My chest tightened.
“How could you say such a thing?” Meera asked, her voice shaking with anger.
Imperator Hart shook his head. “I’m simply trying to understand these most unusual circumstances. Congratulations, by the way, on your aunt’s ascension to power. A pity you missed her consecration.”
He sighed dramatically, shifting his head from side to side as if weighing his options. Rhyan’s nostrils flared, and I imagined he’d been forced to sit through such a decision-making process many times before.
Finally, Imperator Hart straightened, his eyes dancing with a decision I was sure he’d made long before we entered the room.
“All right, I have decided.” He gestured for Meera to step forward.
“Your Highness,” she said, following his orders.
“I shall take you at your word, Lady Meera. I shall believe that you are innocent of all suspected crimes. Clearly, you are too weak to have committed any. You also appear far too traumatized to travel. The choices you’ve made in the aftermath of your captivity tell me that you are not yet well. You cannot even seem to grasp what day it is. Or whether you are in the hands of criminals or not. You are in need of rest, medical attention, and care. I’ll send word to Imperator Kormac and Arkasva Batavia that you are here. Then you shall remain in Seathorne at my pleasure, as my most special guest.”
“I …” Meera started to protest, but Rhyan caught her eye, carefully shaking his head. “Your Highness,” she said carefully, “I thank you for providing a space for me to recover. When I am well, I shall return home with my escorts.”
“We shall have to assign you some first,” he said. “When the time is right.”
“May I ask, Your Highness,” I said, throat tight, “What happens if Imperator Kormac requires us at home? Or we are called back by Arkasva Batavia? After all, we are still the subjects of Bamaria, and remain under the jurisdiction of the South and Ka Kormac.”
“Worried about your future father-in-law?” Imperator Hart laughed. Then his eyes flashed. “You’re under the jurisdiction of the North when you’re in northern lands. I have every right to keep you. Never mind the charges of trespassing and theft. I have more than enough grounds to accuse you two of something far more severe. The breaking of your sacred soturion oath.”
My heart stopped.
“And before you try to claim Rhyan has any rights under Ka Kormac, you should know that while you hid in a cave, evading my justice, and stealing from my people, your auntrevoked his political immunity. He no longer has the right to seek asylum in your country. Further, he is now suspected of being in league with the akadim and kidnapping you.”
“What? That’s ridiculous! That’s—”
“My lady!” he snarled. “You forgot to say, Your Highness.”
I pressed my lips together, and stared back in defiance. Fucking bastard. I took a deep breath. “I didn’t realize you needed to hear your own title repeated back to you so many times.”
He tilted his head. “Careful now. While you do amuse me, my patience for you grows thin. You will not win my favor unless you can offer somethingsweetin return.”
Rhyan’s shoulders stiffened, his face pale.
“And believe me, girl,” his father continued. “You will need my favor before the end.”
My fingers clenched, but I remained silent. My body still.
“I know you think you want to leave here,” he said, “but I’d strongly reconsider. Your allies at home are not what you remember. Since the disappearance of the Ready, you have a new Arkturion in charge.”
“A new Arkturion?” I asked.
His eyes flashed. “Arkturion Waryn Kormac now leads the Bamarian legions.”
The Bastardmaker. The fucking Bastardmaker.
“And your former betrothed, or …companionas I hear it,” he smirked, “has been ordered to hunt you down and bring you before Kormac himself.”
Tristan? Tristan had been sent after us?
“Now, I have other matters to discuss. Lady Meera, you’re to be brought to the medical wing, to be checked properly for injury.Inspected.Inside and out. Particularly for any signs of a black mark. I must be sure you’re not forsaken. Lord Aiden, please escort the lady. Do not let her out of your sight.”
“No! Wherever she goes, I go!” I yelled in panic.
“Lyr,” Rhyan hissed.
