She and Aren rolled, nearly falling into the water, but Ahnna ended up on top. “No!”
Her brother blinked in shock. “Ahnna?”
“Did you eat?” she screamed the question. “Did you eat the bread?”
“What? I…No, no bread.”
There was no time for relief. Ahnna’s attention snapped to the soldiers pinning the struggling James. He was alive, but she couldn’t see his neck. Couldn’t see how deep the blade had cut.
“Let him go!” she barked at them, and whether it was shock at her return or old habit, they instantly obeyed.
James pushed himself upright, glaring at the soldiers as he wiped away the blood from his throat.
He’s still alive. Thank God and the stars, he’s still alive.
Aren’s whisper caught her attention. “You’re alive. How are you alive?”
She ignored her brother and looked to Lara. Her sister-in-law’s blue eyes were the only pair in the whole mix of this chaos that seemed sharp. “Katarina is in league with Alexandra. The grain is laced with poison.”
Lara didn’t question her. Didn’t make Ahnna offer proof. She only shouted, “Everyone who ate, puke it up. The rest of you, get on the water and call in reinforcements. We need to sink that ship!”
Shocked or not, their people were trained, and no one hesitated. Warriors flung themselves into boats and horns sounded, calling everyone within earshot to battle, while those who’d eaten stuck fingers down their throats. She prayed it would work. Prayed that it would be enough to keep them alive.
She scrambled up the slope to James. His throat was covered with blood. “How badly are you hurt?”
“He can hit,” James croaked, lifting his hand to his jaw. Ahnna fell to her knees, half in his lap as she looked at the nasty cut that had dug deep just shy of his jugular. Twisting around, she screamed at Aren, “You idiot! You almost killed him!”
“I’d like an explanation for why you don’t want him dead!” Aren retorted. “You owe me afewexplanations, Ahnna!”
“Go fuck yourself!” Her heart was thundering so fast that she felt like she was going to be sick. Only for a far larger threat than her brother to appear on the scene.
Bronwyn was striding toward them, sword in hand and murder in her gaze.
Staggering to her feet, Ahnna reached to her side for a weapon but came up empty. Moving in front of James, she squared her feet. “Bronwyn, I don’t want to fight you. Just—”
Bronwyn’s sword slashed through the air, only to collide against Lara’s blade with enough force that sparks flew.
“Stand down.” Lara’s voice was low, but it held total authority. “You don’t get to pick this fight.”
“This is my fight as much as anyone’s,” Bronwyn shouted, her blade scraping down Lara’s as she tried to deflect it, but Lara reached out with shocking speed, her left hand closing on her sister’s wrist.
“Then you’ll have to fight me first.”
The two sisters stared down each other, and in her periphery,Ahnna saw Aren draw his weapon. But then Taryn was pushing through the crowd. Seawater dripping from her sodden clothes, she caught hold of Bronwyn’s shoulders, murmuring urgently into her ear. Slowly, Bronwyn lowered her weapon, but the anger remained. “I thought you were better than this, Ahnna,” she snapped. “I thought you knew what loyalty meant, but for all your claims, you only ever put yourself first.”
Ahnna took a step toward her friend, reaching out a hand. “Bronwyn, if you’d only listen—”
“I don’t care to hear how you’re justifying all that you’ve done.” Bronwyn caught hold of Taryn’s arm, bodily pulling her down to one of the canoes pulled up on the beach.
Grief and guilt pooled in Ahnna’s core, and all around her, she felt the weight of condemnation, because they believed her to be the cause of all of this. “I didn’t kill Edward.”
“Ahnna,” Aren said, wiping a hand over his face. “I know what Edward threatened—”
“She’s innocent.” James’s voice cut the air. “And she has suffered far beyond the point where most would have lain down and died to try to stop those who’d see everyone in this kingdom dead. The only reason any of you will live to see another day is because of Ahnna, so you will show her the respect she is due.”
Her chest tightened, and despite knowing that no one here would understand, Ahnna turned and fell to her knees before James. Flinging her arms around him, she clung to him, still afraid that she was going to blink and find him dead on the ground.
Except this time, she hadn’t been too late.
