All three of them were staring at him unblinking, and Keris was struck with the sudden certainty that he was a fly trapped in a spiderweb.
“Until this moment, I had been so certain that Aren had no involvement,” Alexandra finally said. “I thought him a brother moved by grief, touched by his sister’s desire to protect him and his family. That certainty fades the more we learn of the conspiracies to undermine my family and Harendell itself.”
“He wasn’t involved.” The words came out from between Keris’s teeth.
“We know of Ithicana’s dire straits,” Alexandra replied, then took another sip of wine. “We know they had aspirations for Harendell’s wealth, but it strikes me that they were looking to secure Amarid’s wealth as well. They were playing both sides, and when Edward did not give Aren what he wanted, he climbed into bed with Amarid entirely. The alliance is dead, and it is Ithicana who tore it to shreds.”
Keris’s lips parted, but William cut him off before he could speak. “Family or not, how can you defend him, Veliant? Maridrina is starving, and it is because of the Kertell family’s focus on satisfying their own impulses and self-interest. For generations, it has been said thattrade hung on the Kertell family’s whim, but I think it’s time that ended. They have proven themselves unfit in every possible way.”
His hands felt like ice, because Keris could see where this was going. Could see how anger and the desire for vengeance had spiraled into ambition. How the oh-so-Harendellian eye for profit saw an opportunity. “What, precisely, are you suggesting?”
“We’ve suggested nothing,” Alexandra’s voice was cold as ice. “But Sarhina’s parliament has suggested abdication as the solution. It seems no one wants Aren Kertell to rule anymore. All his reign has brought is disaster and death.”
It had been the ambitions and greed of other nations that had brought disaster and ruin, but they already knew that. This wasn’t about Aren, not anymore. It was about thefucking bridge.“Abdicate towhom? Because I presume that you don’t aim for an infant princess to rule a nation. Nor do I believe that you have another Ithicanian family in mind to wear the crown.”
“It never made any sense for a structure dedicated to trade to be managed by a half-feral warrior nation,” Alexandra said. “It requires the guiding hand of those with heads for business. Those who are governed by civility and who possess strong relationships with other nations. Those with the might to dissuade the sort of violence that plagues the bridge year after year.”
“Harendell.” Keris all but spat the word.
Alexandra lifted her glass and took a sip of her wine. “It is the logical choice.”
William shifted restlessly, betraying what Keris had already known: The king of Harendell was nothing more than a puppet played by his mother.
Keris met Alexandra’s green-eyed gaze, and though he’d always known she was a threat, he understood now that he’d sorely underestimated her. She had the ambition of his father. The cleverness of the Magpie. The skill at emotional manipulation of Petra. But what made Alexandra Ashford dangerous was her capacity for calculatedlogic and patience. “My father caught Ithicana off guard and infiltrated it from the inside, yet I can attest to the incredible toll in life and coffer that the invasion took upon my homeland. Would you bring the plight that plagues Maridrina down upon Harendell?”
“Don’t be ridiculous by suggesting that we’d pursue Silas Veliant’s strategies.” Her smile was chilly. “If Aren is wise, he’ll abdicate to William without protest. If he is not, we will enforce a full blockade on the north and launch a campaign educating the Ithicanians that everything they suffer is a result of Aren’s desperate desire to cling to power. His selfishness in putting his women above his people. His ambition in courting the Crimson Widow. I think it won’t be long until the Ithicanians bring us his head. Trade will flow, and under William’s rule, all will be brought right in the world. The people will rejoice.”
And Alexandra could do it. Harendell was a titan with near-infinite resources, and courtesy of James and Lestara, it had Cardiff at its back.
“We do not wish death upon Aren and his family, despite the injuries that they have caused us.” Alexandra set down her glass, then rested her hand on William’s arm. “You would be doing all nations, not just Ithicana, the greatest of services if you left us and traveled to meet with Aren. If you convinced him to make the wise and selfless choice to turn over power so that we are not driven to secondary measures.”
To leave would be the easiest. To board a ship and rejoin Aren and Lara, bringing with him what he’d learned. Except what good would that do them? Words would not save them. Advice would not save them. His sword arm certainly would not save them.
Then there was Zarrah and the challenges his wife would be facing in Valcotta. His place was at her side, and that was where his heart was and where he wanted to be. Except he knew what wearing the crown meant to Zarrah. Knew that doing what was best for her people held a huge portion of her heart, and that meant he needed to dowhat was right for her crown. And the bridge falling under Harendell’s control would benefit no one but Harendell.
He had to take every risk, make every sacrifice, to keep that from happening. That meant holding his ground, because within Verwyrd, he could snip away at the spider’s web from the inside.
And Keris knew exactly how he would start.
41
Ahnna
The first few days ofimprisonment had been shockingly easy to endure, for she and James had spent every waking moment testing the limits of their cells and learning the routines of the prison. Ideas whispered back and forth in the small opening between them, both of them well aware that there was likely someone tasked with listening to their every word. They were kept fed and watered, so while the hope they might find their way free endured, Ahnna had not felt the impact of being confined.
Yet as each of their ideas failed, and days turned to weeks, the walls seemed to press closer. The air seemed to grow hotter. This prison was old, and it became abundantly clear that given the countless prisoners who’d lived and died in these cells, there was no method of escape the Amaridians had not seen attempted.
Which meant they had stymied them all.
“Water!” a voice called from above, and knowing from experience that if she wasn’t ready the wardens wouldn’t wait, Ahnna rushed to lift her pitcher up beneath the small opening. A moment later, water flooded down, filling her pitcher even as it drenched her hair and clothes. She’d learned to get as much of it on her as possible, for it was the only respite from the heat.
And it was always so painfully short-lived.
“Waste!” A thin cord dropped from above, and Ahnna swiftly tied the waste bucket with a tight knot, watching as it was lifted up and through the opening. A clean one dropped through a moment later, and she caught it and set it next to the thin piece of rope she’d yanked out of the warden’s hands on the first day. Rope, she’d swiftly discovered, that was made of some sort of weed or vine. It was far too weak to bear more weight than a full bucket, and within a day of her stealing it, it had dried up in the heat and was crumbling apart.
“Rations!”
She lifted her hands and caught the bread, sliced apple, and piece of ham that fell from above. There would be no more communication from above until the following day, so she sat next to the opening to James’s cell. The walls were curved, and when she sat, the opening was at about shoulder height. It was six inches across and the wall itself was about a foot thick at that point, which meant they could both reach into each other’s cell, and it was possible to see each other when the light was right.
