Barley shares a look with her mother before replying. “Three.”
He physically jerks back. “Three?” His eyes skate across the table. “How can that be? I know you sent word that the supply shipment for Cliffhelm seemed to have some foul play when it went missing, but this...”
“Best we can tell,” Warken begins, his face grim, “is that this is no longer an isolated incident. It’s no longer shipment sabotage. Third Kingdom seems to have slowed our imports drastically.”
Slade’s fist closes around his butter knife like he’s envisioning stabbing someone in the eye with it. “So that’s their play. We can mine all the rock and gems in the world to pay for the imports our kingdom needs, but it does nothing if the trade agreements in place aren’t going to be honored.”
My stomach sinks. “The three ships thatdidarrive—why didn’t they block those?” I ask.
“All three had been on extended journeys,” Isalee tells me. “One ship was nearly sunk in a storm, holed up at the edge of our territory awhile for repairs. The other two had been gone for weeks, dropping off and picking up along their trade route. We believe the only reason all three of them actually docked at our port was because they hadn’t been able to be reached to cut us off.”
“What was on the ships?” Slade asks.
“One had grain, another was salted meat, and another had fabrics.”
The table is quiet for a moment as Slade takes all of this in, and the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grows and festers.
“So they’re cutting Fourth off,” I say quietly.
Warken nods solemnly.
The lines of power flail beneath the skin at Slade’s neck, tucking into the beard of his jaw. “Fucking bastards.”
“They’re playing the game,” Isalee says. “Queen Kaila is cunning, and she moves quickly. We knew her traveling to Fifth was a power play. She’s had to adjust. Now with what happened with King Midas and Prince Niven, she’s pushing the narrative that Fourth is harboring a traitor.”
I swallow hard. “Me.”
She tips her head.
“Just so you know, I didn’t steal Midas’s magic, and I’m not here to steal Slade’s.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry,” Warken tells me. “Slade doesn’t trust very many people, so when he does, we know that they’re trustworthy. That includes you.”
The compliment warms my chest, makes some of the anxiety melt from my shoulders.
“The other kingdoms are going to do their best to spread this version of you to the public, so we need to supply a different one,” Isalee tells me. “Which is why I think it was good for you to go into the city and be seen.”
“Exactly,” Barley adds. “Go out and show them that you’re not some devious woman.You’rethe victim of King Midas, not the other way around. We need to push back on their other story, give the people the truth and a reason to band behind you.”
“You think that will work?” I ask cautiously.
“We’ve already started circulating it. If anything, it will give people cause to stop and think rather than just accept whatever is spoon-fed to them,” Isalee says.
I glance at Slade, giving a nod.
“In the meantime,” Isalee goes on, looking to Slade, “Queen Kaila is putting major pressure on Fourth to…encourageLady Auren to attend the Conflux.”
“Strong move, considering we share a border,” Slade muses. “I have to say, I didn’t expect her to cut off imports. Third is usually too attached to the wealth our mines provide them. I assume you’ve already cut off our exports to them?”
“Of course,” Isalee says with a nod.
“But our reserves—they’re full?”
Barley finishes taking a drink from her cup. “Our stores are very healthy. We were preparing for a war with Fifth or Sixth Kingdom. With some adjustments, we can handle Third and the lack of their shipments.”
“Alright,” Slade replies. “The army should be arriving back in the capital soon, and when they do, we can offer a payout for those who volunteer to increase our own food production.” His eyes look between them. “You own the biggest portion of farmable land. Can you sell the kingdom your crops?”
“Already done,” Warken replies. “And if you send more laborers, we can get this year’s harvest sooner than usual.”
