Страница 48 из 216
I ignored her. “But they need to see and hear me. If I can’t do that?” My face began to warm. “How will I be able to convince the Primals to support us or handle the ones that don’t?”
A muscle started ticking along Ash’s jaw as he held my gaze.
“She has a point,” Rhahar said.
Another moment passed with Ash’s gaze holding mine. “Are you sure?”
“I am.”
He exhaled heavily and then nodded. “Okay.”
I smiled at him. “Thank you.”
He gave me a small shake of his head, and I could tell that he was still concerned about me getting overwhelmed.
“When do you suggest we address the people?” I asked Rhain.
“I would say as soon as possible,” he said, looking between Ash and me.
Concern blossomed. “Are people worried they’re not welcome?”
“No,” Rhain was quick to assure me. “There is just some general nervousness. Many have been through a lot, and even those who were aware of you don’t entirely know what to expect.”
I nodded slowly, thinking it over. “Summoning the Primals is important, but I think assuring the people that they are safe and welcome here is a priority. It’s something I doubt Kolis would do.”
“You can count on that being correct,” Bele commented.
Ash shifted in his chair. “How long would it take for the City Hall to be secured and prepared for such an address?”
Theon looked at his sister. “What do you think? I’ll be in the Bonelands.”
After a moment, she said, “Tomorrow afternoon would be the earliest. It would be tight, but doable.”
I looked at Ash. “Can we postpone going to Vathi until the day after?”
“We can.”
My stomach twisted and dropped but I pushed past it. “Then we’ll address the people of Lethe tomorrow and then speak with Attes.”
“Sounds like we have a plan,” Ash said, glancing across the table at Rhain. “See to it.”
Exhaling slowly, I nodded as I looked around the table, hoping we—I—were making all the right decisions. I felt it was right when it came to prioritizing speaking with the people of Lethe, but everything else? Despite my instinct being more aligned with Bele’s strike-first mentality, I did believe that being cautious was the way to go.
But if I was wrong?
Blood would flow.
“It’s called the Valley of Blood,” Ash said. “The Red River used to run through here and, according to my father, was once as wide as an ocean. But long before I was even born, it began to thin out. What you’re seeing is the old riverbed.”
Seated astride Odin, my hand tightened around Ash’s arm. I could easily see where the valley, nestled between the city of Lethe and another sweeping wall of shadowstone, had gotten its name. The land, all but what appeared to be large, jagged outcroppings of shadowstone, was stained red. While that alone was shocking, it wasn’t what caused my lips to part. Nor was it the snowcapped mountains of Vathi that I could see in the distance. It was what occupied the crimson valley below.
After the meeting, I’d asked about the Shadowlands’ forces—how many we had, how they were trained…
Instead of giving a vague answer as Ash had done in the past, he’d offered to show me. There was no wild dash through the Dying Woods like the last time I’d been this close to Lethe. We’d left through the Rise gates, joined by Rhain and Lailah, and I saw that the once-bent, crooked trees that crowded the shadowstone wall had sprouted buds and even small, glossy leaves. As we traveled, I spotted tiny white flowers in some of the burgeoning meadows. There was green everywhere I looked—so much more than just a day before.
That was until we neared the Dying Woods. They had remained as such, heavily shadowed and even more somber. My skin crawled as we skirted them, traveling a narrow path along the bluffs. I’d seen the gray, shadowy forms of the Shades moving in and out of the dead trees several times. Eather had pressed against my skin upon seeing the souls who refused to pass through the Pillars of Asphodel out of fear of judgment for their sins while alive. It was almost as if they were tracking us.
Tracking me.
I’d exhaled the moment we cleared the Dying Woods, and the Black Bay, along with the tall Rise surrounding Lethe, appeared. I wasn’t looking forward to passing them again, and I wasn’t exactly sure why, beyond the fact that the Shades were incredibly creepy. But thoughts of Shades fell to the wayside as the path we traveled diverged from the fortified city, followed the widening contour of the bluff, and opened to the valley.
Rows of squat, one-story buildings faced the Black Bay, built in a semi-circle. There had to be hundreds of what looked to be dormitories. Towers flanked them, taller than the Rise, and clearly used to keep an eye on what lay to the south and the east. My gaze shifted northward to where an utter sea of soldiers dressed in black and red trained. It would be hard to pick them out from the environment from a distance, but I saw them. All of them.
“How many are there?” I asked.
“Approximately forty-two thousand,” Ash answered.
“Forty-two thousand?” I whispered.
“I know that sounds like a lot.” Ash’s thumb traced an idle circle on the flare of my hip.
“It’s not?” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Lasania only had about half that.”
“And Vathi has three times that number, equally spread between Attes and Kyn,” Rhain commented, his head tilting. In the sunlight, his hair was a burnished auburn.
“Oh.” I swallowed as I watched what appeared to be archery training.
“And they have far more gods than we do,” Lailah chimed in.
I looked to where she sat upon a deep chestnut horse. “How many do we have?”
“About forty percent of our army are gods,” she said, shifting on her saddle. “The remaining numbers consist of godlings and mortals.”
Mortals.
My gaze shifted back to the valley. Several of those who had been working with swords had stopped and clustered together. They had clearly noticed us.
“They volunteered,” Ash stated. “And they know the risks.”
“They are the bravest among them,” Lailah added, pride filling her voice. “But they are far easier to wound and kill, which I’m sure you’re thinking about. Because of that, most are auxiliary units of longbowmen, trained on foot and horseback.”
Archers. “Makes sense.” I toyed with the edge of a fang with the tip of my tongue, thinking about what I’d seen when Kolis had brought me to the rooftop of the Sanctuary. “I never saw any soldiers while I was in Dalos, unless the guards pull double duty.”
“For some of the Courts, the guards and soldiers are one and the same, but you wouldn’t have seen soldiers like these there,” Ash said. “Dalos does not have its own army.”
“What?” I exclaimed, surprised as Ash looked down at me. Then I got it. “Because the Primal of Life has the armies of all the Courts.”
“Supposed to.” His gaze shifted to the soldiers below. “That is how it has been since my father. Not even Kolis openly defies that rule.”
“But that doesn’t mean he follows it.”
Ash nodded. “I imagine his creations make up a portion of his defenses.”
I thought that over. “I’m sure his creations serve a dual purpose—continuation of the balance and as defense. But the ones he calls the Ascended? They can move about during the day—I saw them in the atrium of Cor Palace—but they ca
“They will be a problem,” Ash stated.
“Revenants can be momentarily killed, and based on what I saw, the type of wound determines exactly how long they stay down,” I shared. “But it’s not that long. I got Callum under the chin, and within fifteen minutes or so, he was back on his feet.”
“Most wounds inflicted in battle are to the head or chest.” Lailah’s forehead creased. “Quick strikes. Not to say there aren’t ones that do more bodily damage.”
“But on the whole, those are injuries a Revenant would quickly recover from.” My gaze shifted to the snowcapped mountains. “What about the other Courts?” I asked, my attention snagged by those training on horseback. They, too, had slowed or stopped.
“Hard to tell for sure,” she said. “Many of the Primals keep their true numbers hidden.”
“But you have guesses?”
“We do.” She sent me a quick grin. “But first, I think you’re about to experience something I have a feeling will make you uncomfortable.”
Bewilderment surged. “What do you mean?”
“Look down into the valley,” Ash urged.
I did as he instructed and locked up.
On the field below, all the soldiers had stopped, and those on horseback had dismounted. They stood in endless rows, facing us.
“What…what is happening?” I asked.
“They’re about to do your new favorite thing,” Ash said, his voice heavy with amusement.
My eyes went wide. “They don’t—”
The soldiers kneeled, row after row of them in a wave that stretched the valley, one hand on their chests, and the other on the ground. My lips parted as I took them in.
I jumped when a loud thump echoed through the valley. The soldiers were slamming their palms against the packed ground, over and over, until the valley was filled with the sound.
“This is different,” Ash said, speaking into my ear. “They are not just paying homage to their Queen. They are telling you that they are yours, and that, if it comes down to it, they will go to war for you.”
My breath caught. “For us.”
His lips brushed my cheek. “For us.”
Then the pounding stilled, and silence came. Their heads lifted. They waited.
“I…I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, my cheeks warming. “Yelling to them that they may rise doesn’t seem fitting.”
Ash chuckled. “You can just lift a hand.”
“Oh.” That was far easier. I raised my hand and then gave a little wave because holding it still felt awkward.
It worked, though.
The soldiers rose, and after a few moments, they returned to their training. Seeing thousands of people I’d never spoken to, had likely never even crossed paths with, willing to go to war for me—for us? It rattled me.
“So, about the armies,” Lailah said as Ash gently took hold of my still-raised hand and lowered it. “Phanos has the second-largest army. Around forty-five thousand.”
All thoughts of awkward displays of loyalty fell away. My stomach dipped. “And what type of soldiers does he have?”
“Mostly those on two feet,” Ash answered, gently squeezing my hip. “But he rules the seas with the ceeren.”
I felt my heart clench at thoughts of more ceeren dying.
“Among other things,” Rhain muttered under his breath but continued before I could question that. “Embris has slightly less than we do. About forty thousand.”