Page 62 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

Lorian studied them. While Asinia had sent us a message describing them after their attack on the rebels, he hadn’t wanted to give his opinion until he saw exactly what they were. And from the cold wrath in his eyes, he now knew. “The winged creatures are known as skyrions. The creatures on the ground are terrovians.” He looked at me. “They have been twisted to obey Reiner’s command, but their original home was within Sylvielle’s territory.”

And Regner had stolen them as babies, breeding them until they were a substantial part of his army. There were enough skyrions and terrovians here to rip everyone in this city apart.

“What do we do?” My lips were numb. My voice didn’t sound like mine. I reached for my power, searching yet again for some tiny spark as I clutched my hourglass.

Nothing.

“This city isn’t built for a prolonged siege,” Rekja said. “Residents will begin evacuating through tunnels beneath the city. But there won’t be enough time to get them all out. Sorlithia will fall. The most we can do is attempt to save as many lives as possible.”

Across the room, Thora’s bottom lip trembled. This was their favorite place. The city they likely escaped to often. I hadn’t seen much of it, yet what I had seen, I’d loved.

And Regner would destroy it and everyone here.

The loss of my power was crippling. Without it, I would carry hundreds or thousands of deaths on myconscience.

“Where do the tunnels end?” I asked.

“Deep within the forest, along the border between both kingdoms.”

I barely hid my wince. Between Regner’s regiments and the hybrid camp.

“Tell them to move south,” I said.

“Of course they will move south.” Rekja gave me a look.

“Not to the next city,” I said. “Not to the next villages. Regner will simply continue wiping them out. Tell your people to move toward central Gromalia.”

Rekja hesitated. Clearly, while he was willing to ally with us, trusting his people to the fae still wasn’t something that came naturally to him.

“We are moving our people out,” I said. “Those who can’t fight will be traveling to the hybrid kingdom through the Asric Pass. Those who can fight will join together— hybrid and fae fighting side by side. Fight with us, Rekja. Tell your generals to march your army all the way south. Our armies are setting up a camp there, ready to march on our orders.”

His eyes flared. “And were you going to ask permission before marching into my kingdom?”

He was terrified for his people. And some tiny part of him blamed me and my people for Regner’s actions. So I simply gave him a steady look. “Yes. That conversation was going to happen tomorrow.”

His gaze held mine, before slowly shifting to Lorian’s. But he knew he had no choice. At this point, he had nowhere else to move his army without putting themdirectly in Regner’s path. And we needed to strategize before we met the human king in battle.

“Fine.”

“How long did Tymedes give you?” Marth’s voice came from behind us. He was leaning against the wall, sharpening one of his blades.

“Twenty hours.”

Enough time to devastate morale. Not enough time to fully prepare for a siege. Enough time for thousands in this city to contemplate death. Not enough time for reinforcements to arrive.

If Daharak hadn’t already sailed south, we would have had her ships. But this battle wouldn’t be fought on water. And the skyrions would decimate her fleet. My heart tripped. What if she had been intercepted while leaving Gromalian waters? My aunt, the pirate queen, and the two hundred ships that sailed with us could already be at the bottom of the ocean.

If only we’d brought Jamic with us. The fae king had assured Rythos that he would teach Jamic to effectively wield the power that seethed within him. So that when we walked onto the battlefield, Jamic could access as much of that power as possible.

But we would have stood a better chance with him here.

“My father had never imagined Regner might attack this castle,” Rekja said, and I forced myself to stop lingering on the what-ifs. “We don’t have enough of a stockpile of supplies for long.”

I didn’t say what we were all probably thinking. With those deadly creatures waiting, this was unlikely totake long anyway.

“The skyrions attacked the rebel camp,” I said. “They were able to fight them off. Tell your soldiers to aim for their wings or their heads.”

“And you?” he asked, gesturing to the hourglass around my neck.

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