Page 138 of Crown of Darkness
“No, you didn’t.” Anger blooms. “If you had stood at my side—”
“She’s have obliterated the pair of us, and you know it. We were both younger, and any power either of us has since gained would barely surmount what she could throw at us.” She hesitates. “And there were… other reasons….”
We’re getting nowhere. “Say what you came to say and then leave.”
Andraste turns toward the arched gateway, raking one hand through her hair in an uncharacteristic sign of nerves. “I need help to try and prevent a war. Our people will suffer if this goes any further. It doesn’t matter who wins, there will be mass casualties.”
“War is coming, whether you like it or not. She crossed the line, not us. And there is no guarantee she’ll win.”
“When does Mother everlose? Do you think she would march against you with only the Queen of Aska at her side? Think, curse you.”
And so I do.
I test a theory. “She’s made an alliance with Angharad.”
Andraste’s lips thin. “No. That would be too far, too much for her border lords to swallow. And she can’t afford to lose Thornwood.”
“But there is no other alliance she could make….”
“Except for the goblin clans.”
The thought leaves me breathless, blood draining from my cheeks. The goblin clans have been kingless for centuries, though I’ve heard whispers there are several scions of the royal bloodline fighting for the throne.
“She’s in negotiations with Urach of the Black Hand. She will back his claim for the throne in return for foot troops. She has more than one ally, Vi, and that ally is right at your unprotected flank.”
I can picture them marching down through the gap in the mountains, hammering down upon an unsuspecting Evernight northern flank. The unseelie armies would never be allowed through the spine of the world—goblins have no liking for either of their fairer brethren—so the north has long been considered safe.
But there are no defenses against the clans.
Theyareour protection.
Evernight would be crushed between two powerful forces.
I have to get back to Thiago. I have to warn him.
“Why would you tell me this?”
It would be a swift defeat of Evernight.
Again, she looks away. “Because it doesn’t end there. One kingdom was always enough for me. This is madness. This isn’t just a skirmish. It isn’t just a war. She wants to drag the entire south down, and if she succeeds, then the unseelie are poised in the north, salivating over the prospect of our five kingdoms tearing at each other like dogs. I just want to protect my people. I can’t do this alone.”
Asturians will die with this information. She’s given us the means to turn the tide of an imminent defeat. But perhaps more of our people will die if she doesn’t yield.
I slowly sheathe my sword.
Once we were allies. Once we weresisters. Is there any chance of either of us returning to that point?
“What do you intend?” I ask.
“Hold your generals back,” she says. “I just need time. If our forces clash, then it’s too late—"
“It’s already too late. The only way we survive is if Mother dies.”
Andraste takes a step back, rubbing at her throat, eyes troubled.
“Once you are on the throne,” I tell her, “then there is the possibility of a truce with Evernight. There’s a possibility we can hold the Alliance together.”
“I don’t have the means to kill her,” she finally says.
