“A potential suitor for Bora,” Donya whispered to Ysabel. “I already gave her the Big Sister Intimidation Talk.”
“Nice. I knew I could count on you.” Ysabel gave Donya a fist bump.
I turned crimson, a color painfully evident on my current pale skin. If I’d overheard that, Araceli might have, too. Talk about mortifying! Why did my older sister live to embarrass me, even dragging innocent bystanders into it? “It’s not like that! Araceli just pretendedto flirt with me to help me deal with a problem—” I still didn’t want to explain about Falael to my sister. “It wasn’t a big deal. There’s nothing between us.”
“That’s right.” Araceli seemed to wither. “I should get changed. Most of the palace knows me as a maid, not an assassin, and I plan to keep it that way. This clothing has magical protections, or I wouldn’t have worn it.”
“It looks great on you,” I said. “Uh, I’m very grateful you came to save me.” The attempted mass resignation of the guard had made it painfully obvious I couldn’t count on many people in a crisis. “Seriously, thank you.”
She shrugged, seeming uncomfortable with the praise. “It’s nothing. As you said.” She turned and walked away.
I might have said something else, but then Ysabel swept past me. “To the royal planning room,” she ordered. “We have a great deal to discuss before the dwarven delegation arrives.”
The planning room was full of world maps, spread across the stone table and plastered on the walls. Though it was a fairly large room, the filing cabinets and racks of maps made it seem cramped. There were no windows, only a gas lamp overhead. The space reeked of gas and parchment. A world globe sat next to the golden throne at the head of the table. Waves moved slightly across the painted water. If I looked closer, I could also see the real-time movement of storms. Naturally, my sister sat on the throne. No one would have dared challenge her for it. Once we were all seated, Ysabel took charge like an expert. “My dear friend Ua’la’sur used to be queen of the dwarves, and she dished out all the dirt to me.”
My sister knew the Queen of Nightmares? I whistled under my breath. I couldn’t say I was surprised, not with the company she usually kept.
Ysabel continued, “There was a big scandal recently when the secretary of the treasury cleaned out a good bit of the government’s money and ran away to a foreign country. It caused serious unrest. The prime minister tried to cover it up, but word still got out. Ua’la’sur even hadpeople reaching out to her asking if she was interested in starting a rebellion to return to power. She wasn’t.”
Smart woman, I thought. Being a ruler isn’t as much fun as it looks from the outside.
“This is bad news,” Donya muttered.
“Why?” I asked. This all sounded like useful blackmail material.
Ysabel said, “As Donya has guessed, this move to take over Arahasnor is the prime minister’s ploy to hold on to power. He’s probably planning to pretend that buying our country is where all the money went—even though he got the rights to the regency dirt cheap in the Games.”
Donya said, “If it’s a matter of politics and pride, then the dwarven delegation won’t back down easily. Even worse, they may be spoiling for a fight. Nothing like foreign conflict to help a leader raise his popularity at home. They’ll be looking for trouble with us.”
Kaine leaned back in his chair. “Some leaders are the worst. Who would drag their people into a war just for pride? My honey bunny taught me that’s what assassination is for—when someone pisses you off but there’s an army between you and them.”
Ysabel gave Kaine a sweet look. “They can’t wage war on us—they’re oathbound like all nations not to fight any other signatory to the Conclave of Kings. They’re probably aiming for a long, twisty court case. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to take a long time. Our strategy will be to get rid of all foreign threats quickly, then swap Bora and the Blood Duchess back.”
I nodded vigorously, badly wanting to be back in my own body.
Ysabel’s lips peeled back into a feral grin. “For that reason, we need to convince the dwarven delegation that we’re far more trouble than they’re willing to bite off. We need to show them a real villainess.”
I didn’t like how everyone looked at me as she said that.
“To start, we’ll have Bora take me hostage,” Ysabel said.
I raised my hand. “Why am I doing that?”
“So we can pretend that Kaine is being threatened into protecting you,” Ysabel said. “We need an excuse to use my hubby’s firepower without involving Conollia in the political machinations.”
I nodded. “That makes sense.” I remembered how absolutely everyone in the city had been terrified of Kaine’s arrival. No one wanted to fight the former dark lord.
Kaine shrugged. “I could just destroy the dwarves without the need for this song and dance.”
Ysabel raised an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t you just say that good leaders shouldn’t drag their people into conflict?”
“Oh, it won’t be necessary to call in the Conollian army. I can take them by myself. If they’re causing trouble for my sister-in-law, then this is personal.”
“You’re a king. Everything you do involves Conollia.”
“Not if I threaten them to never come near my country,” Kaine insisted.
Ysabel sighed. “If we bring home a war with the Dwarven Caves, then Durrian will be very upset with both of us.”
