Free The Prince of Exiles (The Exile Series) by Hal Emerson Page A

sword, having incapacitated their guards and knocked out one of their premiere commanders; it was the perfect opportunity for him to show himself in a new, better light. But Raven knew that if he spoke his temper would take control and the situation would be much the worse.
     
    “We would like to hear you speak,” said the soft voice of Ishmael.
     
    “Indeed we would,” said Spader dryly.
     
    “Tomaz speaks for me,” Raven said curtly. “Any questions you have will be answered by him and the others.”
     
    The Elders all looked at him, no doubt thrown off guard by his impropriety. But they didn’t press him. They turned back to Tomaz and questioned him further, and when they were finished, the four of them were dismissed. Leah looked relieved that things had gone at least decently, and Davydd looked bored but glad the tedium was over.
     
    But as they turned to go, Raven’s eyes fell on a map table, and he realized something that made him stop in his tracks.
     
    “Wait,” he said suddenly, turning back to them. They all froze in what they were doing, almost comically surprised. It would appear they weren’t used to other Kindred speaking to them after they’d been dismissed.
     
    Well, they revel in anarchy. Let them have a taste of it.
     
    “Am I right in thinking that you plan to occupy the city of Roarke now that you have taken it?”
     
    He gestured to the maps and the papers he had quickly scanned, and for a long moment no one seemed to want to talk. Warryn and Elder Dawn – the Just Elder, a draconian woman whom Raven had unknowingly antagonized at Aemon’s Stand – both looked like they were ready to have him whipped for insolence, but Crane spoke before they could.
     
    “Yes,” said the Wise Elder, obviously choosing his words carefully. “The decision is Elder Warryn’s. As Elder of State, he feels it is best to occupy Roarke.”
     
    “By occupying the city, we will take the advantage from the Empire and turn it to our side,” said Warryn officiously. His voice set Raven’s back teeth grinding against each other – it was the overbearing tone of a mediocre mind obsessed with its own power.
     
    “I’m not much for strategy,” said Raven, “as my brothers were wont to tell me. But I am well versed in tactics.”
     
    He pointed to the top map, his finger coming to rest on the illustrated city of Roarke, a perfect little duplicate of the actual metropolis just outside.
     
    “If your strategy is to take advantage from the Empire using Roarke, then the best way to do that, tactically speaking, is to burn it to the ground.”
     
    “Raven,” Leah said, grabbing him fiercely him by the elbow, her eyes shooting daggers, “you are overstepping yourself.”
     
    Raven ignored her, and shrugged his elbow out of her grip, a move that sent new daggers of pain through his chest and made him draw in a hasty breath.
     
    “You should still be in the recovery tent,” Elder Keri said, sizing him up once more. “You are obviously still in pain, let me take you back –”
     
    “No,” Warryn said, his face an ugly, hateful smirk that said very clearly what he thought of Raven and his plan. “I want to hear this. It ought to be so … enlightening.”
     
    Some of the Elders shifted uncomfortably, but a few, Ishmael and Spader chief among them, were watching Raven with interest.
     
    “The winter is coming,” Raven said slowly, doing all in his power not to openly sneer back at Warryn. “The Roarke Pass will be snowed in, and you will have to retreat back to the Kindred lands. That means this castle will be cut off. You can’t leave troops stationed here, they’ll be helpless against the might of the Empire, and when the armies of one of my – one of the Children, counterattack, you will lose this castle and countless innocent lives. Burn the castle, destroy the walls, and withdraw, leaving the city intact. The Commons know how to live off the land; if we just destroy the military