Page 87 of Her Cruel Redemption

‘I’ll go and speak with him,’ I said wearily, though I didn’t make any move to do so. I didn’t much feel like trying to explain what had happened the previous day to Esario.

‘Excellent. Because after that absolute fiasco of a battle yesterday, I think we’re due some strategy conversations. And you’ve proven yourself to be an important element to consider in any battle strategy.’

Usually, I might have pointed out that no one had wanted me to have any part in the battle only the day before, but not in the state I was in that morning. I was brittle and jittery and I just wanted him to go away, so I said nothing, just stared at the coals of the fire, trying to pick out slithers of surviving fabric. The silence thickened, growing awkward.

‘Well, alright then,’ Vic said with a half laugh. ‘I see you’re not feeling very chatty this morning.’ Still, he lingered, finally drawing my gaze back up because he obviously had something else to say. He flashed me a charming smile. ‘You’re looking lovely, by the way.’

Which finally pushed me into leaving myself instead of waiting for him to do the honours. When I slipped through the door to the war tent, I exposed a long table dimly lit with the flickering glow of oil lamps and a group clustered around it speaking in low, tense voices as they bent over a spread of maps. Gwinellyn’s eyes flicked to mine as I approached and tuned into the conversation, listening to the murmurs about numbers and the terrain and the different points of the wall that could be targeted, accompanied by hands gesturing at the maps on the table. There were two main threads to the conversation that I could pick up: one discussion on leveraging whatever advantage they thought they might have in local knowledge of the city and its terrain, the other bouncing around the possibility of a negotiation, as though the previous day’s point-blank refusal hadn’t already ruled that out.

‘Why does Draven want Port Howl?’ My voice was louder than the murmurs, and it quelled them all. A dozen sets of eyes turned on me. And I realised I’d made a mistake, referring to him by his first name. I should have called himthe Usurperorthe Blood Kinginstead, in front of all these people who were already suspicious of my connection with him. Was I imagining their scrutiny crawling all over me?

Dovegni was the one who answered me from his position in the shadowy depths of the tent, his red robes the colour of dried blood in the gloom. ‘Why does that matter?’

I cleared my throat and tried to shake off the desire to make myself small and curl up somewhere no one would look at me for a while. ‘Because we’re waging war against a foe we don’t understand. If we don’t know his motive, how do we ever hope to gain the upper hand? So, what does he want, Dovegni?’

‘Rhiandra…’ Gwinellyn warned, but I ignored her.

‘How should I know?’ Dovegni shot back. ‘How should any of us?’

‘He knew about the smuggler caves,’ I said firmly. ‘That’s why he caught the stealth attack before they ever reached the city.’ And not only that, he used them to get into the city in the first place, but I wasn’t going to tell them where I’d learned that information. ‘How did he know about them?’

Esario and Dovegni exchanged a look. I didn’t let it pass uncalled out.

‘What have you not told us?’

Now it was Oceatold’s king Gwinellyn was frowning at. ‘Esario?’

Esario pursed his lips, his cheeks turning ruddy as he seemed to consider his options. Finally, he sighed. ‘Gwinellyn, Dovegni, stay. Everybody else, please make yourselves scarce.’

The rest of the occupants of the tent immediately began to move, streaming towards the opening.

‘I’d like Rhiandra to stay,’ Gwinellyn said quietly.

Esario frowned at me, before finally waving a hand to beckon me closer. ‘Fine. Stay.’

My throat choked up with emotion. Gwinellyn was still trying to trust me. And I… I’d betrayed that trust again the night before. Guilt sat heavily in my stomach as I moved closer to the table, and we held silent until there were only the four of us left.

‘Where’s Lidello? He should be here for this,’ Dovegni began. Even the sound of the man’s name made my skin crawl, and I was immediately shaking my head.

‘Just come out with it. Let’s not waste more time,’ I said, exasperated now.

‘But it was Lidello’s program. He’ll be the one who can best answer your question. We collaborated, but mostly from afar. I only visited a few times.’

I narrowed my eyes, flicking them between Dovegni and Esario. ‘Oh, don’t tell me what I think you’re about to tell me. Becausethatwould have been something you should have shared the moment Port Howl fell.’

‘What do you mean?’ Gwinellyn asked, switching her gaze from one person to the next as she tried to grasp our meaning.

‘Lidello’sprogram.’ I snarled the last word with a hearty dose of spite. ‘It was based here, wasn’t it?’

‘It’s the most well-resourced Guild stronghold in the kingdom,’ Esario replied.

‘And heescapedit.’ I stared at him, incredulous. ‘Why did you think the plan with the caves would work?’

‘Even Port Howl’s soldiers didn’t know of them,’ he protested, volume rising. ‘I asked the returned prisoners. No one knew—’

‘Draven did.’ I inhaled sharply, trying to leash my frustration. ‘You need to stop underestimating him. He’s smart. Far smarter than I think you realise. If I knew he’d ever even visited Port Howl before I would have counted those caves out, and he wasimprisonedhere. And not only that, heescapedthat imprisonment and got out of the city. How could you have not thought that relevant information to reveal? I’d be willing to bet he knows the landscape and this city far better than you do.’

‘Then what would you have us do? Relinquish the city simply because he knows his way around?’

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