As the hands holding him down loosened, Keris pushed up on one elbow. Fiona frantically licked his face, but he barely noticed. Never had there been a mastermind like Alexandra Ashford, and he felt sick with fear over what might come next.
William’s focus was not on Ronan but Lestara. “Did you know about this?”
There were tears pouring down Lestara’s cheeks, but instead of answering William, she asked her father, “Why do you hate me so much?”
Ronan grimaced, silent as he considered a path through it, because saving Keris’s life had cost him all of his legitimacy. Keris’s as well, because no one would ever believe that he hadn’t leapt at Cormac’s offer. All of Alexandra’s schemes had been dragged out into the open, but all that anyone would remember was that he and Cardiff had conspired to overthrow the crown.
“Give me one good reason not to close our border,” William hissed. “Give me one good reason not to condemn astromancy and allow witch burnings to begin anew.”
“You need me, boy. You need this alliance to hold on to your new toy, so I suggest you give me the justice I am owed if you wish to keep it.”
“Need you forwhat? Katarina killed everyone in Ithicana. There is no one left to fight.”
Ronan gave a slow laugh. “You certain about that?”
Hope surged in Keris’s chest, but he remained silent as William’s gaze narrowed. “You wish me to condemn my mother with no evidence she has done anything wrong beyond the word of those who conspired to tear the crown from my head? You say this information all came from James? But where is my brother? Why doesn’t he cometo me himself with these allegations? Why does he hide in the shadows?”
“I’d ask your mother.”
William scoffed. “Give me proof, Ronan. Give me proof of any of your claims my mother has committed any of these crimes. Something. Anything.”
Ronan crossed his arms, and William gave a disgusted snort. “Because there is no proof. All of this, all these attacks on my mother and my wife, are just schemes to try to undermine my reign. Your word is worth nothing, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get back to Cardiff and abide by the terms you agreed to.”
Silence hung over the throne room, but it was broken by a cough. “Your Grace,” the herald said, looking as though he regretted every decision that had brought him to this role. “The prisoner has arrived.”
“What prisoner?” William snarled.
The herald seemed to shrink beneath his king’s glare. “Queen Katarina, Your Grace.”
83
Ahnna
Ahnna stared up at thetowering spiral, the Sky Palace itself lost in a haze of clouds. It felt like a lifetime had passed since she’d escaped from its lofty heights and into the night, but also like just yesterday, and her heart thundered with remembered fear.
Where are you?
A question that had eaten at her thoughts throughout her journey as a stowaway on the Harendellian ship, growing louder and more desperate as she’d cautiously followed the caravan containing Katarina north to Verwyrd, because instead of James’s name being on everyone’s lips, she’d not heard him mentioned once. Which meant his plan to gain his uncle’s support to claim the Twisted Throne had not materialized. As to why…that was as much a mystery as where her husband was now.
It made her feel desperately alone. A feeling compounded by her sense of helplessness to remedy Harendell’s hold on Ithicana. She was powerless, and days and nights grasping for solutions only to discard them as unviable sapped at her strength.
Destroying the alliance between Alexandra and Katarina had been her goal for so long. The solution to all woes. Yet it had proven to be no solution at all, because once again, Alexandra had been one step ahead of her. Ithicana was in Harendell’s hold and Alexandra’s onlyrival was now her prisoner, soon to be executed for war crimes. Yet another perfect scapegoat for Alexandra, who still appeared innocent in all things.
The only solution that Ahnna kept coming back around to was assassinating Alexandra. While she wasn’t fool enough to think that William would withdraw from Ithicana just because his mother was dead, she did think his capacity for conquest would be hindered by the loss of Alexandra’s skill for scheming. William didn’t have his mother’s mind, and that could be exploited. Once the calm season was over and the storms returned, Aren might be able to expel Harendell as he once had Maridrina. Given that William believed everyone dead, he wouldn’t be prepared for the fight.
Kill Alexandra. That was the plan. As for how, Ahnna had collected ingredients for poison on her way from Sableton to Verwyrd. She would use her stolen uniform to infiltrate the Sky Palace. She’d put the poison in the wine in Alexandra’s study. Then she’d pray that the Harendellians blamed Amarid.
That it was a terrible plan wasn’t lost on her, and she desperately wished Bronwyn were here to aid her. But Ahnna was on her own with this assassination.
“You’ve killed plenty of people before,” she muttered. “What’s one more? Especially given she deserves it.”
Words that did little to calm her thrumming pulse.
Moving into the trees lining the slope of the river valley, Ahnna waited for the column of soldiers escorting Katarina to round the bend, then trudged out to join them. She pretended to fasten her belt as though she’d been in the trees taking a piss. Everyone was tired from walking and listening to the barked orders of their mounted superiors, so no one paid her any mind as they moved through the town and onto the bridge crossing the river.
Security in Verwyrd was higher than Ahnna had ever seen it. Soldiers patrolled the streets and the waterfront was under heavy guard, and as they approached the wall encircling the base of the spiral,sweat began to roll down her spine. The heavy prisoner carriage rolled to a stop, soldiers exchanging heated words, then the gates finally opened.
Ahnna ducked her head lower, keeping her face hidden by the shadow of her brimmed military hat. Her height went a long way toward convincing people she was a young man, but if anyone took a good look at her face, most especially Archie, this gambit might be up. The carriage rolled forward, but when the escort of soldiers began to march with it, Archie reined in his horse to block their path.
