“Perhaps you could tell me which it is, instead? I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
“I don’t mind, sir. Your room is three doors down on the left once you step out of this room. It has a dark green door.”
“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll be able to find it,” Kien assured her in the most polite tone Eiri had ever heard him give a Vaetrean.
Marla hesitated a moment, glancing back at the door the other man had disappeared through. “I… I have no other duties tonight. I can help you both get settled, if you’d like?”
She meant it, too. Eiri watched her closely, but this was the first person he’d encountered in all of Lodie who didn’t seem to regard him as trash. The surprising kindness doused a bit of the fiery anger burning within him.
“I appreciate the offer, but we don’t have much,” he said with what he hoped was a friendly smile. “Thank you for your help, though.”
“My pleasure.” Marla’s answering smile was shy and hesitant, but genuine, and she gave them a proper curtsy before retreating.
The moment the door closed behind her, Eiri cursed, long and loud, releasing the lingering fury from that disastrous dinner.
“Are you finished?” Kien asked when Eiri paused to catch his breath.
“This is ridiculous! Why would they put me inhisroom? He’ll kill me before the night is through!” Fury burned through his veins as Eiri took in the spacious room. Decorated in dark greens and golds, the furniture a beautiful dark wood, he would have been quite pleased with the room if it didn’t clearly belongto Syrus Vardor. The man’s armor stood in a far corner on a stand, and his belongings were scattered throughout.
“I highly doubt that is what they’re planning,” Kien said. “I don’t like this, though. I assure you, I was told the two of you would have separate bedrooms.”
“How am I supposed to sleep, knowing my newhusbandwill probably slit my throat the moment I close my eyes?” So much for being able to let his guard down.
“Syrus is known to be temperamental, but we can’t forget that he is also a prince. Anything he does will reflect on the queen and right now, she needs you alive,” Kien reminded him. “This early in the marriage, the deal will fall apart if you die. The Vaetrans will keep you safe until they receive the goods promised in the marriage contract.”
“If that was your attempt at comforting me, it’s wasn’t successful,” Eiri muttered.
“It was the truth. I won’t coddle you with a false sense of security. I need you to swear to me that you will do everything you can to rein yourself in and not respond to anything he says. It goes against your nature to stand down, but in this case, you must if you want to survive.”
“You and I both know that I can’t do that forever, Kien.”
“You won’t need to do it forever. Just until we find allies.”
Eiri snorted. “Allies? Where do you expect two former raiders from Canjir to find allies in Vaetreas, the target of nearly all our raids?”
“There are always outliers in every country, even Vaetreas.”
“Outliers?” Eiri raised a brow.
“Have you already forgotten the girl we just met?”
He reluctantly conceded Kien that point. He hadn’t expected kindness from a single soul here in Lodie, but Marla had surprised him.
“No matter how peaceful or prosperous a country may be, there will be some who are dissatisfied or feel wronged by the rulers,” Kien went on. “I’m sure that’s particularly true here, of all places. We simply need to find those people and win them over to our side.”
“For what purpose, though?”
“If all goes well, we will never need to call on them. If, however, things do badly, having friends in a city full of enemies will be invaluable.”
Politics. It always came back to politics. Eiri had no stomach for such games. He never had. As a fisherman and a raider, he’d done his best to stay away from the cesspool that was Canjiri politics, despite his mother’s attempts to drag him in. She thrived on the intrigue, manipulating the undercurrents of discourse with disturbing ease.
“I’ll trust you on this. I don’t even know where I would begin finding those people, let alone how to make allies of them.”
“That is why your mother chose me to accompany you. I will do whatever I must to ensure the safety of Canjir.”
Eiri’s fury slipped away like the tides and exhaustion swept in, weighing him down more and more with every passing second.
“I hate this,” he admitted, barely more than a whisper. He couldn’t meet Kien’s eyes.
