He didn’t wholly detest the general. They certainly weren’tfriends, and he supposed he had Aya to thank for that. Though their mutual stubbornness was probably to blame as well. It had certainly led to enough arguments that involved pummeling each other every now and again.
Indeed, it was fire that snaked through Tova’s fingertips now as she smirked at him, readying for a challenge.
‘Quit it,’ Aya murmured. They’d reached Gianna’s chambers. She gave the guards a shallow nod.
‘Buzzkill,’ her friend hissed under her breath. The fire disappeared just as the double oak doors swung open.
Gianna sat at a low oval glass table in the middle of her circular sitting room, her long white dress just a shade lighter than her cream-colored skin. Gauzy white curtains framed the large windows to the left, which flooded the room with early sunlight. They each dropped to a knee, but Gianna was already beckoning them inside. ‘Come and sit.’ She motioned to the table, which was covered with pastries. ‘Help yourselves.’
Aya settled into her usual green velvet loveseat across from the queen, Will falling into the space next to her. Tova sat in a sturdy maroon armchair to their right. Gianna poured tea as they helped themselves to food, as if they were equals.
Will hadn’t known what to make of it at first – Gianna’s insistence on informalities. But he’d adapted. Just as the kingdom had when the young queen took the throne seven years ago after the king succumbed to his illness. Quite ideal timing, really, gods rest his soul. Because two years later Will was training for the Dyminara, and Gianna was announcing she would form a new Tría of her own.
It was exactly where he’d needed to be: in close proximity to his queen.
And it was exactly where she kept him.
She was thirty-five – twelve years older than Will. And yet it didn’t stop the rumors that had followed him for years now. The ones that hinted that his relationship with Gianna wasn’t merely as her Second, but as something more.
It wasn’t as though the queen had a shortage of lovers. She was beautiful. Her golden-brown hair looked like it was lit from within, especially when the sunlight caught it as it didnow. And with her rosebud cheeks and soft brown eyes, one might almost mistake her as gentle.
But she was the ruler of the oldest kingdom of the realm – and such a position required cunning, and ambition, and power.
‘What news?’ Gianna asked, her gaze landing on Aya expectantly.
‘It’s as you suspected. They’re placing orders for weapons outside of the Council. Both tradesmen were apprehended, but there was no sign of the supplier. Ronan wasn’t at his post.’
Will watched as Aya’s jaw shifted. He didn’t need his affinity to know a fresh surge of irritation was rising in her. He’d learned to read her face long ago. It was a challenge, of sorts. The Queen’s Eyes: cool, unemotional, unaffected.
Stubborn as all hells, too.
He knew Aya well enough to know she loathed failing Gianna.
‘I stopped by his apartment, but no sign of him,’ Will cut in. ‘When I find him, I’ll be sure we receive an acceptable answer for his absence.’
Gianna nodded, her face thoughtful. ‘And the tradesmen?’ she asked him.
‘They gave no name for the supplier. But they shared that they were buying on behalf of Kakos.’
Silence, tense and deadly, followed his words, the only sound being Gianna’s fork clattering to her plate.
Even though Kakos occupied the entire lower third of their continent, it had been over a decade since anyone traded with the ostracized Southern Kingdom. Not since the rumors started. They were said to be searching for a way to attain the raw power that the Visya had before the War. ‘Diaforaté’ is what the kingdoms had named them.
The discovery of Kakos’ attempted heresy sent fear pulsing through the realm, and the late king created an embargo that banned Kakos from all trade. It was perhaps the only time the lands had agreed on a course of action.
It destroyed the Southern Kingdom.
Will supposed the hope was that they’d end up like Chamen, the kingdom to the far south whose icy climate and remote location made trade difficult and had impacted their economy severely.
But if Kakos was buying weapons … they were planning something. Vengeance, if Will had to take a guess, for the years the realm had left them to wither away.
And they weren’t as weak as the realm had thought.
Tova swore softly.
‘Were the merchants buying on Trahir’s orders?’ Gianna asked sharply.
‘They claim to be working alone, and I sensed it to be true.’ Pain echoed through Will, a mere whisper of the night before but noticeable nonetheless. His face remained smooth. ‘We’ll want confirmation from the supplier of the weapons, of course, but …’
