Saam stood outside, and he gave Zarrah a dark glare for having gone off on her own, which she ignored. Latching the door behind her, Zarrah all but ran across the room to where Keris was sitting. “Ihave banking records. We need to go through them swiftly, then find a way to smuggle them back before the bankers notice.”
Keris blanched. “This is where you went?”
“We need proof, Keris.” She slammed the stack of papers on the table between them, the quantity of information feeling suddenly daunting. “To do the kinds of things Alexandra has done requires coin, and a lot of it. There has to be a paper trail.”
He shoved a loose piece of hair behind one ear, then picked up the first document, which hadEdward Ashfordprinted neatly across the top. “You think they document treason and assassination with their banks?”
“It won’t be that blatant, but yes.” She flipped through to Alexandra’s records, then traced a finger down them, searching. “They don’t just keep gold lying around, Keris. It’s all invested in this business and that, which means to pay foranythingthey need their banks. It’s why they are so cursedly rich, but also why there is a paper trail of all that they do.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Zarrah jumped as Saam called through, “Your Highness, there are soldiers here who wish to speak with you.”
“Fuck,” Keris hissed. “You know what isn’t a Harendellian weakness? Organization! They know what you took and have reported you!” Then he called more loudly. “Give me a minute!”
Zarrah’s heart hammered in her chest as she riffled through the pages and pages of charitable donations and transfers of funds to William, searching for any reference to companies the banker had filled her ears with in an attempt to secure investment. For any reference togoddamnedcows.
“In the king’s name, open the door!”
“Put them in the fire,” Keris whispered. “Burn them, so there is no proof you took them!”
Except burning the documents meant burning the only evidence she might find. “Keris, we need proof Alexandra sent us infectedcattle. I need proof she harmed Valcotta if I have any hope of securing support for declaring war!”
He gripped her hands. “Any proof you find is going to be taken from you, Zarrah. At best you’ll get a slap on the wrist for this. At worst, they’ll imprison you. This is no minor offense!”
Zarrah had known that going in. Had known that she was risking her life, and Keris’s life, on a chance. But Lara and Aren had done the same for her. They’d gone to Devil’s Island to rescue her, and then sailed south to war against Petra, risking their lives and those of their people. They were her friends. Her family. Herallies.How could she not do the same for them?
Her eyes latched onto a familiar name. Silverhorn & Co. It was one mentioned to Zarrah by the banker, and next to it was a note in his spidery handwriting.Charitable donation to the Silverhorn Foundation for families impacted by wasting disease.The shipping records for the vessel that had brought the infected cattle showed that it had been chartered by Silver Exports, Ltd.
“You bitch,” she hissed. “You’re not going to get away with this!”
Fists pounded on the door. “Open up, or we will force our way in!”
Keris skimmed the page, then shook his head. “They won’t let you walk away with this page, Zarrah. Our word will have to be good enough when we get back to Valcotta, because we can’t be caught with this.”
Every part of her wished that her word was good enough, but in her mind’s eye, she could see the faces of her nobility eyeing her with suspicion, every one of them believing her actions motivated entirely by sentiment for Lara and Aren. Every one of them blaming Keris and whispering that she was starting another war because of him. As much as she wished otherwise, Zarrah needed the cold hard proof of these documents.
Which meant she needed to get them out of this room to somewhere safe.
Her eyes went to the window, and all the color drained from Keris’s face. “No. Absolutely not.”
Zarrah’s heart hammered, memory of her auntfalling falling fallingfilling her mind’s eye. But there was no other way. “You risked your life coming here because it was the right thing to do,” she said to him. “You cannot refuse me the right to do the same.”
He grabbed her wrists. “Put them in a bag and throw them out the window. I’ll send Saam down to find it.”
“They’ll think of that.”
There was too much risk of it being blown somewhere they’d never find it. Or of it landing smack in the middle of a courtyard full of soldiers. “Signal Saam to get one of the windows below open. He can pull me in.”
“Zarrah, no!”
There was no amount of arguing that would convince him. She knew that. Knew that he’d seen too many people fall, and that the thought of it happening to her was more than he could bear. But she was going to do it anyway.
Fists pounded on the door.
“We’re coming in!”
Zarrah shoved the pile of pages back under her shirt, making sure they were held in place in the waist of her trousers. Pulling a heavy chair next to the window, she looped Fiona’s leash around one of the feet, then fastened the metal clip to the buckle of her belt. She swiftly twisted the length of her belt around her wrist and climbed onto the windowsill.
Keris caught hold of her shoulders. “I can’t lose you.”
