A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3) - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Before going to meet with Tandrin and Queen Navire, Tannix took me on a quick detour to the medic's tent. Castin and Kovin were both asleep. Kovin on his back, with his bandaged arm carefully draped over his chest. It was hard to tell how he was doing. Castin was curled up on his side with his head burrowed under an arm. It was how he always slept, and he looked far more natural than Kovin. Though I wanted to talk to them I decided not to disturb them. For now, it was enough of a relief just to see them safe. I was still thinking about them as we stepped into the cooler night air and started towards the large white meeting tent.
I froze when Tannix, a step ahead, paused and lay a hand on my chest. "No."
Jalor stood in front of us, his gaze locked on me. Stubble covered his chin, but his hair was tied back just as neatly as it always was. "I just need-"
"You don't need to ambush him."
Jalor's eyes snapped to Tannix's face. "Have you even asked? Do you know if she's all right? If she's dead, tell me. Now."
My stomach dropped as I realized what he was asking. I had been so worried about Castin and Kovin that Mayah had entirely slipped from my mind. "I think she..." They both turned to me, and I faltered. "I just mean, when I saw her, she was all right. Maybe... two days ago?" Maybe longer, I had no idea how long we had been in the torture cell. "When we escaped, I asked Kassia about her and Kassia said that nobody would associate her with me. For what I did." I knew I wasn't making sense. Jalor blinked at me and Tannix's hand on my chest had curled so he was holding a handful of my tunic.
"Kassia was there when you escaped?" he asked.
"What about Mayah?" Jalor took a step closer. "Why didn't you get her?"
"Stand down," Tannix growled.
"She wasn't with me," I said quickly. "I was in the prison like last time, I think she was in the castle. I think she's... It doesn't make sense, but Kassia likes her. I think Kassia will protect her."
Tannix's grip tightened every time I said Kassia's name. "She was there when you escaped? Kassia helped you escape?"
I shook my head. "She... she let me escape. She was coming to kill me and, oh. No, it was actually... it was supposed to be mercy, I think. Tannix, please." I didn't know what I was asking for, because I didn't know what was wrong with me. The cool air, sleep, food and water were supposed to have fixed my sunstroke. But I still couldn't think properly. And I felt suddenly wracked with guilt, because I hadn't even tried to go after Mayah. I'd barely given her a second thought. "I'm sorry, Jalor. I should have found her."
Tannix stepped in front of me, shielding me from Jalor's stare. He held a hand to my forehead. "You're still warm. Are you sure you can talk to the council?"
They needed to know what I knew. There wasn't time for Tannix to coax me through whatever was happening in my head. "I have to."
"No, you don't," he said softly. He let go of my tunic and pulled me into a hug, despite the fact that anyone walking by could see us. "Not unless you're ready."
I took a deep breath. "Don't be... don't be you. Be Lord West Draulin. Be a soldier."
"What does that mean?"
"Don't prioritize me over the war. I can't focus. I don't know what's wrong, but I need you to help me focus. Instead of trying to shield me from it. Please?"
"I'll try," he said after a moment. He let me go and turned to Jalor, who hadn't moved. "There are protocols. She should be fine."
Jalor wasn't looking at him. "You said she wouldn't be associated with what you did. What did you do?"
Oh. Somehow, like Mayah, the particulars of what I had done had escaped me. Even though it was easily one of the most important things I had to tell them about.
"I helped kill King Deorun."
I found myself sitting at the head of a long table in the meeting tent. Tannix stood on my right side, Acen on my left. The other knights-I was pleased to finally get a glimpse of all of them-were behind us. Tandrin and his various generals and advisors were seated on the right side of the table. Queen Navire and her people were on the left. Every single one of them was staring at me as I talked.
Tannix kept me focused as I rambled my way through the whole story. First, how Kassia had taken us in East Draulin. Multiple times, I had to remind myself not to waste too much time talking about specifics. They didn't need to know about my confusing relationship with Kassia, or Castin's wellbeing. So, I skipped over most of the time on the ship. I told them everything I could remember about the meeting with King Deorun. Then, in even less detail than I'd given Tannix, I talked about Kalvahi torturing us.
"He was hoping that by killing me, he could shake your trust in each other." Halfway through my speech, Tannix had subtly handed me his crest ring. I stared at it, twirling it around my index finger distractedly. "It sounded more like revenge than a real plan. I think he just wanted to hurt Tannix." I cast him a very brief glance, then my gaze flickered back to the ring. "So, sometime after that one of the king's servants came to see us. He said that he hates the king and he offered to help us get out. That's when I had the idea. I told him to take the bloomshade and he said he would use it on the king. Later when we heard the alarms, I hoped he had gone through with it. When we ran into Lady Kassiandra in the hallway, she did say something about having to find out who killed the king. So, yes... I think he's dead."
Queen Navire spoke up while I paused. "If Idavari is dead, we have an opening and we need to move quickly. Kalvahi will not be able to smoothly step into power."
"The servant, um..." They were all looking at me again. "He said that Kalvahi might be more open to negotiating a surrender. He said that the king was stupid, but Kalvahi knows Deorun is losing the war."
"We can send a message and offer him the opportunity," the woman sitting beside Queen Navire said. "But he may try to rally his people now that he is the king."
Tannix dropped a hand on my shoulder before I even realized I was shivering. King Kalvahi. I hated it, even though I knew it was going to happen.
Tandrin scrubbed his face with one hand. He wasn't quite as put together as he usually was, although he was clearly still making an effort. "Kalvahi as king might not be a shift in our favour. On the face of it, we've been in communication with King Idavari. But we all know that we've really been in communication with the prince. He's been running Deorun from the start. Now he'll be able to step out of the shadows and do it publicly, with the support of his people. He's always been more popular than Idavari. I'm afraid that I agree with Kel Liope. He will rally."
"And do what, your majesty?" A Zian man down Tandrin's side of the table asked. "He doesn't have the strength to try an attack of any real force."
A Navirian man spoke, and a translator echoed his words in Teltish. "He could call for reinforcements from Dusyt and Tway. He could flank our camp. Many of our soldiers aren't in fighting condition, either, with the diseases and food shortages. Fresh troops could do a lot of damage."
Tandrin shook his head. "They would have to trek across the desert or take the river. If they crossed the desert, they would arrive more exhausted than we are, and we can hold the river with a few well-placed units. I'm not worried about him calling for reinforcements, or even an actual attack. I'm concerned that he knows he's cornered and losing, and he might be willing to throw soldiers at us to do as much damage as possible before the end of the war. Will we win if he does that? Yes, certainly. But I'd rather we not take the losses if we can avoid it. We have lost enough good men and women already."
Queen Navire nodded. She looked as elegant as always, even in pants and a dusty tunic. "I agree. And so we must decide on a way to take Deorun with as little bloodshed as possible. Finagale." She turned to me, and laced her fingers under her chin. "My patrol found you and your companions half-dead beside the Ady river. Can you explain?"
Hadn't I? No, I had only gotten as far as Vali killing the king. I nodded, relieved that Tannix's hand was still on my shoulder. "There's a cave and a door. It goes up to a set of tunnels and hallways. Partially in the prison, but I think it connects to the castle, too. It might go even further. I didn't get a chance to map it out."
"There's a door?" Tandrin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table as he reached for a large map. "Come here, show us."
Wearily, I forced myself to stand and walked around the table to look at the map. It didn't take me long to match up what I knew of the tunnels, and our own swim upriver, with what I was looking at. I reached around Tandrin and tapped a spot along the wall. "It's somewhere around here, your majesty."
Tannix surprised me by joining us and handing me a charcoal pencil. "Draw the tunnels."
Tandrin shifted aside so I could have better access to the map. Everyone at the table watched as I added lines to the map. From the cave, to the prison, and the long hall that led to the castle. When I was done, I dropped the pencil and stepped back. My head was pounding again.
Queen Navire stood to get a better look at the map. "How accurate is this?"
"Very," Tannix spoke for me. "Is that all?"
There was a hint of something very protective in his voice. Tandrin heard it, and glanced over his shoulder to eye his brother. "Finn can go, I need you here."
Tannix nodded briskly. "I'll be back once he's settled."
"Thank you." Tandrin almost turned back to the table, but then he looked at me. "Finn, this is incredibly helpful. I'm sorry if you weren't entirely feeling up to talking to us. You deserve as much rest as you need. Go get some sleep."
I was more than happy to follow Tannix out of the tent.
When I woke up, I could hear voices. I opened my eyes a crack to see a lantern glowing on the makeshift table in the middle of the tent, with a few people sitting around it. I felt better than I had during the meeting, but not well enough to bother trying to join the conversation. I tugged the thin sheet up to my chin and tried to fall back asleep.
"-rather it wasn't you." That was Tandrin, whispering.
"I know."
"You're sure this isn't just some attempt at being noble, or getting revenge? I saw those young men, and what Kalvahi did to them. To Finn. I understand why you want to be the one to kill him."
"I want to tear him apart with my bare hands," Tannix hissed. "But I didn't suggest it so I could throw myself at Kalvahi. We've been in that city before, and we made it out. We can do it again."
"Circumstances weren't exactly the same last time," Tandrin said. "And you had Finn."
"I know." Tannix paused. "I know that. But it's more than just experience, I'll admit. It's Mayah. Jalor is out of his mind with worry, and the rest of my men like her, too. They want to go after her."
"If Jalor is going to be reckless, I can't let you take him."
"He'll keep in line." That was Acen, chiming in. "Tandrin, if I thought he was going to be a risk, I wouldn't let him come."
Tandrin sighed. "Thank you, Acen. I can't play favourites. Tannix, you and your men are ideal for this plan. I want to order you not to do this, but I know that I can't. I wish I could protect you."
They were talking about going into the city. I opened my eyes, just in time to see Tannix tap his chest.
Tannix nodded. "I know. If I wasn't your brother-"
"But you are," Tandrin interrupted. "And I have to let you go anyway. We'll go over details with Avaloni tomorrow morning."
"And then we'll go," Tannix agreed.
I sat up with a start. "I'm coming."
Tannix was beside me in an instant, touching my forehead, then stroking my cheek. "No. Go back to sleep."
"I'm coming," I insisted. I didn't want to go anywhere near the city, but I couldn't imagine not being near Tannix. Him going off and leaving me behind to worry again. And... "You need me. I know the way."
"You drew us a map."
"I'm better than the map." I sounded panicked and I knew it.
"You need to sleep," Tannix said softly. "We'll talk about it tomorrow."
"No, we won't, you're just saying that so I'll go to sleep. Stay here." I grabbed his hand, even though he hadn't moved. "Please, stay with me. I'll sleep if you stay here."
Tannix looked over my shoulder. I heard Tandrin get to his feet.
"We should all get some sleep," he said. "Good night, Tannix. Acen, a brief word outside, please."
They walked out together and we were alone. Well, we weren't really, every other mattress had an occupant. As long as they stayed asleep, we were alone.
Tannix lay down and I burrowed into his arms immediately. "I'm coming," I mumbled against him.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." He trailed a hand down my back gently. "Shh. Sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."
Hearing that did settle my racing heart somewhat. I tried to press closer to him, only to feel something hard under his shirt. I slid an arm out from the blankets to touch it, and finally realized what it was. What I had seen him touch. "Your amulet."
Tannix kissed my forehead. "I haven't taken it off, not even once. Now close your eyes and go to sleep."
I was still scared, but being in his arms was helping. And I was so tired. So I closed my eyes and settled against him.