Kingdom of Ash

In the two weeks since he’d been reunited
with his Bane, they’d seen no sign of
Erawan’s forces, either terrestrial or airborne.
The thick snow had begun falling barely three
days after his return, hindering the already-
slow process of transporting the troops from
their assembled armada to the Bane’s
sweeping camp on the Plain of Theralis.
The ships had sailed up the Florine, right to
Orynth’s doorstep, banners of every color
flapping in the brisk wind off the Staghorns:
the cobalt and gold of Wendlyn, the black and
crimson of Ansel of Briarcliff, the
shimmering silver of the Whitethorn royals
and their many cousins. The Silent Assassins,
scattered throughout the fleet, had no banner,
though none was needed to identify them—
not with their pale clothes and assortment of
beautiful, vicious weapons.
The ships would soon rejoin the rearguard