Kihrin felt himself grow a little jealous. He missed being able to see past the First Veil, but Urthaenriel hadn’t changed her mind about allowing him to use magic. Of course, Kihrin had his own way of discerning magic. For instance, Urthaenriel continued to scream at him for allowing not just one, but two, Cornerstones within proximity. One near Qown and another near the throne.

Which confirmed Senera’s story that this was where Warmonger had been hidden.

“I have no idea what this crystal’s made from,” Thurvishar said.

“That’s a good sign. If you could tell what it was made from, it wouldn’t be a Cornerstone.”

“So what do we do now?” Brother Qown said.

Kihrin unsheathed Urthaenriel and bade it grow to its normal sword size, a gleaming silver bar. “Now we wait.”

58: ASSAULT ON MORIOS

Atrine, Jorat Dominion, Quuros Empire. Three days since Raverí D’Lorus seriously overestimated her father’s ability to remember everyone he’d murdered

Janel watched as the portal closed and then turned to Senera. “Give me the branch.”

“What?” Senera blinked at her.

“Give me the branch. You burned through any trustworthiness I might have felt for you years ago.” She held out her hand.

“You didn’t used to be this paranoid.” Senera handed over the small twig. “Don’t break it by accident or we’ll be doing all this for nothing.”

“I’ll be careful.” Janel wrapped the twig in a strengthening spell before she tucked it into her bodice. “Now I want you to ask the Name of All Things how to slay Morios.”

“You know I hate asking anything but a yes-or-no question,” Senera protested.

The high general raised an eyebrow. “The Name of All—what?” He looked toward Emperor Tyentso for an answer.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Tyentso said. “Prepare to be unhappy.”

Senera gave Janel a glare she promptly ignored.

Janel said, “Ask, anyway. And fast.”

Senera pulled out the small slate inkstone. She picked up the brush and ink already on the table and wrote: Don’t fight him.

Everyone stared.

“Helpful,” Tyentso said. “Extremely helpful. Why don’t we skip the ‘don’t fight him’ part since it’s not a gods’ damned option.”

“Can you distract Morios for long enough for me to put this spear through his eye?” Janel tightened her grip on Khoreval.

“I don’t see why not.”

High General Milligreest set his hand down on the table between them. “Let the army soften him up first. We have the scorpions in position.”

“Qoran,” Tyentso said gently, “that’s a good way to lose a lot of your men.”

The high general gave the emperor a tight smile. “I wasn’t asking your permission.” With that he waved a hand toward his officers. “Tell your men to begin when ready. Start with dragon fire.”

“Dragon fire?” Tyentso said.

“Coincidentally enough, we call it that, yes,” Milligreest admitted.