“Rhiannon,” she growled, “I hate when you do this.”

“Sorry, sister, but I need your assistance”—she swept her hand in Brannie’s direction—“with her.”

Ghleanna turned, her eyes widening at the sight of her daughter. “Branwen?”

“Hi, Mum.”

Suddenly Ghleanna stalked over to Brannie and grabbed her in a long hug.

“Uh . . . Mum?”

“We thought you were dead, Branwen,” Rhiannon explained.

Brannie blinked in surprise, her gaze flicking to Aidan’s over her mother’s shoulder. Then her arms were right around her mother, the pair hugging like they hadn’t seen each other in a century rather than a few months.

“I’m fine, Mum. Really.”

“What happened?” Ghleanna asked.

“Mountain went down.”

The general pulled back and gawked at her daughter. “The mountain went down?”

“Yeah. Mountain went down.”

“How is that even possible?” Ghleanna asked the queen.

* * *

Fearghus landed hard, Briec and Gwenvael right behind him. Taking a few more tentative steps, he leaned over and studied the long, wide schism that had opened up in what had once been the most recent battlefield of this war.

“What the battle-fuck is this?” Briec asked, leaning over Fearghus’s shoulder.

Without an answer for his brother, Fearghus instead examined the area. “Weren’t there mountains? Like . . . lots of mountains. All around here?”

“Aye. There were.”

Fearghus had been leading his troops here to attack from the skies when the very air around him turned violent, tossing him and the troops around for several seconds before they were able to right themselves again and proceed. He’d decided to keep his troops back until he investigated what the hell had happened. He still didn’t know, but he was sure that whatever had happened was not good. For anyone.

Gwenvael pushed past his brothers and leaned far over the pit to stare into the blackness. “Do you think they all fell down there?” he asked.

Briec glanced at Fearghus.

“Maybe you should find out,” Fearghus suggested, seconds before Briec shoved their younger brother in.

They ignored the screaming as Fearghus told Briec, “Let’s find the children.”

* * *

“They took out all the mountains in that region,” Rhiannon explained, her hands clasped together. “They used spells centuries old. From before even my mother’s time.”

“Destroying eons of work by gods and dragons.” Ghleanna shook her head. “Bastards.”

“Now my dragons have nowhere to safely hide from man or enemy. All in that region will be trapped out in the open.”

“So we’re pulling out?” Brannie asked, her rage seemingly gone now that her mother was here.

Aidan was relieved. He wasn’t sure that Brannie knew Rhiannon as well as she thought she did. She saw her as an aunt, but the queen didn’t let the love she had for her mate’s kin get in the way of her reign. Brannie hadn’t seen that side of her “dear auntie Rhiannon.”

Glances passed between Rhiannon and Ghleanna at Brannie’s question.

“What?” Brannie asked.

“We’ve pulled back, but we’re not pulling out,” Ghleanna told her daughter. “Instead, we’re planning a full strike—led by your uncle Bercelak.”