“The rage demons, the House of Witches, the Dacians, and not unexpectedly the Deathly Ones.” Though conveying distressing news, Cadmus sounded almost thrilled.
Did war turn him on?
Thronos’s eyes narrowed. “What do we know about these enemies?”
“Not as much as we’d like, my liege,” Jasen answered. Lanthe supposed that Vrekener wasn’t too bad. Compared to Cadmus, Jasen struck her as a levelheaded font of reason. “The Dacians live in a secreted realm, but they have very recently begun opening up communications with outside factions. Their newly crowned king is Lothaire, the Enemy of Old.”
Lothaire? Like a bad penny!
Thronos turned to her. “You know him.”
“I do. If we can deliver a missive to him, I will try to establish a dialogue.”
Thronos told her, “We have a station on the ground, with messengers awaiting.”
“Good. I don’t know why he would declare war. It seems random.”
Jasen answered, “The new king of the Deathly Ones is a Dacian royal. We believe Lothaire is backing his relative.”
“I expected the rage demons to declare war,” Thronos said. Because of me. “Now it becomes clear why the Deathly Ones and the Dacians have. But what of the House of Witches? Are they not in the Vertas alliance? The House has always maintained an uneasy truce with the Vrekeners, no matter how closely their faction is related to the Sorceri.”
Historically, witches and Sorceri hadn’t been chummy. Unlike Lanthe and Carrow.
Cadmus shrugged. “We don’t know why they call us enemy.”
Lanthe did. She’d bet Carrow had survived the island and was still trying to get Lanthe’s back. I knew I liked that witch.
Cadmus said, “It’s my recommendation that we strike back against the vampire who stole into our kingdom, sending Vrekener might to crush the Deathly Ones. If the Dacians want a war, we can give them a reckoning.”
Thronos intoned, “You’re quick to want war for a kingdom in flux.”
Cadmus’s lips thinned. “King Aristo was given no death rites—because the vampire made a gift of your brother’s head to the princess in that sick demon tournament,” he said, again seeming to relish delivering the gruesome news.
Lanthe squeezed Thronos’s hand. He had to be freaking inside, but he appeared undaunted.
Turning to Cadmus, she said, “You want to crush the Deathly Ones? Those demons garner strength with each kill they make. In other words, they get more powerful as a war drags on. Plus, their kingdom is specifically warded against Vrekeners. As for the Dacians, they’re fairly much supervampires, with unearthly might and cunning. Lothaire alone is millennia old.” And immortals grew stronger with age.
“The Sorceri seek to war with us,” Cadmus said, addressing Thronos as if Lanthe hadn’t even spoken. “Yet now we have one of them as queen? How can we be sure where her loyalties lie?”
Oh, it’s on. “My loyalties lie with Thronos,” Lanthe declared. “I’ll do everything within my power to protect him and his interests.” —By the way, Cadmus is an a**hole.—
—We are in agreement.—
“So the sorceress says now.”
Blue light began to swirl around her just as Thronos snapped, “Your queen has spoken, and you will not doubt her.”
Cadmus choked out a breath. “That’s not residual sorcery flowing from her. You left her empowered?” Others looked stunned by this as well. “When I’ve felt her very sorcery compelling me against my will?”
What was this tool talking about? —When has he felt my sorcery?—
—He was with me in Louisiana when we ambushed you last year. Jasen as well.—
Oops.
Cadmus pounded his fist on the table. “She must be disempowered to walk freely in our realm. It’s the law!”
In an eerily calm voice, Thronos said, “Obviously I just changed that law, General Cadmus. Get up to speed.”