Althy mulled that over. “I’ll have a talk with Khalad and see what other options we have. Perhaps the Blight rune affects those with silver heartsglass differently.”

“That is what she said. How…how is Fox?”

Althy looked at me without saying a word.

“I see.”

“Tea, he’s as busy as you are, what with the princess and the—”

“There is no need for an explanation, Althy. I understand all too well.”

“He believed you about Druj,” Zoya persisted. “He’s still in shock. With the blighted courtiers, we didn’t have much time to—”

I startled. “Blighted courtiers?”

Althy shot Zoya a scathing look. “We’ve had our own share of blighted attacks. There is no reason to worry. The queen and princess are fine, as is Mykkie. Fox was instrumental in saving them.”

“Lady Altaecia,” Kance greeted, nearing us with Kalen and General Lode by his side, “And, Lady Zoya. Thank you both for your assistance.”

Zoya curtsied. “We nearly didn’t make it in time, Your Majesty, given the late start we were afforded. What do you intend to do now?”

“We need to head to Mithra’s Wall and confront King Aadil,” Kance said abruptly. “I will not leave until I have that madman out of my kingdom, preferably in chains.”

“And I would like to have a talk with the Faceless who stands behind him,” I added bleakly.

“What if they raise another daeva?” General Lode asked. “I am leery of having to face another so soon.”

“How many of the bezoars do we have now?” Kalen asked.

“Five.” It had taken nearly two hours and a host of Fire runes to evaporate most of the poisonous bile the dead indar excreted in death before I was able to retrieve its sapphire-blue bezoar. “Including the azi, that makes six. There’s one more daeva not yet accounted for.”

Zoya frowned. “That would be the akvan. But if I remember correctly, it won’t be ripe for resurrection for another two years.”

“Unfortunately, the Faceless may have found a way to speed up the process. The Gorvekai claim such a rune exists but refuse to divulge the secret.”

“Then Druj must have gleaned it through some other text,” Althy theorized. “And recently. We had no such problems with them in the past. He must have reason to believe the First Harvest is somewhere inside Mithra’s Wall.”

“Then we must go after it immediately!” Zoya protested.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds, Lady Zoya,” Kance said. “The close, cramped caves within the Wall will not be advantageous for large armies. The azi will not be able to enter short of burning down the whole mountain.”

“Then let’s level it.” There was a nasty glint in Zoya’s eye.

“As a last resort, yes. But I would much rather take less drastic means to lure the Drychta king out, milady.”