“I’ve been considering this all night. You know Ravaryn’s safety is my utmost concern.” He nodded hesitantly. “I will ensure its safety, but I don’t think handing Ara over will guarantee it anymore.”
I met his eyes and a heavy wave of seriousness settled over the room.
“I think I have a better course of action. I want to assassinate General Starrin.”
His jaw fell slack.
“You cannot be serious,” he whispered forcibly. “We already have a plan, a good one.”
“Doran, admit it. Our plan was rushed and okay at best. When we took Ara, it was a last resort. We had no other choice but to use her as ransom, and it all depended on his love for his daughter. Hishumandaughter. Who is, in fact, not his daughter at all and has Fae blood, which is made abundantly clear by her pointed ears and magic that she can’t exactly control yet. That plan will never work now.”
His eyes were wide as he averted his gaze and brought his hand to his mouth in consideration.
“And this has nothing to do with your desire to keep Ara here?” He glanced back at me with suspicion.
Of course, some small part of me wanted her here.
“Even if it did, it doesn’t matter. Evander won’t release his grasp on Ravaryn for Ara once he discovers who she is.Whatshe is. Even worse, I fear he’ll blame us and attempt to retaliate. I’ve thought through every possibility, and this is the only solution I could come up with. If we assassinate him, Adon will lose his most valuable general. It will give us time to raise and train an army of our own, and when he inevitably replaces Evander, we’ll be ready.”
Doran slowly nodded his head.
“I’m guessing you already have a plan, then?”
“I’m going to send him one last letter, saying to meet in two days from now for the handover, or I will kill her. He’s taken too long and it’s time to force his hand.”
“What if he denies? You’re going to kill her, then?”
He knew I wouldn’t. It was an empty threat.
“He won’t. From all accounts, he loves her more than anything else, and on top of that, us taking her was a huge hit to his pride. He will want her back just to soothe his ego, if for no other reason.”Hopefully.
“So you set up the meeting and what? Ambush him? His people will see that coming from a mile away. Besides, you know they’re going to demand that we meet at the Marsh.”
The Marsh was a small area of land where magic couldn’t be used, a place well-known to both Auryna and Ravaryn. The lack of magic had plagued philosophers for as long as it had existed. Some argued it was the birthplace of the realm. Others claimed it was because the Goddess still resided there, blocking out all other magic besides her own.
“Not if we bring Delphia,” I said hesitantly and he whipped his head back to me with outrage, anger flushing his pale cheeks.
Delphia was Doran’s twin sister. While Doran was gifted with brilliant battle strategy, his sister was given the ability to merge with her surroundings, essentially becoming invisible. It made her the perfect spy, and yet, Doran wasextremelyprotective of her. He had never even given her the chance to put her skills to good use.
“No, absolutely not. How could you even suggest that?” He stalked back to me, his spine rod straight.
“The Marsh isn’t large enough to hold an entire human encampment, so they’ll have to set up elsewhere. If she can sneak us into their camp, I can kill him while he sleeps in his tent, just as he’s done to so many of our people. If we wait until the meeting, it will be hand-to-hand combat and they’ll outnumber us, you know that.”
He stared at me, jaw clenched.
“She will remain hidden the entire time and I will defend her with my life,” I added genuinely.
“It will be her decision. I will not decide that for her.”
“How soon can she be here? We will need to leave as soon as possible.”
“She can be here tomorrow morning,” he said, turning to the window, concern pressing into his features.
“Thank you, Doran,” I said, rising to my feet.
“You know she’ll hate you, right?” he asked without turning back to me and I paused, closing my eyes. “Ara, I mean.”
The deep ache burrowed in my chest, and I rubbed my knuckles against my sternum.