“Agreed. But there is another attribute they share beyond distrust.” Ahnna paused to look around the table. “Ambition.”
“You’ve a flair for the dramatic, Ahnna,” Mara said, “but their ambition is what got us here, so I fail to see how it will deliver us. Spare us the theatrics and spit out your plan.”
“They are allies of convenience,” Ahnna explained. “Except neither of them really wants to share the bridge—they’re only working together because they feel as though it’s the surest way to success. Once they take the bridge, it’s only a matter of time until they turn on each other. They won’t be able to help themselves. My plan is to speed along that process.”
Everyone shifted uneasily and Ahnna fought the urge to look to Aren and Lara for support. Fought the urge to look over her shoulder at James, because she could not afford to show any weakness.
Lifting her chin, Ahnna stared Mara down. “We allow their plan to work.”
Mara blinked.
“We make it look as though the poison swept through Ithicana,” Ahnna continued. “Stage a few dramatic scenes for their spies to witness and leave the bodies of those who fell in the north where they are, all while evacuating everyone to the outer islands. Then we see what Katarina does when she thinks the bridge is hers.”
“She’ll do exactly what she and Alexandra planned to do!” Mara threw up her hands. “You think a sly old wench like Katarina is going to risk the wrath of Harendell because she’s flush with the euphoria ofbeing the first through our door? She’ll stick to the plan and bide her time. It could be years before she makes her move, if she ever does.”
“Which is why we’re going to tempt her with an opportunity that she can’t resist.” Ahnna looked to Aren. “The Maridrinian parliament has been vocal in their desire for trade to resume on the bridge at any cost. If they perceive Katarina as being the new Mistress of the Bridge, they will try to strike a deal with her.”
Aren nodded in agreement, and Lara said, “Sarhina has given up much of her power in Maridrina, but her parliament trusts her. I think they’ll go this direction on their own, but she can encourage the process. Maridrina is suffering a famine and Valcotta’s grappling with wasting disease in their herds, which means they can’t aid. While Amarid does not have Harendell’s export capacity, it can still do much to aid against the famine.”
“I don’t doubt that the Maridrinians will move quickly to make a deal,” Mara replied. “But I think that Katarina will cut Alexandra in on it. She is no fool, Ahnna. She will not risk war with the titan of the north by making foolish, greedy choices—Katarina is not Silas. Especially with Cardiff at Harendell’s back. Ronan might break the alliance, or he might not. His daughter is queen of Harendell, and that is no small thing. If he breaks the alliance, he loses all that he fought to gain in Edward’s reign.”
Mara’s eyes moved past Ahnna. “You going to let yourwifedo all the talking, Ashford? We are well aware of your part in creating the alliance between your father and uncle, and your willingness to sacrifice Ithicana for the sake of Cardiff. That alliance was hard won, and Ronan now has his daughter on Harendell’s throne. Will he sacrifice all that for the sake of a sister twenty-five years in the grave? Will he go back to a closed border and burnings and persecution?”
Ahnna kept her eyes straight forward, her heart pounding in her chest, because James needed to take this step, not her. It had to come from his lips. Her pulse raced faster and faster as the silence stretched, then she heard the scrape of boots against floorboards, and hisfamiliar hands gripped the sides of her chair as James stepped up behind her.
“No, he won’t.” James’s voice was steady. “Because all of those things will be a crime when I take Harendell’s crown.”
Ahnna forced herself to breathe, but the greater struggle was not reaching up to take James’s hands in hers.
“My uncle will back me in a bid to take the Twisted Throne from William,” James continued. “Not just in word, but in force. William’s unlikely to give up his title without a fight, so he’ll redeploy Harendell’s forces north right when Maridrina entices Amarid with a deal.”
“And with Harendell distracted, Katarina will take advantage.” Mara sipped thoughtfully at her drink, eyes distant. “With Harendell embroiled in civil war over the crown, Amarid will become Mistress of the Bridge in truth, little knowing that all of Ithicana lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.”
“Yes.” The chair creaked beneath James’s grip. His calm voice was an act. “Alexandra will by then have learned that Katarina went behind her back, and so when Ithicana strikes against the Amaridian forces, Harendell will not aid them.”
“All while you wage a war between Cardiff and Harendell.” Mara’s eyes narrowed. “Cardiff can’t win that fight.”
“Which is why, after Ithicana has driven out Amarid and storm season begins anew, I’ll agree to withdraw my claims to the throne if William executes Alexandra for her crimes.”
Ahnna’s stomach lurched, shock hitting her like a battering ram, because that hadn’t been the plan. It must have shown on her face, because Mara eyed her for a moment, then asked, “Do you think he will?”
“I don’t know.” James sighed, and though Ahnna couldn’t see his face, she could see his expression in her mind’s eye. Distant, his thoughts all for whether William would be willing to sacrifice to do the right thing. “But I have to give him the chance. As far as we know, he’s unaware of Alexandra’s schemes. No one has given him thechance to correct his course. I recognize that we can’t tip our hand by giving him that chance now, but I won’t fight a bloody war to win the throne if William is willing to give us both justice and peace. Alexandra is the problem, the threat, the murderess,notmy brother. And certainly not my sister, who will be collateral damage in all of this. As it is, once the truth of Alexandra’s crimes comes out, the nobility and the people may not give William a choice.”
Ahnna bit her tongue, wishing James had told her this part of his plan before, rather than dropping it on her in front of everyone. But she wouldn’t undercut him now, especially given that so much would have to go right for them to even get to the point of putting William to the test.
“Cardiff will bear the brunt of this,” Mara finally said. “Rightful heir or not, Ronan has a daughter on the throne, which is just as good as a nephew, especially given said nephew has wed the princess of Cardiff’s stiffest competition for trade. So this all still circles back to how much your uncle is willing to sacrifice for vengeance.”
“The mistake every single one of you is making in your assessment of my uncle is your belief that he sees Lestara as an asset.” James gave a soft laugh. “The truth is, everyone in Cardiff believes that my cousin is cursed, most especially my aunt Calythra, who is Lestara’s mother. They didn’t send Lestara to Silas for better trade terms on furs—they sent her to get rid of her.”
Calythra. The witch queen of Cardiff. Ahnna didn’t know much about her, for Calythra was reclusive and had nothing to do with politics and trade.
“Oh, but this is a tangled web,” Mara murmured, pushing her cup over to Lara to refill. The old commander had lorded over Northwatch for nearly as long as Ahnna had been alive, and she knew the northerners and their ways better than anyone. “So Ronan might actually agree to this.”
“There is no certainty in war,” James replied. “But there is total certainty in what will happen if Aren abdicates to William. The northernalliance will sweep over Ithicana like a tide, taking what they want and giving very little in return. Some Ithicanians may find work but the pay will be a pittance, and all others will be forced to either live off what they can eke from the Tempest Seas or flee south, dependent on the mercy of Maridrina and Valcotta. Though perhaps the promise of being alive is enough.”
“If you can call that living,” Ahnna said softly, reaching up to rest a hand on top of James’s. “I, for one, would rather die fighting.”
Everyone was staring down at the table, many resting their heads in their hands as they weighed the choices they faced. There was no easy path, every direction leading to a grueling uphill climb, and it was hard not to fear that they’d fall into hopelessness.
