Bonds of Light and Fire

16. Strategic Propositions

The artwork above is not mine.

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    The days passed and Luciana's skills grew. She'd finally felt confident enough one day to spar with Aeron, and managed to hold her own for a solid five minutes. Vaughan and Aeron had finished building her archery targets as well. She spent a few hours each afternoon practicing with a bow and arrow. She mixed her magic into every aspect of her training, and was pleased by the amount of control she now had.

    She hoped Vaughan was pleased too, but he never said if he was or wasn't. He hardly spoke these days. In fact, he hadn't since she asked him about the knife. He almost seemed to be avoiding her, and she was overcome by a sense of guilt. She only wanted to help and look out for him, but perhaps she was prying too much. She couldn't offer help to someone who didn't want it anyway, no matter how much she thought he needed it.

    Still, Luciana couldn't ease her sense of concern for Vaughan, especially when she woke in the middle of the night and heard him quietly moving about his room or walking around outside. He seemed restless and agitated, and she didn't know how to help.

    All she could do was stay out of his way and keep her questions to herself, but that was becoming increasingly hard to do. Her instincts told her to do something, even when her mother's voice told her that someone as useless as she was would only make things worse.

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    Vaughan rubbed his forehead wearily, barely conscious of the hub of voices surrounding him. Someone elbowed his side suddenly. Fenrys gave him a prompting look. "You all right?"

He was taking Nascha's place at this meeting. Apparently, there were enough Revolutionist camps around Arcelia to make them wary of leaving it at the same time. And, it was safer for Fenrys to make the journey to Orynth, since he could teleport himself there in a matter of minutes.

    "I'm fine. Just tired." Vaughan straightened as the doors of the conference room opened and Aelin and Rowan entered. They took their seats at the head of the table and the meeting began.

    "We received a few new reports from Eyllwe and the Witch Kingdom," Aelin began. "As always, Manon is being very careful about how much she reveals, but apparently, the Revolutionists have begun making their way onto her lands. The Witches have all been ordered to capture them alive if they're found. The King and Queen of Eyllwe say they are afraid an attack may come to them sooner than the rest of us."

    "Why?" Elide Lochan, the Lady of Perranth and Lorcan's wife, asked.

    "Eyllwe suffered heavy losses during the War with the Valg," Rowan explained. "And they are still recovering from their years of servitude. They don't have a very large army. If the Revolutionists attack them, there's a slim chance that Eyllwe will prevail."

    "They are a united people though," Lord Weylan Darrow of Arran said. "Are the Revolutionists there of their own kind?"

    Aelin shook her blonde head. "It doesn't sound like it."

    One of the younger Lords, Ren Allsbrook, stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That's strange. Surely the Revolutionists in the Witch Kingdom aren't Witches either. Manon would've had their heads by now. Where are all of these people coming from?"

    "No one knows," Lorcan replied. His dark eyes glittered warily. "The people of Perranth are beginning to speculate that they're old followers of Maeve."

    "It's possible," Fenrys said. "There were many people who supported Maeve, despite what she did. Her influence stretched across the world."

    "If the Revolutionists are old followers of Maeve, wouldn't it make more sense for them to try to take Wendlyn first?" Vaughan remarked. All eyes turned to him as he continued. "You'd think they would be eager to reclaim Doranelle, as it was Maeve's stronghold. Instead, the first Revolutionists showed up here, in Terrasen. The only explanation for that is they want revenge for Maeve, but..."