If the Amaridian soldiers were disturbed by their prince’s behavior, none showed it. Ahnna’s arm was splinted, then she and James were shoved into their clothes and dragged outside.
The ropes binding James were attached to one soldier’s saddle so that he’d be forced to walk behind. But Ahnna was led to where Carlo sat astride a horse.
Herhorse.
Dippy turned his head to regard her and whickered softly, but Ahnna allowed none of her dismay to show on her face. If Carlo knew she cared about the horse, he’d only hurt Dippy to make her suffer.
The soldiers lifted her onto the saddle in front of their prince, then tied a loose rope under Dippy’s chest to bind her ankles so she couldn’t kick. Carlo pulled her against him, enveloping Ahnna in the thick folds of his fur coat before giving her several rapid kisses on the forehead as if she were a small child. “Such a good girl.”
It was more horrifying than having her arm broken.
“Mount up,” Carlo called out, and the Amaridians all slid into the saddles of their shaggy mountain horses. “Mother is waiting.”
He wrapped an arm around Ahnna’s waist and heeled Dippy into a fast trot, the speed making her sick because James would have to run to keep up.
“Why don’t you just kill us and be done with it?” she asked. “Why keep us alive?”
Carlo chuckled. “Tempting, and it is what Alexandra wanted us to do. You know too much, Princess, and James…Well, Alexandra hates James almost as much as I do. But Mother thinks that we are best served keeping you alive. I’m sure you appreciate what the Harendellians are like, and Mother does not like risk. Mother likes insurance.”
So the years-long alliance between Katarina and Alexandra was not without rifts. Ahnna quietly stored that fact away. “Do you always do whatMothertells you to, Carlo?”
“Oh, yes.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And soon, sweet Princess, you will understand why.”
22
Keris
“Zarrah is going to killyou for this,” Saam muttered from where he stood next to Keris at the rail of the ship, his eyes on Sableton’s harbor. “You were supposed to deliver the gifts, admire the baby, and then return to Valcotta, but here we are, about to dive headfirst into a spider’s web.”
The motivations behind his visit to Ithicana were complicated, but Keris only said, “Daria will explain the situation, and Zarrah will understand the change in itinerary.”
“The change in itinerary?” Saam twisted to glare at him. “Keris, you’re going to infiltrate the Harendellian court as a spy for Ithicana.”
“An intermediary.”
“Right.” Saam gave a loud snort. “I’m sure that’s exactly what the Harendellians think given you insulted William, called Lestara a royal cock gobbler, and inferred that Alexandra was a liar.”
“In hindsight, my choice of words was not strategic.” Keris rested his elbows on the rail of the ship to catch his balance over a large wave. “Yet I find myself regretting only two of the three statements.”
The ship rolled into a trough between two waves, spraying both men with surf. Keris scowled and shoved a sodden lock of hair behind his ear. This was a merchant vessel from the tiny nation of Myris, which was north of Cardiff, and the captain sailed as though he wereat war with the sea. But beggars could not be choosers, and very few vessels were risking the ire of Harendell to make port at Northwatch. Soon no one would be making port, for the volume of Harendellian naval vessels they’d passed suggested that a blockade was being formed.
“I know you hate Lestara, and justly so,” his friend said quietly as he wiped seawater from his face. “But she’s the queen of Harendell now. That means she outranks you.”
“Thank you for the clarification.” Keris’s tone was sharper than he’d intended, but it ground his nerves that Lestara’s prophecy had come true and a crown now rested on her head. Not just any crown either. “William’s a fool.”
“You’ll get no quarrel from me on that, but he’s an entranced fool. If she tells him to take off your head, he might just do it. And let me remind you that you were supposed to be escaping assassination attempts with this sojourn to visit family, not inviting more of them down upon you.”
“He’s not that much of a fool.” Keris was struck by yet another spray of seawater, and he spat out the mouthful before adding, “It would equate to declaring war on Valcotta and Maridrina.”
“Both of which are on the far side of the Tempest Seas.” Saam stepped away from the rail and shouted at the captain, “Have you ever sailed a ship before?”
The captain only waved at him with a wide grin, then spun the wheel and shouted unintelligible orders at his crew. Sails lowered, and the vessel slowed its speed into the harbor.
“The Tempest Seas will prevent Zarrah from declaring a proper war to avenge you, and given that Harendell is turning trade north to Cardiff, I’m not sure how much they’ll care about the loss of Valcottan gold.” Saam squeezed the cuff of his sodden uniform jacket, then sighed and gave up. “You’re right that William wouldn’t cut off your head, but if you succumbed to poison, it’s easy enough to blame the same individuals who were trying to kill you in Valcotta. Zarrah might suspect the truth, but how could she ever prove otherwise?”
“First Dax, and now you,” Keris muttered. “I’m surrounded by armchair politicians.”
But Saam wasn’t wrong. Going into Harendell was risky and his life was very much on the line, but Keris refused to slink back to Valcotta while Aren and Lara fought, bled, and potentially died in a war they hadn’t asked for. They’d had his back when he’d needed aid rescuing Zarrah from Devil’s Island. Had his back when he’d taken Maridrina to war against Petra. Keris refused to abandon them now, when he alone had the capacity to aid them. “I’ll be careful.”
