“That’s a dangerous trek.” Jor joined them at the table, hisweathered face grim. “The mountains are tall, and at this time of year, the snow will be thick and prone to avalanches. Ahnna is tough and knows how to live off the land, but this is new ground for her.”
“But if she can get across the border, it’s the one place James won’t follow,” Keris countered. “Angry isn’t the same as stupid—he won’t go into the Beast’s territory. Those two have been at odds in the Lowlands for over a decade, and they hate each other. I can only imagine that the rivalry has grown worse since the castration.”
Everyone stared at him.
“Don’t you read your spy reports?” Keris demanded. “Last year, fighting came to a head in the Lowlands, and James and Carlo were in the thick of it. The word is that it turned to fisticuffs in the mud. Before they were separated by their men, James put his boot heel into Carlo’s balls with such force that the physicians had to cut one of them off. I’ve heard that Carlo’s now obsessed with killing James himself. Given his proclivities, James would have to be mad to cross that border without an army at his back.”
“Ahnna needs to get to that border.” Aren was staring down at the table, but then he straightened and cleared his throat. “Katarina has been making overtures of negotiating a new deal. Of making amends.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking of trusting her?” Katarina was sly as a fox and twice as mean.
“I trust that she’s trying to profit off this conflict,” Aren replied. “Northwatch’s piers sit half empty, and she’ll be keen to fill those spots with her merchant ships. If she can secure Ahnna and get her safely back to me, then I’ll deal.”
“And piss the Harendellians off even more?” Keris shook his head. “Are you sure?”
“I’ll warn her to be discreet,” Aren replied. “Katarina will no more want William’s ire than we do, so if she can get what she wants from me with a stealthy rescue, she’ll do it.”
The idea of trusting Katarina to do anything made Keris’s skincrawl, but the rivalry between Amarid and Harendell was as certain as the sun rising in the east. What’s more, once Carlo learned that James was in the Blackreaches, there’d be no stopping him from pursuing his revenge. Keris had no grievance with James Ashford, but if the Beast killed him, it would redirect some of William’s focus.
“Bronwyn, please sit,” Aren said, gesturing to one of the empty chairs.
Keris watched his half sister consider refusing, then slowly cross the space to flop down on a chair, her jaw tight.
“I know you think I don’t care about what has happened to Taryn, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Aren said after exchanging a weighted glance with Lara. “We need to start making plans to get her out if this goes sour. Which is why I want you to board one of the Amaridian merchant ships at Northwatch and sail to Riomar. You’re a Maridrinian princess, which will get you an audience. I want you to convince Katarina to help Ahnna get safely across the border so that we can hear the truth from her lips, but I also want you to convince Katarina to aid in liberating Taryn. Tell her that if she helps us, I’ll agree to renegotiate our current agreements in her favor.”
Keris’s half sister flicked her eyes to him, and Keris gave a slight nod to indicate he’d keep her interests at heart while she was absent. “All right,” she said. “But if Katarina won’t deal, I’m going after Taryn myself. Consequences be damned.”
“Fine.”
“There’s something else to consider that I think everyone has missed.” Lara’s eyes were on the pages of spy reports in a pile before her. “William and AlexandraknewAhnna was headed to the Blackreaches when they arrived to meet you, Aren. They know we don’t have Ahnna. Which means they knew they were asking for something you couldn’t give.” She looked up. “I wasn’t wrong. It’s not Ahnna they’re after. Or at least not entirely.”
Keris hadn’t missed that pertinent detail, but without more information,whatHarendell was after would be pure speculation.
He sat, resting his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. This was supposed to be a short visit. A week spent in the tropics drinking with Aren, bickering with his sister, and spoiling Delia, after which he’d return to Valcotta. Return to Zarrah, because he’d regretted leaving the moment Pyrinat had faded on the horizon. “We need to better understand what is going on in William’s court.”
“Yes,” Lara replied quietly. “We do. But it’s not the sort of understanding that a spy will gain, and if we send an emissary, they’ll be pushed into a corner to cool their heels.”
Zarrah was going to kill him when she found out about this. “You need someone they can’t afford to ignore.”
“Yes.” His sister’s voice was tight, like she was holding back tears.
“Just what exactly are you suggesting?” Aren demanded.
Keris lifted his head from his hands, wishing that he’d had the chance to hold Zarrah one last time. To tell her that he loved her more than life, more than breath. Because there was a fear growing in his chest that he’d never get another opportunity. “It feels like a lifetime ago I walked down your bridge with the aim of escaping to Harendell.” He exhaled a steadying breath. “I think it’s time I finished that journey.”
13
Ahnna
James was gaining on her.
Ahnna had pressed hard through the day and into the following night, but in the dawn light, exhaustion was taking hold. For her and her horse.
Dippy moved at a sluggish walk, head low, barely casting a sideways glance at birds when they burst out of the brush. More than once, she’d fallen asleep on his back and woken with total certainty that James had caught her.
Discovering the trail behind her empty brought little relief, because it was only a matter of time.
Her pursuers’ horses would be flagging as well, but the men themselves could take turns leading one another’s mounts as they slept. They were better supplied, especially with grain for their mounts. When they did stop, they could rest easy knowing that one of their ranks was on watch against mountain cats or worse, whereas Ahnna was sick with anxiety that something would attack her while she slept or that she’d freeze to death if her fire burned too low.
