In Love and War

Chapter 6 - Tell me how to win

Nightshade sat in the booth when Arya arrived the next night, lips curling up smugly.

Arya ignored her and slid into the seat, ignoring the twinge of pain from her shoulder, where the dagger wound had been ripped open the night before.

"So you did get your head out of your ass." Nightshade smirked.

Arya sat back and crossed her arms, unimpressed. "I need to know how to win a war, Nightshade."

Nightshade's lips twitched upwards. "You have an army."

"They have a bigger one. He... they know my war strategies, they know my weaknesses. They know everything."

Nightshade's wicked amusement melted away, and she looked away, down at the fighters now pounding each other to a pulp in the Arena and then back at Arya, full lips pressed into a tight line. She slid into the booth. Arya reached into her cloak, but Nightshade shook her head. "Not this time. I need no payment from a friend in need."

A friend. Arya wanted no friends. Friends wormed their way into your heart and then ripped it from your chest. But she shrugged and slipped it back into her cloak. When she looked back up at Nightshade her face was icy. "Tell me how to win this war, Nightshade. Tell me what I must do. Anything."

Nightshade watched, her eerily still.

Magic swelled and shadow seemed to bunch around her. Nightshade watched her for a second, cool eyes assessing. "You would need the ancient monsters to win."

A shiver ran through her. At those words, Nightshade's voice had gone deeper and melodic. Ancient.

"What monsters."

"The children of the gods. Flame-spitters and blood-drinkers and lake-dwellers. But..." she shook her head, eyebrows creased. "No, no," she murmured, "that would not work."

"Why not," Arya snapped.

"Too long, too long. And they would likely not come. The shadows say they love their dark caves now. They love peace." Nightshade's eyes went out of focus as she seemed to slip into a dream. She sucked in a breath and shadows curled in the hollows of her cheeks. "But I have heard of one." She tilted her head, and the beads clacked. "Rumors, rumors is all. Smoke and darkness. But the shadows whisper that there is one monster that might fight for you. His anger... his anger could cleave the world in two. With him on your side, you could win."

Only one monster, and she would win. She frowned. "Who is he?"

Nightshade shook her head. "His name is forgotten. Lost to the turns of time. Even the shadows do not know who or what he is. But he is angry. Powerful. The shadows fear him. So, so angry, but glorious and strong."

To fight with a creature like that by her side... she could bathe this wretched world in blood. "How do I ensure his loyalty?"

Nightshade clicked her tongue. "Favors and bargains. Gods and monsters of worlds past do not value gold, they value bargains and secrets and knowledge. It is all that can bind them."

Arya nodded. Secrets and bargains, she was good at those. She and Jacan had been masters at them. She shut out the thought and the barrage of emotions that roiled with it.

"Where is he?"

"Sheridan."

Arya froze. Sheridan. If he was in Sheridan, he must be a force to be reckoned with indeed.

Sheridan was the land of myth, of gods and monsters. Ancient songs were still sung of strange immortal creatures who had prowled the earth and beautiful shapeshifters with a hunger for human blood before they were banished to Sheridan. They claimed the gods lived on and that they cleaved the continent in two with their battles. But now they were little more than legends, whispers of their former selves.

Humans could not set foot on Sheridan. It was shrouded in ancient magic and no human sailor even could find it, let alone enter.

"I cannot get him then. No human can." Arya's jaw tightened. She was queen of a human country, how was she—

Nightshade's lips tipped up. "Yes, you can."

No one she could send would even reach Sheridan, let alone the warrior. Frustration tightened her chest. "My subjects are humans, I am human—"

"Mostly." Nightshade interrupted softly, eyes gleaming.

"What?"

"You're mostly human."

Arya couldn't move.

"Those ancient queens your people idolize. They were not human." And now, neither are you.

The world spun, then became crystal clear. That was how they conquered a continent, that was how they raised an army so large that songs were sung about it even now, hundreds of years later. "What were they?"

"Daughters of gods." Nightshade grinned, shadows slinking across her cheeks. "You have god blood in your veins, Arya. It's only a trace, but it's enough. Sheridan will open for you."

Arya's mind was still spinning, thinking, realizing. "It has to be me, then." No one else could enter. Except Nightshade perhaps, but a gleam in Nightshade's eyes told Arya that if she'd even so much as ask, Nightshade would make her sorry.

It had to be Arya.

But she couldn't just leave. She had duties, courtiers to reign in, disputes to settle...

Nightshade watched her, eyes all-seeing. "Trees continue to grow without water for long enough."

Arya's mind churned, planning. It... it could work. If she played her cards just right, and if everything went smoothly. She could bring Altrys back into this damned war.

Nightshade reached into her hair. Her fingers skipped past unearthly strands before she stopped at one lock of hair just below her ear. A shimmering black bead hung there, glinting, waiting. She untied it and rolled it across her fingers.

"If you ever need the help of the shadows." She held out the bead, its edges glistening in the candlelight. "Three drops of blood unleash its power."

Arya took it carefully, feeling the roil of magic beneath her fingers. She glanced up at Nightshade. "Thank you."

Nightshade's eyes were surprisingly soft. "Don't thank me. Come back alive."

Their eyes met and something passed between the young queen and the strange magical woman. Arya closed her fingers over the bead and nodded. "I will."

* * * * *

We're going to Sheridan!  I'm so excited for you to meet the people there!

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Have a lovely weekend!