The Gates of Memory, стр. 96
But for all the power, there was no hate. Instead, the queen watched her closely, as though Alena was some creature caught in a trap, its behavior a fascinating study.
Alena felt her own strength coursing through her limbs, collecting at her navel next to her gatestone. She couldn’t challenge the queen, not in this place. But she wouldn’t die on her knees, either.
With a snarl she focused her energy. Gravity pulled at her, stronger than she’d ever felt. Toren and Sheren were pressed flat against the ground next to her, although Toren was slowly pushing himself to his knees.
Grunting, Alena stood, her balance precarious. She manifested a knife in each hand, daring the queen to attack with her gaze.
But the queen didn’t attack.
“Remarkable,” she said.
Perhaps it was her brother shouting to her, or perhaps the queen simply lost her focus briefly, but Alena felt her connection to Jace, just for a moment.
She didn’t waste it.
Letting gravity take her, she fell down, touching both Sheren and Toren. Then she followed Jace’s connection, fighting against the queen’s will with the last of her remaining strength.
When she opened her eyes again she was on her back, concerned faces all around her.
“How long?” she asked.
“Not very,” Jace replied. “A count of sixty, maybe ninety.”
It had felt like so much longer. If she ever was trapped in that place, eternity would last even longer.
She tried to sit up, but Jace held her down. “You should rest.”
She shook her head. Mentally, she’d taken a beating, but her body was fine. “You need to find Brandt,” she said.
Because in those final moments, when she had followed Jace’s thread back to the physical world, she had gained a sense of perspective.
And she understood why the queen had been able to attack them in such a fashion.
“You need to find Brandt,” she repeated. “And you need to tell him the Lolani queen is in Faldun.”
51
Anger broke them apart, but necessity reunited them sooner than anyone could have guessed. News of the Lolani queen ran through the Falari camps like wildfire, sapping determination wherever it was spoken.
Brandt’s own stomach felt hollow as he considered the implications. Regar hadn’t just been planning this, he’d been planning this alongside the queen. No other story explained her sudden appearance on the continent.
Ren and Weylen joined Hanns, Brandt, and Alena’s war party. The animosity between Alena and Hanns hadn’t been forgotten. Hanns hadn’t revoked her exile, and she hadn’t agreed to teach the technique. Both sides stood by their decisions.
But they still gathered in the same circle. Brandt hoped the two would resolve their argument, but they had more pressing problems.
Weylen spoke the truth everyone else thought. “Our chances were already slim against Prince Regar. Against him and the queen, there is no point in attacking.”
“We don’t need to take the city,” Hanns replied. “Our goal has always been to separate Prince Regar from the gate.” He looked to Alena. “You say you think you can do so, without killing him?”
The hope in Hanns’ voice pulled at Brandt’s heart.
“I think so,” Alena said. “But I need to be close to the gate. I need to touch it.”
“There is an opportunity here,” Hanns said, almost muttering to himself. “The queen is impossible to defeat within the soulwalk, but if she is physically here, I don’t think she can withstand the power of two gates. If I can find her, perhaps we can end the Lolani threat for good.”
Brandt shook his head. “That’s all well and good, but unless we have a way into Faldun, it’s a moot point.”
The Falari soulwalker with Alena, whose name Brandt forgot, spoke with a trembling voice. She’d been clearly uncomfortable with this gathering from the moment she joined. “There’s a passage on the other side of the mountain.”
Weylen shook his head. “Those passages are not for our use, and its exit in Faldun is sealed.”
Brandt looked between the two Falari, not understanding.
“Besides,” Weylen continued, “even if we could convince our war parties to approach that way, it’s still suicide. Our movement will be easily spotted, and the guard on the other side will be reinforced before we reach them. Even if we do pass the guard, with the queen and Prince Regar I have no doubt they could simply seal us in.”
Brandt’s memory traveled far back, to when Ana had almost been caught in a collapsing cave. He had no desire to relive that moment, nor the fear he’d experienced afterward as he sought a way out.
Still, he was curious about this route. Hanns beat him to it, though. He said, “Tell me of this passage.”
Weylen refused to answer the question, leaving the Falari soulwalker in the uncomfortable position of answering to a foreign emperor. “Those who came before left a series of tunnels through the mountains. Most, if not all, lead in the direction of Faldun. There is one that travels through the mountain Faldun is built into.”
“Where does it go, and why is it not to be used?”
“It enters Faldun near the top of the city, and the tunnels are not used by my people. Like most remnants of those who came before, we avoid them.”
“But there is no particular danger?”
“None that I’ve ever experienced.”
Hanns played with his beard. “And the defenses?”
“Most tunnels are unguarded. This one is not. A fort is built around the entrance, with warriors there at all times.”
“How many?”
The soulwalker grimaced. “I don’t know. Fifty?”
Weylen finally interrupted, looking almost as uncomfortable as the soulwalker. “It’s no better an option than a direct attack. If anything, it poses more risks. It would funnel all our warriors into a single tunnel.”
Brandt found the solution first. “We don’t need to move the war parties. This has always come down to Prince Regar and the gate. The only people who will make a difference are sitting around this circle.”
Hanns nodded, his thoughts following Brandt’s. “The war parties’ attack on Faldun will be a diversion.”
“Better if they don’t even attack,” Brandt thought out loud.