Free The Dread: The Fallen Kings Cycle: Book Two by Gail Z. Martin

could have stepped up their intelligence recently. Until we received the warning from Donelan, we weren’t watching for outside invaders. We had our hands full with Jared, and then Curane. I doubt Jared expended any resources worrying about invaders from across the sea. He was too busy slaughtering his own people and trying to kill Tris.”
    “Meaning that we have had some big holes in our attention for the last couple of years.” Tris’s voice was bitter.
    “It’s been a busy couple of years.”
    “All the information we’ve been able to gather about Temnotta since Donelan’s warning suggests that their invasion is somehow connected to the problems in Isencroft. If that’s true, Alvior of Brunnfen managed to get the attention of someone important in Temnotta, who probably saw an opportunity. My question is, are the Temnottans seeing the same opportunity as Alvior?” Soterius looked from Tris to Senne. They nodded, following his reasoning.
    “Meaning that Alvior may think he’s found a partner, while Temnotta may have their own plans for Isencroft—and everyone else.”
    “Alvior and Isencroft may end up in the belly of the stawar for all his cleverness.” Senne’s tone conveyed his anger. “If this were really an Isencroft issue, Temnotta would only be threatening Isencroft. But our information suggests that Temnotta plans to attack the whole coast: Isencroft, Margolan, Principality, and Eastmark. Thattells me their ambitions go far beyond helping Alvior seize the throne.”
    Soterius glanced at Tris. “Either way, it’s our problem, isn’t it?”
    Tris nodded. “No matter how anyone feels about it, the futures of Isencroft and Margolan are bound together for at least a generation now. We don’t dare support Isencroft with troops that cross their border. The Crofters would think
we
were invading. But it’s clear that we share a common enemy. Any way that we can weaken Temnotta protects our kingdom and Isencroft. We can no more afford to have Temnotta successfully invade Isencroft than we can to let them march onto our coast.”
    Tris returned to his tent, followed by Coalan and the
Telorhan
, elite bodyguards who followed him everywhere. When Tris and Coalan were safely inside, the
Telorhan
guards stepped back into place, blocking the tent’s entrance. Coalan began moving the table, basin, and chairs that had been used in the scrying aside and readying the tent for night. Tris sank into a chair, deep in thought.
    Kiara and Cwynn are leagues away. How can I protect them and fight a war?
A series of “what ifs,” each more awful than the one before, came unbidden to his mind, and he was only able to make a halfhearted attempt to push them from consciousness.
I never wanted to have to choose between duty to crown and responsibility for the people I love
.
    Coalan rearranged the lightweight, sparse campaign furnishings to set out Tris’s cot and his own bedroll, and Tris realized how tired he was. Still, worries hounded him.
What if things go wrong in Isencroft? Kiara willhave to go home, pregnant or not. She has a duty to her people. There’s no guarantee she’ll be able to sit out this war safe inside Shekerishet
.
    His dark musings were broken when Coalan pressed a brandy into his hand. “Thought it might help you sleep better,” he said with a smile.
    “Thank you.” Tris lifted the glass to his lips and stopped, his attention on drawings scratched into the dirt of the tent floor. “Coalan, what are those?” he asked, pointing.
    Coalan fidgeted. “It’s no secret to me that you haven’t been sleeping well, Tris. You can’t keep that from someone who sleeps in the same tent. You thrash and toss, and some nights it’s as if you’re having a fight in your sleep. I’ve tried to figure out what you say when you cry out, but it’s not in either Common or Margolense, at least nothing I’ve ever heard.”
    “Who taught you the runes of protection?”
    This time, Coalan blushed scarlet.