Kingdom of Ash
Page 100
Rowan nodded. Impressive—more than impressive. The khagan’s army had been a beautifully coordinated force, moving across the plain as if they were farmers reaping wheat. Had he not been swept into the dance of battle, he might have stopped to marvel at them.
The princess turned to Chaol, seated in a wheeled chair, his face grim. “On your end?”
Chaol glanced to his father, who observed the battlefield with crossed arms. His father said without looking at them, “Many. We’ll leave it at that.”
Pain seemed to flicker in the bastard’s eyes, but he said nothing more.
Chaol gave Hasar an apologetic frown, his hands tightening on the chair’s arms. The soldiers of Anielle, however bravely they’d fought, were not a trained unit. Many of those who had survived were seasoned warriors who’d fought the wild men up in the Fangs, Chaol had told Rowan earlier. Most of the dead had not.
Hasar at last looked Aelin over. “I heard you put on a show today.”
Rowan braced himself.
Aelin turned from the battlefield and inclined her head. “You look as if you did, too.”
Indeed, Hasar’s ornate armor was splattered with black blood. She’d been in the thick of it, atop her Muniqi horse, and had ridden right up to the gates. But the princess made no further comment.
Irritation, deep and nearly hidden, flashed in Aelin’s eyes. Yet she didn’t speak again—didn’t push the princess about their next steps. She just watched the battlefield once more, chewing on her lip.
She’d barely stopped during the battle, halting only when there had been no more Valg left to kill. And in the minutes since the walls had been cleared, she’d remained quiet—distant. As if she was still climbing out of that calm, calculating place she’d descended into while fighting. She hadn’t bothered to remove any of her armor. The bronze battle-crown was caked with blood, her hair matted with it.
Chaol’s father had taken one look at her armor, at Rowan’s, and gone white with rage. Yet Chaol had merely wheeled his chair to his father’s side, snarling something too soft for Rowan to hear, and the man backed off.
For now. They had bigger things to consider. Things that drove his mate to gnaw on her lip. When Prince Kashin’s army might arrive, if they would indeed head northward to Terrasen. If today had been enough to win them over.
Two shapes took form in the sky. Kadara and Salkhi, soaring for the keep at an almost unchecked speed.
People scrambled out of the ruks’ way as Sartaq and Nesryn landed on the battlements, sliding off their saddles and stalking right up to them.
“We have a problem,” Nesryn said, her face ashen.
Indeed, Sartaq’s lips were bloodless. Both of their scents were drenched in fear.
The wheels of Chaol’s chair splashed through puddled blood. “What is it?”
Aelin straightened, Gavriel and Fenrys going still.
Nesryn pointed across the city, to the wall of mountains. “We intercepted a group of Morath soldiers toward the end of the battle—trying to bring that dam down.”
Rowan swore, and Chaol echoed it.
“I’m assuming they didn’t succeed thanks to you,” Aelin said, gazing toward that too-near dam, the raging waters of the upper lake and river it held at bay.
“Partially,” Sartaq said, a muscle feathering in his jaw. “But we arrived after much damage had already been done.”
“Out with it,” Hasar hissed.
Sartaq’s dark eyes flashed. “We need to evacuate our army off the plain. Right now.”
“It’s going to break?” Chaol’s father demanded.
Nesryn winced. “It likely will.”
“It could burst at any moment.” Sartaq gestured to the khagan’s army on the plain. “We need to get them out.”
“There’s nowhere for them to go,” Chaol’s father said. “The water will roar for miles, and this keep cannot hold all your forces.”
Indeed, Rowan realized, the keep, despite its high position, couldn’t fit the size of the army on the plain. Not even close. And the keep, towering high above, would be the only thing that could withstand the tidal wave of freezing water that would sweep from the mountains and across the plain. Obliterating everything in its path.
Hasar fixed her burning stare on Chaol. “Where do we tell them to run?”
“Summon the ruks,” Chaol said. “Have them gather up as many as they can, fly them out to this peak behind us.” He motioned to the small mountain into which the keep had been built. “Put them on the rocks, put them anywhere.”
“And those that don’t make it to the ruks?” the princess pressed, something like panic cracking through her fierce face.
Rowan’s own heart thundered. They had won the battle, only for the enemy to get the final say in their victory.
Morath would not allow the khagan’s army to walk off the plain.
It would destroy this army, this shred of hope, in a simple, brutal blow.
“Was it a trap all along?” Chaol rubbed at his jaw. “Erawan knew I was bringing an army. Did he pick Anielle for this? Knowing I’d come, and he’d use the dam to wipe our host away?”
“Think on it later,” Aelin warned, her face as grave as Rowan’s. She scanned the plain. “Tell them to run. If they cannot get a ruk, then run. If they make it to Oakwald’s edge, they might stand a chance if they can climb into a tree.”
His mate didn’t mention that with a wave that size, those trees would be submerged. Or ripped from their roots.
Gavriel asked, “There’s no way to fix the damage done?”
“We checked,” Sartaq said, throat bobbing. “Morath knew where to strike.”
“What of your magic?” Fenrys asked Rowan. “Could you freeze it—the river?”
He’d already thought of it. Rowan shook his head. “It’s too deep and its current too strong.” Perhaps if he had all his cousins, but Enda and Sellene were up north, their siblings and kin with them.
“Open the keep gates,” Chaol said quietly. “Any nearby are to run here. Those farthest out will have to flee for the forest.”
Rowan met Aelin’s stare.
Her hands began shaking.
This cannot end here, she seemed to say. Panic—panic indeed flared in her eyes. Rowan gripped her trembling hand and squeezed.
But there was no truth or lie that might soothe her.
No truth or lie to save the army on the plain.
Elide found her companions and their allies not in a council room, but gathered on the battlements. As if bodies and gore didn’t lie around them.
She cringed at each step through blood both black and red, trying not to meet the sightless eyes of fallen soldiers. She’d been sent by Yrene to see how Chaol fared—a panting, fearful question from a wife who had not heard anything of his fate since the battle began.
After hours helping the healers, Elide had been desperate to escape the room that reeked of blood and refuse. Yet any relief at the fresh air, at the ended battle, had been short-lived when she saw the bloody battlements. When she noted her companions’ pale faces, their tense words. All of them were gazing between the mountains and the battlefield.
Something had gone wrong. Something was wrong.
The battlefield stretched into the distance, healers darting amongst the felled bodies with white banners high to indicate their locations. So many. So many dead and wounded. A sea of them.
Elide reached Chaol’s side just as Nesryn Faliq leaped atop her beautiful ruk, launching into a dive for the army below. No—the other ruks.
Elide laid a hand on Lord Chaol’s shoulder, drawing his attention from where he watched Nesryn fly off. Blood-splattered, but his bronze eyes were clear.
And full of terror.
Any message that Yrene had given Elide faded from her memory. “What’s wrong?”
It was Aelin who answered, her bloodied armor strange and ancient. A vision of old. “The dam is going to break,” the queen said hoarsely. “And wipe away anyone on the plain.”
Oh gods. Oh gods.
Elide glanced between them, and knew the answer to her next question: What can be done?
Nothing.
The princess turned to Chaol, seated in a wheeled chair, his face grim. “On your end?”
Chaol glanced to his father, who observed the battlefield with crossed arms. His father said without looking at them, “Many. We’ll leave it at that.”
Pain seemed to flicker in the bastard’s eyes, but he said nothing more.
Chaol gave Hasar an apologetic frown, his hands tightening on the chair’s arms. The soldiers of Anielle, however bravely they’d fought, were not a trained unit. Many of those who had survived were seasoned warriors who’d fought the wild men up in the Fangs, Chaol had told Rowan earlier. Most of the dead had not.
Hasar at last looked Aelin over. “I heard you put on a show today.”
Rowan braced himself.
Aelin turned from the battlefield and inclined her head. “You look as if you did, too.”
Indeed, Hasar’s ornate armor was splattered with black blood. She’d been in the thick of it, atop her Muniqi horse, and had ridden right up to the gates. But the princess made no further comment.
Irritation, deep and nearly hidden, flashed in Aelin’s eyes. Yet she didn’t speak again—didn’t push the princess about their next steps. She just watched the battlefield once more, chewing on her lip.
She’d barely stopped during the battle, halting only when there had been no more Valg left to kill. And in the minutes since the walls had been cleared, she’d remained quiet—distant. As if she was still climbing out of that calm, calculating place she’d descended into while fighting. She hadn’t bothered to remove any of her armor. The bronze battle-crown was caked with blood, her hair matted with it.
Chaol’s father had taken one look at her armor, at Rowan’s, and gone white with rage. Yet Chaol had merely wheeled his chair to his father’s side, snarling something too soft for Rowan to hear, and the man backed off.
For now. They had bigger things to consider. Things that drove his mate to gnaw on her lip. When Prince Kashin’s army might arrive, if they would indeed head northward to Terrasen. If today had been enough to win them over.
Two shapes took form in the sky. Kadara and Salkhi, soaring for the keep at an almost unchecked speed.
People scrambled out of the ruks’ way as Sartaq and Nesryn landed on the battlements, sliding off their saddles and stalking right up to them.
“We have a problem,” Nesryn said, her face ashen.
Indeed, Sartaq’s lips were bloodless. Both of their scents were drenched in fear.
The wheels of Chaol’s chair splashed through puddled blood. “What is it?”
Aelin straightened, Gavriel and Fenrys going still.
Nesryn pointed across the city, to the wall of mountains. “We intercepted a group of Morath soldiers toward the end of the battle—trying to bring that dam down.”
Rowan swore, and Chaol echoed it.
“I’m assuming they didn’t succeed thanks to you,” Aelin said, gazing toward that too-near dam, the raging waters of the upper lake and river it held at bay.
“Partially,” Sartaq said, a muscle feathering in his jaw. “But we arrived after much damage had already been done.”
“Out with it,” Hasar hissed.
Sartaq’s dark eyes flashed. “We need to evacuate our army off the plain. Right now.”
“It’s going to break?” Chaol’s father demanded.
Nesryn winced. “It likely will.”
“It could burst at any moment.” Sartaq gestured to the khagan’s army on the plain. “We need to get them out.”
“There’s nowhere for them to go,” Chaol’s father said. “The water will roar for miles, and this keep cannot hold all your forces.”
Indeed, Rowan realized, the keep, despite its high position, couldn’t fit the size of the army on the plain. Not even close. And the keep, towering high above, would be the only thing that could withstand the tidal wave of freezing water that would sweep from the mountains and across the plain. Obliterating everything in its path.
Hasar fixed her burning stare on Chaol. “Where do we tell them to run?”
“Summon the ruks,” Chaol said. “Have them gather up as many as they can, fly them out to this peak behind us.” He motioned to the small mountain into which the keep had been built. “Put them on the rocks, put them anywhere.”
“And those that don’t make it to the ruks?” the princess pressed, something like panic cracking through her fierce face.
Rowan’s own heart thundered. They had won the battle, only for the enemy to get the final say in their victory.
Morath would not allow the khagan’s army to walk off the plain.
It would destroy this army, this shred of hope, in a simple, brutal blow.
“Was it a trap all along?” Chaol rubbed at his jaw. “Erawan knew I was bringing an army. Did he pick Anielle for this? Knowing I’d come, and he’d use the dam to wipe our host away?”
“Think on it later,” Aelin warned, her face as grave as Rowan’s. She scanned the plain. “Tell them to run. If they cannot get a ruk, then run. If they make it to Oakwald’s edge, they might stand a chance if they can climb into a tree.”
His mate didn’t mention that with a wave that size, those trees would be submerged. Or ripped from their roots.
Gavriel asked, “There’s no way to fix the damage done?”
“We checked,” Sartaq said, throat bobbing. “Morath knew where to strike.”
“What of your magic?” Fenrys asked Rowan. “Could you freeze it—the river?”
He’d already thought of it. Rowan shook his head. “It’s too deep and its current too strong.” Perhaps if he had all his cousins, but Enda and Sellene were up north, their siblings and kin with them.
“Open the keep gates,” Chaol said quietly. “Any nearby are to run here. Those farthest out will have to flee for the forest.”
Rowan met Aelin’s stare.
Her hands began shaking.
This cannot end here, she seemed to say. Panic—panic indeed flared in her eyes. Rowan gripped her trembling hand and squeezed.
But there was no truth or lie that might soothe her.
No truth or lie to save the army on the plain.
Elide found her companions and their allies not in a council room, but gathered on the battlements. As if bodies and gore didn’t lie around them.
She cringed at each step through blood both black and red, trying not to meet the sightless eyes of fallen soldiers. She’d been sent by Yrene to see how Chaol fared—a panting, fearful question from a wife who had not heard anything of his fate since the battle began.
After hours helping the healers, Elide had been desperate to escape the room that reeked of blood and refuse. Yet any relief at the fresh air, at the ended battle, had been short-lived when she saw the bloody battlements. When she noted her companions’ pale faces, their tense words. All of them were gazing between the mountains and the battlefield.
Something had gone wrong. Something was wrong.
The battlefield stretched into the distance, healers darting amongst the felled bodies with white banners high to indicate their locations. So many. So many dead and wounded. A sea of them.
Elide reached Chaol’s side just as Nesryn Faliq leaped atop her beautiful ruk, launching into a dive for the army below. No—the other ruks.
Elide laid a hand on Lord Chaol’s shoulder, drawing his attention from where he watched Nesryn fly off. Blood-splattered, but his bronze eyes were clear.
And full of terror.
Any message that Yrene had given Elide faded from her memory. “What’s wrong?”
It was Aelin who answered, her bloodied armor strange and ancient. A vision of old. “The dam is going to break,” the queen said hoarsely. “And wipe away anyone on the plain.”
Oh gods. Oh gods.
Elide glanced between them, and knew the answer to her next question: What can be done?
Nothing.
