we probably not get there in time, but they’re too close to the empire—we can’t risk being seen. But this signal is coming from one of the closer villages. . . .”
“Are the Riders going to respond this time?” Veronyka asked.
Tristan didn’t answer. Instead they both leaned in to hear what the commander was saying.
“. . . should be able to assess the situation without exposing your patrol. Keep a safe distance and do not engage unless absolutely necessary.”
“It’s probably just a regular raiding party,” Fallon replied, while his fellow Riders nodded. “No doubt it’ll be over by the time we arrive. We’ll approach on foot and help with the cleanup if we can.”
“There’s never been a raid this far up the mountain,” Tristan said, speaking from the back of the group. The Riders turned to face him. “Didn’t you say it looked like it was coming from Rushlea? There hasn’t been a raid higher than Runnet since we’ve been here.”
The commander’s eyes flashed in his son’s direction, before returning to their usual calm. Veronyka wondered if he was still angry about Tristan’s defiance the previous night.
“There’s a first time for everything,” he said dismissively. “Ride out at once, and send a pigeon as soon as you can.”
The patrol hurried to the Eyrie to mount their phoenixes and depart. The commander’s attention shifted to Tristan, and Veronyka backed away slightly. He definitely still looked angry.
“I don’t want to cause a panic,” the commander said under his breath, so quietly that Veronyka had to strain to hear it—but strain she did. “So keep your observations to yourself, Apprentice.”
The throne was mine, and I would seize it with both hands.
- CHAPTER 35 -
TRISTAN
SO KEEP YOUR OBSERVATIONS to yourself, Apprentice.
Tristan should have known his father wouldn’t invite his opinions, especially after their conversation in front of the breeding enclosure. Commander Cassian did not like to be questioned or debated—least of all in front of others. It had been only Ersken and Nyk last night, but that had been enough. Tristan was ashamed to admit that Nyk’s collapse had been very well timed—dealing with his friend had provided the perfect escape from his father’s wrath.
Until now. Tristan feared his small act of defiance would keep him on the sidelines forever, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret what he’d done. It had been exhilarating to stand up to him, and letting the idea of the promotion go was surprisingly freeing. Without that dangling over him, Tristan could do and say what he wanted, and his father could do nothing to stop him.
Except exclude him, of course. Tristan sighed.
Luckily, all the commotion meant that any talk of the breeding cages was forgotten for the time being.
The fog remained for most of the morning, clinging to the Eyrie and the stronghold like an ominous cloud. Rather than the five or so guards who usually manned the walls, there were close to twenty prowling the ramparts, and even more stationed in the village and at the way station down the mountain. All lessons for the apprentices were canceled, as half of the Riders—some of them instructors—were gone, and it was too dangerous to have the phoenixes flying when there was an unknown threat nearby.
The entire Azurec’s Eyrie complex was on lockdown—which meant that any local villagers who still remained after the solstice festival weren’t allowed to leave for safety reasons. Rushlea was more than halfway up the mountain, uncomfortably close for a raider party to attack.
Tristan fumed at the idea that they could have prevented this, that if they’d had more patrols, they could have stopped such an assault from happening. He understood his father’s concerns, that they’d stretch themselves too thin, but the longer they left Pyra unguarded, the greater the chances that the empire would gain a foothold here.
Since Tristan had none of his own lessons or duties to attend to, he joined Nyk down in the enclosure with the female phoenixes. The birds were riled up and restless, snapping when Nyk slid the food through the slot and even more agitated as the day wore on and they weren’t allowed out for their exercise.
Nyk seemed less upset to be down there than he had the previous night, Tristan watching with a smile as the new phoenix interacted with one of the other females—Tristan was pretty sure his father had named her Xolanthe—and actually laughing when the two playfully nipped and trilled at each other. Tristan’s heart lightened at the sound. He had done the