Curse of Stolen Flame (Firebird, #1)

CHAPTER 40

The news of the attack on Dewport came in the middle of the night a week later, nearly a month after the Harvest Festival attack.

Kindra was awoken by a frantic Jasper, who gave her little more than five minutes to change out of her nightgown before dragging her to the War Chamber. She didn’t bother snapping at him for nipping at her heels—terror was written all over his face. Whatever had happened, it was bad.

Much like it had been after the first attack, the War Chamber was in chaos. None of the people present looked entirely presentable; Councilman Avis was still in his nightclothes, his red robe drawn tight around him. Even Leofric himself looked more disheveled than she’d ever seen him, and he was looking more and more unkempt with each passing day. The castle was swelling with rumors of the king’s outbursts in meetings; they’d become so frequent now that Kindra had grown to expect them. Luckily, neither she nor Jasper had been on the receiving end. It was considered a miracle if they made it through a meeting without him verbally or physically accosting someone. Though nobody said it, she knew what they were all thinking: Thank the gods he didn’t have a drop of magic.

But Leofric wasn’t wrong to be stressed. They didn’t have enough soldiers. Not against what was looking to be three kingdoms, as well as some rogue terrorist group none of them would lay claim to. And not when they were spread out as much as they had to be. Right now, the chance of victory was too small. And Alverin did not take chances .

She took up her typical spot along the edge of the room, fidgeting nervously. She reached out for Jasper, gripping his sleeve.

“What happened?” she hissed .

He leaned in close to her, lips brushing her ear as he replied, “Dewport. There was another bombing in Dewport.”

Kindra rocked back on her heels, her back hitting the wall behind her. Memories of blood and smoke, broken bodies and burning wood flashed through her mind.

Distantly, she felt a burst of relief that her mother was only a few days away from reaching Wendrith. So close to being back with her and safe. As safe as she could be. “How bad?” she whispered, feeling sick.

Jasper swallowed thickly and snaked an arm around her waist, steadying her. “Bad enough.”

She leaned into him, grateful for his support, and braced herself as a guard entered the room, followed closely by Councilman Epira. His brown skin was gaunt, and in his fist he gripped a scroll: the official report from Dewport.

King Leofric held out a hand, and Epira handed him the scroll without comment.

The king read the report silently. Only the tightening of his other hand on the corner of the table betrayed his distress. When he finished, he merely passed it to Antone, who held it out for Sebastian to read alongside him. The brothers swore, low and vicious, as they read.

Kindra wondered if they’d have to wait for the report to silently be passed to them, but then the king spoke.

“There has been a series of explosions in the warehouse district of Dewport. At least three confirmed in three different locations.” Kindra swayed slightly, and Jasper’s grip on her tightened as the king continued, his voice softer, almost pained, “The current death toll is at least fifty. At least twice that are injured.”

Fifty. Kindra would be on the floor if it weren’t for Jasper’s arm around her.

“The targets of these explosions were strategic. The first was at the shipping harbor, specifically targeting the shipments of steel and iron that just arrived from Ciryn.” This was the continent to the south, across the Oslien Sea. They were one of Alverin’s biggest trade partners, especially for metals, since Alverin had yet to conquer any of the mountainous regions in Istreria. “The second,” the king said, “was the stretch of workhouses where much of our nerushmyr is manufactured. And the third,” his jaw twitched, “was the city’s grain silos.”

The room was silent.

It was strategically brilliant, to bomb supplies that were to be used to forge armor and weapons for Alverin’s soldiers.

And it was unbelievably calculated and cruel to attack a city’s food stores. Even though Dewport didn’t have winters as cold as Wendrith’s, they were still done with their harvest season. There would not be more crops for months.

Still, even though it knocked the breath from her and made her stomach turn, Kindra could not find any sense of rage about it. She did not feel a great wrong had been committed—save for the loss of innocent people’s lives—or that Alverin was an innocent victim. No, she felt only sad resignation.

Alverin had forged this path itself. Alverin had shaped this future, this war. For centuries, it had planted the seeds that had now grown into this . It was something she’d grown up knowing, something that did not change now that she was to marry into the family that was the very cause of this rot.

She wondered just how many others in the room were secretly thinking the same.

The meeting finished nearly three hours later, the large clock in the corner chiming four. Kindra and Jasper were both slumped over in their chairs, adrenaline and shock having long faded, replaced by heavy exhaustion. Even the fear was muted by the desperate need to sleep, though Kindra knew it would return full force after they’d gotten some rest.

The last several hours were a blur. Kindra had hardly said a word the whole time; Jasper spoke only marginally more than her. Nevertheless, she was grateful they’d allowed her to come, and for the few times her opinion had been sought out, though she’d had very little to say in the end. She doubted her true feelings on the matter would be appreciated. To stand in front of King Leofric and say, Well, this has been a long time coming, don’t you think , would’ve probably gotten her sent directly to the execution block, cursebreaker or not.

In the end, a statement from Leofric was prepared to be delivered across Alverin the next day. The panic caused by this attack would not be easily calmed. They would send as much as they could spare from their food stores here in Wendrith to Dewport to make up for what was lost. And more adjustments were made to their military strategy: guards increased at all warehouse districts, ships arriving in Wendrith thoroughly searched before allowing anybody to disembark, among other things she’d been too tired to fully comprehend.

But it was not enough. Kindra had been awake enough to gather that. It would involve stretching their army even thinner.

She’d think more of it tomorrow… or, seeing as it was technically the next day, in a few hours after she’d had some sleep. Now, leaning heavily against Jasper as they made it down the hall back to her rooms, she could think of nothing else but the warm bed awaiting her.

They reached her door. Jasper opened it for her, guiding her to the dressing room. He waited patiently outside as she quickly changed back into her nightgown, then took her hand and escorted her back to bed, still unmade from when he’d pulled her from sleep earlier.

Gently, he helped her under the covers, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was all so tender, it made Kindra’s heart twinge fondly. And perhaps it was that, mixed with the madness of the night, that caused her to reach out and grab his hand.

“Stay,” she whispered, and his eyes widened with surprise. “Just to sleep,” she added.

“It could be scandalous, you know,” he whispered back, already taking off his shoes.

“I think there are bigger things to worry about than us spending a night together,” she replied, watching as he unbuttoned his shirt and laid it over the back of a chair. Even in the low light of the oil lamp beside her bed, she could see the defined muscles of his torso rippling with every move.

He hesitated briefly before unbuttoning his pants, pushing them down his legs and tossing them aside. He was left in only his undershorts. Something heated stirred deep inside her at the sight .

Mine , she thought rather possessively, as he made his way to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers back, sliding underneath them. She twisted around to face him.

For a moment, they only stared at each other. It could have just been the exhaustion driving her into delirium, but Kindra felt strangely giddy. Something about him being half-naked in her bed made her want to giggle. Then Jasper cut through the silence. “Can I hold you?” His voice was soft, nervous. As if, even now, he was still afraid she’d recoil from him.

“Yes,” she breathed, suddenly needing his arms around her more than anything. “Yes.”

He reached for her, pulling her close so that her head was resting on his chest. She could hear the soft thrum of his heartbeat beneath her. He was warm and solid. Comfortable. Her eyes fluttered shut. They did not speak of the meeting, of the war. What could they say that hadn’t been said already?

“This is nice,” he murmured, and Kindra hummed in response.

“Goodnight, Jasper,” she managed to say, snuggling closer to him.

“Goodnight, Kindra,” he replied, but she hardly heard it, sleep already claiming her and pulling her into sweet nothing.