From the wall, a Sherdan guard cleared his throat. “You’re letting them resign? You’re not going to execute them? You won’t torture their entire families to death?”
“Of course not!” I recoiled.
For some reason, Ari started making funny faces and mouthing something I couldn’t understand.
“In that case, I’d like to resign, too.” The Sherdan guard unbuckled his sword.
This started a clamor of every single Sherdan in the room falling all over themselves to quit. Suddenly, I understood what Ari had beentrying to communicate. We couldn’t afford to lose our entire force like this!
I tried to talk, to bargain and offer additional pay, but the chattering of the room was too great. No one was even listening to me.
“May I speak?” The mild-sounding request cut through the chaos like a beacon of order. So piercing was the voice that most of the crowd fell silent.
The elderly guard who’d spoken was Sergeant Laurent—the exact same man who’d tried to stop me from throwing myself off the city wall just days ago. His brow wrinkled and he put his hands behind his back. “I completely understand how everyone feels. However, if we allow word of Kaine’s invasion to spread at the same time the guard quits, then this city will be overtaken with chaos. I would like to suggest that we take the duchess up on her generous offer not to fight Kaine and instead spread word that Countess Donya will negotiate with him. This should restore peace to the city.”
I took advantage of the room’s silence to add, “I’ll pay everyone double today as hazard pay.” Oh dear, I’d need to shake even more money out of the nobles in my dungeons.
The Arahasnor captain eyed me nervously. “And we won’t have to fight Kaine?”
“If you see him, immediately surrender. Please. We don’t want a war with Conollia.” I tried to smile reassuringly. “This is truly all a misunderstanding.”
A Sherdan guard said, “Many of us volunteered for this mission because you promised citizenship for us and our families in Arahasnor. You said there would be free land since the border had recovered from the blight. But we’ve yet to receive the papers or be allowed to invite our families to join us here.”
Why did I have a feeling the Blood Duchess had never intended to keep that promise? “What an oversight on my part! I’ll have those papers to you by the end of today.”
The Sherdan nodded. “Then we’re also willing, as long as we aren’t expected to fight a dark lord. Former dark lord. He’s equally deadly either way.”
As the guards started to file out of the room to spread word across the city, I called out to Sergeant Laurent, “I’d like to give you a promotion.”
He flinched. The tips of his ears went red. “No need, Your Grace.” He fled the room, blending in with the crowd.
I had a feeling he didn’t believe me about the promotion. He probably thought I might threaten him for refusing to fight Kaine. The Blood Duchess’s reputation was absolute trash. I sighed and whispered to Ari, “I was serious about wanting to give him a promotion. His name is Sergeant Laurent. We’ve met in a different body.” I also wanted to find a way to tell him that the woman he’d tried to save was still alive. Maybe it wasn’t that important in the grand scheme of things, but I didn’t like to think of him feeling guilty about my nonexistent death.
“Sure, although first I’m worried about Queen Antonia. What if she was targeted for kidnapping, too?” Ari said.
If Ysabel had any reason to think the young queen might also be in danger from her guardian or if she simply wanted a hostage, she just might. “Let’s go check on her together.”
We were both too nervous to talk, instead focusing on moving as fast as possible. Ari led me down the hallway to Antonia’s bedroom. I knocked. “May I come in?”
Silence answered me. Then Antonia whispered, “C-come in.” Her voice sounded choked, as if she’d been crying.
Immediately, I pushed open the door. “What’s wrong?”
This room had bad memories from when I’d first had my body forcibly swapped. The furniture looked luxurious and ancient, from the claw-footed dresser to the bed with heavy magenta velvet curtains. But it didn’t particularly look like a bedroom for a child. The dolls on the shelf were too neat and fancy to have ever been played with. The desk was too large for a little girl. I needed to get this kid some proper toys.
Obscured behind the curtain, Antonia sniffled.
I ran into the room. “Are you hurt?”
The curtain was flung backward. A boy sat on the bed with a knife pointed at Antonia’s throat.
I screeched to a halt. On second look, he wasn’t a child, but rather a halfling with a thick black beard and icy blue eyes. He wore leather armor, and a smirk twisted his wide mouth. “Take one more step forward, and your daughter dies.”
A tear trickled down Antonia’s cheek.
I raised my hands in surrender. “Please don’t hurt her!”
“Take off all your rings, Blood Duchess …” The halfling frowned. “You don’t have any rings.”
