The Reckless Reign (Book 3, The Culled Crown Series)

Chapter 59

The Needle's Edge.
Gazda, Erydia.
Monday night.

Arden was a thin, spindly man with wiry glasses and preppered black hair. My mental image of the palace tutor had painted him as a high-pitched, nervous sort of person. I had expected him to stutter and fidget, but he was probably one of the most commanding people I'd ever seen. He didn't wait for anyone to take the lead, he just arrived and the room stilled—everyone gathering to listen to whatever he had to say.

The bickering and teasing stopped and suddenly, the reality of our situation, and precariousness of it, seemed to dawn on everyone. The room seemed to buzz with alertness, rapt anticipation.

As soon as he'd arrived, Arden had pulled the table away from the wall and spread a massive map of the palace onto it. There were no introductions, no swapping of names or positions, he just started talking.

"Britta already has forces within the palace—nearly two hundred and fifty people," Arden said, his voice deeper and warmer than I'd believed it would be. "Most are servants or people working other menial jobs to disguise who they truly are. We've had to be careful, in recent months, especially with the addition of the Pellarmi troops. With different accents and things, the risk of discovery has been much more...possible. But keeping the majority of our people in positions where they're silent, has aided us. Footmen don't need to talk much. No one looks twice at an acolyte priestess or a chamber maid."

Next to him at the table, Birk nodded excitedly. "And Britta has been careful about who she's sent in. I know most of the maids she's got in the palace now were either low-born Erydians she pulled from slave camps or they're Pellarmi soldiers. All tested and all incredibly trustworthy."

Arden cleared his throat, his expression turning serious as he said, "Yes, yes. And she's made sure everyone has a good grasp on the language and has been very strict about only letting people into those positions who either have an Erydian accent or can mimic it decent enough. The people in the palace now are all deserving of praise—and a good wage when this is all over. Anyway, I say all of that to say this: we are in a position to win. The ground work has been laid. And I will tell you like I have told the others—we must not falter now. We can and will be successful, but it will require loyalty and trust. It will require unity."

Cohen chewed his bottom lip, his eyes scanning the map spread before him.

The prince had been surprised to see Arden when he'd first arrived. Even though I didn't recognize the old man, it was clear Cohen did. An old tutor, Jax had told me. And the relationship between Cohen and Arden was certainly that of student and teacher.

I could hear the unusual hesitance in my friend's voice as he said, "Oredison Palace only has a staff of about five hundred—and I don't believe that number includes the guards. You're saying that Britta has replaced two hundred and fifty workers with her own soldiers?"

Arden nodded. "Exactly. And that is not including my spies."

Dellacov rubbed at the back of his neck and stepped forward, drawing everyone's eyes to him as he leaned over the map and traced a line from the south side of the palace to the main entrance. "On a typical day—about fifty guards would stand between the front doors and the royal living quarters. This is counting those stationed at the doors and lining the halls. That number can be increased however and, if Cohen's description of the palace still holds true, it seems like Caine had many of his guards with him—rather than stationed outside. So, we could probably estimate the overall number being higher. A hundred, maybe more?"

"So, that's six hundred people in the palace, give or take a few," Jax said. "And Britta has two hundred and fifty of those?"

Dellacov nodded.