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CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

Sebastian tried to hide his frustration as he talked to Asha and Vincente. Of course, when they could both read his mind, hiding anything wasn’t easy.

“The refugees can’t just stay in tents forever,” he said.

“It isn’t forever,” Vincente said. “Just until the

army

that threatens us is out of the way.”

“And if they don’t like it,” Asha said, “they can always go back out to face them.

They

aren’t the ones maintaining a shield around Stonehome. They aren’t the ones hunting down attackers. They should be grateful.”

Grateful to be stuck in tents. Grateful to have lost their homes and their loved ones. Grateful that they had to ask for help.

“That’s not what I mean,” Asha said, and once again, it was obvious that she was deep inside his thoughts.

Sebastian looked over to where Emeline sat with Cora, his daughter, Violet, cradled in Cora’s arms. Cora seemed happy with her there, and Sebastian was grateful for that, because he’d seen how hurt she was in the wake of Aidan’s death.

“Emeline, can you help me?” he asked. “Asha is looking into my thoughts.”

Emeline came over, giving Stonehome’s co-leader an unfriendly look. Sebastian felt something settle around his mind like a cloak, and he guessed that she’d blocked Asha out.

“I could break through that block,” Asha said.

Emeline smiled tightly. “No you couldn’t, and if you had any manners, there would be no need for it.”

“Why would people want to hide their thoughts if they’re not thinking anything wrong?” Asha countered, but she sounded as if her heart wasn’t in it.

“We are finding whatever spaces we can for people,” Vincente said. “You are our king, Sebastian.”

Asha looked at him with obvious surprise, and Sebastian had the sense of a silent conversation taking place between the two. Emeline supplied the content of it for him.

“Asha is claiming that Sophia might be their queen, but you are the Dowager’s son, and she cannot follow you. She says that they both know that Violet is their

real

queen.”

Emeline smirked as Asha glared over at her.

“I won’t be embarrassed by it,” Asha said. “Princess Violet is one of us. She belongs here, and will be a great queen.”

“One day,” Sebastian agreed. He didn’t like the way Asha said it though. She made it sound as though he and Sophia didn’t matter; as though they existed just to bring Violet into the world.

“Sebastian is our king,” Vincente said aloud. “Sophia is our queen, and Stonehome supports the crown. They will create a world where we can live, Asha.”

“They don’t even have a world where

they

can live,” Asha said, gesturing to the tents. “We saved them, but they complain. ‘We only have tents.’ ‘Why isn’t there more food?’ ‘What if they’re reading my thoughts?’ We exhaust ourselves to protect them, and they wonder when we will turn on them.”

“It will take time, Asha,” Emeline said. “It will only take—”

Sebastian saw her freeze in place, her eyes unfocused and looking past him. Sebastian knew what that meant: she was seeing something well beyond the confines of the hidden town.

“What is it?” Sebastian said when he saw Emeline blink her way back to herself. “What did you see, Emeline?”

“It isn’t safe here,” Emeline said. “I saw… I saw the shields falling. I saw the New Army sweeping in.”

“Impossible,” Vincente said. “The shields are unbreakable. We turned back the enemy easily last time.”

“I saw it,” Emeline insisted. When she focused on Sebastian, he could see how serious she was about this. “We have to get Violet out of here.”

Sebastian blinked at that, but he could only agree with her. If the Master of Crows was going to get into Stonehome, then he needed to get Violet out of here. They

all

needed to get out of here.

“But you

can’t

take Violet,” Asha said. “She’s one of us!”

Sebastian turned to her, surprised by the suddenly protective note. “Violet is my daughter,” he said. “And I will not put her in danger.”

He saw Asha shake her head. “She’s not

in

danger. Vincente is right. No one could get into Stonehome.”

“I saw it happening!” Emeline countered.

“Where could we take her?” Sebastian asked. If they could make it to the coast, then maybe they could get to Ishjemme, but that would mean abandoning the kingdom that they had only just won. They would lose it before Sophia could even get back to it.

“There’s barely anywhere as strong as here,” Vincente said. “The only place that might be stronger would be Monthys back in the day when its defenses actually stood, but Monthys has fallen.”

“Which means that the enemy aren’t there now,” Emeline pointed out.

“It still wouldn’t be strong,” Vincente said. “In the days before the civil wars, it had layers of magic and stone, but now…”

Sebastian had heard from Sophia what it was like now, damaged, almost ruined. Ulf and Frig had gone up to try to rebuild it, but they were dead now, killed by the Master of Crows. The New Army had probably passed it by, but to think of it as a safe place would be madness.

“Monthys will draw people,” Emeline said. “And the bones of the magical defenses will still be there. They can be reactivated.”

“We have magical defenses

here

,” Asha insisted. “Violet is the whole reason that we allowed you to come here.”

“Not the whole reason,” Vincente said.

Asha gave him a sharp look, and Sebastian had the feeling that this was an argument between them. He was more interested in what Asha had said.

“You only took in the refugees because of my daughter? Because of some flash of vision that you’ve seen?”

Asha seemed defiant. “Not just that I’ve seen. Everyone who catches flashes of the future has seen the queen to come. You can’t deny that.”

“My daughter will choose her own future,” Sebastian said. “I will do whatever I have to do to keep her safe, and to give her those choices. I’ll fight for that, if I have to. Don’t forget that, Asha.”

“We’re not enemies,” Vincente said. “We’re—”

Sebastian didn’t get to learn exactly what they were, because in that moment, bells sounded to signal that something was happening beyond the walls of the town.

“We need to go,” Emeline said. “It’s coming.”

“We’re safe here,” Asha insisted. “This is just some plan to take Princess Violet away from her people.”

Sebastian ignored that and ran to the walls of Stonehome. The shield the inhabitants had put in place was up, held by the efforts of those townsfolk who stood in the stone circle at its heart.

A battalion of the New Army stood before the town, cannons leveled, cavalry spread out like a net. Sebastian was more interested in the figures who stepped forward. He recognized the Master of Crows at once. The man with the shaved head standing next to him was harder to identify, but he stood almost as if he were the Master of Crows’ equal.

“That’s Endi,” Emeline said, “Sophia’s cousin.”

“The one who betrayed us by dragging away half of the invasion fleet?” Sebastian said. He’d heard the stories, even if he’d never met the man.

“That’s the one,” Emeline said.

“What’s he doing with the Master of Crows?” Sebastian asked.

“Nothing good,” Emeline replied. “Sebastian, we need to get out of here.”

Beside them, the warriors of Stonehome and those of the refugees who could fight started to move into place. They did it with a surprising sense of confidence, but then, Sebastian thought, they were behind the shield. As long as it held, there was nothing to be afraid of. They were safe.

So why had Emeline seen destruction?

Sebastian stood there, trying to show confidence even while he felt it ebbing away. In Sophia’s absence, he was the ruler of this kingdom, and he had to provide strength for everyone else to draw from. If he showed fear, there would be panic.

Slowly, Endi started to walk around the perimeter of Stonehome, stopping every few paces to do something that seemed to involve ingredients carried by a pair of servants. He made marks with a golden rod, reading from a book as he went.

“Can someone hit him with a musket?” Sebastian asked.

“At that range?” Vincente asked. He started loading his own. “Unlikely, but we can try.”

Stonehome’s other warriors started preparing their weapons. It seemed to take an agonizing amount of time before they were ready.

“Fire!” Vincente yelled, and a volley of shots sailed out across the heath. None of them came close to hitting Endi. “He’s too far away. Maybe a cannon could do it.”

Sebastian could see that wouldn’t work. Endi was moving too quickly for a cannon to keep up as it aimed, and the idea of hitting one man with an artillery weapon was ludicrous anyway. They couldn’t even make a foray out there to stop this, because that would mean lowering the shield.

All they could do was wait.

Sebastian watched Endi as Sophia’s cousin made his way around Stonehome. He had almost completed a full circuit. Somehow, Sebastian had the feeling that they needed to stop him before he completed that circuit. Force wouldn’t work, but maybe reason might.

“Endi,” he called out. “Endi, this is Sebastian, Sophia’s husband.”

He saw Endi pause and look over.

“I know who you are,” Endi yelled back.

“It would be easier to talk to you if you were closer.”

“It would be easier to shoot me, too,” Endi pointed out. “And you’ve already shown that you’re willing to do that.”

“What are you

doing,

Endi?” Sebastian asked. “You are my wife’s cousin. My daughter is your blood. You shouldn’t be helping our enemies.”

Endi looked at him for a long time. “If family were the only thing that mattered, you would have died with yours, and mine wouldn’t have cast me out.”

“But you’re helping the Master of Crows!” Sebastian shouted. “You know how evil he is. He has attacked Ishjemme, and your family, and your friends!”

“At least he has a place for me!” Endi yelled, and brought the golden rod down in a last set of markings. He seemed to be muttering words to himself, and almost as quick as a snake he turned, stabbing first one servant and then the other, spilling their blood on the ground.

Lines of power flowed along the spaces that he’d walked, flaring a deep blood red. Energy seemed to twist in the air above it, and for a moment, Sebastian thought that he heard the screams of the dying beyond the limits of the settlement. He heard those cries echoed behind him and turned to see people staggering from the stone circle at the heart of Stonehome, clutching at their heads in agony. One tumbled to his face, not rising.

Sebastian looked back in time to see the shield around the settlement flicker and die, shimmering in the air for a moment before it fell. Horns and trumpets sounded out across the heath, echoing as they announced orders. The rumble of moving horses and the stamp of feet joined them.

Sebastian saw the New Army start to advance, and now there was nothing they could do to stop them.

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