“Amron too,” said the queen. Light as a feather, final like a stone sinking on the bottom of a lake. “But you already know that, don’t you?”
She didn’t know it, not this time round. She could have hoped his luck would hold once again, but even if he survived the beginning, there would be no Liana waiting for him in Till, to follow him, to join him in every battle. To save his life, just as he had saved hers, time and again.
“I did all I could do to prevent the slaughter, but history doesn’t budge,” Liana said. “I failed at every turn and the events rolled over me like a cart rushing downhill. I don’t know how to stop it.”
Somewhere in the palace, the king was dying. Somewhere in the city, Amron was running through a burning building to face the Elmarran blades. Somewhere in the streets, Roderi of Elmar was pouring his poison. And hundreds of miles away, in some exquisite room, in some sunlit residence filled with birdsong, the Emperor of Seragia was biding his time, moving ivory figurines across the map of the world.
“You need to ask the gods for help,” the queen said.
“You just said you trust your physicians more than you trust the gods. If they can save my father, perhaps they can save the king.”
“No.” The queen shook her head. “You know how that poison works.”
She did. Still, she said, “I asked my mother to help my father this afternoon, and she refused. The gods won’t answer me. I’m sure they’d listen to you sooner than they’d listen to me.”
The queen shook her head. “I tried. I begged and offered bargains and sacrifice, but they won’t listen. Once, I was useful to them, a tool in their hands that rewrote the history of this city, but that task is long finished, and they have no interest in menow. I have nothing left to give them.”
“I have nothing left to give them either,” Liana echoed. “I forced my mother to listen to me once, for Amron’s sake; she didn’t come willingly and she didn’t offer her help freely. I forced her. And then I struck a bargain, and bet everything I had on it. And now I’m going to lose.” She rubbed her tear-stained cheeks. “It was impossible, of course, all deals with the gods are rigged. But I was desperate and he was…” Her voice wavered.
“Dead,” the queen said.
Liana nodded. “And now there is no one left to help us.”
The queen walked to the window overlooking a garden. Inside the walls of the palace, the evening seemed peaceful, the gentle breeze carrying the scent of flowers and the salty whiff of the sea. Only a distant rumble, like a thunderstorm far on the horizon, reminded them of the turmoil in the streets.
“Whatever my sons do down in the city, it won’t be enough if the king dies. There’ll be no persuading the people that the Seragians are blameless. And by the time the emperor hears about it, the peace treaty will be out of the window, and the only possible response to the events here will be another war. Amril and Amron, they can win the fight in the streets, but only you can win the fight against death.”
It was so obvious now where it all led. Yet, Liana struggled against it. “I can’t. Nobody can. I tried and failed.”
The queen turned back from the window and crossed her arms over her chest, like a humble petitioner. “Try again. Please.”
Her gaze was too intense to bear. Liana averted her eyes, studying the tapestry filled with silver fish, the silver candelabra shaped like an octopus, the white marble fireplace with delicate flowery carvings.
Liana’s time was almost up, only one night remaining. And even if she could somehow drag Amron out of the burning city and make him forget the rebellion spreading around them, evenif it was possible to make him kiss her, what would the outcome be? Certain war and uncertain future, and Amron, who would never forgive her such a move.
She’d offered it, back in his room. He rejected it.
The only thing left now was the attempt to save the peace treaty, against the odds. Even if it cost her everything, at least she would lose knowing that Amron was safe. It was worth the sacrifice.
On the queen’s desk, yellow roses floated in a crystal bowl filled with water.
“I’ll do it,” Liana said. “But I need to be alone.”
The queen nodded. “Thank you.”
When she left, Liana scooped up the roses and threw them in the empty fireplace. Then she bowed low over the water, the tip of her nose almost touching the surface, closed her eyes, and whispered, “Morana, I’m here.” Fingers gripping the edge of the desk to prevent them from shaking, Liana slowly submerged her face.
The curtain between the worlds ripped as the cold snatched her in its grip, the icy vortex pulling her down into the gloomy depths. She sank like a stone, heavy and frozen, crushed by the immense pressure of the water above.
“Breathe, you stupid girl. There’s no water here.”
Liana opened her eyes. She stood in a massive chamber filled with shifting greenish light and the sound of waves somewhere overhead. A whiff of water reeds, of rotting plants, reached her nostrils. In a blink, the goddess appeared before her.
“You’ve figured it out, haven’t you? The rigged deal?”
Liana had always thought Morana was the most terrifying of all the gods, but standing before her now, there was little difference between her coiling hair, her deathly white face, and Lela’s merciless gaze and predatory growl. All gods were terrifying. All gods lied.
“I don’t lie.” When her mouth was closed, Morana looked like a thin middle-aged woman with black, serpentine hair. But when she talked, she revealed rows of needle-sharp teeth, like a hungry moray. “I am the ultimate truth.” The Goddess of Death grinned.
