Asena POV

I stood on the outskirts of our makeshift camp, watching the tree line that sat right below the mountains. The forest surrounded us on every side of the city, except for this bare patch of land that separated the end of Cretea and the beginning of Soreal, the Mountainous territory.

I thought of the many patrols we had in those very trees. I knew they were dead. There was no way they could have survived.

Ret stood slightly behind me, choking back the sobs that forced their way through. We had lost friends today.

Olanda was one of them. She had stayed behind, trying to usher the foundlings to safety. One of the Mountainous males slit her throat and watched as she choked on her own blood.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper tighten his arm around her shoulders. Lucas stood on her other side, holding her hand.

The only time I had seen Ret allow anyone to touch her was when it involved the twins.

I heard the hard beats of my brother's wings as he flew towards us. Ret immediately straightened, not letting anyone see her tears.

Drakon landed softly beside me as I continued gazing at the tree line. Faintly, I heard Drakon telling my commanders that they were needed in the tent. It was going to be a long night if we were to plan the next course of action.

Drakon took another step closer to me as they took to the skies. I felt his heat hit me a moment later as I took a shuddering breath.

He was quiet a moment longer before he said, "They're dead."

I gritted my teeth against the emotion that racked through me.

"I don't think they suffered," he whispered to me. I nodded my head, unable to find the words.

I had trained every single soldier of that patrol. Had trained them harder than any of the others because they were our first line of defense.

Each of them was strong, so strong that I had wanted to keep them for my own legion. But that's what we needed in the patrols. Our first line of defense…

He stepped closer to me, going as far as to wrap his wing around me. When we were kids, he always joked that the day he ever stuck his wing out for me was the day the world was ending. Our wings were our lifeline. Without them, we'd rather die.

"There was nothing we could do, Drak. We had no warning. Not even the patrols knew—"

"I know. I know," he shushed me as his wing curled me into his side as his arm slid over my shoulders. Sometimes I forgot how tall he was until I was standing next to him. King of Cretea.

He deserved the name, just like he deserved peace. We all did.

I waited for the tears to come. Waited for the sobs to shudder through me. But they never did.

Hate is what lingered. Hate pulsed through me at every thought. I wanted revenge.

"We will make them pay. I swear it, Asena," he whispered from beside me. He looked out over the bare patch of land that was now stained with the blood of our people. "I swear it."

Azriel POV

We all crowded into a small tent as the others were still being used for the families to say goodbye to their fallen.

Mor was leaning up against the chair Cassian was sitting in. He was looking at the map and conversing with Lucas. It seems they both had come to a general understanding that we would need all the help we could get.

Rhysand stood next to Feyre at the other end of the table. I knew they were having a silent conversation as they both stared at the map. Feyre leaned forward, placing her palms against the table, "Why now?"

Miryam sat in a chair next to her, massaging her head, "How did they find out about the tunnels?"

Amren stood beside me, keeping quiet for the time being. I passed her a glance and watched as her nimble fingers played with the necklace she donned.

Jasper glared at me for a moment then said, "They shouldn't have known."

"But they did. How?" Miryam pinned him with her stare. Some thought that Miryam was the loving, warm hearted person with everyone, but we knew her as a stone cold warrior.

Lucas sighed heavily, "We better wait for Asena."

I closed my eyes, knowing Miryam would not like that answer, "How did they know?!" Miryam was standing now, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I made the wrong call," Asena said from the tent entrance. We all whipped our heads towards her and Drakon.

Drakon gave her shoulder a small squeeze then went to stand next to Miryam.

I could tell by the way her shoulders caved in she was taking this one hard.

Miryam whirled on her, "What do you mean… the wrong call?" Drakon said and did nothing as his mate and his sister stared each other down.

I watched as Asena straightened her shoulders slightly then explained, "I sent a scouting party into the tunnels last night. I wanted to explore the idea of flooding the tunnels and having another exit just in case one of our patrols got caught in it." She took a deep breath, dropping her chin to her chest, "They never returned."

Even Cassian had nothing to say as the room became eerily quiet. He too understood what it felt like to send his own soldiers to their death.

"We believe they were captured and tortured for information. Once they learned of the tunnels, the enemy made sure we could never use them again," Ret finished for her from the table. Drakon put his arm around Miryam as she let the overwhelming feeling of loss hit her.

"There's something else as well," Asena sighed as she took another step into the room. I tensed as she passed me a glance, "I begged Drakon and Miryam not to divulge this because I wished to handle it in my own way. I still believe that to be true, but I watched your people fight for mine today. I watched them bleed and… die for something they never should have taken part in."

Silence from all of us as she took a shuddering breath, "While Ret, Jasper, and Lucas are my top commanders, there was another. His name was Stefan and he betrayed us all."

Amren, forever the sympathizer, said, "Get to the point, girl."

Lucas finished for her, "He's the heart of this discourse. He was Asena's Second in Command. They were out on a scouting party and they ran into a patrol of Mountainous males on a scouting trip as well and... he turned on us. He killed the entire scouting party except Asena. She was on the brink of death—"

Asena quickly interrupted him, "He knows every battle plan, every strategy. He knows every nook and cranny of how this city was built. He knows what I am going to do before I do it. He knew exactly where to plant those explosives. The first one close enough to where I'd be at that exact time of day. The second one close enough to the foundlings that we'd call on an entire army."

"Why are you telling us now?" Rhys asked from across the room.

Drakon spoke for them, "We were unprepared today. Completely and utterly unprepared to face our own. We need an outside source planning our routes, so that they may not be predicted in the next attack. We need to rethink our strategy."

Asena nodded towards Cassian, "I've seen you in action. And while I may differ from you in tactics, I would very much appreciate your insight on how to win this one."

Cassian glanced towards me and raised his eyebrows. I merely nodded my head at him before he said, "We will need to start over completely. Change every training routine, every outpost, every patrol. It's going to be a long night, General, so grab a chair."

Asena loosened a relieved breath before her and her commanders came over to the table, joining our own.

Hours and hours later, the dawn of the new day broke. But Cassian and Asena continued to plan. She took well to his ideas even if she grunted at a few of them. She even shot many of them down, but one stern look from Drakon had her reconsidering.

I was standing on the outside of the tent, watching the sun rise over the mountain. I watched as it began to melt the frost that started on the ground. A swift wind from the north reminded me that the blizzard would still be here soon.

As well as another battle.

My High Lady found me moments later. She shivered against the cold, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"They just got back into the argument of the border patrols," she said with a small smile on her face.

I coughed a laugh, "I don't think Cassian is going to win that round."

Feyre chuckled and said, "Not against those four." She became quiet as she looked out over the bare patch of land. We had pulled all the dead from the area and healed most of the wounded, but it didn't stop the feeling of death that lingered.

"Asena fought well."

I nodded, "We all did."

She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "Rhysand thinks we should seek out the Mountainous people and propose a truce. Drakon mentioned that they tried that already. What they wanted was for the people of Cretea to relocate."

"I'm not surprised. I've heard legends of these people. They want what they can't have and will kill for no reason at all."

The cold air started to numb certain areas of my wings. Long ago, it bothered me to no end. I hated the mountains for this very reason. But now, I learned to adapt to the cold. Letting it soothe the membranous texture that ran along the spine.

"Your idea to distract them with scouts going farther west was a good idea. Who did you have in mind?" She turned towards me, allowing the wind to blow her hair away from her face.

I shrugged my shoulders, "It would be easier with a small party. We need to get a sense of their base, but we can't do that without some sort of distraction."

She nodded and took a step closer, "Let's do it then."

I eyed her from my peripheral then turned and faced her, "Feyre…"

She shook her head, "Don't Feyre me. You sure as hell won't go with Asena and Cassian is too damn loud."

I chuckled and said, "We can leave the infiltrating the base to them then."

She grinned wickedly, "It's settled then. Time for you to train me in more areas than just flying."

I shook my head with a small smile playing at my lips. Our High Lady and our spy.