The day started with no real dawn at all. Dally had never before witnessed a storm off the sea. The tempest carried a powerful energy. Every breath filled her with a sense of possibility. Even while her mind remained caught by so many fears, her body was growing ready for the next step, the coming battle.
When she came downstairs, she found Connell and Edlyn crouched together at the long pantry table, their heads bent over a diagram Connell had drawn upon a scrap of parchment. Edlyn had pushed back the dark by lighting the kitchen’s every candle and lantern. Otherwise the downstairs rooms were silent and cold. Myron arrived next and used a puff of magic to start the kitchen fire. Dally found it comforting to go out into the rain and hunt about the empty chicken coop for a few forgotten eggs. There was so much danger imbedded in the coming hours, so many harsh choices. Collecting eggs was a very familiar task. It reminded her of how far she had come, from a lonely kitchen wench to a woman with purpose. And friends. And a future. Perhaps.
Dally returned to the kitchen and gave Myron the fourteen eggs, then Connell greeted her with another dose of the dragon’s elixir. When she had forced it down, he said, “You are looking much better.”
“I feel it.”
As he turned away, he added, “And more beautiful.”
Dally wished she knew what to say. How to respond to such an unexpected gift. But all she could do at that moment was smile.
Alembord came in while they were making tea and slicing bread. He shook the rain off his cloak and hung it by the fire. Edlyn handed him the first mug of tea and asked, “Did you find what you sought in your nighttime wanderings?”
“I did indeed.”
Edlyn glanced over to where Dally was laying out cheese and salami and great clay jars of pickled vegetables. “Then there is hope on this grim day.”
Dally wished she could share Edlyn’s optimism. She wished she could see beyond the coming assault to a time of safety and peace. But just then she found it necessary to retreat from their talk of strategy and attack and escape. She saw how fear tightened the young mages’ expressions and knew she probably looked the same.
Connell waved her over. “Come join us.”
She sat beside him and stared out the open rear door. She found it astonishing how a simple squall could erase the summer morning. The wind carried a wintry chill and the light was dismal. The empty rear yard only added to the sense of peril and dire endings.
“What a fine beast,” Connell murmured. The words drew Dally back around. Connell was slicing sausage with his knife and feeding every other bite to her unnamed wolfhound. “I have never seen such a mix of beauty and strength.”
Dally watched the man more than the dog. She saw Connell’s innate goodness and quiet strength.
Connell set down his knife and stroked the dog’s white streak. “They are ferocious, yes?”
“Norvin has seen one smaller than these bring down a full-grown bear.”
“Norvin is . . .”
“The mayor of Honor,” Dally said. “A good man. His dogs are known far and wide for their intelligence and their loyalty.”
Connell picked up his knife and sliced another piece and gave it to the dog. “I believe it.”
“Connell.” She took a breath. “This dog is yours.”
Dally had no idea others were listening until all movement ceased, all chatter.
He lifted his gaze. “Dally . . . are you sure?”
“I am. There is a rightness to this.”
Edlyn settled a hand upon Dally’s wrist. “There is indeed.”
After breakfast they entered the home’s deepest cellar and recharged their wands. Port Royal was located over a very strong juncture of power. As they worked, Edlyn described how the city had once been the capital of an empire where magic was a component of everyday life. Port Royal was supposedly not as old as Emporis, she explained, but after so many centuries it hardly mattered.
They set off soon after. They all wore their warrior mage uniforms beneath oilskin cloaks taken from the guard station. Alembord and his four guards carried the same long pikes as the city patrols. Myron handed traveling lanterns to his mages but did not light them. Those were for later.
They halted by the manor’s outer gates. Alembord surveyed the group and said quietly, “For Shona.”
“Queen of a realm soon to be released from shadows,” Myron said.
“Leader of a people she will help make free to hope again,” Connell said.
“Where magic is used to foster the people’s lives and futures, and release them from the unseen burden,” Edlyn said.
They waited then. Dally felt the fear clench her entire frame, but she knew she needed to add her voice to theirs. She managed, “Where the races of this world are united and at peace.”
Alembord unlocked the outer portal. He pointed his wolfhound over to Dally. She expected him to make a request then—to keep his animal safe, bring it back—and she dreaded hearing the words, for she had no intention of starting such a perilous day with a lie.
But Alembord merely said, “To your stations. Wait for our signal. Do your duty to the best of your ability. Then we gather at the meeting point. Now go.”