Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
“Telling a fate they owe you is not the way to win favor.”
“It says the only thing that survived Aminadav’s blight were the oats.”
“Which is what the people of Ybaris survived on for many years. But even the oat fields have given way to the rot in recent decades, according to King Barris.” Zander shakes his head. “Mordain should have clued in to what Neilina had done.”
“They did. The Prime at the time, named”—I flip through the pages to find the entry—“Circe, she questioned Neilina. She wanted to know which elementals healed the land, but Neilina knew Circe suspected the truth.” There is a six-page entry about it in the journal. “So to cover her tracks, Neilina had the Prime and the elemental executed that same day, announcing that they had schemed to poison the Ybarisans.”
“And Mordain bought that?”
“No. They stopped sending her elementals.” There is one fury-laced page of Neilina’s plans to cut off Mordain from Ybaris and its gifted children, to keep and train them for herself, using those she trusted. She would build her own Mordain within Ybaris.
“That’s what instigated the war between Neilina and Mordain.” Zander hums as pieces fall into place. “Was she foolish enough to summon Aminadav again?”
“No. She swore him off and moved on to Vin’nyla, assuming that because her affinity was to her that she would be favored. Three different elementals summoned Vin’nyla on three occasions before she gave up.” And killed them for their failure—or simply to silence them. “So she summoned Aoife, who answered immediately.”
“And gave us the gift of Princess Romeria?”
“Not yet. The first time they summoned her, she begged Aoife to heal Ybaris’s lands. Aoife told her that she couldn’t undo what Aminadav had done, and that the only way forward was to reclaim Islor. Aoife convinced her that it was rightfully theirs and they needed those lands if Ybaris was to survive. So, she persuaded Barris to wage war. It took time but finally, he agreed.”
“Yes, I recall,” Zander says dryly. “One century ago. They lost.”
“And she blamed him for that.” Her loathing for her husband and his wishes for an allegiance practically leapt off the pages. “She summoned Aoife again and this time asked her for help in defeating Islor.”
“Princess Romeria.”
I shake my head. “That was the last summoning, when she asked for a weapon that would kill them all.” It happened just like Ianca told Gesine it had, with Neilina and her queen’s army commander fucking on the altar in the sanctum before a fate they could not even see. The only visible proof that she’d been there was the golden antlers in Ianca’s hand—a valuable token for protection and healing that Neilina must always wear. That and the baby that arrived nine months later, with blood that would one day start a war. “This second summoning, Aoife promised her an ally.”
“The saplings?”
“Kier.”
Zander frowns, considering that. “Islor and Kier have been at odds for centuries. Are you telling me Neilina was behind this army invading from the east? That she was working with Adley?” His voice is heavy with shock. “That’s impossible. Even he would not partner with her.”
“It doesn’t say anything about Adley in here. All it says is what Aoife told Neilina through the caster, that”—I flip to the pages to where her curly penmanship marked down the words—“the way to defeat Islor would be to weaken them first so they could not fight off threats from two sides. Aoife would poison Kier, forcing them to look to Islor to solve their problems.” If Neilina was keeping tabs on the goings-on of Kier, she didn’t include them in this journal.
“Look to Islor, not Ybaris.”
“That’s what it says.”
Zander studies the ceiling. “King Cheral has never approached us for aid of any sort. Neither did his father. Look to Islor how?”
“Doesn’t say. Maybe Kier’s king was working with Neilina and Adley didn’t know it. But poison seems to be Aoife’s thing.”
“There would need to be a reason for Kier to ally with anyone, so what did Aoife do to them? We should have kept closer tabs on that realm.”
I study his handsome face as he bites his bottom lip in thought.
He inhales sharply. Something important has clicked. “The best spot for Lord Adley to battle for territory and win would have been at the Sanguine River. Between his men and Kier’s army, they could have claimed that side of Islor and held it for themselves without issue. But they crossed the Sanguine and headed into the Plains of Aminadav. They wanted that land. Or what it could produce.”
“Isn’t the harvest what your father and King Barris negotiated for in exchange for Princess Romeria?”
“Yes, it is valuable. But Kier has an abundance of rich and fertile lands. They’ve traded with Kettling for years. Why risk sending a vast army of mortals into a realm with a blood curse to fight someone else’s cause unless you are gaining something valuable in return? Something you don’t have.” He taps his bottom lip with his index finger. “There have been raiding parties from Kier at harvest time, bands of thieves and misfits. Atticus has plenty of stories. The captured would all sing the same tune, complaining of a king who didn’t share his bounty. But if the king himself is willing to send a vast army through, like the size Bexley described, perhaps he no longer has his bounty.”