“Kolst Imperatorya.” Kaïs’s voice was low, urgent, his hands on his two swords.
“Ana,” whispered Linn. “We must fight.”
Ana’s mind raced. Fighting could mean the end of a potential alliance before she even asked. In none of her negotiation classes back at the Salskoff Palace, the trials she had studied with Luka, had the requesting party ever shown force—on the foreign party’s soil, no less.
And yet…Ana’s gaze darted to Ramson, standing before her, misericord raised. He’d barely gotten away from his last fight with Sorsha, and Ana doubted the Admiral would playfair.
He’s just like me,Ramson had said to her on the boat when she’d asked how she could win over his father.To win, you have to make him an offer he can’t resist.
The Ramson Quicktongue she’d met back at Ghost Falls, back when all of this had started, had seemed so different from the one she’d come to know. She thought back to their first meeting in that dacha, when she’d made her first Trade with him. What had he wanted, back then?
Revenge. And…
Something he wouldn’t find anywhere else.
The answer came to her, so painfully obvious. It would be a risky move, and it could jeopardize their entire mission—or save them.
Besides, if the Admiral wasn’t going to play by the rules, then why should she?
“Bring the traitor to me,” the Admiral said, and Ana’s decision clicked into place.
Sorsha’s sword flashed.
Ana flung her Affinity out.
Sorsha’s scream echoed in the hall as her body whipped back, slamming against several seats with court officials sitting in them. Her blade clattered to the ground, amid cries of panic and screeching metal as the officials overturned chairs to scramble out of the way.
Ana pulled Sorsha back as easily as though she were a doll, dragging her across the polished searock floor until she was at Ana’s feet. With a flick in her mind, Sorsha was in the air, limbs splayed like those of a martyr, head tilted back so that the flesh of her neck was exposed.
Red crept into the corners of Ana’s vision, and the familiar urge to hurt flickered beneath it all.
She turned her focus to the Admiral. He held up a hand. Instantly, the shouts and sounds of swords being drawn died down as all of Godhallem turned to watch him.
The Admiral was smiling. He looked at Ana, trailing his gaze up her body slowly, drinking her in as though she were a prized possession, an object in which he’d discovered renewed interest.
Before, she might have felt disgust, even anger, at the way he looked at her. But now, Ana felt only triumph. Her ploy had worked; the Admiral had caught on to her Affinity, his hunger for her power almost palpable.
Ana spread her palms. “Admiral, this man is a part of my court,” she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ramson’s head turn to her in surprise. “An attack on any of my allies is an insult to me. I will not accept that.” She leveled her gaze to King Darias. “Your Majesty, my apologies if I startled you. I mean no offense. Call off your guards. Negotiate with me. There must be something I can offer you and the Kingdom of Bregon.”
The King looked at her blankly for a few moments, and then began to smile. It was a distorted smile, one so at odds with his pale, peaky face. “Negotiate,” he echoed, and the Royal Guards drew back, taking their posts again at the walls, swords sliding into scabbards. In the same breath, Ana let go of Sorsha. The girl gasped and stumbled several steps, massaging her throat.
Several heartbeats passed as the hall watched the King, waiting. Ana stole a glance at Ramson. He stared ahead at the throne, a small crease between his eyebrows. “Your Majesty,” he called. “Perhaps it would be best if the Queen Regent Arsholla were present as well. We wish to abide by the rules.”
Admiral Farrald moved forward, each step slow and deliberate as he kept his gaze on Ana. She recalled seeing a similar hunger in Ramson’s eyes when they had first met. Yet Roran Farrald’s was different: older, crueler, more wicked.
“There is no need. Our Majesty has spoken,” he said, and Ana wondered whether she was imagining the contempt in his words. “We will entertain your request to negotiate. But first, on behalf of the Sea Court and the Royal Navy, I must punish those who fail at their duties.”
The Admiral stopped next to his daughter. In a single, sudden motion, he drew a blade from his belt and slashed it across her throat.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Ana shouted.
Sorsha slumped to the floor as blood gushed from her gaping wound, hot and slick. It poured down the skin of her neck like wine from an uncorked bottle, soaking the gold thread of her collar and darkening her navy-blue tunic.
Nausea coiled through Ana’s stomach. Somehow, Kaïs’s voice found her.Power is a double-edged sword.
Ana looked down at the girl bleeding out in front of her, who had called her a beggar empress and tried to hurt Ramson. Instead of hatred, she felt only an overwhelming pity.
