The older woman sat on a chair perpendicular to Ahnna, then reached over and retrieved her discarded glass. She sipped deeply as she eyed Ahnna. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t scream. Give me one good reason why we don’t just have you arrested.”
“It’s the same reason it’s always been.” Ahnna rested her boot heel on her opposite knee, trying to project confidence she didn’t feel. “You need me to get away with your crimes. You need a scapegoat.”
“Your note said you wished to offer us a deal.”
“I wish to offerWilliama deal, not you.” It was a struggle to keep her voice level, because she was afraid of what was to come. But there wasno going back now, so Ahnna turned to face the king of Harendell. “I’ll take the blame for your father’s murder. I’ll stand before a judge and jury and tell them that I killed Edward in a moment of rage, and then you can execute me for his death. I will be the scapegoat your mother always intended me to be, and all of Harendell will exonerate her of your father’s murder. In exchange, you will withdraw from Ithicana and work with Aren to create a treaty with not just Ithicana, but also Amarid, Cardiff, Maridrina, and Valcotta, to secure peace.”
“You want us to give up the bridge when two days’ worth of work during the calm season will see it ours?” Alexandra’s tone was flat. “The bridge that I have sacrificed a great deal to take control over.”
Ahnna ignored her and said to William, “A sacrifice for a sacrifice. Rather than being the king who is remembered for apoison plotand the slaughter of a nation, you will be remembered as the one who secured peace from Valcotta all the way to Cardiff. That is a legacy to be proud of.”
His lips parted, but Alexandra scoffed loudly. “Why shouldn’t we just call the guards and have you arrested? All of Harendell believed you guilty once, so they will do so again. I will have my cake and eat it too.”
“If you believed that arresting me would work, you’d have already screamed,” Ahnna said softly. “But you know that you need my confession to silence the rumor mills. I’ve named my price. Either pay it, or roll the dice to see how the world treats your son after knowing the truth. Perhaps all the cake will be yours, Alexandra. Or perhaps William will lose any chance of ever being respected.”
“Don’t listen to her, William,” Alexandra snapped. “Rumors can be managed with propaganda, and no one will care when they are all making gold hand over fist with unencumbered access to the bridge and trade in the south. The history books will write of the Golden Era of Harendell, and you will be the king responsible.”
William gripped the upholstery of the sofa, digging his nails in as though he were attempting to ground himself, and Ahnna couldsmell the sweat pouring off him. He didn’t have Alexandra’s ambition, but with that came an inability to say no to her.
So Ahnna played her last card. “Lestara is in labor. When I was climbing the Sky Palace, I saw you arguing with her through the window. She hid the contractions from you, but it was apparent afterward. Your child will soon be in this world.”
“Lessy is in labor?” William stood up abruptly. “I—”
“Sit,” Alexandra snapped. “You are of no use in the birthing room. I’ll send for a midwife when we are through here.”
“But—”
“Remember that it was Lestara who arranged for Katarina to be brought to Verwyrd alive. We would not be in this position if not for that idiot girl. Now sit!”
William sat.
“I’ve no fondness for Lestara, but I think she was trying to do right by you in trying to get rid of your mother. Or at the very least right by your child.”
“Don’t be a fool.” Alexandra drained her wineglass, then stared at it angrily. “Lestara is an ambitious whore. She wants to be the one to control William, but I won’t allow it.”
William’s jaw tightened, and Ahnna said softly, “Everyone is controlling you, William. If you don’t break the shackles, they will do the same to your child. Break this cycle, and be the father this child needs. Take my offer, send Alexandra to live on some remote estate, and carve your own path.”
Alexandra’s lips pulled back to reveal her teeth. “William, you would do well to remember that it wasyourerror with Katarina that brought us to this moment, not mine. We could have hadeverything,yet now we cling to power by the skin of our teeth. Cling to our very lives.”
William flinched, and it struck Ahnna that for all he had been used to Edward’s harsh words, he’d never heard criticism from his mother. He deflated beneath it, and Ahnna swallowed a wave of pity for him.
“Thissavagepleads to your kind heart, but remember that she stoleJames’s loyalty from you. He was ever your guardian until she sank her claws into him, and since, he has turned on you. Conspired against you. Tried to steal what is rightfully yours.”
“Where is James?” William rose and went to the window. “His name is on everyone’s lips, but where is he?”
“I don’t know,” Ahnna replied, and though she wasn’t sure if it was the right course or not, she added, “He married me before he left Ithicana to go to Cardiff. Our families are united now, for what that is worth.”
Alexandra made a noise of disgust and went to refill her wine. “Enough of this, William. Let’s call the guards and be done with it. Then you can go to Lestara.”
William pressed a hand to the glass, looking out. “Do you love him?”
“With all my heart.” And she was never going to see him again. Never hear his voice, never taste his lips or feel his hands on her body. Never again would she wake in his arms to watch the dawn or race him on horseback through open fields.
“We need to find him. I need to speak with him.” William dropped his hand from the glass. “I have loved and hated him in equal measure my whole life, but never have I doubted James’s word.”
“Then you’re a fool.” Alexandra flung her glass across the room, spraying the wall with wine. “Heruinedyour life! He planned to take everything from you for the sake of this bitch.”
“I want to speak to him, Mother. I know you know where he is, because you knoweverything.If he has been against me, then he will admit it.”
