"I need you to help me figure this out." Ara said as she stroked Kodan's soft head. She shivered in the chill air. Kodan must have noticed, for he gestured for her to mount him. She obeyed, laying across his warm back and resting her head on his neck. Tenan waited outside the stall door.
Kodan pawed the ground. "So we need to figure out what to do about the Elves and assassins?"
"But what?" Ara groaned.
Suddenly, Ara's eyes dilated and she found herself looking over a vast open meadow with Zacar and Bomin at her side. The vision faded and Ara remembered Essenia telling her she had a bit of a Prophetess in her soul. "Zacar and Bomin must accompany me somewhere."
His mind Bonded with her, Kodan had seen exactly what she had. "You saw Urelle. We go to the Elves."
Ara sat up. "Can I risk it?"
"You can convince them to come out of isolation."
Ara looked away.
"You're their Queen, Ara."
Ara twisted strands of his mane with her fingers. "I doubt that."
"You doubt your birthright?"
For a moment, Ara didn't answer. If she forced her hand, she would be expected to follow their rules. Live in their lands by their ways. Those ways were not hers. She was more human than Elve. How could she expect them to accept her, when she didn't accept them?
Kodan felt her confusion. "They've believed you dead for over two decades."
Ara didn't answer. Would she be forced to give up everything she knew and loved in order to win this bloody war? She thought of the pain coursing through Tenan's eyes and knew her answer must be yes. Her pain was nothing in comparison to the pain of the whole of Nonae. "To be a King is really to be a servant." Ara sighed.
Kodan cocked his head to the side. "Did Bomin say that?"
Ara nodded.
"It sounds like something he would say."
Ara shook the overpowering weariness resulting from her bout with darith from her. She had too much to accomplish to be bothered with physical discomforts. Kodan carried her to Zacar's quarters. "Zacar," she called in the predawn hour. She heard shuffling from within before Zacar appeared—sheathing his sword and running his hands through his tousled dark hair. He smiled when he saw her, but she felt too drained to return it. "We have work, you and I."
Seeing the gravity with which she spoke, he reentered his tent. When he emerged, he appeared ready for anything. Ara followed similar routines at Bomin and Talhan's cabin. When she had them all, they followed her to Cohen's quarters.
Dismounting, she rested her hand on Kodan's shoulder for a moment. Anyone watching might think she caressed him, but she was really drawing strength. She nodded to her companions before entering the old tavern and rushing up the stairs. Then she stood in front of the same door she'd left last night. The same guard eyed her but didn't stop her as she rapped. Cohen swung it open. Apparently, he hadn't slept either, as Ara could see he'd been working. Completely masked of all emotion—he nodded to each in turn before eying her expectantly.
"I have a plan," she said boldly.
Cohen gave a curt nod, retrieved his things, and followed them to the large table downstairs.
