“Total control disguised as complete freedom.” Nu’ek folded her arms. “And access to an entire metropolis of magic she can draw from at will.”
“Right. And that’s causing the blight.”
“Causing it. Perpetuating it. Maybe even trying to hide it. But as long as the tainted river of pleasure flows through Hangivol, those living here have fewer reasons to look any farther than the next poison they all call privilege,” the black-tusked orc growled as he swept his hand across the table. “Unless you let the act slip. Even a whiff of dissatisfaction brings the Night and Circle down on your head.”
Persh’al’s eyes widened. “The Night and Circle?”
“No honor left in serving the Crown, lugahw’o.” The raug dipped his head toward the blue troll and closed his eyes.
The table fell silent, then Persh’al chuckled and shook his head. “I wonder if they’ll change their tune when General Hi’et lights the deathflame under their asses.”
“General Hi’et abandoned her post,” the quilled man muttered.
Cheyenne frowned at him. “Well, she picked up a new one Earthside.”
“What?”
“She would never!”
“General Hi’et is gone.”
The surprise and uncertainty buzzed around the table, and Cheyenne glanced at Persh’al. “When was the last time you sent updates over here?”
He shook his head and waved her off. “Longer than it should’ve been. We’ve been busy, kid. You know that.”
“Sounds like we should’ve dropped that little nugget of information at the beginning of this stupid meeting.” When Persh’al only shrugged in response, Cheyenne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. L’zar left a shitstorm behind him to start a new one Earthside. They need to smooth out the kinks in this process.
Chapter Fifty
“How much do you know about General Hi’et?” the black-and-red magical shouted over the din.
“Not as much as I thought until a few days ago.” Cheyenne shook her head. “But enough to know that you’re following the path she started before she left. Maleshi’s fighting for Earth and Ambar’ogúl from the other side. If anyone still thinks Earth isn’t worth saving after that, you shouldn’t be here.”
Foltr let out a harsh, croaking laugh that made everyone quiet down again.
Cheyenne leaned away from him in her chair and eyed him. “That wasn’t supposed to be funny.”
The raug gurgled out more laughter and wheezed, wiping spittle from the underside of his quivering gray chin. “Maleshi, is it?”
“Yeah. We’ve been on a first-name basis for a while.” With me mostly calling her Mattie, but they don’t need to know that.
“It would seem so.” The old raug chuckled again and pointed at her with a crooked orange-clawed finger. “Forget what these fools think they know about what we’ve been waiting to see, Aranél. You’ve brought a new future to this aged raug at the end of his days.”
“Nah.” Persh’al waved off the comment. “You’ve got at least another thousand years left in you.”
Nu’ek snorted. “By the Veil, I hope not.”
The gathered party broke into unrestrained laughter, this time without the weight of doubt and wary indecision. The raug chuckled with them and closed his eyes.
When the noise died down again, the magicals returned their attention to Cheyenne. Some of them smiled. The rest looked less tense.
If the old raug approves, the rest of them follow. Good to know.
“So, the pieces are in play on both sides.” The troll woman with the chain dangling across her face gestured at Persh’al. “If the Crown is taking the war to Earth, she won’t stop even if he and his daughter make it to the Rahalma.”
“Not if,” Cheyenne added quickly. “When.”
Persh’al shot her a wide-eyed glance, and she shrugged. Yeah, I’ve already committed this far. Might as well go the whole mile.
“Of course.” The troll woman dipped her head with a small, secretive smile. “When you stand at the Rahalma. But how much will that truly change?”
Persh’al scratched his head. “L’zar seems to think that’s the endgame. I have to agree with him.”
“So, he will bring the war back to the blackened heart of Ambar’ogúl,” Foltr muttered. “With a daughter who defied the mysteries of prophecy.”
“Something like that, yeah.”
Cheyenne couldn’t look away from the old raug’s glowing orange eyes. Why do I feel like I’m not getting the whole picture?
“Then we’ll fight.” The black-tusked orc pounded his fist on the table again and nodded. “Right where we are. I’ve been sitting on this fell-damned oath for centuries, and I mean to see it through.”
“Good choice.” Persh’al pointed at him and grinned. “Go through those cases, huh? We have things to wrap up Earthside, but L’zar will be here as soon as he’s finished working out the kinks. Then you’ll know what to do. We still have the territories on our side?”
“Last we heard, Simmara and Teridól still wait for us to send word. Ki’uali is harder to reach, but we have no reason to think they’d turn back now.”
“Right.” The blue troll slapped his hands on the table and stood. “I think we covered pretty much everything.” He nodded at Cheyenne and added, “Get ready for the long ride home, kid.”
“You’re leaving already?” the troll woman asked, raising an eyebrow.
A pained frown flickered across Persh’al’s brows when he looked at her. “As much as I’d love to stay, Elarit, this was only supposed to be a day trip.”
She shot him a brief, unamused smile. “Pity.”
“Hmm.” He forced himself to look away from her before plastering another smile on his face and aiming it at Nu’ek. “I’m assuming you can get us back out without too much trouble?”
The golra folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you haven’t forgotten who built these tunnels.”
“Me? Nah. Long memory, golra. Doesn’t mean I memorized the map, though.”
Nu’ek snorted and turned away from the table to head across the massive chamber.
Cheyenne stood as multiple conversations picked up again, the impromptu meeting apparently over. A rough, leathery-feeling hand wrapped around her wrist, and she looked quickly down at the old raug sitting beside her.
“You will be prepared,
