After their decisive victory over Orinovo, Lys-Akkaria's army crosses the border to take back territory that used to be theirs. With the combined forces of a lightweaver and shadowforger, Orinovo doesn't stand a chance.
In spite of their newfound a...
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Yarima hated every second of this. Talking to her mother was bad enough, but she was also being forced to witness her chew out Oretski. It would have been funny, except after Denir had come to her nearly in tears, begging her to rescue him, she'd figured out that it wasn't just some soldier her brother was dating—it was the zatrecny kapetan.
So seeing the queen yell at him was a little uncomfortable, given that Denir was sitting right next to her, his expression so miserable that it seemed as though he was the one on trial. Though it was kind of funny to see him right next to their mother. They both had the same brown hair and icy blue eyes, but while he looked like a kicked puppy, she looked like some kind of lizard.
"So, not only did you lose Notsisyk, you were also captured yourself, and gave our enemies information that will lead to them attacking Diramisk. Is that correct?" Svytlani summed up what Oretski had said, her gaze and voice ice cold. Yarima was really starting to wonder just what her mother was going to do with him for this.
He'd shared on the way what had happened, and she couldn't help but feel endeared by Oretski giving the information over for that vo, the Daybreaker, promising not to hurt Denir. But it was stupid. Why would the kapetan trust him to honor his word?
Still, Yarima didn't think this was a big deal, aside from that bit where Oretski lost the shadowforger. Lys-Akkaria was going to attack them sooner or later. She had had no doubts about that, and now they had an easy excuse to do it, too. Though it would be nice if Lys-Akkaria could stop the whole experimentation thing.
Yarima shivered as the memory of needles stabbing into her skin surfaced, but she quickly pushed it down. She would get back at Svytlani. At the entire court. It was a good thing her hands were clamped, though, because she might have killed her mother right here and now if she kept thinking about the things she'd done to her.
It was amusing to see her mother be so careful, though. At least she wasn't in a cell right now, though. Hopefully rescuing her best soldier would help Svytlani believe Yarima was on her side. Though Yarima knew her mother wasn't stupid, the current situation might be desperate enough to make the queen ignore her concerns.
"Yes, my queen. That is all true," said Oretski, his head bowed, as if he actually was ashamed of disappointing Svytlani. It made Yarima want to snort before shaking him. Who cared so much about what the queen thought? As long as she wasn't executing people, she didn't see why it would bother anyone. And surely that wouldn't be Oretski's fate. Svytlani would be foolish to get rid of such a powerful and devoted soldier. "I disappointed you, and our country."
"You did," Svytlani agreed, her teeth gritted. "You could have ended this war."
Yarima shook her head, staring at her mother incredulously as she waited for Oretski to say something. But when he just bowed his head lower, she couldn't help but argue.
"He did exactly what you asked," she said, making her mother's angry eyes turn to her instead. "He told me his mission was to capture the shadowforger and take him here. He wasn't supposed to kill him. Maybe you should have told him to do that instead."
