Fennrin frowned down at the large map covering most of the table in one of the larger rooms the fort had to offer. After losing their captive, they had decided to stay for the moment, waiting for the Bulwark herself to arrive. And now that she had, there was planning to be done.

Fennrin felt very useless here among all these experienced commanders and warriors, at least thirty of them packed inside the room, but Ainreth had brought him with him despite not even being a proper soldier, so the shadowforger simply stayed silent, absorbing the information he was being given.

"Do we even have enough resources to be laying siege to Diramisk?" one of the generals asked, leaning against the table with his hands. "How can we know Oretski wasn't lying?"

"He wasn't lying," Ain immediately countered, making Fenn truly wonder how good at interrogation Ainreth was. It still boggled his mind a little that he'd gotten the kapetan talking so quickly, especially about the fact that he was apparently romantically involved with the Prince of Orinovo.

It simply seemed even less likely for Oretski to reveal that than him telling Ainreth about the experimentation. Not to mention the strange energy between Ain and Oretski that Fennrin had noticed, but hadn't thought much of until he'd asked Petre about it, who had flatly stated that it was sexual tension. If that was true, then, in a way, Fennrin was relieved that Oretski had escaped.

"And how do you know that for sure, Ain?" asked another commander, her eyebrow raised at Ainreth, who shrugged.

"Nev is an awful liar. Trust me."

Fennrin narrowed his eyes at Ainreth. For someone who claimed not to have known Oretski name until recently, he seemed to know him very well. But even as that thought occurred to him, he felt ridiculous for being jealous. He had no reason to be.

"Assuming that the information is correct, we will have to secure the region if we are to attack the capital," said the Bulwark, peering down at the map more closely. Her presence was even more daunting and serious now that she was wearing her uniform and lightforged armor.

Fennrin and Ainreth had made a quite a few more sets of armor over the last few days, supplying everyone now, which Fennrin was very happy about. He liked helping, and he was glad he could do it in such an important way, but creating so many pieces of armor had been taxing and rather mind-numbing. It was simply the same thing over and over again, and he and Ain couldn't even try to be creative with what they were making because these were meant to be part of the uniform, so by definition it had to be uniform.

"We cannot simply forge a path through Orinovo and then hope to siege only Diramisk. We would be attacked from all sides," the Bulwark continued. "We need to drive Orinovo's forces to the capital to defend it and only it. And during the siege, only then can we hope to send a small group to try to deal with the experimentation."

A few people nodded in approval, and Fennrin found himself doing the same. It made sense to him, though he knew very little about military strategy.

Next to him, though, Ainreth didn't look happy in the slightest, his eyes dark and narrowed. "We might as well take all of Orinovo for ourselves, then."

The soldier standing next the Bulwark snorted. "What a great idea, Tyr-Naralyn."

"That wasn't an endorsement," Ain grumbled, his voice so dark it surprised Fennrin, whose hand immediately reached for Ainreth's to try to soothe him, but before he could reach, Ainreth was folding his arms over his chest.

"I understand the concern, general," said the Bulwark, her serious gaze softening a little. "But there is no other way that I can think of that would allow us to deal with a threat of this size. If the kapetan was truly not lying, then the facility is heavily guarded and large enough that certainly sending more than a few people would be necessary, which would make it impossible to hope to get inside undetected" The Bulwark shook her head. "And we don't have the kind of time it would take to infiltrate this operation."

Seeing Ainreth just scowl more, Fennrin felt like he should perhaps offer what he'd already suggested to Ain, despite knowing that it was unlikely anyone would agree with him. And so he raised his hand hesitantly, not sure if he could just speak without announcing it somehow.

"I could perhaps go in as a shadow and destroy whatever they are using to give people powers."

As expected, he was met with a chorus of disagreement, even from Ainreth himself who was now staring at Fennrin with shock and worry. As if he thought Fennrin might go against orders and leave to go deal with the problem himself, anyway.

"No, if you are killed or captured again, we lose our advantage, and Lys-Akkaria is doomed," the Bulwark said firmly, her voice and determined frown making it more than clear that this was an order, and despite him not being a soldier, Fennrin would not dare even think about going against it.

"Great, any other suggestions, Tyr-Naralyn?" the man who had mocked Ainreth earlier asked, smirking. Fennrin couldn't remember his name, but he did know that he and Ain had butted heads before.

"No, I guess a rampage through the countryside is the best idea we have," Ain snarked, clearly not bothering to limit even a little bit of his sarcasm. Fennrin sighed. He wished there was another way, but he couldn't think of anything. And he trusted those smarter than him when they themselves said this was the best course of action.

They couldn't go home, not with this new threat brewing beyond their borders. So the only option was to keep going.

"I mean, they've done worse to us," the other man continued, mirroring Ainreth's stance by also crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't see why not give them a little payback."

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Ainreth glared at him, his eyes wide, as if shocked someone could say those words. And to be fair, Fennrin also liked no part of this. "Because the people we'll be hurting are innocent civilians, you sundering—"

"That's quite enough," Daryan cut Ainreth off quietly and yet successfully, his berating gaze flicking from the lightweaver to the other general. Fennrin expected Ain to get even angrier, especially due to his dislike of the Herald, maybe yell something at him, but they both stayed silent. "This is not ideal, none of it is. But we have no choice. And as such, there is nothing to discuss in terms of what must be done."

Fennrin watched Daryan take a deep breath, no one saying anything until the man continued. "What hasn't been discussed is the fact that without a change of leadership, queen Svytlani can simply rebuild and start anew the moment we leave."

Fennrin's eyebrows flew up, a mutter going around the room. He hadn't thought of that at all, too focused on the task of getting to Diramisk to truly consider what would happen once they finally got there. It was things like this exactly why it made no sense to Fennrin that Daryan had told him he'd like to make him a general.

"What are you suggesting, Varilik? That we take over Orinovo while we're at it?" Ain asked, outraged, and Fennrin had no idea what to think anymore. He wasn't thrilled at the prospect, but if they had the power to overthrow the Orinovan government, wouldn't that fix all of their worries? It was the current queen who wanted war—before then Orinovo and Lys-Akkaria had been fairly neutral toward each other—so removing her from the throne would surely help at the very least from that perspective.

So yes, it would mean their mission here would get even more complicated, but Fennrin wasn't sure why Ainreth was so against it. Wouldn't it ultimately be for the best? But perhaps he was missing something.

A few people muttered their disagreements while some others seemed intrigued by the prospect. However, most of the people in the room seemed neutral on the subject, which Fennrin felt the closest to.

"No, not take over," Daryan said with a displeased turn to his lips as he frowned at Ainreth. "But if we are to siege Diramisk, I would strongly suggest installing new management, so to speak." He turned to the whole room then, his gaze scanning over the many faces surrounding him, settling on Fennrin. The shadowforger almost ducked his gaze at the intense stare, but he managed to resist. "As long as the queen lives, there will be no peace between Lys-Akkaria and Orinovo. And this may be our only chance to change things."

++++++++++++

Fennrin wasn't sure what to say to Ainreth after the meeting concluded with everyone agreeing to the Bulwark's plans. It was clear the lightweaver wasn't happy with the outcome at all and didn't feel like talking, but Fennrin doubted keeping up this tense silence was good for either of them.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked as they entered the room they'd been staying in so they could gather their things and get ready to leave.

Ainreth snorted, shrugging. "Sure."

Fennrin scowled, not liking at all that he was being brushed off like this, but he said nothing else, grabbing his armor with a quiet huff. If Ainreth didn't want to talk, he wouldn't force him to. Though it wouldn't have hurt to be a bit nicer about it.

As if reading Fennrin's thoughts, Ain sighed, halting Fennrin from strapping on his shoulderpad by kissing his cheek. Fennrin immediately blushed, freezing up. It was funny how no matter how many times Ainreth did things like this, Fennrin would always be shocked by it.

"Sorry, liri. I'm just...irritated," Ain said with another sigh, a much more tired sounding one. "You agree with them, don't you?"

Fennrin blinked, not having expected the conversation to turn on him like this. He didn't want to upset Ainreth further by saying the truth, but he also wouldn't lie. So there was only one thing to do. "I...see the necessity in the plan."

Ain chuckled, pressing his lips against Fennrin's for a blissful second. "You need to stop talking to Varilik. You're starting to sound like a politician."

Fennrin huffed, rolling his eyes. "This is serious, Ain. What else can we do? If we do nothing, Orinovo might win simply due to the sheer numbers of az-ari they can make."

Ainreth grimaced, but his eyes were hard and resolute. He wasn't going to give up just yet, clearly. "Or maybe giving their people az-ari powers is incredibly difficult, and they can't do it much. We have no way of knowing because our source of information flew away."

"Can we take that chance, though?" Fennrin sighed, his shoulders sinking. "The fact that they can do it, the fact that they can give someone control over more than just one aspect of nature.... That itself means that we have to put a stop to it."

Ain turned away with an annoyed groan, making Fennrin grimace. He never wanted Ainreth to be in a bad mood, especially not because of something he had said, but Fennrin knew that Ain was aware this was necessary.

"And how far are you willing to go to do it?" Ainreth asked, making Fennrin pause. He hadn't expected him to turn this so personal. After all, they were doing this as Lys-Akkaria as a whole, but Fennrin decided to humor him.

"I am not the one to make that decision. I simply wish to help protect our country."

Ainreth grimaced then for some reason. Perhaps he thought Fennrin was avoiding his question, but he wasn't. He meant it. As long as things made sense to him, Fennrin would do what he was told to ensure Lys-Akkaria's safety.

"Seriously, enough with the politician talk." Ainreth actually looked a little upset, frowning at Fennrin, who frowned right back. He hadn't meant for this at all, and it hurt that Ain assumed it had been intentional.

"I'm not trying to...." Fennrin cut himself off with a huff, folding his arms. "Look, I think...." He took a deep breath. "I don't know. I think we have a responsibility to use our powers to help Lys-Akkaria."

"We've been doing that, though," Ain argued, giving Fennrin his best puppy eyes, and Fennrin had to close his own. Ainreth made it so hard to disagree with him sometimes. Fennrin was so glad they usually agreed on important things. "You know, we could just go home, strongarm them into agreeing. They can't win without us."

Now it was Fennrin's turn to grimace. He did long to go home and spend his days with Ain. In fact, he wanted nothing more. But that was the easy way out, the coward's way. And the queen wasn't going to stop for them, either.

"Could you actually do that?"

Ainreth pulled at his hair, leaving it sticking out at all angles, a far cry from his usually neatly combed back look.

"No," he huffed, rolling his eyes, as if annoyed with himself for having a conscience. "Sunder." Then Ain waved his hand. "But, you know, I'm just saying—we could."

"Following the plan is the right thing to do," Fennrin said, feeling like he was reassuring himself, too. He did agree with the necessity, it was simply all the death they would cause making him regretful.

"By the sun, I hope you're right, Fenn."

Not much else was said as they strapped on their armor and gathered their things, but at least while traversing the many corridors in the fort on their way outside, Ainreth took Fennrin's hand into his, which, while making his heart stutter, gave him so much strength it was ridiculous.

And once they reached the field in front of the fort where the Lys-Akkarian army was gathering, Fennrin's heart was filled with even more fervor. Such a large force, headed by him and Ainreth, would not be stopped. While they had left a large number of soldiers guarding the newly regained territories, they'd had barely any casualties, and Fennrin would do his best to keep the soldiers that were with them safe.

They'd easily defeated Orinovo in many battles now, and they would do so again and again, however many times it was necessary until the threat was over. And Fennrin was going to do his very best.