City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place #2) - Alexandra Christo Page 0,19
you were really getting through to them.”
“They’re just as scared as my amja is,” Saxony said. “And they won’t go against an acting Liege.”
“I guess that means I’m the only one pulling my weight in this war, then,” Tavia said.
This time, Karam did glare at her. Not because she disagreed that the steps the busker had taken were necessary, but because she was getting a little tired of having to play peacemaker and diplomat in this newly fractured group.
Karam was a warrior. A guard. A soldier. She was not a mediator and it seemed she spent too much time these days ignoring her strengths in favor of fixing other people’s weaknesses. Sometimes, she couldn’t help but feel that she’d be better used somewhere else in this war, doing something that really mattered.
She would have said as much if a delg bat hadn’t then swooped down from the sky, cutting through the trees. It circled overhead, around the three of them, squeaking mercilessly as it awaited the code word it needed to land.
“Who would be sending bats to us?” Karam asked. “Everyone we know is here, in this camp.”
Everyone except for Wesley, of course. Though none of them would draw attention to that if they could help it.
“Relax,” Tavia said, and then, looking up toward the sky, she called, “Truce.”
The messenger bat darted downward and landed on Tavia’s outstretched hand with all the speed that it took for Karam to blink. Tavia stroked its head and the creature nestled into her fingertip. Karam had always thought they were awful things, not because of their appearance but because they could find anyone, anywhere, delivering a message even to the spirits. It seemed too much power for one thing to hold.
And then, of course, there was how they delivered their messages, with someone else’s voice trapped in their throats. It made Karam shudder to think of.
“Speak to me, little guy,” Tavia said.
The bat seemed to nod, and stretched out its wings like a curtain. It opened its mouth and Karam braced herself for the transformation of its voice.
“I have kept my promise,” the bat said in a croak.
Karam recognized its tone as belonging to the underboss she had heard Tavia dealing with before.
Casim.
“I have four dozen buskers ready to send your way,” it said. “I’m talking to the other underbosses, but you’ll understand it takes time and I must be careful. Once we have your location, my forces will be with you within the week. Give Wesley my regards and let him know that I’ve put my faith in him.”
“Good job,” Tavia whispered into the creature’s ear.
A few dozen more buskers wasn’t something to scoff at with their armies so depleted, and so Karam clapped Tavia on the back in a way she hoped said that she was pleased.
“I have to tell Casim where we are so he can send the buskers,” Tavia said. “But I promise that he’s too scared of Wesley to betray us.”
Saxony seemed to think this over, and Karam wondered whether she would have to referee another fight between them, as Saxony refused to trust an underboss.
To her surprise, Saxony nodded.
“Do it,” she said. “Send the bat back. You were right to contact him.”
“I was right?” Tavia repeated the words slowly, like they were the last ones she had expected.
“You were,” Saxony said. “And it’s time I did something to help our armies too. I’m done trying to convince my amja to help me summon the other Lieges. I’ve got a new idea.”
“We are not killing your amja, are we?” Karam asked. “I think perhaps that is an overreaction.”
“That’s Plan C,” Saxony said. “Plan B is going to someone else for help, like Tavia did.”
“You are going to the next Liege you know with the power of summoning,” Karam said as the understanding dawned on her. “Asees.”
Saxony nodded. “And your friendship with Arjun won’t hurt to convince her.” She smiled tightly. “If you don’t mind me wagering your connections, that is.”
“Of course,” Karam said. “But once Asees helps you to summon the other Lieges, what will we do next?”
“We kill Ashwood.”
Karam liked that plan.
“But I want to find a way of killing him without hurting anyone in his army,” Saxony said. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. We know that not everyone follows him willingly. Some people are just civilians infected with the Loj.”
Tavia crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh. “They’re innocent,” she said.
But Karam shook her head.”There are no innocents in war.”