“We’ve bought time,” admitted Nikolai. “Not peace.” They had to neutralize Queen Makhi before Fjerda chose to act again. And Fjerda would, Nikolai had no doubt of that.

When Zoya had mounted, they joined their armed escort and rode out of the gates. For a while, they took to the roads in silence, not speaking, only the sound of the wind and their horses’ hooves to keep them company. They slowed when they reached a creek to let their mounts drink and stretch their legs. Then it was back onto the road at a trot. They were all eager to reach the capital.

“We have an advantage and we should press it,” said Zoya when she couldn’t contain herself anymore. Nikolai had known this was coming. “Fjerda didn’t expect us to push back so hard. We should keep up the pressure while their forces are scrambling.”

“Are you so eager to see good men die?”

“If it will save the children of those men and countless others, I’ll lead the charge.”

“Give me a chance to build this peace,” said Nikolai. “I have a gift for folly—let me indulge it. We have daily sorties flying along the border and we’ve bolstered our forces there. This invasion was meant to be the tip of the arrow for Fjerda. Now that arrow is broken and they’ll have to rethink their approach.”

Fjerda had two great advantages: the size of their army and the speed at which they were able to turn out tanks. Nikolai could admit the tanks were well built too. They had a bad tendency to explode due to the fuel they used, but they were sturdier and faster than those his engineers had managed, even with Grisha Fabrikators in the lab.

“David’s mines will only buy us so much time,” said Tamar. “Once they’ve figured out how to track the metals, they’ll be sweeping the border.”

“It’s a long border,” noted Tolya.

“True,” said Nikolai. “And it has more gaps than my aunt Ludmilla’s teeth.”

Zoya shot him a dubious glance. “Did you actually have an aunt Ludmilla?”

“I did indeed. Hideous woman. Prone to stern lectures and handing out black licorice as a treat.” He shuddered. “May the Saints watch over her.”

“The point is we only have a short amount of time,” said Tolya.

Tamar clicked her tongue. “Hopefully enough time to forge this alliance with the Shu.”

Nikolai didn’t like to think of everything that might go wrong in the meantime. “Let us all pray to our Saints and the spirits of our bilious aunts.”

“If we could get more flyers in the air, none of it would matter,” said Tamar.

But like everything, that took money. They also had a shortage of trained pilots.

Zoya scowled. “None of it will matter if we have to fight a war on two fronts. We need a treaty with the Shu.”