She studied Pav more closely. Carver had mentioned him before, and she knew they’d sparred several times. She also knew that Pav was one of the few swordsmen who could actually keep up with him in the training yard.
Her gaze slid to Silas, then to Dex. They both carried tension in their shoulders, their expressions troubled. Neither would truly look at Carver, and her eyes narrowed. What were they doing? More importantly, whose side were they on? Carver chose to consider them friends, and they were about to find out if he was right or wrong about them.
“Is it against the king’s law to travel the island now?” Carver kept his tone light for the heavy question. They all knew there was no law. If people didn’t go north, it was for their own safety.
“Times are troubled,” Pav boomed back in a baritone that pushed all the way into the woods behind them. Cringing, Bellanca glanced over her shoulder. Gods, she just wanted to cross that river before the prickle on the back of her neck turned into a herd of brutal centaurs. “A Magoi hides among us. Theking’s oracle was kidnapped. The king was viciously assaulted.”
Her head whipped back around. “The king viciously assaults on a daily basis.” Her blood heated, and the Shard of Olympus yanked at her magic. She drew in a steadying breath, pushing her power away from the greedy amulet and hoping it didn’t glow brighter under her tunic.
“Treasonous talk, likely from a traitor.” Pav crisply motioned for them to dismount. “Come with us, and the king will decide. Leave the horses.”
His back stiff and his expression stiffer, Carver turned to his friends. They finally looked back at him, regret and guilt so heavy in their eyes she could feel it from across the meadow. Conflict blazed off them like magic. Maybe she saw it because she’dbeenthem. And maybe they wanted to help Carver but didn’t know how. Sticking your own neck out for someone was a rarity in Atlantis—and just one more thing she wanted to change. Rare, but not unheard of. Spiro had done it for her. She could do it for them.
She nudged Arete forward, drawing suspicious looks because as a woman, her place was obviously behind Carver. She strove for calm and kept her voice neutral. “Let me tell you a story, and then you can decide what to do. It might not be what your king wants, but it might be what you want for Atlantis. For your families. For yourselves and your futures.”
“Save your breath, woman.” Pav advanced a few steps, too, raising his sword in warning. “I have no patience for this.”
And Bellanca had no patience for a posturing man when she could annihilate him and his army in seconds.
Staring stonily back at Pav, she was forced to seriously debate how to best burn a hole through forty men to reach the river when Silas finally broke his silence.
“Maybe we should hear them out,” Silas called to the other unit leader. “So far, they haven’t done anything other than crossinto creature territory. There’s no treason in that.”
Pav shook his head. “We take them in—as ordered.”
Silas moved away from his men, matching Pav’s position a few steps ahead. He sheathed his sword and turned to the other commander. “We have equal rank and an equal number of soldiers. I say we listen.”
“You were friends with this man. I understand that,” Pav ground out. “It doesn’t change our orders.”
“Maybe orders aren’t always right,” Dex said loudly. He stayed put, at the front of the group where he’d been with Silas. “And maybe the king isn’t, either.”
“Nowthat’streason,” Pav growled, his gaze flashing dangerously over Silas’s whole unit.
“Men.” Carver dismounted and led Zeph deeper into the clearing. He spread his weaponless hands in a conciliatory gesture, but all Bellanca could think about was that he’d just made it a lot harder to gallop away—even if it was back into the woods—and she didn’t like it. Frowning, she stayed mounted but followed. Carver walked close enough to the solid wall of Eryx’s soldiers to speak rather than shout, and the sharp ends of too many blades pointed right at them. “We’re not your enemy. Let my wife speak, Pav. You don’t understand it yet, butyou’rethe traitors just by trying to stop her. She’s here foryou—for all of you and your families and the island. The gods sent her to be your queen.”
Bellanca’s jaw dropped. She’d planned on revealing some truths to try to gain the men’s trust, but notthatone.
Carver glanced at her over his shoulder, raising dark brows in challenge. His eyes almost sparkled, and he had the audacity to smile even as she scowled. “The Power Bid is on, princess.”
Chapter 26
Carver couldn’t help the dive his stomach took at Bel’s horrified expression.Well, now you’ve done itwas written all over her heated glower.
“Apparently,” she muttered back to him.
He nodded, trying to encourage her. He’d just taken the step he knew she’d balk at but could handle like the queen she was meant to be. The Queen of Atlantis.
And just as he knew she would, she pulled her shoulders back, lifted her chin, and got down to business.
“Myhusbandspeaks the truth.” Her emphasis on the word, the slight acidity, caused his eyebrows to slide up his forehead. Yes, he’d forced her hand, but he didn’t regret it. It was the only way out of this without bloodshed.
“What truth, then?” Silas asked, nothing in his tone giving away that he already knew certain things. Behind him, Dex nodded, looking equally eager for information.
Gratitude flooded Carver, and in that moment, he appreciated his friends more than ever. They were the only reason the fighting hadn’t started yet, and they were giving Bel the chance to state her facts and convince the soldiers.
And it was a damn good thing, because Bel would burn her way out of this if she had to. She’d hate it, but she’d do it. No one would take them to Eryx.
“You win,” Bel grated for his ears only. He couldn’t help aquick, satisfied smile. She’d never uttered those words to him—or likely to anyone, ever. Raising her intentionally dampened blue-green gaze, she looked beyond him to the contingent of soldiers. Voice clear and carrying, she said, “In a story that’s long and complicated, there are only a few things that matter right now—here—in Atlantis.” She paused, looking slowly from Silas’s unit to Pav’s and taking in all the soldiers. She stopped on the leader she didn’t know. He was the one who needed convincing. “Zeus wants to end Punishment. He wants to bring magic back to Atlantis and lift the island back to sea level. But Zeus also needs to safeguard the people of Atlantis against leaders who would abuse magic and use it in terrible ways and only for their own gain. The problem is Eryx—and his fathers before him—all the way back to Punishment. Your king is obsessed with regaining magic for selfish reasons and has gone about his quest with violence and ruthlessness since the day he took the throne. Carver and I”—she swept a hand toward him—“are Thalyrian. We’re not from here.”
