General Sissellius, who is turning out to be as irritating as his twisted uncle, the Warden, paces before the large map laid out on the table, stabbing at it occasionally.
"If we send a small force to stop Grimarr," he says, "we are wasting good men on a lost cause. It's a suicide mission. How can five hundred--even a thousand--men stand against a force a hundred times that?"
Avitas, who has joined me in the war room, gives me a look. Don't lose your temper, the look says.
"If we send a large force," I say for the thousandth time, "we leave Antium vulnerable. Without the legions from Estium and Silas, we have only six legions to hold the city. Reinforcements from the Tribal lands or Navium or Tiborum would take more than a month to reach here. We must send a smaller attack force to cause as much damage as possible."
It's such a basic tactic that at first I am stunned that Sissellius and a few of the other Paters resist so much. Until I realize, of course, that they are using this opportunity to undermine me--and, by extension, Marcus. They might not trust the Commandant anymore, but that doesn't mean they want Marcus on the throne.
For his part, the Emperor's attention is fixed on Keris Veturia. When he does finally look at me, I can read his expression as clearly as if he shouted the words.
Why is she here, Shrike? Why is she still alive? Those hyena eyes of his flare, promising pain for my sister, and I look away.
"Why is the Shrike leading the force?" Pater Rufius demands of me. "Would not Keris Veturia be a better choice? I do not know if you understand this, my Lord Emperor, but it is highly--" His sentence ends in a yelp as Marcus casually flings a throwing knife at him, missing him by a hair. The sound of Rufius's squeal is deeply satisfying.
"Speak to me like that again," Marcus says, "and you'll find yourself without a head. Keris was barely able to hold Navium's harbor against the Barbarian fleet."
Avitas and I exchange a glance. This is the first time the Emperor has dared to say a word against the Commandant.
"The Shrike," Marcus goes on, "took back the harbor and saved thousands of Plebeian lives. The decision is made. The Shrike will lead the force against the Karkauns."
"But my lord--"
Marcus's giant hand is around Rufius's throat so fast that I almost didn't see him move.
"Go on," the Emperor says softly. "I'm listening."
Rufius gasps his apology, and Marcus drops him. The Pater scurries away, a rooster who has escaped the stewpot. The Emperor turns to me.
"A small force, Shrike. Strike and run. Take no prisoners. And do not waste our forces if you don't have to. We'll need every last man for the assault on the city."
From the corner of my eye, I notice Keris watching me. She nods a greeting--the first time she has acknowledged me since returning to Antium with my sister. My spine tingles in warning. That look on her face--cunning, calculated. I saw it as a student at Blackcliff. And I saw it months ago, here in Antium, before Marcus killed my family.
I know that look now. It is the look she gets when she's about to spring a trap.
* * *
Avitas arrives in my office just after the sun has set. "All is prepared, Shrike," he says. "The men will be ready to leave at dawn."
"Good." I pause and clear my throat. "Harper--"
"Perhaps, Blood Shrike," Avitas says, "you are considering telling me that I should not go. That I should remain here to keep an eye on our enemies and to remain close to the Emperor, should he need it."
I open and close my mouth, taken aback. That was exactly what I was going to suggest.
"Forgive me." Avitas looks tired, I notice. I've been leaning on him too much. "But that is exactly what the Commandant would expect. She is, perhaps, counting on it. Whatever she has planned, you surviving isn't a part of it. And you have a much better chance of surviving if you have someone who knows her watching your back."
"What the hells is she up to?" I say. "Beyond just trying to take the throne, I mean. I've reports that a man of Gens Veturia was seen at the Hall of Records. She's had the Paters of the three biggest Illustrian Gens over to her villa in the few hours she's been back. She even had the master of the treasury over. She killed that man's son and tattooed her triumph onto her own body, Harper. It was ten years ago, but she still did it. Those men should hate her. Instead they are breaking bread with her."
"She's wooing them back to her side," Harper says. "She's trying to rattle you. You took her by surprise in Navium. She won't be taken by surprise again, which is why I should come with you." At my hesitation, impatience sparks on his face.
"Use your head, Shrike! She had Captain Alistar poisoned. She had Favrus poisoned. She got to the bleeding Empress. You're not immortal. She can get to you too. Be smart about this, for the love of skies. We need you. You cannot play into her hands."
I don't consider my next words. They just come out. "Why do you care so much what happens to me?"
"Why do you think?" His words are sharp, lacking his usual care. And when his green eyes meet mine, they are angry. But his voice is cool. "You are the Blood Shrike. I am your second. Your safety is my duty."
"Sometimes, Avitas," I sigh, "I wish you'd say what you're actually thinking. Come along on the raid, then," I say, and at his look of surprise, I roll my eyes. "I'm not a fool, Harper. Let's keep her on her toes. There's something else." A worry has grown in my mind--something no general would publicly speak of before a battle, but something I must consider, especially after talking to Livia of the Plebeians.
"Do we have exit routes mapped out of the city? Paths through which we could move large groups of people?"
"I'll dig them up."
"Do it before we leave," I say. "Give orders--quietly--to make sure those paths are clear and that we protect them at all costs."
"You think we cannot hold back the Karkauns?"
"I think that if they're in league with Keris, it is foolish to underestimate them. We might not know what she's playing at, but we can prepare for the worst."
We move out the next morning, and I force Keris and her machinations from my mind. If I can rout Grimarr's forces--or at least weaken them--before they get to Antium, she'll lose her chance to take Marcus down, and I'll be the hero instead of her. The Karkauns are twelve days from the city, but my force can move faster than theirs. My men and I have five days to make life as hellish as possible for them.
Our smaller force allows us to ride swiftly, and on the evening of the third day, our scouts confirm that the Karkaun force has, as Dex reported, gathered at Umbral Pass. They have Tundaran Wildmen with them--that's likely how Grimarr figured out the way through. Those women-hating Tundaran bastards know these mountains almost as well as the Martials do.
"Why the hells are they just waiting there?" I ask Dex. "They should be clear of the pass by now and out into open country."
"Waiting for more men, perhaps," Dex says, "though their force doesn't seem much bigger than when I saw it."
I send my cousin Baristus out to recon the north end of the pass to see if, indeed, more Karkauns are joining the main body of the army. But when he returns, he brings only questions.
"Bleeding strange, sir," Baristus says. As Dex, Avitas, and I gather in my tent, my cousin paces back and forth, agitated. "There are no more men coming in through the northern passes. Truly, it appears they are waiting, but for what I cannot tell. I thought it might be weaponry or artillery for their siege machines. But they have no siege machines. How the bleeding hells do they plan to get past the walls of Antium without catapults?"
"Maybe Keris promised to let them in," I say. "And they don't yet realize how devious she is. It would be just like her to play both sides."
"And then what?" Dex says. "She lets them lay siege for a few weeks?"
"Enough time for her to find a way to get Marcus killed in the fighting," I say. "Enough time for her to sabotage the birth of my nephew." Ultimately, it is the Empire that Keris wishes to rule over. She will not let the capital of the
Empire fall. But the loss of a few thousand lives? That's nothing to her. I've learned that lesson well.
"If we rout the Karkauns here," I say, "then we kill her plan before it draws its first breath." I examine the drawings the aux has given me of the layout of the Karkaun army camp. Their food stores, their weaponry, the locations of their various provisions. They've buried their most valuable goods in the very heart of the army, where they will be almost impossible to reach.
But I have Masks with me. And the word impossible has been whipped and beaten out of us.
My force strikes deep in the night, when much of the Karkaun camp is sleeping. The sentries go down swiftly, and Dex leads a force that is in and out before the first flames rise from the Karkaun food stores. We hit perhaps a sixth of their supply, but by the time our enemies sound the alarm, we have retreated back into the mountains.
"I'll come with you for the next assault, Shrike," Harper says to me as we prepare for another. "Something feels wrong to me. They took that attack lying down."
"Perhaps it's because we surprised them." Harper paces nervously, and I put a hand on his shoulder to still him. A spark jumps between us, and he looks up in surprise. Immediately, I let him go.