Lovely Dark Things

TWENTY (ISELEN POV)

"Almost three-quarters of the troops of elves, dwarves and humans that we'd summoned have arrived already. We've been working very hard for weeks and logistics was difficult: it's not easy to carry, feed and accommodate a massive army, but I think we all can agree on the fact that this first phase of the plan it's been a great success. Thank you very much for your effort and patience."

I like to start with a praise, it soothes them, makes them feel proud and relaxes them... before I tell them the bad news. Aethis smiles and looks at Arielle out of the corner of his eye, like he wants to make sure she understands that a share of the credit goes to him too, he's like a lapdog waiting for a treat after doing a trick in front of his mistress. Right next to him, Finubar keeps a straight face and his eyes fixed on a sport behind me, above my shoulder, probably staring at the map instead of my face, pretending that I don't exist. I wish he'd stayed at one of the imperial ports, helping to bring elves and humans here with his ships, but he refused to stay away from his king... and now I have to listen to his passive-aggressive comments every time I propose a plan.

"This is not going to be easy," I think while walking closer to the map quietly. I'm exhausted, working too many hours and enduring lot of stress... And, in addition to this, I have to bite my tongue instead of sending to hell those sexist jerks who think I don't have brains because I'm a woman, racists that believe humans aren't as good as elves and Ruby's mother, who's not allowed to attend these meetings and is furious. The Captain of the Black Guard, Helien and Sryne are here but Shurien's social status is not that high and has to find out about what's going on at the same time other elves do. Her daughter has argued with her in several occasions but it's useless, the priestess is obsessed with getting any kind of inside information that she could use for her benefit. She's so annoying...

I wish I could take Ruby's hand and go back to our cabin in the woods. The only person who seems to understand that I'm doing my best to save our butts is the Queen, I wouldn't be able to go on without her support and my girl. They both trust me despite I haven't told them yet how the black powder will help us to defeat the chaos hordes. Even the King of the Dark Elves is starting to look at me with scepticism sometimes but I can't tell them about my plans yet, I fear someone can betray us and our enemies will find out, I can't talk about my inventions freely either because the Queen wants them to be a secret. However, all these lords and ladies are expecting to see results in the short term.

At least, I think I've made a friend. Gotrek, King of the Dwarves, is a tough guy with a permanently-etched scowl, he always looks angry but is also a pragmatic man. Dwarves are very close and loyal to their lord and their race, they'll do whatever necessary to save their kingdom under the Grey Mountains, their mines and fabulous works of art and jewels. These proud and honourable warriors have understood that we have a chance to defeat chaos if we work together and they threw themselves into my project, although they're always worried about the budget. They like to go straight to the point, never waste time and their knowledge about underground tunnels was exactly the piece that was missing in my plan.

Gotrek doesn't know what I'm going to do either but the guy is smart and just gives me everything I'm asking for while monitoring my movements, waiting patiently. I told the Queen that it'll be difficult to keep the black powder a secret with these intelligent dwarves involved and, in fact, I think it's weird that they didn't find a similar explosive substance to work in their mines. I suspect they did but have no proof. They're hiding the knowledge for the same reasons I do, probably, and this is why Gotrek and I are exchanging knowing glances discreetly.

"Our scouts have informed me that the chaos army is also gathering somewhere up here," I point at a spot on the map. "Although they're more disorganized than we are and some of their troops are roaming freely across the plains, there're small groups of demons that are determined to cross the mountains and attack us."