“Obviously.” I snapped my fingers at Fred, motioning for him to follow us up the stairs into one of the guard towers. “I’ll need them to get closer so that I can identify who is amongst them,” I said. “I’ll pick off the strongest, but I’ll need you and your men to distract the rest. You’ll be like a swarm of flies to a bear, but you should be able to give me the time I need. Once the most powerful are dead, it will be no trouble for me to kill the rest.”

Both Sabine and Fred were staring at me. “Well?” I said. “Go prepare yourselves for my signal.”

Turning my back on them, I rested one hand in the narrow arrow slit. I needed to capture at least one alive to ascertain how they had passed my wards. Though why I was bothering with the wards at all was a mystery to me. They were a drain on my magic, and their sole purpose was to protect the humans in Trianon.

Which was no longer important. So I let the wards drop, raising them up around the castle walls instead.

The city was silent, the river muffled by the heavy sheet of ice resting on its surface. The haze of troll-light came closer without spreading out, almost like a procession through the street. A peculiar tactic, and not one I’d expect from my father. He was a strategic master, but it had been a long time since I’d played against him so directly.

A very long time.

I’d been ten years old, and it had been a timed game of Guerre played before most of our court. Though the hourglass had only allowed us a minute per move, we’d been at the game for hours and I’d been bored. Partially because losing to my father was inevitable, and partially because I’d intended to go swimming in the lake with my friends.

Anaïs sat in the first row behind my father and, despite my best efforts, my gaze kept tracking to her. Her grandmother, the Dowager Duchesse, had forced her to wear a dress, and Anaïs was twitching irritably, casting the occasional sideways glance at her sister, who was deep in conversation with Marc. The twins had been forbidden from the throne room after the last prank they’d played, but I knew they’d be waiting for us at the boat. Anaïs caught my gaze and then crossed her eyes, and I bit my lip to keep from grinning.

“Tristan.”