Silence stretched, and in it, Ahnna felt her heart begin to shatter because sheknew.
“That’s impossible.” Alexandra’s chin jerked, and then she smoothed her skirts once, twice, three times. “James is dead.”
Noise filled Ahnna’s ears. A high-pitched ringing, and her whole chest spasmed, pain tearing through her body.No. No no no.
“Did you kill him?”
“He was trying to destroy you, my darling.”
William let out a sob, then rounded on Alexandra, but the words they exchanged were faint in Ahnna’s ears. Like she was falling away from this world, all sight and sound slowly diminishing, leaving nothing but pain.
James was dead.
“You promised you’d come back to me,” she whispered. “You promised, and you never break your promise.”
Then hands took hold of hers, and she looked into William’s eyes. “I agree to your terms. On my honor, on the life of my child, I swear that I will withdraw from Ithicana and call for a treaty to be signed.”
It was hard to breathe, but she managed to say, “How can you not kill your mother for what she has done? How can you still be loyal?”
His hands trembled. “I cannot harm her. I know what she is. I see her clearly. But I cannot blame her when all that she has done was for me.” His grip tightened. “I’ll send her away where she can do no more harm.”
The only place that Alexandra could do no more harm was in the grave. Ahnna shoved him away, lunging for his sword where it still sat on the sofa, but it fell beneath the table.
“Guards!” Alexandra shouted. “Help!”
The men were in the room in an instant, pinning Ahnna to the ground. William stepped close. “I’ll hold to my word. Just make sure you hold to yours.”
“I curse your whole fucking family,” she sobbed, each word a choking gasp. “You are monsters. Every last one of you.”
William stepped back and squared his shoulders. “Announce to the city that we will have an execution. We will have justice for my father’s murder.”
88
Keris
“Send a note to Virginianow,” Zarrah said, striding to the writing desk and pulling out a card. “We need to take advantage of the distraction that Ahnna is giving us.”
“Do you know what she’s planning?” Visions of Ahnna going on a killing spree through the Sky Palace filled Keris’s mind.
As if seeing inside his skull, his wife shook her head. “She’s going to confess to Edward’s murder in exchange for Ithicana’s liberation.”
Keris felt the blood drain from his face. “They’ll execute her.” He started to the door, but Zarrah caught his arm. “Zar, this plan is mad! They’ll take her up on her offer, and when her body isn’t even cold, they’ll purge Ithicana. There’s no way to hold them to their word.”
“There is. The one she gave us. We need to get Virginia on our side.”
It felt like a shot in the dark, the stakes high and the chances of success next to none. “She has nothing to gain from aiding us and everything to lose.”
“Do you have another suggestion?” His wife slammed her fists down on the table. “We are trapped, Keris. Trapped in this palace in the sky, and the moment the storms ease, the Harendellians will slaughter our friends and family. Everyone in this place is too loyal or too afraid to help us. So write Virginia a note poetic enough that she steps out of isolation to meet with you.”
She shoved a pen into his hand, and Keris stared down at the card, his mind as blank as the paper.
“Just write whatever you’d have written to me to entice me to invite you into my room.”
“No,” he muttered. “Some words are for you alone. Besides, Virginia can’t see to read. This…this is not how to get to her.”
Tossing the pen on the table, he caught hold of his wife’s beautiful face, his fingers tangling in her loose curls. He kissed her, tasting her, then said, “If this all goes to shit, you need to get out.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
