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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"Lys-Akkaria grows weak," said the queen. Yarima scowled.
When she'd gotten called to see her mother, she hadn't been sure what it would be about. And she still wasn't.
"You want to attack them?" Yarima asked because what else could this possibly mean? It didn't make it sound any less insane, however.
"Now is the appropriate time," Svytlani said, a pensive frown on her face as she sat on her throne. "My spies have confirmed what you've discovered—Lys-Akkaria is fighting with itself. And the situation is growing more dire by the day."
Yarima didn't know if she liked where this was going. This was the opposite of what she wanted, but she had to play along long enough to get enough support to manage a coup.
That was her new plan now that she knew she couldn't take powers from the lightweaver or the shadowforger. And her main target was now Oretski.
The high-ranking members of the army respected him from what she'd heard, and many of the soldiers weren't very happy with the new choice of kapetan, an arrogant, overconfident woman Yarima hadn't had the displeasure of meeting.
But if Yarima and her brother could convince Oretski to stop being Svytlani's good little slave and strike back against her, maybe a significant number of soldiers would go with him.
Surely, they all had to see that Orinovo wasn't going to survive if it kept going like this. Yes, Lys-Akkaria was struggling with itself, but it still had a lightweaver and a shadowforger. Orinovo attacking might even unite them again, so she wasn't so sure this was a good idea.
But she had no choice but to do what the queen asked, otherwise she might end up locked up again. Or killed. Or experimented on once more.
Yarima shivered at that thought.
"The battleplans are in the works," her mother said, bringing Yarima out of her thoughts. "And you will be involved in them."
"This will be a bloodbath," Yarima argued, unable to keep her thoughts to herself in this case. "So many soldiers will die."
The queen scowled at her. "It will be worth it. Once we kill or capture the svetlokriv and Notsisyk, there will be nothing stopping us from conquering that defiant colony once more, our country united."
Yarima wanted to groan. Her mother's delusions about how Lys-Akkaria was their territory, and that it being its own country with its own culture was ridiculous had grown very, very old. But Yarima knew better than to question it. There was no convincing Svytlani of anything ever.
"You will use the power I've given you to ensure our victory," Svytlani said finally, nodding at Yarima. "I suggest you train while you can. Dismissed."
Yarima barely resisted the urge to call Svytlani an insane monster. How dare she imply that the experimentation she'd been doing on her since she was barely old enough to remember it was in any way a gift?
