14. Chapter Fourteen: Theo

Dawn comes bloody when Theo goes to war. He stands before his gathered battalion, words of power bleeding from his lips. His people gaze at him, eyes blazing with determination – with blood lust. Weapons shake in their fists as they echo his cries, completely enraptured.

"For months now, we have stood before these walls," Theo shouts. "And tonight – they will fall!"

"They will fall!" echoes his warriors.

Theo raises a fist to the air, and his soldiers mimic him, and, despite everything with Luka, his heart flutters with anticipation. This is where he belongs. Not with some Siacchian, but on the field of battle.

Theo's mouth continues to speak as he looks above them, at the walls of Siacchi that have taunted them for a month now. Carvings of kings and Ravage pieces and foxes fleeing hunters look back.

Today, these walls will fall.

All the night before, he pored over his war map. He spoke with his people. He plotted, he schemed, he strategized.

And now he is ready.

The information from the prisoners is good; Evland's words perfectly align with those of Theo's new captives, for all that it took more days than Theo hoped to procure the information. Theo is confident in his victory – and not a second too soon, with the Elders' imposed deadline looming a scant twenty-four hours away. If Theo does not send them the head of Cesscounthe's leader by daybreak the following morning, he will be overthrown and stripped of his titles. He will lose everything.

But not this time. This time, Theo has won. He has no doubt.

No, daybreak will see him victorious. This time tomorrow, the battle will be won and Theo will be triumphant. He will finally be one step closer to the victory and power he has always dreamed of – of the power that might finally enable him to be strong enough to protect the ones he cares about – instead of endlessly hurting them.

He dispatches his troops.

The first will attack the walls – a distraction. A powerful distraction, of course; a threat is not a threat unless it is loaded with a real promise. They will bear weapons and bloodlust, and should they break through the walls, Theo will have to take lives he has sworn to leave untouched. But he's prepared to take that risk.

His second group will sneak through the sole passageway Luka and his friends confirmed – the same tunnel Evland marked on his maps weeks before. Theo's people will break into smaller parties, cutting through the Abraxi District, where Cesscounthe's upper class reside. Theo's new prisoner, Luka Lockehart, has been especially forthcoming, revealing further detail to Theo of the tunnel that the nobility built so they would have special means of escape – a tunnel that was forgotten by most in the centuries that followed.

"This way, we can avoid the Siacchian's hopiar," Octavian said, satisfied. "There will only be untrained upper class nobility in our way – and they never know how to get their hands dirty."

Any guards that do confront them will be short-lived. Octavian will head the raiding party, and finally apply his favorite weapon, the Midnight Kiss, a poison that only he will carry an antidote for. "It will shorten bargaining," Octavian said, "when Cesscounthe's leaders learn their options are to forfeit or die."

"I should be with you," Theo said.

Octavian shook his head. "You need to be here with your people – and I know the city better because of my spies." His finger worried the skull mask hanging from his waist. It was the standard uniform for all of his spies.

Theo kept his face expressionless as he considered his second. If Octavian saw even a flicker of hesitation, he would be disappointed that Theo didn't trust him. But the success of his plan rode on Octavian's shoulders.

Theo's eyes search the crowd now, though it's impossible to locate the man. Half a dozen snarling skull masks meet his gaze.

You made the right choice,Theo tells himself, and finds, to his surprise, he doesn't doubt it.

This is, after all, the only way.

Octavian and his men will find the leaders of Cesscounthe – Linne Lockehart and all of her fellows. There, they will force them to surrender.

Once triumphant, Octavian will come for Theo through the tunnel, and Theo will be escorted into his city. He will claim the land for Kitera. Not only that… but he will also free these enslaved hopiar.

Luka Lockehart's words from earlier echo through Theo's mind; the way he had spat the word impyassus like it befouled his tongue. The look in his eye that was akin to hatred reserved for a stupid animal, not for a person.

Already, Theo has seen the refugees as they sneak through the cracks of the city's walls. He has seen the desperation in their eyes – scented the brokenness of their spirits. These will be people who will have their lives bettered once Theo takes this city.

Yes, perhaps this victory will be even more than it seems. Perhaps Theo will not only add the mark of his win to the history books as a moment where he overtook Cesscounthe, but as a moment when he was able to save a people, too. He never dared to dream he would be capable of such a thing.

If he leaves his mind idle though, he finds his thoughts wandering back to thinking about what will come after the battle is finished… when the dust settles and Theo is left with three prisoners who know too much and who can't be trusted to let go.

Who can't be trusted to live.

Theo closes his eyes against the weak touch of dawn. He sends his first and second wave of soldiers away as morning is born. He watches the red rays fade to blue as the fall day grows only more beautiful.

Such a delightful color – almost the exact same shade as Evland Childes' eyes.

Octavian has already been sent away with the second group of masked assassins, tasked to take down Cesscounthe's leaders, and Theo reminds himself that this trust is hard-fought and well-earned. Octavian has done nothing but aid him. Yes, I must trust Octavian with everything, Theo tells himself, though some small part of him quakes at the thought.

Uncomfortable with his wavering beliefs, Theo casts back deeper, for a time when he was small. When he needed the help and advice of others.

He imagines he speaks to his proud mother and strong father. He crawls on his father's knee and tugs on his beard as he confesses he is scared. He wants someone else to bear the burden of this decision.

But his memory has faded with time. Though he can perfectly remember the cadence of his father's voice, his face is blurred as the man in Theo's memory gazes down at him. "You always know the right thing to do, don't you, Theo?" he says in a gentle, unironic timbre.

Theo shakes himself, barely pulling free of the memory.

His father was almost right.

Only once has Theo failed in making the wrong decision. Only once did he fail in battle, and the Snake of the South, the demon prince, made an example of him and thousands had been killed.

And amongst those thousands were his mother and father.

Theo will never make that mistake again. He will never allow his strategy to be led by his heart.

This is what Theo tells himself as he summons the final group of soldiers. When he speaks, his words sound distant, like someone else's tongue is shaping them.

"Come nightfall," he says. His voice, he realizes, sounds like his father's, heavy and thick, though still never as wise. "Kill the prisoners."

Theo imagines the Kiteran he speaks to blinks in surprise. He imagines she says, "All of them? Even the one you've kept for so long? The one who has slept by your side and woken with you in the morning? The one you have laughed with, dreamed with, played with? The one who finally calms the rage in your heart and makes you imagine peace?"

In his mind, Theo nods, setting his jaw. His words slice from his tongue like the executioner's blade when he says, "Especially that one."