5

 

Master Anesko stood at the end of the table in the assembly room. He looked tired, and a myriad of red lines filled the whites of his eyes. Despite his obvious exhaustion, his demeanor was full of confidence, though I assumed it was a façade. I did not envy his position.

Maren sat on my left, and Katori was on my right. I finally felt at home again, but the feeling was tainted. I also knew the Citadel might not be our home much longer, depending on how things went. Anesko clasped his hands behind his back and cleared his throat, pulling me from my reverie.

“I think we all know how dire our situation is. We are, quite literally, surrounded by enemies, and their numbers are greater than our own.”

An uneasy murmur echoed throughout the chamber. Anesko raised a hand for silence.

“What of the wild dragons?” Curate Henrik asked. “They should bolster our numbers.”

“They are helpful, but we don’t have enough riders for them. And judging by what I saw, they are not trained to fight. I fear many more of them will fall before this is over.”

“If I may?” I said, standing up.

Anesko nodded.

“These dragons have been through a lot, and they chose to come here to help us. But they do not plan on staying after this fight is over. They will leave and find a place to call their own. I know that is not what any of us wanted to hear, but I felt it prudent to mention before we decide on any course of action.”

“Thank you, Eldwin,” Anesko said. “With that in mind, it begs a question each of us must answer. If we turn the tides in our favor, what does the future hold?”

A sinking feeling tugged at my stomach, and I took my seat. Was he considering disbanding the riders again? That would be foolish, especially if we defeated the king’s army. There would be a void of power, and the riders would need to fill it.

“Is the future of the Order in question? Again?” It was Henrik, and it was almost as if he was speaking my thoughts. Perhaps everyone in the room had the same fear.

“I am only asking a question, my friend. If we win this war, what happens? Osnen will need a new ruler, not only to guide her, but to protect her. Look around this room. We are all that is left of the leadership. The Terranese school is gone, and we have heard nothing from Valgaard since the Assembly imprisoned Hrodin. We are short of both riders and dragons. We must look ourselves in the mirror and admit the Order is dying.”

His words cut me to my very core, and they stung as sharp as any wound because they were true. I looked at Maren. Her eyes were watery with tears. I grabbed her hand, and she squeezed mine in response. As much as I wanted to disagree with Anesko, I knew he was right. The Order was dying, and there didn’t seem to be any way to stop it.

“If there is no hope, then why fight at all?” I asked. “Why not let the shield down and open the gates?” My question was sincere, but the words spilled out of my mouth with anger and pain.

“I am not saying that we should surrender, to the king or to fate,” Anesko replied gently. “I only want us all to be aware of the reality that faces us.”

I ground my teeth in frustration. All of us knew the reality, but no one was trying to change it.

“We know there are many difficulties ahead, but that has never stopped us before. Instead of focusing on the problems, we should turn our attention to finding solutions. Let’s deal with the problem at hand. We are prisoners here so long as the king is at our gates. How do we drive him back? If you have an idea, no matter how outlandish, speak it now.”

“We could retreat to the Terranese school,” Katori said. “The king would have to march his army far indeed to reach those gates. By the time they arrived, we would hold every advantage.”

“I don’t think that’s wise,” Anesko replied. “Other than yourself, none of us are familiar with those grounds. We’d be at a disadvantage, just as the king would. Besides, we would still have to figure out a way to escape without notice.”

“We could call on the Assembly,” I suggested.

“How would they help?”

I paused, as I didn’t have an appropriate answer. They were also busy with the dragon slayers and trying to find Risod.

“I … don’t know,” I said lamely.

Anesko looked around the table at each of us, but no other ideas were forthcoming. I leaned back in my seat and tried not to let the despair win. Maren and I had returned only to face our doom. Perhaps we should have stayed away from the Citadel and instead taken the wild dragons to a new home and started a new order.

Do not think of such things. Sion’s voice lanced through my dark thoughts, scattering them.

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for them to overwhelm me like that.

A flood of comfort funneled through the bond, and despair was replaced with hope.

“My father will not stop until he has crushed the Order from existence,” Maren said. “If we flee, he will follow us. We cannot run from this war. No, we must meet it head-on. We must strike him a direct blow.”

Anesko turned his gaze to her. “How do you propose we do that? The lines of men between us and him are thick. Even if we were equal in number, the clash of arms would ruin both of our forces.”

“We don’t need to clash with his army to win. We just need to cut the head from the snake. If my father falls, chaos will consume the others. His generals will fight one another for power, giving us the perfect distraction to finish them off or force them to surrender.”

“We tried that already,” I said. “We reached his tent and his sorcerers protected him.”

“That is because they saw us coming.”

“What are you thinking?” Anesko asked. “That we should cloak our movements?”

Maren shook her head. “No. Even if we could generate enough magic to hide our forces, his sorcerers would sense our spells before we could get close enough to do anything. What I propose is something else.”

She paused for a moment, and I stared at her intently, wondering what she had come up with.

“We should send someone to kill him.”

“An assassin?” Anesko asked. “We are warriors, not killers.”

“In this case, we must be both. The one who goes will need to do so alone and without magic. What better way to hide than in plain sight?”

That was so simple, and yet so brilliant. And I knew immediately that it should be me. This had all started because the king wanted me, and that meant it would have to end with me.

“Under normal circumstances, I would never agree with such measures.” Anesko sighed and rubbed his eyes. “But the situation we find ourselves in is far from normal. Whoever accepts this task may not be successful, and knowing the king, he will kill the one who fails. I do not think we should leave this to just any rider. It should be one of us in this room.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Who will volunteer to kill the king?”

Before I could answer, Maren rose from her chair.

“There is no need for anyone to volunteer. I will do it.”