Lochlan leans toward me. “Not for nothing, but a few minutes ago, you did tell this guy you wanted his help.”
His voice was quiet, but Penny adds, “After breaking in and scaring us half to death.”
Edward nods. “Quite true. And while I’m glad to be alive, you do strike quite a blow, Your Highness.”
Lord.I run my hands across my face and wish I could undo so much about the last few weeks.
Honestly, so much about the last fewyears.
“Ostriary spent a great deal of time at war,” Ford says. “Many of the islands have only just begun to rebuild. You did say you wanted my help, but if you’re going to align yourself with Oren Crane to tear it all down again, please tell me now.”
I don’t want adversaries, but it seems like that’s all I’m good at making.
Harristan is really better at keeping things congenial. The night we first met Rian, I thought we were going to come to blows acrossthe dinner table, but my brother kept cutting through the tension with quiet ease.
But memories of that moment help me stop and think.
“I don’t want any part of your war,” I say. “I’ve already seen evidence of what Crane has done. But he did indicate that he has eyes all over Silvesse. Is that true?”
“Yes,” says Ford.
“Then I have no doubt his people have been trailing us all day. If I leave here without completing thistask, they’ll likely recapture us. They might be waiting outside right now.”
Penny and Edward exchange a worried glance.
“So I need something else to give him,” I say. “Somethingbetter.”
“If my options are to benefit Crane or to face my own death, you don’t want my help,” says Ford. “You mean to blackmail me.”
Edward leans toward Penny, and his voice is very soft, but I hear him. “It’s no wonder Kandala’s royal family has such a nefarious reputation.”
I let out a breath. I suppose this does look like that. I need tothink.
As much as I hate Lochlan, he was good at strategizing when we were trapped in the cage—and our plan did get us away from Crane, at least for a short time. He might be terse and lacking in manners, but he was also able to organize a revolution and lead rebels into the Royal Sector.
So I look at him. “If we walk out of here, Crane’s people are going to be on top of us.”
He gives a short nod. “Yeah.”
“Iftheysneak us out of here, they’re going to send us to Rian, and that’s not better.”
“You’ve said.”
“Crane thinks Rian still has his daughter. Can we use that somehow?”
His eyebrows shoot up. “You’re askingme?”
“Yes,” I say. “I am.”
His mouth quirks up like he wants to be flippant, but then his gaze sharpens, and he frowns a little. He looks at Ford. “Why hasn’t Rian been able to get rid of Crane?”
“Too squirrelly. Too many allies.” Ford pauses. “Again, they’re all over Silvesse. On other islands, he doesn’t have a stronghold, but here, he does—and his allies areveryloyal.”
I consider how he didn’t even come on land to talk to me. I wonder if he’s always on that ship. He certainly had a lot of people surrounding him. I wonder how many people Rian has. I doubt Ford will tell me.
Lochlan looks at me. “We could tell Crane that when we discovered the ‘secret’ messages, we learned where his daughter is being held—and we decided it wouldn’t be prudent to kill Ford in case that tipped off Rian.”
Ford looks alarmed. “But I have no idea where his daughter is being held. I don’t want Crane coming afterme—”
