“His Highness didn’t wish to risk writing anything down, even in code,” the messenger, whose name was Adrius, said. “I’ve done my best to remember everything exactly as he said, but His Highness is…”
“Verbose?” Lara offered.
Adrius shrugged. “He’s not succinct.”
“If you remember anything else, please bring it to me directly.” She rose to her feet. “Please make our house your own while you rest. I know the journey was difficult.” The seas had been vicious, a testament to the ship captain’s skill and bravery that he was able to get through the storms to Midwatch.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” Adrius inclined his head. “I’d like to return to His Highness as soon as I’m able. He doesn’t have half as many guards as I might like, and he…”
“Is reckless?”
Adrius lifted one shoulder and replied, “Has a high tolerance for risk when it comes to things that matter to him.”
Lara’s chest tightened, because the risks her brother was taking were very much on her behalf, and she hated it. Hated hiding behind the defense of Ithicana’s typhoons while those she loved danced with the enemy, but there was no helping it. “It may be some time before we are able to secure passage. The storms prevent sea travel, and the blockades…” Instead of finishing the thought, she pivoted. “Did the Harendellian blockade give your vessel any trouble?”
“No, Your Grace, though they surely saw us.” Adrius’s brow furrowed, brown eyes thoughtful. “If anything, they seemed towantme to deliver the messages. Perhaps they are losing their taste for conflict and hope that an agreement can be reached.”
Every part of Lara wanted to look to Aren where he stood by the window, but she kept her focus on Adrius. “With luck, they’ll be equally amenable to your return. Thank you, Adrius.”
He bowed low, his loose dark curls spilling over his forehead. “Your Grace.”
He left the room, and as Lara met Lia’s gaze, the other woman gave the slightest nod and followed him out, shutting the door behind her.
For a long moment, Lara stared at the notes she’d taken while Adrius had relayed all that Keris had learned from both Alexandra and Cormac, eyes catching on certain lines.Edward planned to wed Ahnna to James. He aimed to start a coup. Planned for James to be king of Ithicana.
Drawing in a deep breath in the hope it would bolster her composure, Lara rose and went to the window, slipping an arm around Aren’s waist. Every muscle in his body was rigid, his jaw flexed beneath the scruff of stubble on his cheeks, and his eyes were fixed on the rain pounding the jungle outside the window.
“Ahnna did it to protect us. To protectme.” His voice was barely a whisper. “I thought it was her fault that the Harendellians were turning on us, but it was Edward. Edward scheming not only to give my sister to his fucking bastard like a broodmare, but to steal my entire kingdom.”
A tremble ran through his body, a barely suppressed urge to lash out, and Lara tightened her arm around him even as she pressed herface to his shoulder. Her own rage seethed barely checked, memory of Harendell’s lavish gifts and Edward’s long letter welcoming Delia to the world now feeling like a knife to the back because the whole time, he’d been aiming to kill her baby girl.
“And it’s that same fucking bastard who is hunting Ahnna.” Aren’s words were a snarl.
Not a bastard,Lara thought, Cormac had given Keris that piece of information before he’d succumbed to Amaridian poison, but then Aren drew her attention back to him.
“I’m going to kill James Ashford. I’m going to gut that prick, stake him out for the carrion, and send his head to the Ashfords. Give them a real reason to go to war.”
Such an action would only make a bad situation worse, especially given that Keris was in the thick of it, but Lara bit her tongue and let him rage. Let him seethe while she buried her own anger deep to simmer. “We need to consider why Alexandra gave Keris this information. She wasn’t using him as a confessional, which means shewantsus to know these details. You heard Adrius—the Harendellians did nothing but watch as his ship sailed right through the blockades.”
“Because Alexandra wanted me to know the reason why Ahnna did it. She thought it would be the proof I needed to turn on my sister.”
“No.” Gripping her husband, Lara twisted him to face her. “It’s the exact opposite. She gave you the justification you’d need to stay loyal to Ahnna.”
His hazel eyes were bloodshot as they searched hers, the toll of recent weeks written across his face, and it hurt her heart. “Why would Alexandra want that?” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t think clearly, Lara. Every instinct is screaming at me to attack those who are trying to hurt my family, and I can’t think through Alexandra’s schemes.”
But she could. This is what Serin had raised her to do, and as much as she hated to do so, Lara thanked the Magpie for his efforts now. “What does a ruler do when they want to incite their populace againstanother nation? What did my father do? What did Petra do? What did Edward do?”
Aren scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Demonize the other nation. Make them the source of every woe. Turn your target into the villain.”
“Yes.” Her fingers tightened on his shoulders. “Edward sowed the seeds against us to prepare his people for the moment he incited the coup so that they’d support his actions. But with Edward’s murder, Alexandra has so much more to work with. The people loved Edward, and rightly or wrongly, Ahnna killed him. If she is caught and executed, they will have their justice, but if we protect her? If we stand by her? Then we are complicit, and their rage will turn on us.”
All the color drained from Aren’s face as understanding took hold. “Alexandra aims to see Edward’s plans through. She aims to take the bridge.”
Lara gave a slow nod, using the anger in her heart to stifle the fear that had been rising in her chest since Adrius had conveyed Keris’s message. “She would have been infuriated to know that Edward planned to give Ithicana to James, so it makes every bit of sense that she’d aim to take it for William. That’s why she’s putting up with Lestara—as much as she might loathe Cardiff, she needs that alliance for a campaign this ambitious, else she leaves the Lowlands open for the Amaridians to take. Katarina must have known some or all of Edward’s ambitions, and that’s why she was working so hard to get rid of James. If Harendell is allied with Cardiff and holds the bridge, it’s only a matter of time until they come for Amarid.”
“But why tell us?” Aren demanded. “Why did Alexandra give us insight into her plans via Keris?”
“Maybe she thinks we won’t see to the heart of it.” Lara looked at the ceiling as she thought, but then shook her head. “Or maybe she wants us to know. Maybe she thinks to intimidate us into conceding, to abdicate rule to Harendell, and that we’ll choose to go live in Maridrina and Valcotta rather than fight a war we can’t win.”
