Phoenix Rising by Esther Mitchell

Author:Esther Mitchell [Mitchell, Esther]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781702460811
Publisher: FyrRose Productions
Published: 2019-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Dawn rose over a grim scene, with little feeling of the celebration a city's liberation should entail. Instead, Telyn stood beside Nacaris, staring down at the Rahian army that circled the city. They might have lost half of their manpower, but those monsters weren't about to back down -- especially now. They had the key to demanding the Borderlanders' surrender.

"I have to get him back."

Telyn's throat closed, and her heart wrenched at the worry and anger in his voice, the tightness in his shoulders and jaw. She reached out, covered his hand with hers, and gave it a squeeze.

"We'll get him back, Nacaris. Together."

His hand moved to grip hers, and he nodded. Then, his battle-scarred hands clenched against the stone battlement wall, he released a raw oath. "Cetaraktou!"

Telyn focused on the tents below, and tried to restore some logic to the situation. It was the only way they were going to get anywhere. "Not a sight for the sober soul. Do you think it's going to get worse?"

His jaw clenched harder, and she swore she heard his teeth grinding together before he spoke. "For the Rahians it will, if I get my hands on them."

She sighed. This was getting them nowhere. She knew about revenge, and it wasn't a pretty thing. She didn't like seeing Nacaris like this -- it was a side of him that never set well with her. "What about the Ealdormen?"

He released a breath, and his head dropped. For a moment he stood completely still, and then his shoulders slumped as all the fight went out of him.

"I'll have to speak with them."

"What are you going to tell them?"

"The truth." He met her gaze, and she saw, in that one look, how much the secret he'd kept really tore at him. "They need to be ready. They need to know this isn't going to end without a great deal of pain and suffering."

Telyn nodded. He was right, after all. Laconda was looking at a long siege -- the Rahians weren't likely to just pack up and leave. Not when they had Corand. "Does Laconda have the supplies put by for a siege?"

He shrugged. "Laconda's a garrison town on the Rahian border. They'd be fools to not be prepared for this eventuality. Being protected by walls doesn't make a city invulnerable to attack."

That didn't answer her question, but she supposed it was the best he could do. The Ealdormen would better be able to answer her query. She glanced around on the walls, and inside the city, where Militia and Regiment milled about together, all of them looking weary. She frowned as a new threat occurred to her. "Do you think we'll have to deal with deserters?"

A sharp bark of laughter from Nacaris answered her. "Not unless someone's planning to chop off his or her own limbs. Borderlanders are a tough lot -- they don't frighten easily, and they're plaguey hard to torture, either. With their hatred for the Rahians, they'd sooner die than desert their families and friends by deserting their posts.

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