Page 66 of Renegade Kings

“Things have changed. Arik is moving his forces. I’ve been trying to discuss this with you all since you got here, but you’ve been too busy locked away in your little love nest,” he snarked.

Okay, so something pissed in his cereal this morning.

“That’s hardly what we’ve been doing. You were training with us nearly all day yesterday. You had more than enough time to talk this through with everyone then,” I pointed out.

Rhidian sighed, and it was laced with so much frustration that I knew this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere.

“Where’s he moving his forces to?” Ryder asked, not bothering to even try to hide the fact that he was intently staring at the map.

Fizzle marched across the surface. “His battalions that he had stationed in the Frosting Peaks are on the move and heading towards the Autumn Court. Some of his smaller outposts are now abandoned, though, and our spies have lost all trace of them.”

He pointed out several red blocks that were scattered all around the map. There seemed to be no pattern amongst the ones that were abandoned and those still manned.

“Could they have moved to one of the other outposts? Merged?” I asked, moving closer and trying to see the pattern that had to be there.

There was reasoning behind every tactic. All you needed to do was know your enemy enough to understand how their mind worked.

“No. There’s been no change to their numbers,” Rhidian answered grumpily. “They’re making a move to reinforce the Autumn Court. I know they are.”

“That wouldn’t make much sense,” Ryder said carefully, already getting ready to tread lightly around Rhidian, it seemed. “You said the Autumn Court has already fallen, that Arik has gleaned what resources he can from there. It makes no sense to refortify that position when he still has an active front at the Summer Court.”

“It would if he knew he was at risk of losing it,” Rhidian answered defensively. “He’s strengthening his hold into a defensive position, preparing for an attack.”

“He’d have to know one was coming for that to make sense.” Ryder and I glanced at each other warily. Fuck, I didn’t want to be the one to say this aloud if they hadn’t even let themselves consider it yet. “You’d have to have a spy amongst your ranks feeding them information.”

Rhidian didn’t fly off the handle like I’d assumed he would, but I could tell he wasn’t happy by the suggestion that one of his own had betrayed him. I could see why he’d think they wouldn’t, though. From the sounds of it, the people here had nothing left. It made little sense that they’d side with the man who had caused all their pain.

But the thing about being in my line of work was that you learned to question what you considered to be fact. The assumption we had was that these people had lost everything. They could have family left behind. Or worse. They could have lost nothing in the first place. They could be a plant.

“You need to look at how someone could get information out. If you can plug the hole, you’re not on the clock to find your spy. It gives you time to quietly look into any suspects without sparking panic and suspicion amongst the ranks.”

They couldn’t afford to lose the trust when you only had each other to rely on. Especially not when everything else was against you.

“No one here is trading secrets with Arik,” Rhidian scoffed. “There’s no love for that fae here.”

He wouldn’t even meet our eyes when he said it. I couldn’t figure out if it was denial or shame. But surely he could see the sense in what we were saying.

“So, if you know Arik is moving his forces to the Autumn Court, why would you consider hitting it?” Ryder asked, changing the subject. I hadn’t even gotten far enough along in the thought process to see that part yet.

“If we get there before he can move all his troops, we can get in behind their lines…”

“And watch all your men die from a better position?” Ryder quipped.

Yeah, this situation was about to go downhill, and it was going fast. If Ryder didn’t push it there, I was ready to, because this dickhead was getting ready to send all his men to their death, and for what?

“We have to do something!” Rhidian suddenly screamed, swiping all the pieces off the map. “Do you know what it’s been like? Hiding here, all these people looking at you for answers and not being able to give them a single one. All this time, all the fighting, all the dying, and the only advantage we had, the only thing I could think to do to make him finally hurt for a change and it’s gone. Just gone. It's all been for nothing. He can’t… this can’t be the end.”

Rhidian sagged against the table and Fizzle moved to his side. It was the first time I’d seen the little owl gryphon attempt to comfort someone and from the awkward display of wing tapping, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his first time doing it.

“We’ve fought for decades and never once gained any ground,” Fizzle told us without even turning around. “Watching from the shadows as Nymeria slowly slips away. This feels like a turning point, the point where we look back and realise it was the beginning of the end.”

“Well, that’s depressing.” Ryder laughed, and I fought the urge to pull him behind me.

The lion inside was chuffing along with him, and I wanted to throttle them both. This was the worst possible situation for the two of them to decide to be pushing their limits, and from the look on Rhidian’s face, it was going to end exactly as expected.

“What Ryder means to say is that we shouldn’t give up. We have a lot of experience in dealing with enemy combative situations. We can help…” I started.

Rhidian scoffed. It was no use pressing the situation, now wouldn’t be when they were ready to hear sense. They needed to sit with the sadness of how they saw their reality, wallow for the moment they needed, and then get the fire lit under them that made them ready to fight again.

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