“Right now?”

“There will always be a young hotshot eager to prove himself or herself. Part of the job. Someday, one of them will best her, but I don’t think you need to worry about that happening anytime soon.”

Gerik smiled. “You lasted twenty-four years.”

“Exactly.”

* * *

Valek calculated. He and Gerik would arrive at the Citadel right at the hot season’s midpoint. The day the Firestorm had been scheduled—and a day longer than it should have taken, because he was unable to avoid the Sitian army. The soldiers had blanketed the land south of the Ixian border. The only way to get through without causing an incident was to creep into the encampment at night and find an officer to explain things to. The fact that the Snake Forest had emptied of all but a few border guards helped support his news of the canceled invasion. However, the unit he’d surrendered to didn’t have a magician who could communicate with the people in charge.

Since they still didn’t quite believe him, the captain sent him and Gerik to the Citadel with an armed escort. Valek longed to retrieve Onyx and reclaim his vial of blood, but as soon as he spotted the white marble walls of the Citadel in the distance, his focus and energy and thoughts all turned to one goal—holding Yelena in his arms.

30

YELENA

“What do you mean, the forest is empty?” I asked Ayven, sure I’d heard wrong.

“The Ixians withdrew all but a few patrols,” the magician said.

Ayven stared into a glass super messenger, mentally communicating with Master Magician Irys Jewelrose on the front lines. Or what had been the front lines. We expected Ixia to attack in two days’ time.

I glanced at Bavol and then at Onora, who’d stayed by my side as much as possible since she’d saved my life. We stood in Bavol’s office in the Council Hall. Most of the other Sitian Councilors had joined their regiments in the field. We hadn’t received any information or news from Valek since he’d left thirty-two long days ago. Many people assumed he was dead when the Ixian army remained in the forest.

Dare I hope?

“Perhaps Valek was successful after all,” Bavol said.

The baby kicked as if in agreement, but I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. By concentrating on the impending invasion, I’d been able to function. And I avoided the dark thoughts that threatened to ambush me late at night.

“Ayven, please contact Master Zitora and ask her about that unit she and Teegan sensed hiding behind our front lines,” I said. “See if they know where they are now.”

“Okay.” He focused on the messenger. A few minutes later, he looked up. “She says the unit has disappeared. She sent Devlen and Teegan to track them, and she’s waiting to hear from Teegan.”

Good or bad news? Hard to tell.

“Let me know if you learn anything new.”

“Will do,” Ayven said.

* * *

Over the next two days, more reports of the Ixian withdrawal arrived. It was the day of the planned Firestorm, and nothing happened. My emotions swung from confused to concerned to relieved, and settled into a general feeling of unease. Was this a trick? Perhaps the Commander had found a way to get all of his troops behind ours.

Zitora relayed a message from Teegan that the unit was headed east toward the Emerald Mountains. We had positioned a battalion near the tunnel the smugglers had used to get into Ixia. Perhaps we’d moved them too late—not that we’d had a ton of time. We’d only had ten days since we regained control of Sitia and the garrisons.

I sat at Bavol’s desk that afternoon, staring at the map of Ixia and Sitia. Was there another tunnel beneath the border? Or another way past our defenses? Onora had left to fetch me some tea, but the baby’s rhythmic hiccups made it difficult for me to concentrate. Poor little soul suffered with the hiccups at least once a day. I put a sympathetic hand on my mound. Calling it a bump no longer applied, I’d lost sight of my toes and couldn’t touch them without great difficulty. And I still had ten weeks to go! If I grew any larger, I wouldn’t be able to fit through the door.

A knock roused me from my musings. Fisk stood at the door with a pleased grin on his face as if he’d scored a good bargain.

“Don’t tell me,” I said, raising a hand. “You found the perfect hat for your latest client. What’s her name?”

“Mrs. Catava.” The glow dimmed just a bit. “Not yet. Soon—it’s close, I can feel it. However, I found something better than a hat.”

“Oh?”

“I found a husband.” Fisk stepped aside with a flourish.

Valek stood in the doorway, and the rest of the world disappeared. The next thing I knew, I was wrapped in his arms. Not as close as I would have liked, though, because of the mass of baby between us.

He laughed and rested a hand over my girth. “You’re—”

“Watch it,” I warned.

“—more beautiful than I remembered,” he said.

“Nice recovery.”

Cupping my cheeks with his hands, he met my gaze. “I mean it.”

Then he kissed me and proved he wasn’t lying. By the time he broke away, I was gasping for breath and thinking of continuing our conversation in my bedroom.

A polite cough reminded us that we weren’t alone. Fisk stood nearby with Sergeant Gerik.

“Do you know where Onora is?” Gerik asked me.

“The kitchen. She’ll be ba—”