“Perfect,” S?ren says. “We’ll get there a day or two after she does, and with the added forces we’ll be able to take the capital directly. We’ll still march past the Ovelgan estate, but we’ll make them think we’re going to the Air Mine. It’s a more roundabout path, so it’ll take a few days longer to reach the palace, but it might be worth the risk. You have spies?”

“Our spies or her spies?” Artemisia asks. “We have both. Our spies are in the capital, but they aren’t close enough to the Kaiserin to have access to any pertinent information about this weapon.”

“But her spies here?” he asks.

“We had a few,” Artemisia says, the corners of her mouth pulling down into a frown. “We were using them to pass misleading information to the capital, but they became liabilities at the Water Mine, so we had to do away with them.”

“But the Kalovaxians don’t know that,” Blaise points out. “We could still send information, pretend it’s from them.”

“Exactly,” S?ren says with a brief grin. “We’ll make sure the Kalovaxians think we’re going to the Air Mine. So they’ll set the trap there, like Maile said, but they won’t catch us.”

Maile shakes her head. “It’s still too risky,” she says. “Say we didn’t execute all of the spies. Even if a single rogue missive makes it to the capital…We aren’t a small army anymore, and we can no longer avoid notice like we did before you let yourself get captured, Your Highness.”

The temperature in the room drops several degrees, and S?ren’s shoulders tense. I open my mouth to scold Maile, then close it again. Her eyes are alight and fixed on S?ren as she waits for his reaction. She’s baiting him, I realize. She wants S?ren to snap, but nothing good will come of that, so I clear my throat.

“I have to imagine you have an idea if you’re so quick to shoot down everyone else’s,” I say to her instead.

Maile stands up, approaches the map. She points to the gold-painted star that represents the capital.

“Time is of the essence; you said so yourselves,” Maile says. “So why not stop worrying about them catching us and go after them instead?”

I can’t help but let out a snort. “Because we don’t have the numbers for an attack like that. And besides, they’ll have the advantage of fighting on their own ground, with their own resources. The lookouts at the capital walls will see us coming for miles. We won’t even make it through the gates.”

Maile shrugs. “You asked for a plan—that’s my plan,” she says. “Maybe we don’t have the numbers or the resources, but at least they won’t be expecting it. With a little finagling, we could even trick them into sending the bulk of their troops to the Air and Earth Mines, leaving the capital relatively undefended.”

“That just sounds like more maybes to me,” I tell her, shaking my head. “It’s all maybes. Every choice is risky. So the question is, which option gets us the most?”

“That’s easy,” Maile says. “Take the capital and the war is over. It’s checkmate.”

“Not necessarily,” S?ren says. “In your plan, the bulk of their army will be outside the city walls, with thousands of chained Astreans—and now Gorakians—at their mercy.”

“And as we know, the Kalovaxians don’t have mercy,” Erik adds. “I was only two when we left Goraki, but I’ll never forget the sight of them burning it to the ground on our way out. When they get word the capital has been taken, they’ll flee and destroy everything in their path as they go.”

“The Air Mine,” I interject. “That’s the risk that’s worth the most. It’s the clearest path to the palace, so we’ll be able to go there next. Besides, we need healers, and more warriors. That’s where we can get both.”

“It’s the obvious choice,” Maile says again.

“Maybe,” I allow. “But it’s the one that makes the most sense. And we can take precautions to mislead the Kaiserin and her armies. Make them think we’re going to the Earth Mine, or even back to the Fire Mine—we can send them so much conflicting information that they don’t know what to make of any of it.”

“And the Ovelgan estate?” S?ren reminds me. “They’ll send word to Cress as soon as they see us.”

I bite my lip, staring at the spot on the map where S?ren indicated the estate stood.

“How well do you know the Ovelgans?” I ask him. “How well do they know you? They weren’t at court—I barely heard their name mentioned—but they’re clearly wealthy enough for an estate of their own.”

S?ren’s brow furrows. “They don’t like court,” he says, shaking his head. “They hosted me at the estate when I was young, but they didn’t talk about politics. I got the feeling they didn’t want to say anything that would get back to my father.”

“That’s not exactly earth-shattering, is it?” Erik asks. “Everyone was afraid of your father.”

“What if we didn’t approach them as an army?” I ask. “If we approached as a small group there to negotiate passage?”

“You want to negotiate with Kalovaxians?” Maile asks, disgust dripping from each word.

“I want to get us past their estate without the Kaiserin finding out. If they were mistrustful of the Kaiser, I would imagine they’re at the very least ambivalent about the Kaiserin,” I say, looking at S?ren. “Do you think it’s possible we could win them over?”

S?ren considers it for a moment before shaking his head. “They may not like the current ruler, but they’re still Kalovaxians, loyal down to the bone.” He pauses. “But, I think they’re at least smart enough to hear us out before they make that decision.”

* * *

—

We make plans to leave at dawn, which gives us just enough time to get the injured and those who can’t or don’t wish to fight settled in at the camp, where they will be safe until Dragonsbane can make it down the coast to collect them, and to do an inventory of supplies to decide what to take and what to leave behind. All twelve Water Guardians have decided to join us, adding to the eight Guardians from the Fire Mine, which means that we won’t have to carry water.

As the camp packs up, I lead Erik through the streets. He still leans heavily on me with each step, but at least he’s trying. Heron tied a new strip of cloth around his temples, this cloth bright red, made from one of the Kalovaxian flags that were torn down and desecrated as soon as the camp was ours.

“You’re doing well,” I tell him.

He snorts so hard, he throws us both off balance and I very nearly topple to the ground.

“Sorry,” he says, helping to right us. “It’s just that well doesn’t seem to fit how I feel at all.”

“I know,” I say. “But you’re alive, Erik.”

“I am,” he says. “But so many others aren’t because I made a mistake. I should have stayed in the camp. I shouldn’t have risked their safety just because I was worried about S?ren. You were right—the better choice was to wait and see how it would play out. And look, Cress brought him right back to you without realizing.”

“That was a stroke of luck,” I say, shaking my head. “I truly didn’t think I would see him again. I thought he was lost. I just…I thought that if I asked him what he wanted me to do—”

“He would have told you not to risk it,” he finishes. “S?ren tends to be calm and level-headed like that, doesn’t he?”

“But you were right—if our positions were reversed, he wouldn’t have hesitated to come after me,” I point out. “The guilt of it was difficult to bear.”

“You made the right decision,” he says.

“Maybe,” I say. “But I’m not so sure you made the wrong one. Maybe it looks like that now, but at the time, I thought you’d made a smart choice. Maybe a few years down the road you won’t regret it anymore. Who can say for sure?”

He doesn’t reply for a moment.

“Heron said something peculiar,” he says hesitantly. “He told me that you think you and Crescentia are sharing dreams.”

I stop short, giving him no choice but to stop as well. “Yes,” I say. “I know how it sounds, but—”

“I believe you,” he says, cutting me off.

I stare at him, unable to hide my surprise, though I realize he can’t see it. “You do?” I ask.

He licks his lips, weighing his words carefully. “She said something I thought was strange at the time, but if what you’re saying is true, it makes sense,” he says. “She kept shouting your name—well, she kept shouting Thora. Things like ‘Do you hear that, Thora?’ and ‘What do you think of this, Thora?’ She’s not well, Theo, but there was something about her rambling that didn’t seem insane. It only seemed…I don’t know. Desperate.”

WE LEAVE JUST AFTER SUNRISE and I ride on the back of Artemisia’s horse as usual. When we reach the other side of Lake Culane, just before disappearing into the forest, Artemisia pulls the horse to a stop and turns around to take one last look at the Water Mine.

“I never thought I would come back here after I escaped,” she tells me softly. “It was a place that haunted my nightmares. It was a place of pain and misery and death in my mind. Maybe in some way it always will be. But I’d like to remember it like this. Broken down to almost nothing.”