The War of The Magi : Book Two

Chapter Nine

Senea ran her fingers against the crack she had made, the room empty save for Lord Snowthorne, Magnar, Ylva, Zephir, and Lady Elika. No guards, no lingering nobles, which she thanked Ral to herself that they left.

"We can ride for Yasdenia and get the Tear."

Zephir quirked a brow as he leaned against the table. "And should Lord Atemo refuse?" he asked, one ankle over the other.

"He won't. We can mention the treaty we originally planned to use last harvest. From there, you and Ylva will ride back north, purifying each town's well water that you can."

"People may think we're poisoning them," he countered with a slick smile. Ylva smacked his chest, glaring. "Fine. Where will you be going?"

"Lady Elika, what does the Blessing do precisely?" Senea sat back down on the chair, her stomach churning in knots. Was she making the right decisions? She had never been trained for this, never been prepared to plan attacks.

"It blesses the land. Anything built from it holds magical properties. It can also be used to reinforce strongholds with magical defenses, although not as well as it would be."

Lord Snowthorne nodded once before standing. "It would be beneficial for the main keeps to be blessed."

Ylva scrunched her face tight. "These objects are finite. With all of these, if they are stretched too far, their powers can weaken. For all we know, they can break. Just the same as any Magi. They are good defenses, but this cannot be your only idea, Senea." Ylva's shoulders dropped, eyes closed as she realized how harsh she had come off.

"Is there anything else?" Senea responded, hope fleeting fast from her mind.

"Besides attacking the tower again, I don't believe so. We don't have that kind of man power. Rather, magical power." Lord Snowthorne sighed and leaned against the table, his hands balled up tight.

"Queen Senea will continue her journey to Itod." All eyes flicked towards Lady Elika. "I will speak with the Archon. The Blessing will be in our hands so at the least, the castle can be better fortified." Folding her hands in her lap, Lady Elika looked down at the ground. "I will also, if you wish, speak to him about lending us the Blessed."

"The Archon won't allow that, mother. He'd be placing his own people in far too much risk."

"Better for them to be at risk with the chance of survival rather than just letting it all come crumbling down." Zephir scratched at his scalp, leaning against the table with one elbow. "I'll speak with Boria and spread his forces."

"Why," Senea started, brow furrowed so tight that even she was worried that the lines would be stuck there, "should I continue to Itod? Shouldn't I go to Lord Atemo? Or at the least, the Archon?"

Lady Elika shook her head. "Write decrees for us to carry with the royal seal and that will be plenty. There is no point in risking you travelling more than you need to."

"But she'll be closer to the tower if we head to Itod!" Magnar snapped, fingers twitching.

"And you will be by her side, as will I and the best of the King's Army, each with a fresh torch from the Eternal Fire." Lord Snowthorne breathed in and collected his thoughts for a moment before pushing away from the table. "The people are going to want to put their hopes in her, and for them to do that, she needs to be on the throne." He shook his head and moved away from the group, crossing his arms in the process. "She shouldn't be holed up here, no matter how safe it is. If the people have hope, they will want to fight back."

"So, I'm to just act as if none of this has happened?" Senea snapped.

Lord Snowthorne turned to her, a frown settled on his lips. "In a way, yes. I'm not asking you to smile, I'm not asking you to give them something else to think about. I'm asking you to spread hope to people who haven't seen it in eighteen harvests."