right when I go back up there, looking like this.”
“You’re not going back up there,” Alchan growled. “You’ll move into a home in my village, and you’ll recover and recuperate.”
“I got ambushed and lost nearly a thousand—”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Alchan snapped.
“How wasn’t it my fault?” Seanev snarled. “I was their leader. My father trained me better than this.”
“He did, and you are, which is why I think magic was involved,” Alchan hissed softly, leaning close to Seanev. “We can’t talk about that here. I need to talk to Luykas.”
“Do you think she’s finally…” Seanev frowned, his brow furrowing. “She’s finally deployed her sorcerers?”
“I think so,” Alchan whispered. “But there are too many ears here, and I need Luykas.”
They waited together, watching the warriors around them. It was close to dawn when others began to land. Luykas, Bryn, and Emerian were there first. Mave watched the horror wash over them as they realized what they were seeing. Kian and Rain were the next to show up.
“We need to talk,” Alchan said simply, standing. “Let’s find somewhere quiet.”
22
Mave
They left the warriors in the clearing, heading back to the guard post. Alchan dismissed the guards, asking them to give the Company some time to speak in private. The guards didn’t question it, even waking up their friends in the living quarters.
“We’ll tend to the warriors and stay with them for the day,” the post commander told them before following his unit into the woods.
“Luykas, do you think Shadra would bring out her sorcery units now?” Alchan asked the moment they were alone.
“Depends. She normally keeps them close to her because they’re the hardest to find. She can’t conscript them to be soldiers the way she can humans or civilian Elvasi. She’s also one of them and likes them more than her soldiers and sailors.” Luykas crossed his arms. “They’re precious, and she never has enough of them.”
“Yes, which is why she normally saved them for major assaults or her own defense,” Alchan added, humming thoughtfully. “That’s what I thought you might say. What I want to know is if there’s any sort of sorcery that can hide hundreds of Elvasi troops, so they can ambush.”
“Not in plain sight, no,” Luykas said, scoffing. His face changed slowly, his eyes going wide. “But there are spells that affect the mind, not the sight. Soft spells, they’re called. They don’t need big spells or lead-up time. A simple whisper of a spell and enough power…They can fool a scout into thinking there aren’t as many soldiers.”
Bryn sucked in a breath. Luykas nodded toward him.
“If they found one of your scouts, they could have altered or tampered with the information that scout would bring back. It’s high-level magic. Not many would know how to do it, and Shadra would be very careful about sending someone into the field who can do it.”
“So, we don’t even know if our intel is right?” Mave growled, running a hand through her hair. “Really?”
“The likelihood is slim she did it to many of our scouts. This might be a one-off case. They caught the scout, then probably realized they could set a trap. Or Shadra realized she could because no one who works for her is that smart.”
“How can they do that?” Mave asked, feeling snappy. No one should have that kind of power.
“You know—blood, power, the right way to manipulate energies. Shadra tried to take your mind once. You know it’s possible,” Luykas reminded her. “I didn’t even know she had sorcerers in her army willing to take the risk required to pull it off.”
“You need to talk to her,” Kian said, grumbling. “Because we don’t know nearly enough, it seems.”
“She was ill all winter,” Luykas snapped. “After putting herself in the position to help more Andinna escape and funnel money away from Shadra. She’s only just now getting back into the loop of Shadra’s plans. I’ll try seeing her later tonight, but it’s always risky, and who knows if she’s learned anything more. I went to see her just a week ago, and she didn’t know about any of this.”
“Or she knew and didn’t say anything,” Kian muttered. “Sorry, that was harsh. She’s proven nothing but trustworthy to Leshaun and you all these years. She helped so many of our people get here. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
“Yeah, let’s not forget Shadra keeps her plans close to her chest,” Alchan said softly. “During the original war, we knew what the Emperor was doing but had no idea what