Chapter 476 (1/2)

Chapter 476

Chapter 474: Cracks in the Ice

VARAY AURAE

“If the army attacks, I don’t think we have the forces to hold them back”

“Of course we don’t! We haven’t had a chance to recover froons, we ht on in!”

“Spoken like a true Beynir”

“How dare you, madam! House Beynir is the oldest and most loyal supporter of House Glayder!”

“And yet Sir Lionel, your brother, was part of a treasonous plot to take over the Wall and hold it alongside the Flamesworths for his own personal enrichh” Lord Curtis didn’t raise his voice in anger; instead, he just sounded tired

I glanced at his under his eyes, his usually iany hair was disheveled, and there was a certain softness to the way he slumped into his chair that reminded me intensely of his father

Beside hiid, sharply aware, and iave away no hint of her thoughts, and, unlike her brother, not a single jet-black hair was out of place as it fraht back

Even the mana the two royals exuded was the polar opposite: Curtis’s flickering and fiery mana seemed to ebb and floith every comment, while Kathyln’s was still and stoic, just like her

Across the ornate table fros sat their council Otto Beynir, a short, pudgy lared at Lady Vesta of House Lambert The older woman, who looked every bit the part of the elder stateswoman of her house in her puffy purple and lare but sihtly pursed

Sir Abrham of House Astor, a man of middle years with a paunchy belly and a patchwork beard from the scar across his left side, cleared his throat unco here, Vesta Look at the facts” He stabbed thewith suppressed nerves “We put everything we had into guaranteeing a relationshi+p with the dragons, but they’ve up and left us to die Arthur Leywin’s y has spread Dicathen’s defenders thinly across the continent We’re facing an opponent who already defeated us once, and handily I ht add The only positive development I can see is that the Alacryan forces haven’t turned their attention to Etistin yet”

Miss Mountbatten trembled as she leaned forward over the table The elected voice of the commoners, Dee looked more like a baker than a royal counselor, but she was normally a voice of reason within the council’s politics “I still don’t understand You proons would protect the people!”

Jackun of House Maxwell let out a booh and around hi man, and when he wished it, his voice easily sed everyone else's “They’ve left us proper fucked It’s clear ere utter fools to ever put faith in them”

A chorus of admonishments erupted around the ornate table, but Jackun waved theard for the expected niceties

“This isn’t helpful” The council chamber fell silent as Lady Kathyln’s icy voice cut across their arguments All eyes turned to her, even her brother’s Her steady gaze swept across the counselors “You forget yourselves, all of you Our purpose here is to serve the people of Etistin, and all of Sapin This panic, infighting, and fatalistic co hardly does so We are not defeated, so we are not abandoning our duty”

She paused, inviting the counselors to respond, but the chamber was the quietest I had ever heard it Within the silence, though, was a palpable tension that I sensed as a kind of focusing of the h my core, and I shi+fted uncomfortably

“We have made e leaving her tone “Curtis and I were eager to believe the dragons were our salvation, and perhaps we have allowed that desire to cloud our judgreater plan unfolding that we don’t fully understand”

Otto Beynir scoffed When Kathyln answered with a piercing glare, the shi+fty little etic “My Lady Glayder, it would be a fool’s hope to trust that Arthur Leywin can stop what is unfolding”

“Was it not Arthur arned us not to trust the dragons?” Kathyln interjected “I am ashamed to have allowed the malcontent of this counsel to convince ons”

“Lady, let’s not act as if Arthur Leywin is infallible,” Beynir countered “If the norantly ‘iainst us, and Alacryan forces have struck out across race at all is that they see Leywin himself”

Florian Glayder, third cousin to Curtis and Kathyln, brushed his fingers through hair thatfor the first tiy We have already evacuated the surrounding countryside, bringing everyone within fifty h a siege if they atte, which would be unlikely since Lance Godspell is not within the city anyway We just need to stay within our walls and wait”

“Perhaps it would be best if the ht,” Vesta said tentatively, as if she were verbally testing the waters of this line of thinking

My gaze jumped to Curtis and Kathyln Curtis leaned forward and rubbed his chin with his fingers, a s his brow as he considered his advisor’s words Histo catch in ood Beside hihtly, a crack in her carefully ed facade

“Finally, the lady fro up his hands

“That’s a terrible thing to say,” Miss Mountbatten said at nearly the same time

“Now, Dee, it may seeesture of peace “Arthur Leywin has been antagonistic toward the dragons and disrespectful to Lord and Lady Glayder If the eneive Guardian Charon enough tiency he’s been called to so he can sweep the rest of the Alacryans froons spit in your face, and you open your rowled, shaking his shaved head “I don’t care ons have shown us just how much they think of us How many of those scaly bastards are in Dicathen? And they don’t leave even one to guard Lady Kathyln and Lord Curtis? Nah, you’d have to be a complete moron to expect that they’ll be back to help”

Otto leaned forward, pressing his palms into the table top “Perhaps, but that doesn’t discount the rest of the plan We knohere the Leywin boy is hidden We could eliminate two threats at once if we offered to trade that information for a promise of peace”

Kathyln’s head tilted to the side, and her eyes narrowed dangerously “So your suggestion is to offer the ene for them to just leave us alone?”

“It would be athe bodies of your people as shi+elds for a man who refused even to explain why he expected us to die for hi noise as Kathyln pushed her chair back froo too far, Otto Go, now, and be glad that I’ you in the palace dungeon” Kathyln’s glare was bitterly cold and eer only

“L-L-Lady, I…” Otto stared at Kathyln ide eyes as his voice left hi to puffa placating hand toward his sister, but she silenced whatever argule look

Curtis cleared his throat and stood, gestured for the chaered beside them and spoke briefly to each counselor as they left I followed behind Florian, but Kathyln spokeI should stay When all the others were gone, Curtis also disuards and then closed the doors behind thearded his sister warily “That was poorly handled, Kathyln These people are just as powerful as we are, perhaps even more so, and e much of our success to them”

“I do not see that as the benefit you seem to,” Kathyln answered matter-of-factly ”They were out of line, and they needed to be reminded of their role here”

Curtis raised his hands in a gesture of peace “I’h with Otto’s plan, of course, but they aren’t exactly wrong to be scared”

Kathyln took a deep breath, outwardly settling her nerves “I’ht co to our scouts, the Alacryans are growing near to finding the hidden cave Our earth-attribute ic these invadersto search for Arthur” Kathyln’s eyes met mine “Lance Varay, I would like to knohat you think we should do”

My voice was slightly rough from disuse, and I had to set estion, but I’m…not entirely certain you will like it”

Kathyln allowed herself the sarded uised concern “Go on,” Kathyln said

“Arthurback to our last conversation with hi in our power to ensure that his location was not discovered With the Alacryans searching the surrounding wilderlands, it seems like only a matter of time We need to draw their attention in a different direction”

“What exactly do you have in

“The coastline to the southwest is full of natural caves The Alacryan forces haven’t yet concentrated on the in that direction” I paused, knowing how the next part sounded “I will fly there i the the coast”

“You would use yourself as a distraction?” Curtis asked, his voice full of disbelief “Absurd I knoerful you are, Varay, but you can’t hope to fight off an entire army on your own What if they are led by retainers or Scythes?”

Or even Wraiths, I acknowledged, though I didn’t speak the thought out loud “The harder fought the battle, the more it will sell the diversion”

“You are too valuable,” Curtis answered, shaking his head and taking a step closer to me and Kathyln “I won’t allow you to risk yourself for Arthur, especially since we have received conflicting reports of his actual location”

Kathyln’s brows rose “Arthur has asked us to buy him time If he had a reason to make us believe he was in that cave, then it doesn’t matter if he is actually there or not We must act as if he is”

“Of course, it matters,” Curtis countered immediately “If he isn't here, then we don't need to risk Varay's life or the lives of the soldiers behind the walls”

“And yet giving in and letting the Alacryans pass would allow them to search their next destination even more quickly,” Kathyln countered

“That is a problem for the defenders of those locations then!” Curtis burst out, crossing his arms defensively

A sudden crack silenced all three of us, and even Kathyln seemed surprised as she pulled back the hand that had just slapped Curtis’s face Mana seethed between the to strike But the shock and hostility melted away almost instantly, and Kathyln continued “Are we not th of Dicathen, not just of Etistin? Don't lose sight of the bigger picture Do not becoarded each other for soainst the cheek Kathyln had slapped Although his face was pale except for the red mark where his sister’s hand had struck, his shock faded to a kind of steely grit, and he nodded, his eyes hardening with determination as he met first Kathyln’s eyes and then mine

“Let’s discuss the specifics of this plan Please, Varay, continue”

With no time to waste, I provided the details of where I would strike and what my fallback plan was in the event that I beca southwest along the coast

I kept high, within the cloud cover Cold moisture collected on me, but I didn’t feel the chill My mind remained abuzz with considerations of how the assault could unfold, and by the time I sensed the Alacryan search parties below, I felt confident in as to follow

Coets, still shrouded within a dark cloud, I directed roupsthe countryside By the way their fores were Sentries Spells were active, the crackle of theirlike a lightning spell across the surface of water

A deep, unfocused piece of me wondered what it would be like to see the individual particles of mana the way Arthur could If he were present, could he tellat the way the mana formed? But the entire reason I am here is because he can’t be And I need to ensure that he remains protected

The moisture within the cloud condensed into needles of ice, each one a foot long These needles rotated around ed into open air I already had a strong sense of exactly where ets were, and it took only avery carefully, I launched the series of needles in a sudden hail of death

Barely audible cries floated up to es crumpled, killed instantly by the strike shi+elds of wind, water, and fire erupted colorfully over the re Alacryans just as a second volley of ice spikes struck theh the air towarda series of blue fireballs on a heavy shi+eld of ice

I countered withshi+elds The Alacryans’ shouts were unintelligible, but their panic was clear They could do little aside from huddle beneath their shi+elds with their last two Casters hurling weak spells

Pushi+ng h the distortions in the air to watch the a spell, her attention turned to the east, while a Striker rapidly scrawled across a crumpled parchment with a shaky hand I hit the shi+elds with es conjuring them

The Sentry’s eyes snapped open, and she shouted so I couldn’t h

Weaving a net of fine, nearly invisible ice fila enemies A couple of Strikers darted out of the ith a burst of speed, but the others ca beneath their protective barriers

The fine filah the mana and eviscerated the handful of soldiers beneath it, dousing their spells in an instant

The two Strikers sprinted away at i the the sae of the battle

My first series of strikes had been precise, killing the strongestthe others The following barrage had been weakened purposefully, pinning the Alacryans down but giving them time to send word for reinforceic they had at their disposal With that concluded, there was no reason to allow the the final two Strikers escape provided a backup in the event that the earlier es went awry It should also, I calculated, provide a sufficiently believable outco to portray

The dense cloud, heavy with round for me to prepare for the next phase of this diversionary battle

Drawing on the atin to purify At the saht an releasingto the vapor that made up the cloud The sensation ofthe back of my neck as I absorbed mana, channeled it, and continuously clarifiedin the white core stage with no change