He looked down at her, marking the swelling of her face and the way the wound in her cheek pulled up one corner of her mouth, but it was Lestara’s words of caution that he heard.Our positions are tenuous, cousin. We must prove our worth if we are to remain where we are.Clearing his throat, he said, “I have to go. If she’s headed west, it’s because she aims to find salvation in Amarid. I can’t let her get across the border.”
“Send someone else.” Her green eyes were urgent. “Your brother’s emotions are high, and I fear he’ll act out of grief. You need to keep him reasonable or we will soon be at war.”
There was a part of him that wanted to believe she was relying on him. That Alexandra, for the first time in his life, actually wanted him here. But experience and cynicism made him suspect that she had returned to her old ways and was using this as a way to sow division between him and William. As a way to render him useless to his brother, who was now king. “That’s exactly why I must go. If we catch her now, we can have justice, and reason will be restored. William charged me with this task, so I must go.”
Alexandra squeezed her eyes shut, but then nodded and let go of his arm. “Return swiftly. I’ll keep William in check for as long as I can.”
James inclined his head and then strode through the door, both soldiers falling into step next to him. As they reached the stable yard, he shouted, “Saddle my horse!”
Maven would get no rest tonight, and neither would he.
“You wish for us to organize an escort, sir?”
“Send them after me.” James strode toward the stable yard, not willing to take even a moment to change into dry clothes for the journey. Ahnna was aiming to escape into Amarid by crossing the Blackreach Peaks. The mountains were deadly but worth the risk if she could make it to Katarina’s territory. For him to cross the border risked starting a war with Amarid, and also coming face-to-face with the Beast.
Which meant he needed to get to the border first.
6
Zarrah
Empress Zarrah of Valcotta openedthe letter bearing Queen Sarhina of Maridrina’s seal, swiftly reading the contents once, then twice, the information adding to the knots of tension in her shoulders. “Sarhina has officially taken the first steps to dissolving the Maridrinian monarchy.”
Her father, Arjun Retva, took the letter as she passed it to him, his brows furrowing as he read. Shaking his head, he set the letter down. “Silas will be spinning in his grave.”
Pressing fingers to her temple, Zarrah gave a slight nod. “I can’t help but wonder if that’s half her motivation.” A wave of guilt immediately passed through her, because she knew that Sarhina was a true queen for the people. Her decision to create an elected government would ensure that the tyranny Maridrina endured beneath Silas and his predecessors would never happen again, and resenting the loss of the crown’s authority because of the frustrations it caused Valcotta was selfish. “It’s a remarkable achievement.”
“Keris will be pleased.”
“Yes.” Zarrah rose and went to the window, the height of the tower allowing her to see the sea upon which her husband had sailed away. The early-morning sun turned the water orange, but the beauty was lost on her. “Perhaps Sarhina will have the opportunity to tell him herself.”
Her father gave a long sigh, joining her at the window. “You were a fool to think he’d accept being locked up for something as inconsequential as his own protection. Keris Veliant has flaws beyond number, but cowardice is not one of them.”
“I am aware I erred.” The words came out from between her teeth. She’d been sick with regret and guilt since the argument that had driven him onto a ship north. A mistake fueled by fear, because there’d been so many attempts on his life, and her imagination too readily supplied her with visions of the moment she was told that one of the assassins had been successful. That the love of her life was lost to her forever.
So she’d let fear drive him away instead.
“It was wise of Keris to go visit his family,” her father continued. “He knows his own nature, and choosing to undertake a role as ambassador was better than another quarrel. It is always wise to let tempers ease, and perhaps when he returns, he’ll be more amenable to accommodations for his own safety.”
“He’ll never be amenable to being locked up in a palace.” And she was an idiot for having even suggested it.
“Force the issue.”
“I do not wish to discuss this anymore.” Her voice cracked, and Zarrah cursed herself for allowing her hurt to take control. “My marriage to Keris is not your business.”
Arjun crossed his arms, unmoved by her temper. “You are empress and he is prince consort. Your marriage is the business of the entire world.”
It was the truth, but God help her, there were days Zarrah desperately longed for it to be otherwise. To live in obscurity with Keris, doing what they willed with no one else paying any mind.
But the stars had other plans in mind for them.
Why couldn’t it be simple? Hadn’t they gone through enough for one lifetime? Even as the thoughts cycled through her head, Zarrah knew they were wishful thinking. It had been a delusion to believetheir love would be enough to ease the generational animosity between Valcotta and Maridrina. All it had done was put a target on Keris’s back, because many believed that if he were dead, the war would begin anew. That much was clear from the propaganda circulating through Pyrinat that kept landing on her desk.
It never fucking ends.
A tear ran down her cheek, and Zarrah viciously wiped it away even as she wished desperately to see Keris’s ship returning to the harbor so that she could be back in his arms.
A knock sounded at the door, and her father cleared his throat and then called out, “Enter.”
