“Your Highness—”
“Vi, please.” The princess waved a hand through the air. “We’re past the point of being formal in settings like this.”
“Vi, then,” Eira corrected herself reluctantly. It felt odd to use the princess’s name plainly but she didn’t let the discomfort show. “Since we are speaking plainly, and being direct with one another, I want to know what your plan is. Not just for the treaty, but for Ulvarth and the Pillars.” Eira’s tone wasn’t harsh, but firm. Determined.
Vi appraised her. Eira did the same. For a brief second, she was back at the princess’s engagement announcement—her first outing after that fateful night. Eira saw the princess she’d revered and admired, as perfect as a painting, straight out of a storybook.
She smiled slightly. “What makes you think you can order me?”
“Nothing.” Eira returned the expression. “I figure you either won’t tell me, and then I’ve lost nothing, or you will. I’ve more to gain than lose.”
“Or I’ll punish you for your boldness toward the crown princess.”
“I thought we weren’t being formal?” she quipped. Vi’s smile turned into a smirk. “Besides, I sincerely don’t think, out of everything you could punish me for, it’d be my boldness.”
Vi tapped her fingertips together. “Careful, Eira, you’re beginning to blur the line between confidence and arrogance.”
“Perhaps, but I also think you owe me, just a little.” Eira knew they needed to move. They had to get to the door. But for the first time, Vi seemed to be in a good mood around her, so Eira was going to make use of it.
“How much time do we have?” Vi looked to Deneya, her thoughts running alongside Eira’s.
“Enough, if you wish it.” Deneya leaned against the door. She was no doubt listening for any movement in the hall.
Vi turned back to Eira, lacing her tapping fingers. Somehow she managed to look authoritative even while sitting. “More than you realize hangs in the balance. This treaty extends beyond appearances and good will. It might be the only thing preventing a war from breaking out—a war none of us can win if we are not allied.”
“With Carsovia?”
“And between each other.”
Eira nodded. “I’ve done my reading. Beyond that, others have told me of the tense histories between Meru, the Twilight Kingdom, and the Draconi.”
“There’s also tension still between Qwint and Carsovia itself,” Taavin said. “Even though it’s been almost a decade since the republic broke away, Carsovia never could quite stomach Qwint as an autonomous state. They haven’t made a move, but they likely will at the first sign of weakness.”
“Are they amassing an army to move against us?”
“No,” Vi admitted. “But if you wait for your enemies to move then you’ve already lost.”
“So why have you given Ulvarth so much time?” Eira asked plainly. She didn’t care what they said, she wasn’t about to act like Ulvarth wasn’t a living threat. “Why have you allowed him to go unchecked? And spare me that you think he’s not really alive—I can’t believe that anymore. I won’t. Surely there’s also a risk in him undermining Lumeria’s authority and the nations potentially seeing Meru as weak and unable to control its own affairs?” Eira caught a look of agreement from Olivin.
Vi pursed her lips slightly. “Ulvarth was an unknown for a long time. After his escape, wetrulyweren’t sure if he was deador not. Even when the Pillars were formed, we thought it was possible that it was someone else claiming his name for their own benefit and nefarious purposes.”
Just like Cullen had said. The real threat of the Pillars was beyond Ulvarth as a man. The true danger lay with the Pillars as an idea.
“Even if it wasn’t Ulvarth at the helm, the Pillars would’ve still been dangerous and needed to be stopped,” Eira countered.
“No…no one could’ve built the Pillars like he has,” Taavin said grimly. “Ulvarth was known amongst the nobility of Meru and well respected by many. Those individuals—the ones with influence and sway—would know the real man from an imposter, and would only follow the former to the degree we now know they have. He had proximity to the former Voice of Yargen and that meant he was able to see to it that all of his generals would’ve been able to gain unique words of power, should Yargen bless them with such. No one would’ve been as dangerous as him.”
“Itishim,” Eira insisted for what felt like the hundredth time. She needed to hear them admit it, just once.
“We know.” Vi met her eyes with a nod. “We’ve known for a while. Before you, even.”
Well, she’d been given what she wanted. But the admission was so sudden, so easy… “But you…you—”
“Yes, I told you he wasn’t.”
“Why?”
There was a moment of discomfort. A second where Vi shifted her hands in a way that almost seemed…awkward. Uncomfortable. The princess’s eyes averted and when they returned there was a flash of something Eira would dare call guilt.
