sixty days, and their limit has not expired. I will not begin slaughtering their people just to gain an advantage.”

She gapes at me like I’ve started speaking another language. “You do not want to gain an advantage? Sister, this is war.”

The censure in her voice is chilling. “It’s not war yet,” I snap.

“You always naively wish for peace,” she says harshly, “while war threatens to destroy everything around you. Prince Rhen has already sent soldiers to the border. He is already preparing to—”

“Have his soldiers engaged with ours?”

“No, but that means nothing.”

I step away from my dressing table. “It means everything!”

“You wish to honor the timeline you offered, when he is clearly not?”

“He is preparing for war, just as we are.” I glare at her. “I will not go back on my word.”

“Your word.” She scoffs. “You do recall that the man took you prisoner? That he killed Sorra? That he refused any attempt at alliance?”

Her words hit me like a slap. I do remember all those things.

Nolla Verin sees me flinch, and she moves closer.

“There are rumors,” she says quietly. “That Grey will destroy us from within—”

I whip my head up. “He will not.”

“I know he will not,” she says, but there’s something about the way she says it that makes me wonder if she’s fallen prey to these rumors, too. I wonder just how broadly this faction against magic has begun to sink its claws into my country. “But your people will be less likely to believe these rumors if you take decisive action against Rhen’s forces. If Grey is seen as following your order, not using his power against our soldiers.”

I study her. Outside my window, the sun crawls its way up from the horizon, and the icicles that formed overnight have begun an incessant drip-drip-drip against the stone of my sill.

When I say nothing, Nolla Verin sighs, and some of the fierceness seeps out of her expression. She tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “We are going to destroy his soldiers anyway,” she says softly. “What is a matter of days if it prevents us from losing our own?”