The generals blinked at her. She looked around the table, eyes wide open. “What?”
“Last time you ended up stranded for a month,” said Captain Eriden. “We’ll be fine against Feylen—we have fifteen squadrons of archers positioned across the cliff walls.”
“And he’ll just fling them off the cliffs,” said Rin. “They won’t be more than an annoyance.”
“And you won’t be?”
“No,” she said. “This time, I can fly.”
The generals looked as if they were unsure whether to laugh. Only General Tarcquet, sitting silently as usual in the back of the room, looked mildly curious.
“I built her a, uh, flying kite sort of contraption,” Kitay explained. He made some gestures with his hands that clarified nothing. “It’s made up of some leather wings with rods, and she can generate flames hot enough to levitate herself using the same principle that lifts a lantern—”
“Have you tried it?” Vaisra asked. “Does it work?”
Rin and Kitay nodded.
“Wonderful,” Gurubai said drily. “So, assuming she’s not mad, that’s the Wind God taken care of. There’s still the rest of the Imperial Navy to deal with, and we’re still outnumbered three to one.”
The officers shifted uneasily.
It was easier for Rin if she compartmentalized the battle to simply dealing with Feylen. She didn’t want to think about the rest of the fleet, because the truth was there was no easy way to deal with the fleet. They were outnumbered, they were on the defensive, and they were trapped.
Kitay sounded far calmer than she felt. “There’s a number of different tactics we can try. We can try to break them up and storm their warships. The important thing is that we don’t let that fortress get to the shore, because then it turns into a land battle for the city.”
“And Jun’s forces won’t be so formidable,” Kulau added. “They’ll be exhausted. The Militia isn’t used to naval battles, they’ll be seasick and dizzy. Meanwhile our army was designed for riverine warfare, and our soldiers are fresh. We’ll just outfight them.”
The room looked unconvinced.
“Here’s an option we haven’t considered,” General Hu said after a short pause. “We could surrender.”
Rin found it disheartening that this wasn’t immediately met with a general outcry.
Several seconds passed in silence. Rin glanced sideways at Vaisra but couldn’t read his expression.
“That wouldn’t be a terrible idea,” Vaisra said finally.
“It wouldn’t.” General Hu glanced desperately around the room. “Look, I’m not the only one thinking it. They’re going to slaughter us. No one’s come back from a numbers disadvantage like this in history. If we cut our losses now, we still come out of this alive.”
“As always,” Vaisra said slowly, “you are the voice of reason, General Hu.”
General Hu looked profoundly relieved, but his smile faded as Vaisra continued to speak. “Why not surrender? The consequences couldn’t possibly be so terrible. All that would happen is that every single person in this room would be flayed alive, Arlong destroyed, and any hope of democratic reform would be quashed in the Empire for at least the next few centuries. Is that what you want?”
General Hu had turned pale. “No.”
“I have no place in my army for cowards,” Vaisra said softly. He nodded to the soldier standing beside Hu. “You there. You’re his aide?”
The boy nodded, eyes huge. He couldn’t have been older than twenty. “Yes, sir.”
“Ever been in battle?” Vaisra asked.
The boy’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Yes, sir. I was at Boyang.”
“Excellent. And what is your name?”
“Zhou Anlan, sir.”
“Congratulations, General Zhou. You’ve been promoted.” Vaisra turned to General Hu. “You can leave.”
General Hu forced his way through the crowded bodies and left without another word. The door swung shut behind him.
“He’s going to defect,” said Vaisra. “Eriden, see that he’s stopped.”
“Permanently?” Eriden asked.
Vaisra considered that briefly. “Only if he struggles.”
After the council had been dismissed, Vaisra motioned for Rin to stay behind. She exchanged a panicked glance with Kitay as he filtered out with the others. Once the room had emptied, Vaisra closed the door behind him.
“When this is over I want you to go pay a visit to our friend Moag,” he said quietly.
She was so relieved that he hadn’t mentioned the Hesperians that for a moment all she did was blink at him, uncomprehending. “The Pirate Queen?”
“Make it quick,” Vaisra said. “Leave the corpse and bring back the head.”
“Wait. You want me to kill her?”
“Was I not sufficiently clear?”
“But she’s your biggest naval ally—”
“The Hesperians are our biggest naval ally,” Vaisra said. “Do you