“Perhaps an old graveyard no one remembers. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. If he can animate Draug—he was more of a threat than you knew. That means he’s at least Level 30. But Draug die like the rest. I’ve killed at least twenty in my lifetime. They can be brought down with arrows and magic.”

“But if the [Necromancer] attacks…”

“Hah. The walls might be only ten feet, but that’s enough for undead. Even a Draug can’t punch through our walls. We could hold off an army of two thousand, Risel. You just see to the stores. Make sure we ration for all but the warriors, mind. Ovela’s marching fast, but we should be ready to wait for a week at the most, and feed more.”

Grishen’s voice was soothing. Risel sounded worried.

“We—we have the first harvests, but a lot is in the villages. We’re going to lose so much—”

“Worry about that later. You are the [Lady] of Afiele, Risel. Focus. Look at Lantal. There’s a proper [Lord].

Even that [Princess] is pulling her weight.”

Cara stirred as the voices disappeared. She tried to rise…and something sucked her down.

——

When next she woke, it was day. The keep was full. The town was filled with people from every village, and people were fortifying the walls, building palisades. The last stragglers were coming in.

She’d missed all of it. Cara staggered upright to find Violetta helping pass out food.

“Cara! Thank goodness! We thought you’d pass out!”

“I—what happened?”

“Mana exhaustion. You used that spell too much, Miss Cara.”

The young woman turned and saw Lady Risel. The [Lady] saw Cara’s blank look and explained.

“[Mages] and other magic-users fall sick if they use too much mana. For a beginner, that spell took too much. You did wonderfully, though. Thank you.”

“Oh. No problem.”

Cara felt like that was just a dream. And today’s terrible reality—she wished it were a dream.

“Are we under siege or something?”

“Not—exactly.”

Violetta looked anxiously at Lady Risel. The [Lady] was already moving off to check on the others. The banquet hall had been turning into a feeding area for…everyone. Wounded [Knights] were eating with

[Farmers]. Children were sitting around, many crying. But the atmosphere was tense. Silence, even amid all the sounds.

“An undead horde…destroyed Qet.”

The [Cellist]’s hands shook as she offered Cara a bowl of porridge. Cara took it and lost her appetite instantly.

“Did anyone survive?”

“No. There—there were Crypt Lords. And Draug—”

Violetta’s voice was too loud. A girl began crying. Cara didn’t know what those undead were. But Noelictus’ folk did. They stared in silent horror at each other.