“There is Southwatch,” Katarina agreed. “But Maridrina is broken and suffers its own famine, Vencia still in ruins. Sarhina might have used the power of her crown and name to force her people to supply Ithicana, but instead she has diminished her influence by establishing an elected government. Zarrah may aim to aid, but Valcotta is still reeling from its own war, wasting disease has infected their herds, and her people have no interest in a quarrel with Harendell. Cardiff is flush with Harendellian trade, and Ronan’s daughter sits on Harendell’s throne, so they will not intervene, and the nations of the deep north know better than to involve themselves. Which means that Ithicana, for all intents and purposes, stands alone.”
The wind blew in from the sea, lifting Katarina’s crimson hair around her like a fiery halo before settling, all while the gulls cried above. Ahnna swayed slightly; James tried to move to her, but his guards yanked him back.
“Alone. Hungry. Broke. Desperate.” Amarid’s queen punctuated each word with a tap of her index finger on the balcony. “Beggars can’t be choosers, Ahnna, so if Amarid comes with a compelling offer of aid, are you so sure that your brother won’t take it?”
“Aren knows you are a liar who cares only for achieving your own ends,” Ahnna hissed. “He’ll never trust you. Never let you in.”
“Because you warned him?” Katarina slipped a hand into her pocket and withdrew a glittering ruby necklace. Closing the distance, she fastened the choker around Ahnna’s neck, and to James, it looked for all the world like her throat had been slit with the way the gems glittered in the sunlight.
“Alexandra and I were both delighted at the cleverness of your warning,” Katarina said, stepping back. “What a bright girl you are to put together the pieces that even great minds like Edward never considered. Shame it didn’t work out, because I’m sure Lara, at least, would have taken the message to heart. She’s another clever one, though she lacks your honor.”
James could see Ahnna’s pulse throbbing rapidly above the choker, betraying her distress even as her face remained unmoved.
“Lara won’t trust you,” Ahnna retorted. “She’ll see right through your offers.”
“But will she trust her brother?” Katarina gave a soft chuckle. “Bronwyn told me that Keris planned to go to Harendell, and I can only imagine that his ears are being filled with slander against my name, against Amarid’s name, all of Harendell’s woes cast at our feet. He is clever, but my protégée is unmatched at her ability to manipulate the truth. How long, do you think, until Keris suggests that an alliance with Harendell’s oldest enemy might be the path to salvation?”
Ahnna blanched.
“Lara is distrustful, that is true. But her dear half sister Bronwyn has been my honored guest, and I have been a paragon of sympathy over James’s cruel treatment of her and his imprisonment of her lover, the lady Taryn. Over glasses of wine, I confessed to her all my attempts to put James in the grave, but also my aim to prevent an alliance in Cardiff. I filled her ears with my fears for Amarid’s sovereignty now that such an alliance has come to pass, for how long until Harendell and Cardiff’s united force takes not just the Lowlands but also Riomar itself?” A tear cut down Katarina’s waxy makeup, and she flicked it away with one painted nail. “Fear does unite even the most unlikely of individuals, no?”
James felt as ill as Ahnna looked, because Katarina was displaying what made her and Alexandra infinitely more dangerous than Silas had ever been.
“But there are those in Aren’s council who may not be swayed bythe advice of two Veliants,” Katarina continued, her smile again revealing the strange fabrication that encased her teeth. “Thankfully, James provided us with the trump card. Come!” She gestured to both of them. “Come stand with me!”
The guards shoved at both him and Ahnna, and James reluctantly shuffled to stand at Katarina’s right while Ahnna moved to her left. The queen linked her arm through his, and if James’s wrists hadn’t been chained to his ankles, he’d have bodily flung the old woman over the edge and to her death.
Instead, he was forced to stand motionless, his eyes moving across the wide moat encircling the prison to a broad expanse of gardens. Men and women promenaded together along the cobbled paths, servants holding sunshades over the ladies’ heads. A band of marching musicians in matching outfits struck up, drums and cymbals banging, and the nobility laughing and clapping in delight.
Then Carlo appeared, walking next to two women who were arm in arm.
One of the women was Bronwyn Veliant.
James squinted and leaned, but the Beast blocked his sight of the other woman as they walked down the edge of the garden. Carlo wore a patch over his ruined eye and he was laughing and gesturing at the band, adeptly performing the role of courteous prince.
“Alexandra and I had mused over how best to deliver my overtures of alliance,” Katarina murmured. “Who in our arsenal would Aren trust? Who would his council trust? No one quite fit; but then you, James, delivered to us the perfect messenger.”
His hands turned to ice, because James knew.
The Beast stepped sideways and gestured to the distant prison as though explaining its purpose. Revealing the other woman’s face.
“Your cousin, Princess,” Katarina said. “Taryn Kertell.”
38
Ahnna
“Taryn!” Ahnna screamed her cousin’sname. “Taryn! Bronwyn!”
But over the wind and the gulls and the cursedmarching band,her shouts were drowned out. Ahnna lifted her hand as high as her restraints would allow to wave, and a rush of adrenaline filled her as her cousin’s eyes latched upon her. Yet Taryn only frowned in confusion, and when Carlo affably waved back, so too did Taryn and Bronwyn.
Because all they saw was a peculiar noblewoman with wild hair and cosmetics, not Ahnna. Not James.
Katarina lifted a hand and waved. A horrifying moment ensued with them all staring at one another, and then Carlo gestured down the path. Taryn and Bronwyn carried on with him, all three laughing and smiling.
“It was most fortuitous that members of my dark guild were nearby when James so viciously arrested Lady Taryn,” Katarina said. “They were able to slay the guards watching over her and flee, using Amarid’s channels toescapeHarendell. When Bronwyn arrived so desperate to save her love, I was able to ease her heart with the knowledge that Taryn was already safe and on her way to Riomar. Taryn was distrustful of me at first, which was no surprise given the history between our nations, but gratitude goes a very long way. Once there is a break in the storms, I have promised to dispatch both women back toIthicana on my swiftest ship, one capable of evading the Harendellians, and I will ask for nothing in return other than that Aren agree to a meeting.”
Tears poured down Ahnna’s face, floating over the waxy makeup and splattering against the balcony stone. Taryn was no fool. She knew the nature of Amarid and its queen. Had fought Amaridian raiders countless times, and there wasn’t a chance she’d forgotten that Katarina had aided Silas.
