“Until I had the means of protecting the Library. You could have taken what I had given you already and gone to the Conclave without me, but you don’t like to lose, do you, Ambassador?” Kasira sat back on the desk. “You see, you made a crucial mistake: You fucked with the people I care about.”
In the beginning, she had truly wanted what Vera offered her: absolution and a chance to start anew. But with each day she spent in the Library, Kasira had come to realize that, for the first time in her life, she felt as though she was exactly where she was supposed to be. She wanted to stay up into the twilight hours reading beside the fire with Iylis, to have lunch with May and Gievra in the Eyrie, and go on missions to far-off places. She wanted to learn everything there was to know about magic and artifacts, to ask Allaster why he so rarely smiled.
For once, she wanted to stay.
“And yet you saw the Conclave through.” Vera was beginning to betray her unease now. “You had Allaster removed.”
“I made a bargain with the one person more powerful than you.” Kasira waved a hand at the tapestry in the corner. It lifted off its rod, crumpling to the floor to reveal May standing in the very hall Kasira had once fled down. The Library had opened it again at her request, the magic rising to aid her like a long-lost friend.
Vera’s confusion lasted for as long as it took the contingent of Kalish guards to flare out around her, followed by King Carthur.
The King appraised Vera’s growing apprehension. “I have to give you credit, cousin. It was a cunning move. Control of the Library is about the only thing that could have garnered you enough support to take my throne.”
Vera retreated a step, her Malik guards edging forward. “I meant to take the Library in your name, as a gift to celebrate the Prince’s union.”
“The union you’ve publicly rejected and spat upon?” Carthur scoffed. “Come now, Vera. You’re better than that. Try again.”
A flush erupted through Vera’s pale skin, and it only darkened when Kasira summoned a piece of paper and said, “This is a confession written in your hand. I’ll need time to forge the signature and seal from the pardon you gave me, but it will be hard for you to refute this, coupled with the witness of the King and his guards.”
Satisfaction bloomed across the King’s face. “Arrest her.”
The palace guards descended on Vera, whose Malik moved to defend her. They were drastically overwhelmed by the number of palace guards, and with so little room to maneuver, the King’s people made quick work of them. The Captain had soon secured Vera, her hands bound behind her back.
“Take her back to the palace,” King Carthur instructed. “I’ll handle her later.”
Vera’s distress settled into a cold calm. “I will make you both regret this. Do not think it’s over.”
Kasira only looked to May. “Will you escort them?”
She hadn’t been sure May would show. Hadn’t been sure she would even read the letter Kasira had materialized on her seat before the verdict was read, let alone abide by it. But there was no one else she trusted to collect the King and bring him up the secret passage.
For a moment, May only surveyed her, a quiet chill to her expression that made Kasira’s heart ache. But in the end, she walked to the head of the group once the soldiers had rounded up the wounded Malik and led them from the room.
Swallowing down her emotions, Kasira faced the King. “It’s yourturn to hold up your side of our bargain, Your Majesty. Rescind Kalthos’s claims against Allaster and call off the Conclave.”
King Carthur regarded her shrewdly. “Clever. I told you that you could only have one, and you chose the Library, but you got your pardon from my cousin nonetheless.”
“Something Vera and I have in common,” Kasira replied. “I don’t like to lose.”
The King smiled, his remaining guards closing ranks around him. “How unfortunate. I have no intention of calling off the Conclave. Allaster St. Archer is highly unpopular among my supporters, and it would be rather beneficial for me to take credit for Vera’s work here. I can find someone else to forge a confession.”
But Kasira only studied her nails. “Not even if it means forfeiting the marriage between your son and Lady Nyelle’s daughter? Lady Nyelle won’t stand for Allaster’s removal.”
The King snorted. “By the time Lady Nyelle can do anything about this, the Librarian will be under guard on Kalish soil, and the Prince wed.”
“Is that so?” Nyelle stepped in from the hall Vera had just been escorted down, several house guards of her own in tow. Although the woman had responded to Kasira’s letter with confirmation that she would arrive as requested, the relief Kasira felt at seeing her was immeasurable. She was the only person capable of pressuring the King into compliance, and his bewildered expression betrayed it.
“Lady Nyelle,” he ground out.
“Your Majesty.” Nyelle curtsied with a poise even Kasira couldn’t emulate. “Shall we continue with this farce, or would you like to skip to the part where you keep your word?”
“I can assure you, Your Majesty,” Kasira added quietly, “I make a far more formidable ally than enemy. Just ask your cousin.”
The King’s hands folded into white-knuckled fists, and she could practically see him digging in his heels, refusing to be bested. Perhaps she had underestimated his pride, and he truly would risk his son’s union to be victorious here today.
Nyelle must have seen it as well, for she withdrew a folded notefrom her pocket. “You should know, Your Majesty, that I’ve been informed of the cause of our vylor shortage.”
“What?” The King looked toward Kasira, clearly expecting a trick, but even she didn’t know what Nyelle was up to. “How?”
