Between coughs, Carlo whispered, “You’re right. It’s perfect.”
Another wave rolled in, this one coming up to James’s thighs. It took a long time to retreat, and Carlo desperately gasped for breath when it did, only to be hit by another, the froth tinged pink with blood as it pulled back into the sea. It wouldn’t be much longer now.
James glanced out to sea.Please have found a boat. Please be safe.
“Stay until the end,” Carlo managed to croak out. “I want you to see it.”
In the distance, James heard shouts of alarm. He and Carlo had been spotted by soldiers, and they were racing this way. Too late to save their prince, but if they thought they’d take James alive, they were going to be disappointed.
Another wave rolled in, up to his waist now, but James kept the sword pinioned through Carlo’s chest, holding him to the beach. Yet this time, it did not withdraw enough to allow the Beast to draw breath. Their gazes locked through bloody foam, and Carlo smiled.
“James!”
His head shot up at the sound of her voice, terror filling his chest because she hadn’t made it. Which meant it wasn’t just him the soldiers would catch, it was Ahnna as well.
Yet it wasn’t Ahnna swimming in the waves that his eyes lit upon, but rather Ahnna standing in a tiny sailboat.
“Swim!” she screamed. “Hurry!”
Like iron to a lodestone, his focus went back to Carlo. The Beast was staring up at him through the water, still alive.
“James! Swim!”
He jerked the sword out of Carlo’s chest. Reaching into the water, he caught hold of his shirt and jerked up above the surf. “If it is possible, I’ll plead mercy for your Nina’s life.”
Horror filled Carlo’s eyes. “No,” he choked. “Don’t ruin it. Don’t—”
James dragged the sword blade across the Beast’s jugular anddropped him into the next wave. Shoving the weapon into his belt, he waded out deeper and then began to swim.
He dove beneath the waves and fought the relentless current, fighting his way toward her. Arrows sliced into the water all around him, one carving a line of fire down his side, but he kept going. Because there wasn’t anything in this world that he wouldn’t go to war against to be at Ahnna’s side.
A rope landed in front of him and James caught hold of it, gripping tight as Ahnna went back to the rudder, dragging him out of range of the arrows. He held on for all he was worth, coughing and choking when she lowered her sail so that he could climb in.
“Go,” he gasped. “Hurry!”
She only smiled, the wind sending her hair floating about behind her. “We’re on the sea now, James. They’ll never catch me.”
52
Keris
The news of Prince James’sdeath had spread through Harendell like wildfire, and it rendered all of Keris’s labors to undermine Lestara for naught. Traitor and murderer she might be, but that was old news compared with Ahnna having slain the beloved James. Alexandra and her ladies all returned to the black gowns of mourning, but in a war of propaganda, the dowager queen now had an extreme advantage. Whether it was because Alexandra knew she’d neutered his threat, Harendellian propriety, or the simple fact that she didn’t care if he remained, no one pushed Keris to leave Verwyrd.
And though he knew there was next to nothing that he could achieve by remaining, Keris didn’t pack his bags.
He knew better than to allow Lestara inside his head, but the trouble with the truth was that it wasn’t just his weapon to wield. As the nobility descended on Verwyrd for yet another royal funeral, Keris had conversations with many nobles with trading interests in the south. Which, in combination with what Saam and the others learned from guards and grooms and servants, painted a picture in which his return to Pyrinat would be far from celebrated.
“The storms have beenfoulthis year,” Saam muttered as he circled the room with Fiona, the tiny dog sniffing away in her endless hunt for poison, though she’d yet to yield results. “Lots of ships lost, andthose who choose to run the gauntlet between the continents are sailing wide because the winds are rarely as bad out in the open sea. But it adds weeks onto the journey, and not all cargo can be so long in transport.” He reached down to pat the dog on the head. “I suppose I never realized how much we depended on the bridge.”
Keris knew. From Teraford north to Cardiff, merchants counted on the safety and reliability of the bridge. The blockade didn’t just frustrate rulers, it destroyed livelihoods, and without coin, people lost everything. Including their lives. “Why don’t they understand that Harendell is behind the blockades?”
“They do!” Fiona jumped at Saam’s retort, and he murmured soothing words to the dog before adding, “They do, Keris. The trouble is that everyone thinks Harendell isjust.They blame Ahnna. They blame Aren and Lara. They blameyou,because everyone knows your bias toward Ithicana. It’s perceived that you are putting your own interests first, never mind what it costs everyone else. It’s…it’s not improving your reputation in Pyrinat.”
It was all going from bad to worse, but Keris couldn’t help but ask, “Have you heard anything about Zarrah?”
Saam shook his head, then unfastened Fiona’s leash. The little dog leapt onto the large cushion that Saam had purchased for her and curled up, either content that there was no poison in the room or content to watch Keris die.
“Not directly,” Saam finally said. “The rumors are that she’s grown reclusive. Arjun and her ministers of office are running the nation. The whispers go both ways. That she’s looking to get rid of you or that she’s unwilling to accept your steepening descent from grace and no longer cares to rule.”
