war room the next morning to find Red Wolf already there, discussing strategy with Kadis. He looked up when she approached the table, and his ears turned bright red, as if he remembered what had happened the night before. Talin smiled and took the spot next to him.
“You were wrong; he was very friendly,” she whispered.
“That’s a first,” he said, trying to sound surprised. She let him have the benefit of the doubt.
“Kadis has caught you up, I hope?” she asked.
“Yes. So has Rufus,” Red Wolf said. “I was right about Wormwood, then.”
Talin huffed a short exhale. “Fine. You can say it once.”
“If Wormwood and Highett plan to move against you, we must ride back as soon as we’re able,” Red Wolf continued. “Wormwood is cunning. He will use every day you are gone to his advantage. You were right to go for El’Vane. Ked’Fald is far too well-fortified for us to siege.”
“What’s our plan?” Talin asked.
“We have a few ideas.” Kadis let the last few stragglers file in before starting. “El’Vane has four main gates we need to seal. One in the south, where we last made our assault, two in the east, and one more in the northwest. We will need to attack every gate if we want to cut off supply and trade to the city.”
“Any secret exits we know about?” Red Wolf asked.
“None,” Kadis said. “My hope is to hit the insurgents hard enough to force a surrender. Make them believe they are hopelessly outmatched.”
“If they don’t? Are we to starve them out?” Bo’Kata demanded.
“Our siege weapons should get us through the walls if we hammer at them long enough. Ve’Darr has already rallied his banners and his generals, as has Lord Marius and most of the far south. The rest will meet us at the capital’s gates,” Kadis explained. “We have the numbers and the firepower. The insurgents will not last long.”
“All the same, we cannot underestimate the city,” Red Wolf said. “The insurgents will not give up easily. We must not alert them of our intentions. If they find out we plan to siege the city, they will send their torslek in, and we would see a very short defeat once we breached the walls.”
Talin looked at the map of El’Vane that Kadis had rolled out. She pointed to a small marker by the southern gate. “What’s that?”
“Sewage grate, too small for anyone to fit through,” Kadis said. “We haven’t thought of a use for it yet.”
“The sewage line runs all the way under the wall?” Talin asked.
“Yes.” Kadis crossed his arms. “You have an idea?”
“What’s the most powerful explosive your engineers can craft?”
Kadis’s mouth twitched. “I like the concept, but my engineers are not that good.”
“Very well, we’ll move on. I assume the insurgents will retreat into the keep once we break through the gates?”
“Of course,” Kadis said.
“Your spies could sabotage the drawbridge and prevent them from raising it.”
“I like it. I’ll send out word.”
“Any news of your father’s whereabouts?” Red Wolf asked.
“None yet. But if we can take El’Vane, it will not matter where he is,” Kadis said. “More warlords will rally to me. Ve’Tehll will lose the capital, the source of his power. They won’t be able to hide him forever.”
“I’m worried they will try to use him as a bargaining chip,” Red Wolf said.
“A possibility, yes,” Kadis confessed. “But he would never let them.”
Red Wolf nodded. “Still, we must be careful.”
The council debated the best way to approach El’Vane for a while longer before finally settling on an agreement; they would move in from the south while Ve’Darr moved in from the west. The southern lords would march with them until they were just out of sight from the city before splitting up and circling to cut off the northwest gate. Talin listened to most of it without giving input. She had little knowledge of how the Draconian warlords functioned or what kind of troops they had at their disposal. From what she could tell, though, Ve’Darr had command of a massive army, large enough to block off both eastern gates without much difficulty.
“When will the siege weapons be ready?” she asked.
“A few days at most. We’ve already begun producing them,” Kadis said. “Never fear, Your Majesty, we will be at the city by the end of the week.”
Talin stared at the map table. We’re running out of time. The Hellhounds march south, and Wormwood conspires against me.
“I’m afraid we cannot stay much longer,” she said. “We will help you take El’Vane, as part of our agreement, but we must ride home afterwards. I cannot leave my people to suffer any longer.”
“I understand.” Kadis dipped his head. “My rebels and I will escort you back to the Den for your belongings once the city is taken.”
“Thank you.”
“I will send reinforcements to you as soon as we are able. I made a promise and I intend to keep it.” Kadis turned his attention back to the map. “Now, if there are no objections, I think we are done.”
Later, once Talin had discussed her plans for returning with Golmin and Ettrias, she threw on a warm coat and headed out into the snow-covered fields surrounding the den. The main pathways to the training grounds and the main road had already been cleared, and she could see plenty of footprints where people had been taking shortcuts. For a moment, she considered taking her bow and doing some more training at the range, then decided that she needed a day off after all the climbing she’d been doing yesterday. Her muscles still ached, and her hands were still sore.
“You know, we didn’t settle our snowball duel last night,” Red Wolf said, appearing beside her. The two of them stood together at the top of the hill, looking down at the fields and forest below.
“I know.” Talin crouched down, scooped up a handful of snow and packed it together in her hands. Red Wolf was busy watching the swordsmen training and didn’t seem to notice, so she took a few cautious steps away from him and flung the snowball. He ducked, and it sailed over his head harmlessly.
“Trying to go for an ambush? Come, now, that was never going to work.” Red Wolf scooped up another snowball and sent it straight into her shoulder. She flung a handful of snow at his face. He shook it off and was about to retaliate when a snowball hit him in the back. Talin leaned over to see who it was and noticed Ashera bending down for a second snowball. Red Wolf grinned and nailed a shot at the girl’s head.
“That’s not fair!” she exclaimed, straightening and throwing her second snowball at him. Talin aimed one at him too before he could recover.
“Ah, I see I am outnumbered and outmatched.” He brushed himself down, still grinning, and raised his hands in surrender. “A good warrior knows when he’s beaten. I must concede defeat.”
Ashera stuck her tongue out at him. “Come to training?”
“Later, Ashera,” Red Wolf said. “I have matters to discuss with my queen.”
“Sure you do.” Ashera ran off towards the training grounds.
“So, you wanted to discuss something?” Talin asked.
“No, that was a lie.” Red Wolf shrugged.
“Oh? Could it be that the lord commander himself is slacking off on his duties?” Talin asked.
“You simply looked like you needed some company, my queen.”
Talin smiled. “Well, thank you for providing it.”
She looked to the training grounds and saw the tiny figure of Ashera stepping into the duelling ring with Golmin. Compared to everyone else training nearby, she looked so small, Talin was certain that one of the Drakels could pick her up and toss her in the air without much effort. But there was no denying that the girl had talent and spirit.
“You picked a good squire,” she said.
Red Wolf watched Ashera and Golmin spar together for a few moments. “Perhaps. I wouldn’t trust many people to take my place at your side, but the girl…maybe. In time.”
“Coming from you, that has to be the highest of compliments.” Talin laughed.
“I trust you to look after yourself. More than I had before,” Red Wolf said. “I’m…honoured to have you as a friend.”
Are we friends? Talin wanted to ask, but she kept her mouth shut. A twisting knot formed in her chest that refused to go away.
“You still don’t believe in yourself.” Red Wolf frowned. “Why is that?”
“I think these past few weeks have made me realise all the things I could have been doing for my people,” Talin said. Gods, that wasn’t what she had been confused about, but she supposed it was better they talked about this instead. “I thought I knew what was best for my people, but I don’t. Or I didn’t. Now I don’t know if I can be good enough.”
“You are good enough.” Red Wolf met her gaze, golden eyes rooting her in place. “I know it.”
“Thank you. For believing in me.”
“I always will.”
Talin realised that he’d taken her hand. She didn’t pull away; he didn’t seem to realise, and she wanted to avoid another awkward moment between them. Snow began to fall.
“The other night, by the campfire…” he said.
“After we infiltrated the capital?”
“Yes. You took my hand.”
“That was…” Talin felt heat creep into her cheeks. What was he playing at now? “That was an accident.”
“I see.” Red Wolf turned his attention back to the training grounds. He didn’t let go of her hand.