Iron Crowned Page 0,76

others' expressions. I'd once been told that when I was angry, I resembled my father. I took a deep breath and pushed back any further outbursts.

"Leading a massive army in - while deserved - wouldn't be ..." Rurik was still treading lightly, still choosing words carefully. "Well, Katrice was already in wartime mode, heavily guarded. After this? The lands outside her home probably have triple the guard they did before."

"But if our force was large enough ..." I began.

Rurik nodded. "True. It's possible. Especially if ... especially if my lord Dorian's armies were involved." He looked uneasy at mentioning Dorian, but I could see a considering look on Rurik's face. I had a feeling we shared the same puzzle. Would Dorian lend forces to help me? Possibly not, not if his anger overrode any devotion to me. On the other hand, Dorian was still in this war, and I knew him well enough to think he might welcome a full-out march on her castle. Rurik knew that too. "With his forces, it's possible," Rurik said at last. "But Katrice's would be defending. It would be bloody. It would be ugly."

He didn't sound opposed to that, per se. He was a military man; ugly battles were the way of the world. But we all knew that wasn't ideal.

My mind spun. Part of me wanted that large force to beat on Katrice because I thought she deserved it. This was about more than revenge, however. It was about Jasmine. I needed to go with the plan most likely to get her back, and an invading army wasn't it. It would take a smaller group, just as she'd no doubt sent here, one that could slip in. We were heavily guarded, but with the assorted petitioners and refugees always coming and going, it was no wonder Jasmine's kidnappers had slipped in. Katrice undoubtedly had a similar stream of people coming to her in these times, but she'd probably be on high alert with them too.

"Imanuelle," I said, realizing too many moments of silence had passed. "Can you get me Imanuelle?"

It was this, finally, that took the group's eyes off me - because they all exchanged astonished looks. Kiyo's face grew troubled.

"That's your plan?" Kiyo asked. "Assassinate Katrice? Eugenie, you're better than that." He'd apparently heard of Imanuelle.

"I am," I agreed. "And smarter. Get her for me." That was to Shaya, who nodded and then shot a look at a hovering servant. He gave a hasty bob of his head and darted out of the room.

"Ready to repeat history?" I asked Kiyo. "It'll be like raiding Aeson's all over again."

"You're going ... No. Eugenie, you can't go there."

I gestured to Rurik and began moving for the exit. "You heard him. We can't get in with a large force - not easily."

"Yes, I get that," said Kiyo, following after me. "But you can't go."

"I have to go," I countered.

Rurik had hurried along after us. "He's right. Send someone else. I'll go. We'll sneak in and take her."

I came to an abrupt halt, nearly causing both men to run into me. "I'm going. This is my responsibility. Besides, who else around here can match me magically?" I peered back and forth between their faces, daring them to challenge me.

"Even so," said Rurik, "if you're discovered, you'll be outnumbered. And you're an enemy queen. In wartime. Walking right into your enemy's stronghold. I can't allow this."

"It's not your place to allow me to do anything!" I snapped. "Or you either." I turned to Kiyo for that, guessing his words. "We won't be discovered. Not if Imanuelle's as good as she claims." I was so tired of men telling me what I could and couldn't do.

I left them and stalked off down the hallway toward my bedroom. Neither followed me right away, but I just barely heard Rurik mutter to Kiyo, "Well, if she's caught, she will get a massive army descending on Katrice, at least. My lord Dorian wouldn't permit anything less."

The flaw in my plan, as it turned out, was waiting on Imanuelle. After our last meeting, she'd left my kingdom, and finding her wasn't easy. You couldn't just openly summon a famed assassin. Girard was at my court, however, and apparently had secret ways of sending messages to his sister. I didn't ask any questions about his means, so long as she showed up.

Waiting for her gave us time to plan strategy. Once my advisors grudgingly accepted that I'd be going personally - and once