James
James didn’t argue with Calythra.He told himself it was because he didn’t believe in magic. Told himself that it was all speculation carefully worded so that any number of circumstances would make it seem as though the foretelling had come true.
Except the truth in his heart was that if the bones revealed a different path than Ahnna ruling Harendell, James would fucking change it. She was meant to lead—meant to change the world—and he would not allow the stars to deny her.
“I am weary,” Caly said, rubbing at her temples. “Ronan, I will leave you to do what you will with all Siobhan has told you. Heed your sister, not sentiment.”
His uncle took his wife’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Rest. But ensure Lestara is in her rooms and under watch. It was your daughter’s arrival that shifted the winds, my love.”
Your daughter too,James wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. It was said that when Lestara was born, she took all the darkness in Calythra’s soul into her own spirit. Whether that was true, none could say, but there was no denying that even before the sacking of Vencia, his cousin had left death in her wake. No one dead by her hand, but it seemed that if Lestara touched a person’s life, the chances of them surviving diminished. Accidents. Suicides. Sickness. Many claimed she was cursed.More still claimed that she was the one doing the cursing. The only thing that united everyone was a desire to be as far from Lestara as possible, which was why she’d been traded to Silas Veliant in a meaningless agreement for furs.
And it could not be denied thatnothinggood had come to Maridrina while Lestara had stood within its borders.
“I will rest in her room and watch her myself,” Caly answered. “She is my darkness.”
The queen of Cardiff left the room on silent feet, and James said, “Have you ever considered that Lestara is the way she is because you raised her to believe she was cursed? That maybe if you loved her as you do your other children, she’d have turned out differently?”
“I do love my daughter,” Ronan answered. “But some creatures are born wrong, and Lestara is one of them. Your father was a fool to allow her into his house. A greater fool still to allow her to claim the heart of your brother. But we have greater villains than your cousin to discuss.”
His uncle rose to his feet. “Let us go out into the air. I need to taste the sea and seek the guidance of the stars while we discuss our path forward.”
James pulled up his hood and followed his uncle out into the corridor. Theryn and Waynne stood guard, but both followed as they wove through the warren that was this castle, rising narrow staircases that led up and up, and finally out a narrow door onto the battlements.
“Cormac spoke highly of the Ithicanian princess,” his uncle said as they moved to rest their elbows on the old stone, staring out over the village below and the expanse of the bay beyond. “Said she was beautiful and fierce as a lioness.”
“Cormac also tried to kill her.”
His uncle shrugged. “She lives and your uncle does not.”
Typical Cardiffian pragmatism. “Ithicana is not Cardiff’s enemy. For a long time, I saw them as the greatest obstacle to peace betweenHarendell and Cardiff, and in doing so, I made them into villains. My father did not feel that way. His methods were flawed, but in his heart, he knew that trade and peace could flow both ways, north and south. He believed in a greater alliance than any of us, and I think he had the right of it. Alexandra and Katarina have exploited the cracks I formed between Harendell and Ithicana, and they aim to take the bridge for themselves. If they succeed, you know they will look north not for peace but for conquest.”
His uncle gave a soft grunt of agreement. “Tell me everything, lad. From the beginning.”
The wind rose higher, coming in fierce off the sea and smelling of snow, and beneath its roar, James told Ronanalmosteverything. He finished with, “We believe that if Cardiff can draw Alexandra’s eye—and Harendell’s army—north, Katarina’s ambition will get the better of her when Maridrina offers her a trade deal. If Alexandra and Katarina turn on each other, neither will have the ability to keep control of the bridge, and Ithicana can retain its autonomy.”
His uncle was silent for a long time, and then he said, “Your mother’s dream was peace between Cardiff and Harendell, Jamie, and she gave her life for it. For decades, I worked with Edward to achieve that goal, and we made it a reality. Now you ask me to throw that away for the sake of Ithicana?”
“It’s not a reality while Alexandra holds power,” James argued. “Once Ithicana is crushed and the bridge secure, you know she and Katarina will turn on Cardiff.”
“Oh, aye, I don’t disagree. But why make an enemy out of every Harendellian when there is only one I have a grievance with? There’s no sense in that, Jamie. But you’ve lost sight of reason—love does that to a man.”
“Uncle—”
“I know you’re Edward’s heir, boy. I know that crown should be yours by every right, which was why I worked with Edward to give it to you. But Caly has said Ahnna will not be queen, which means youwill not be king. I’ll not pursue an impossibility that comes with such a high cost.”
Frustration built in James’s chest, but also fear. By now, the Amaridians would be spreading across Ithicana like maggots on a corpse. Ahnna needed him to do this. Needed him to win this. “It’s nothing more than a handful of bones and a mouthful of twisted words, Uncle! Lives are at stake, and yet you wish to make decisions based on yet another of Caly’s visions.”
The blow came fast and hard, sending James staggering.
“You mind your tongue when speaking about my woman, lad,” Ronan said, his eyes dark. “You will show respect, or I’ll show you your grave.”
James wiped blood from his split lip, grimacing.
“I understand the plight of Ithicana.” His uncle returned to resting his elbows on the stone, the breeze ruffling the fur of his cloak. “But the answer is not to take that threat and deliver it to Cardiff’s doorstep, which is what you’re asking for. If I back you for king and we inevitably fail, what then? War. Burnings. Hunger. Poverty. It will all come raging back, and everything we suffered to achieve will be ash on the wind. Better to set our aim on the woman who is our true enemy.”
“That’s your plan?” James demanded. “To send assassins in the night for Alexandra? Because I assure you, if you murder his mother, William will never let it go.”
“No. No assassins.” His uncle spread his palms wide on the stone fortifications of his castle, seeming not to feel the cold at all as he added, “We will give William the truth. We will tell him of his mother’s plots, her alliances, her crimes, and demand justice. We will demand he execute Alexandra.”
